The CERD Committee has noted that racial discrimination does not always affect women and men equally or in the same way. There are circumstances in which racial discrimination only or primarily affects women, or affects women in a different way, or to a different degree than men. General recom. 25. (General Comments) General Recommendation XXV Gender Related Dimensions of Racial Discrimination (Fifty-sixth session, 2000). Asia-Pacific NGOs have documented examples from the Asia-Pacific region which prove that the oppression women suffer because of their race, religion, caste, ethnicity, nationality and other socio-political categories is aggravated by the discrimination they face because of their gender. As a result, women, more than men, are subjected to double or multiple manifestations of human rights violations.

Women’s rights are human rights. Therefore, a human rights framework for the conference necessitates that sex and gender should not be left out in the discussions on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other related intolerance. Intersectional discrimination must be examined based on the daily experiences of women and girls, within both private and public spheres. Using this framework, we are working to hold state and non-state actors accountable for intersectional forms of discrimination against women and girls.

CAUSES / SOURCES

The root causes for racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance against women in the Asia-Pacific can include globalisation, poverty, political and social oppression, ethnic, religious, gender and caste-based discrimination, situations of violence and armed conflict and migration and trafficking. The same causes of racism can also simultaneously be the outcomes of racism.

Racism against women is both structural and individual. Structural racism is generated by the way economic, political and social institutions operate, which deny people equal access to jobs, education , medical facilities, family planning, housing, land and other basic services and resources. The impact of this is then cited by governments and media as a social problem.

Violence against women, which is a violation of women’s human rights, is a direct and abhorrent manifestation of racism, xenophobia and intolerance in the Asia-Pacific region. Such violence takes the form of familial violence in the instances of honor killings , as communal and military violence in the mass rape of women from ethnic minorities, as discrimination against Dalit women on the basis of caste distinctions.

Violence against women is also manifested as state violence in situations of armed conflict through rape, forced relocation, forced labor, torture, summary executions of women, forced deportation, and racist State policies denying or limiting public representation, health care, education, employment and access to legal redress.

The increasing instances of rape, custodial rape, forced pregnancy, sexual torture of women in communities, women prisoners and refugee women by state and non-state actors in situations of armed conflict should also be a cause of serious concern in this World Conference against Racism. Ideological frameworks developed by extreme forms of nationalism and fundamentalism which reify women’s image as ‘bearers of the culture and values’ lead to the widespread occurrence of sexual assaults against women as political acts of aggression.

Alarmingly, racism, xenophobia and other related intolerance have been used by state and non-state actors to incite armed conflicts over resources and rights within and between countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The growing poverty in the region stemming from inequitable processes of globalisation intensifies such conflicts resulting in blatant violations of women's human rights. Some of the peoples are compelled, as a last resort, to recourse to rebel against the tyranny and oppression.

In these situations of armed conflicts, the State is overwhelmingly the violator of human rights and international humanitarian law. It is the military, paramilitary and police forces which massacre, kill, torture, rape, burn, loot and arbitrarily arrest people. The few cases of excesses by the liberation/resistance forces are magnified by the state and imperialist media to discredit the people. Transnational Corporations working with the complicit consent of the State, to exploit natural resources, are also responsible for committing related racial and gender based violations of women’s human rights, acting .

There are also cases of armed conflicts between ethnic groups. There are cases of an ethnic majority imposing its will and depriving ethnic minorities of their comprehensive rights. In these cases, the ethnic majority control the state and use the state's military power to obliterate the minorities by massacres or by driving them out of the borders. Ethnic cleansing, which involves the systematic large scale forced pregnancy of women from ethnic minorities, is especially destructive to women.

VICTIMS

Some of the more vulnerable groups of women whose lives are impacted by racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in the Asia-Pacific include:

• Women in situations of armed conflict;
• Dalit women;
• Women in Migration and Trafficking;
• Women of ethnic minorities;
• Women of religious groups;
• Indigenous women.

MEASURES/ /REMEDIES AND STRATEGIES

Recommendations

Intersectionality of Race and Gender

• A gender perspective is incorporated into the development of all strategies, policies and programmes which may include affirmative action, to address racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, in order to address the multiple discrimination against women.

UN Treaties

• Member states ratify the ICERD, CEDAW, ICCPR, ICESCR, the ICC Treaty, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, adopt the Draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ratify all other pertinent international instruments for the protection of fundamental human rights;
• Standards on women’s human rights codified in international instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Beijing Platform for Action must be integrated in the framework of the Declaration and Programme of Action of the WCAR and in the implementation and monitoring of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

UN Related Measures

• The High Commissioner for Human Rights ensure that all the mechanisms of the human rights system, including rapporteurs, treaty bodies, commissions and expert meetings incorporate an intersectional analysis of discrimination in their work;
• The High Commissioner for Human Rights support the introduction of a UN Special Rapporteur to look at the impact of intersectional discrimination on the basis of race and gender;
• CEDAW and CERD have a joint meeting to consider and issue general recommendations on the impact of intersectional discrimination on women and girls based on racism, related intolerance and other identities;
• All UN bodies, member states and human rights organisations undertake to include an intersectional approach to all data gathering and analysis, by including race and sex disaggregated data. This applies to a spectrum of mechanisms including human rights documentation, reporting to human rights treaty bodies, fact finding missions, policy recommendations, and in making and implementing commitments under platforms and plans of action adopted at world conferences.

Legal Measures

• Member states identify and implement a wide range of legislative, judicial and executive strategies to address the causes and manifestations of the intersection of gendered racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, related intolerance and meet their obligations under international agreements they have signed and ratified;
• Member states implement policies and programs to reduce gendered racism in the judiciary, law enforcement and the legislature

Education:

• Member states promote greater social and political respect for all forms of diversity through educational curricula, community programmes and the mass media;
• Member states provide access to education and training for women from vulnerable groups (eg. indigenous women, economically disadvantaged women, Dalit women, women from ethnic minorities etc.) as a strategy for addressing the economic, social and political disadvantage experienced by women from vulnerable groups.

Economic Development Measures

• The international community hold trans-national corporations, international, regional and national development and finance institutions and international and national development organisations accountable for discriminatory practices on the basis of racism, race discrimination, xenophobia, related intolerance and gender discrimination which perpetuate marginalisation. All member states take appropriate measures to put an end to the impunity of these actors.

Caste

• All member states give full consideration to the elimination of caste as an insidious and deeply entrenched form of discrimination, in the form of related intolerance, on the basis of work and descent
• All member states recognise that caste discrimination is a contemporary form of slavery that should be abolished and the abolishment be enforced, even where the perpetrators are States or State agents.
• Member states ensure Dalit women’s right to livelihood, right to land, right to life, right to protection from violence, right to participate in decision making structures, and equal access to all State and private sector institutions.

Indigenous Peoples

• Member states implement measures to enable indigenous people’s rights to self determination be realised; acknowledge and support the survival of their unique cultural relationship with their land, including allowing access and ownership of lands; and ensure the right to use their traditional knowledge in line with international human rights standards;
• All member states undertake to redress and reform the inherently racist legislation, policies and programmes that have displaced, marginalised and severely discriminated against indigenous peoples and which have contributed to the removal of their land rights, the decimation of their cultures and their heightened vulnerability in situations of migration and trafficking;
• Member states strengthen the Draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by recognising rights specific to indigenous women in the Declaration.

Migrants and Trafficked Persons

• Member states address the exploitation of labor, particularly of women and children, and the continuing destitution of vulnerable sectors of society in the context of globalisation.
• Member states amend immigration legislation and policies to improve accessibility, especially of women and children, to legal forms of migration, and ensure transparency of the processes related to migration.
• Member states promote and protect the health rights of migrant women workers and trafficked persons, including providing access to adequate health services and occupational safety measures.

Ethnic and Religious Minorities / Groups

• All member states ensure the full range of human rights are upheld for all members of ethnic minorities and religious groups, with special attention be given to removing any discriminatory policies and programs, on the basis of race and gender, that impact on women from ethnic and religious groups;
• All member states to protect women of ethnic minorities and religious groups from violent actions committed by state and non-state actors in situations of armed conflict;
• The right to citizenship be enforced for all ethnic minorities, and especially for women within these marginalised groups.

Youth

• All policies, programs and activities identified for addressing race, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, account for the needs of youth, particularly young women, who are impacted upon by multiple forms of discrimination.

Refugees

• UNHCR update their definition of refugees and individual status determination procedure to ensure that rights of people who are evicted by ethnic violence and women at risk are protected
• UNHCR support the better integration of women in refugee camp management and policy making and management system for relief and rehabilitation.

Violence Against Women/ Armed Conflict

• Member states undertake all measures without delay for the elimination of all forms of violence against women, including stringent measures in dealing with state and non-state perpetrators of violence, and providing access to remedies for women who have been subjected to violence.

Democratic Participation and Governance

• Member states promote forms of governance that are based on principles of equality and non-discrimination and that reflect the full diversity of humanity.

APWLD
Santitham YMCA Building 3^rd floor, Room 305-308, 11 Sermsuk Road, Soi Mengrairasmi, Chiangmai 50300 Thailand; Tel: (66 53) 404 613-4, Fax: (66 53) 404 615 Email: apwld@loxinfo.co.th Website: www.apwld.org