Sexual Slavery in Taiwan & South Korea * Tradition & Abuse in South Africa* Abduction, Rape, Murder & Impunity in Russia * Exploiting Domestic Workers in Indonesia
SEXUAL SLAVERY IN TAIWAN & SOUTH KOREA
More Information: Japan: Still Waiting after 60 Years: Justice for Survivors of Japan's Military Sexual Slavery System
Background: One of the most compelling examples of the crime of sexual slavery and the denial of justice to survivors was the system of institutionalized sexual slavery used by the Japanese Imperial Army before and during World War II and subsequent denials of responsibility for the system by the Japanese government. The women forced into sexual servitude were euphemistically known as "comfort women". Up to 200,000 "comfort women" were sexually enslaved by the Japanese Imperial Army from around 1932 to the end of World War II. Sixty years after the end of World War II, survivors of the sexual slavery system have been denied justice - they are still calling and waiting for full reparations.
Today, forms of sexual slavery still exist.
How can I-VAWA help?
I-VAWA Promotes Legal Reforms and Accountability:
- Establishes and supports laws that help to prevent and respond to the range of violence against women and girls. I-VAWA funds programs that promote political, legal, and institutional reforms that recognize violence against women and girls as a crime.
I-VAWA Promotes Services for Survivors:
- Creates referral networks with civil society organizations for psycho-social, legal, economic and other support services.
TRADITION & ABUSE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Excerpt from the report: Submission to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, Parliament of South Africa, on the draft Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Amendment Bill, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, 2003.
Background: In South Africa sexual violence against women and girls is a problem of epidemic proportions, including a virtually unprecedented epidemic of child rape. Existing data suggests that over 40 percent of rape survivors are girls under eighteen. Furthermore, the trauma of rape in South Africa has intensified due to the life-threatening possibility of transmission of HIV through sexual assault. Some 5.4 million people, including a quarter of a million children under 15, are living with HIV. According to a Department of Health report, while over 250 accredited facilities are currently providing anti-retroviral treatment in South-Africa, some 300,000 individuals remain untreated.
Survivors of rape additionally face inadequate protections under current enforcement of the law. Organizations assisting survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse assert that complaints fail to be adequately protected at the investigation and trial stages. These organizations have produced evidence indicating that South African authorities have repeatedly lost rape investigation dockets through inefficiency and corruption.
How can I-VAWA help?
I-VAWA Improves Healthcare:
- Introduces programs to address violence into existing health programs focused on women's health, HIV/AIDS prevention and care, and child survival.
- Links health facilities to other agencies addressing violence against women and girls, including legal institutions and the educational system.
- Provides assistance to train health care providers on methods to safely and confidentially assess women and girls. I-VAWA also fosters prevention and awareness-raising through public education programs, including those specifically targeting of adolescent boys and girls and community organizing efforts.
I-VAWA Changes Public Attitudes:
- Emphasizes community-based solutions for changing norms and attitudes of both the husband and family about the acceptability of violence against women and girls.
I-VAWA Increases Women's Economic Opportunity and Education:
- Reduces women's vulnerability to violence by improving their economic status and educational opportunity. I-VAWA ensures access to job and skills training, employment opportunities, and increases land and property rights for women.
- Deters sexual coercion and assault in the workplace and at school.
ABDUCTION, RAPE, MURDER & IMPUNITY IN RUSSIA
More Information: Russian Federation: What justice for Chechnya's disappeared?
Women in Chechnya have experienced a horrible spectrum of abuse in the context of armed conflict. Violence ranges from torture and rape to forced "disappearance" and extrajudicial execution. Furthermore, civilian women and girls have also been indiscriminately killed during military operations. Amnesty International found that rape is not only used as a weapon of war, but women detainees are often victims of this torture at the hands of law enforcement officials as well.
How can I-VAWA help?
I-VAWA Promotes Legal Reforms:
- Provides training to police and the judiciary for how to respond to the needs of sexual assault survivors, including their safety, and on enhancing their ability to bring violators to justice.
I-VAWA Promotes Services for Survivors:
- Creates referral networks with civil society organizations for psycho-social, legal, economic and other support services.
I-VAWA Focuses Policy Attention on Accountability:
- Focuses US policy attention on cases involving sexual violence and impunity to generate momentum in holding more perpetrators accountable.
I-VAWA Trains Foreign Militaries and Security Forces:
- Provides training to foreign security forces on preventing and addressing violence against women, including issues of sexual exploitation and abuse.
EXPLOITING DOMESTIC WORKERS IN INDONESIA
More Information: Indonesia: Exploitation and Abuse: The Plight of Women Domestic Workers
Background: A study of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2002 concluded that there are about 2.6 million domestic workers in Indonesia, the overwhelming majority being women and girls. Approximately one third of domestic workers are girls below the age of 18. These women and girls suffer economic exploitation and poor working conditions as well as gender-based discrimination, many of them are subjected to physical, psychological and sexual violence, and some are even killed.
Domestic workers are not protected by current legislation safeguarding workers rights, in particular the 2003 Manpower Act, as the provisions guarantee protections only to workers employed by "businesses" or "social or other undertakings with officials in charge", but not to "other workers".
Domestic workers are seen effectively as second-class citizens whose subordinate role excludes them from those rights enjoyed by other members of the community. The hierarchical gap between domestic workers and their employers is so great that the public views their status as deeply inferior. The harsh conditions they endure are tolerated not only by the public, but by the workers themselves who have been influenced by this understanding of their position. Their lower status in Indonesian society is also explained by gender prejudices and stereotypes which exist in relation to their work. Domestic work is seen as less important than other types of work as women have been doing it without formal payment for centuries.
How can I-VAWA help?
I-VAWA Increases Legal and Judicial Protection:
- Establishes new laws and supports existing laws to prevent and respond to the range of violence against women and girls, including rape.
- Trains police, lawyers and the judiciary to respond to the needs of victims, including their safety, and it enhances their ability to bring violators to justice.
I-VAWA Promotes Economic Opportunity:
- Creates programs to improve women's economic status, economic security, and educational opportunities.
- Promotes socio-economic policies in both rural and urban areas to expand:
- Access to financial and non-financial services
- Access to skills, job training and employment opportunities
- Increased property rights, social security, home ownership and land tenure security
- Access to safe schools
I-VAWA Changes Public Attitudes:
- Prevents violence by changing community norms and attitudes. The bill supports public awareness programs that emphasize community solutions in changing attitudes about condoning and even encouraging violence. Women who have survived violence will be empowered to change social norms in their communities in the role as public spokespersons for programs to teach mutual respect and nonviolent relationships.
