insufficient by the
victims
representatives, among many other examples. Also the prestigious Kurdish MP and Sakharov Prize winner, Leyla Zana, threatened on 10 September to begin a hunger strike if all acts of daily violence were not put to an end;
she addressed this message to all the armed actors, and urged a restart of the negotiations. As of late July onwards, Turkey entered a scenario of a renewed war between the state and the PKK, especially after the launch of a vast military, police and judicial offensive against the PKK and the Kurdish movement, with repeated aerial bombardments in northern Iraq and areas of the south east of Turkey; the declaration of security zones, curfews, siege operations against urban centres and large scale military and police deployment; and arrests, including of journalists, of joint mayors and mayoresses, and of Kurdish activists, among other actions. In this context, the clashes between security forces and PKK guerrillas multiplied, including the actions by the PKK –which announced the end of its ceasefire in July, following the attack on a Kurdish cultural centre in Suruç attributed to ISIS– and by Kurdish urban militias.
The resumption of the war had a serious impact on civilians, including Kurdish women and girls in urban centres, mainly because of the military siege operations, which were described as disproportionate by numerous human rights advocates and organisations, both locally and internationally. Local organisations denounced deaths of civilians, including of children; cuts in electricity, water and telephone networks; blockages on access to health care; harassment of those civilians who denounce the situation, among others; and forced displacement. Women activists of the Kurdish
movement and female lawyers also reported cases of the use of sexual torture by security forces against Kurdish women and the murder of women activists.
The Kurdish movement also warned of the blocking of access to delegations of observers at various times. A women’s delegation that visited Cizre after the end of the blockade in September informed of specific impacts on women, including several abortions as a result of the stress caused by violence. Other voices, including international organisations and agencies, also expressed concern. Thus, in the context of the siege of Cizre in September, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, expressed grave concern at the escalation of violence in the country and the “alarming” information that he was received about the situation in Cizre, including serious allegations of the disproportionate use of force by security forces against civilians, the grave disruption of public life, including basic services such as health care, and a situation close to a complete news blackout. In terms of figures, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey stated that between mid-August and early February 2016, at least 224 civilians, including 31 women, had been killed in the 58 military siege operations that took place in at least 19 districts of seven cities. The civilian casualties included 42 minors and 30 people of more than 60 years of age. Particularly affected were localities such as Cizre and Silopi (Sirnak province), and Sur (Diyarbakir). Furthermore, some human rights defenders also expressed concern about the impact on civilians of the urban warfare strategy carried out by the urban Kurdish militias, given that it puts the civilian population of urban areas in a vulnerable situation.
The refugee crisis that has been going on over the last few years and that achieved great public visibility during 2015 is a reflection of the very serious consequences of armed conflict and socio-political crises on the lives of people, forcing millions of human beings to flee their homes. Analysing this human rights crisis from a gender perspective allows us to bring to light some important elements that permit a more complete and less partial approach. One factor that must be taken into account is demography.
While there are no figures broken down by sex for all the forcibly displaced persons in the world, the truth is that in recent years there has been a significant increase in the availability of statistics, and one can see from the partial data available that of the forcibly displaced population, around half are men and half women. At the end of 2014, women represented 49% of the refugee population and 52% of the internally displaced population, according to the UNHCR. However, in the refugee crisis affecting Europe, the numbers are significantly different. According to some partial statistics provided by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), of the 382,000 migrants and refugees who entered Macedonia between June and December 2015, 51.4% were adult males, 16.9% were adult women, and 29% were minors, with the latter figure not being broken down by sex.21 Different media reports have indicated, however, that most of the minors who reach European shores are boys, and especially so in the case of unaccompanied minors. According to figures provided by the UNHCR, of all persons arriving in Europe via the Mediterranean between January 2015 and January 2016, 49% were men, 19% were women and 31% were minors, the latter figure not being broken down.22 Thus, demographics do matter and should be the subject of closer attention. On the one hand they reveal the need for a deeper analysis of the reasons for this imbalance between men and women in the composition of Box 4.2. The refugee crisis in Europe from a gender perspective
21. International Organisation for Migration, Situation Report, Europe/Mediterranean Migration Response, 31 December 2015.
22. UNHCR, Refugees/Migrants Emergency Response – Mediterranean [consulted on 14 January 2016].
23. Ormhaug, Christin Marsh; Patrick Meier and Helga Hernes, Armed Conflict Deaths Disaggregated by Gender, PRIO Paper. Oslo, PRIO, 2009.
24 Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syria is still bleeding… more than 55,000 thousand persons were killed during the year of 2015, 31 December 2015.
25 Rochelle Davis, Abbie Taylor and Emma Murphy, “Gender, conscription and protection, and the war in Syria” Forced Migration Review, Nº 47, September 2014.
26. UN Security Council, Conflict-related sexual violence. Report of the Secretary General, S/2015/203, 23 March 2015.
27. Wood, Elisabeth J., “Rape Is not Inevitable during War” in Morten Bergsmo, Alf B. Skre, and Elisabeth Jean Wood, eds., Understanding and Proving International Sex Crimes. Oslo, Torkel Opsahl Academic Epublisher, 2012.
28. Hundreds of women were assaulted on New Year’s Eve in Cologne and other German cities. Some of the men arrested as suspected assailants were identified as asylum seekers, generating a response in the form of racist attacks against refugees residing in Germany.
the population that reaches European shores fleeing war and poverty. On the other, the experience itself of the process of displacement and refuge must also be addressed from a gender perspective.
With regard to the causes of forced displacement, some factors that could explain the figures would include the differential gender impacts of armed conflicts, which mean that a larger number of men are victims of forced recruitment and also constitute most of the direct casualties of armed conflict.23 Armed conflicts impact differently on men and women, a point which has been the subject of much attention by feminist researchers. These have analysed aspects which go from how gender has shaped the genesis of armed conflict, legitimising patriarchal ideologies that justify and support militarisation, to more concrete aspects such as the impact of conflict on women’s health or on sexual violence. In the case of the forced displacement of adult men, which as noted above appears to be the main demographic group within the refugee population, a key factor could be the great impact in terms of lethality of the Syrian armed conflict. During 2015, for example, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the deaths of nearly 21,000 civilians (of a total of 55,000 deaths as a result of armed conflict), of which about 9,000 were adult men and 2,000 were adult women.24 The proportion of men among dead combatants is much higher, since the presence of women in the armed groups is very low.
Another added factor to consider is the impact of forced recruitment policies. In Syria there is a policy of forced conscription for all men of 18 years of age. This has led a large number of young men to move to areas not under government control, but also, and especially with the advances by the jihadist insurgency and their growing power, has led to an increase in the number of men fleeing the country.25 Despite the ban on any man of between 18 and 42 years of age leaving Syria without prior authorisation and despite the restrictions of countries like Iraq and Jordan on Syrian men entering their territory, the fact is that many Syrian men are crossing borders illegally and resorting to the trafficking networks to reach Europe. In the case of women, one of the factors provoking displacement would be the impact of sexual violence. The UN Secretary General’s report on sexual violence in armed conflict presented in March 2015 explains how women who have fled Syria frequently refer to the fear of sexual violence as one of the important factors behind their decision to seek refuge.26 Sexual violence can be used as a military strategy in armed conflict not only because it allows the “clean up” of a territory but because such actions also ensure that the will of the population to return to that territory will be much reduced.27 Moreover, many women report having been the victims of sexual violence during the journey undertaken to reach Europe, or having been forced to resort to sex to cover the high costs of illegal access to Europe.
It is also important to analyse from a gender perspective not only the causes of forced displacement or the dynamics that take place during the transit to countries of refuge, but also what happens once those people fleeing war arrive in Europe. Women face specific difficulties in the processes for obtaining asylum, since gender violence is not always recognised as a motive which justifies access to this fundamental right.
Moreover, the humanitarian assistance provided to refugees does not always respond to gender criteria; it often doesn’t take into account specific aspects, such as attention to the sexual and reproductive health of women, or deal with sexual violence. With regard to men, especially in the case of young men travelling alone, sometimes they are perceived as a security threat, since they are subject to the stereotypes of combatants or terrorists, and it is not always recognised that on many occasions such men are fleeing to avoid having to actively participate in the use of violence. These gender stereotypes are sometimes mixed in with other racist and Islamophobic prejudices concerning Muslim men, such as in the reports of sexual assaults against women in Cologne,28 highlighting the importance of carrying out an intersectional analysis that addresses the complexity of the situation, taking into account the fact that sexual violence always responds to dynamics of inequality and the abuse of power between men and women.
Thus, the refugee crisis that is affecting Europe is shown to be a phenomenon of enormous complexity that must be analysed from a gender perspective which highlights how inequalities between men and women, as well as gender roles, have a clear impact on the causes, dynamics and consequences of the forced displacement of the population, as well as on the responses to it.
29. For a broader evaluation of the high level review, see: María Villellas, 15 years of resolution 1325. An assessment of the women, peace and security agenda. ICIP/ACCD, 2015.
30. See for example: WILPF, Through the Lens of Civil Society: Summary Report on the Public submissions to the Global Study on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, WILPF, 2015; Danielle B. Goldberg, Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Survey for the Global Study on Women, Peace and Security. CSO Perspectives on UNSCR 1325 Implementation 15 Years after Adoption, GNWP, Cordaid, ICAN, NGOWG on WPS, 2015;
María Villellas, Enhancing women’s participation in peace processes. Submission to the Global Study on Women, Peace and Security, Escola de Cultura de Pau, 2015.
31. For a complete list of the commitments taken on by Governments in October 2015, see: http://www.peacewomen.org/member-states/call-to-action-2015.
4.3. Peacebuilding from a gender perspective
This section discusses some of the most important initiatives aimed at incorporating a gender perspective within different areas of peacebuilding.
4.3.1. Resolution 1325
The year 2015 marked the 15th anniversary of the adoption by the UN Security Council of resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. Coinciding with this anniversary, an extensive review was carried out of its implementation over those 15 years by the United Nations, governments and civil society.29 For this pur-pose different evaluation reports were presented and dan open debate was held at the Security Council. In addition to the UN Secretary General’s annual report, submitted to the Security Council in accordance with the provisions of the resolution, the United Nations presented the Global Study on the Implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 pro-duced independently by the expert Radhika Cooma-raswamy. In addition, the Security Council adopted a new resolution, 2242 (2015), which comes on top of the seven previous resolutions that make up the agen-da on women, peace and security — 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013) and 2122 (2013).
The Global Study conducted by Radhika Coomaraswamy represents the most comprehensive review that has been carried out so far into the implementation of resolution 1325. It is based on a comprehensive review of this implementation, including specific research on the various issues involved as well as numerous consultations with the different stakeholders (civil society, governments, regional organisations and the United Nations), providing relevant conclusions.
The study, which insists that resolution 1325 must be interpreted as a human rights mandate for the international community, provides evidence of the importance and the positive impact of the inclusion of the gender dimension in conflict prevention and peacebuilding –especially in peace processes and agreements– emphasising the importance of reinforcing prevention, as against the use of force and the securitisation of conflict. In addition, it notes the many challenges that remain for its implementation. Among these one could highlight the fact that most of the advances made are still far from being standard practice
and are rather “first achievements”. It is also noted that the persecution and prosecution of sexual violence is very limited; that it has not been possible to demonstrate that the regulatory frameworks have served to deter future acts of violence; and that the underrepresentation of women at all levels is a persistent practice, especially in peace processes and peacekeeping missions, where the equal and meaningful participation by women is still a distant goal. The report also identifies as one of the greatest obstacles the lack of funding for the agenda on women, peace and security. Another of the challenges identified refers to the rise of extremism and of violent antiterrorism policies which have a severe impact on the lives of women. In the process of preparing the report various consultations were carried out with civil society, which presented contributions to enrich the report.30 The study makes a number of recommendations and proposes lines of action for Member States, international organisations and civil society:
• No to militarisation: yes to prevention.
• The women, peace and security agenda must be respected as a human rights mandate.
• Mediators of peace processes and leadership of UN field missions must be proactive with regard to women’s participation: the presence of women makes peace sustainable.
• Perpetrators must be punished and justice must be transformative.
• Localisation of peacebuilding programmes must involve the participation of women at every level and be supplemented by a comprehensive security plan to protect women and girls in the aftermath of conflict.
• Funding women peacebuilders and respecting their agency is one important way of countering extremism.
• All key actors must play their role: Member states, regional organizations, media, civil society, youth.
• It is necessary to work toward a well-informed security council that applies a gender lens to all issues that come before it.
• Across the board, 15% of all funding for peace and security must be earmarked for programmes impacting women.
• Toward a strong gender architecture at the United Nations, in the field and at headquarters.
As noted above, during the holding of the open debate at the Security Council, resolution 2242 was approved and Member States took on a series of commitments to improve the implementation of the women, peace and security agenda.31 With regard to the new resolution, its terms refer to issues such as the financing of the implementation of the women, peace and security
32. See “The gender perspective in peace processes: inclusion and sustainability” in chapter 5 (Opportunities for peace in 2016).
agenda; the integration of gender within the analysis and the work of the different United Nations entities;
the strengthening of the participation of civil society and the integration of the agenda on women,
peace and security within the so-called fight against terrorism and the fight against violent extremism. The latter was one of the major issues throughout the whole revision process of the 15 years of implementation, and revealed tensions and differences between governments’ agendas and civil society’s priorities. Women’s organisations expressed their concern that the agenda on women, peace and security may be used to legitimise militarist actions that may come to involve violations of human rights, at the service of governmental
interests and policies, and stressed the importance of strengthening the process of empowerment of women living in contexts affected by extremism. They pointed out the difficulties involved in categorising violence and making distinctions between extremist violence and other forms of violence. However, there was agreement on highlighting the serious impact of violence on the lives of women in those contexts that the international community identifies as affected by extremist violence and the ongoing violations of their rights which these women have to face up to.
With respect to the open debate at the Security Council, it should be noted that this had both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, there was a significant presence of governments, an indication that this agenda has managed to achieve a higher political profile over recent years. In addition, the resolution adopted as a result of the debate was approved with the support of a large number of Governments. On the negative side, one must point out the fragility of the commitments adopted, which do not allow to conclude that there is political will to advance substantively in the implementation of the agenda. Many of the commitments listed in the resolution refer to activities that are already being carried out by the different countries and the sums promised in the financial commitments are very small. Thus, it becomes clear that governments give importance to the issue because of the visibility it has acquired internationally, but that there is no genuine desire to reinforce its implementation.
With regard to the implementation of resolution 1325 by other organisations, it should be noted that the
With regard to the implementation of resolution 1325 by other organisations, it should be noted that the