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Issue 2: Defining the Problem

On the Record: Women of Southeast Asia Fight Violence
Issue 2: Defining the Problem
March 4, 1999

• Opinion by Indai Lourdes Sajor: Women's Human Rights: Integral, Distinct, and Vital
• Conference Report: The Problem
  • Defining Women's Rights
  • Southeast Asia – A Region of Violence Against Women
  • How the Economic Crisis Affects Women
  • Patriarchal Society and Political Power
  
  

Opinion by Indai Lourdes Sajor:
Women's Human Rights: Integral, Distinct, and Vital

"We try to give a voice to women who speak in sighs...."

It was only recently that women's rights has earned its place in the human rights community. This has happened because women died for its recognition.

Today, we know that women's human rights are integral to the universality of human rights. They are distinct because the violations are done only to the women. They are vital because they address the issues of more than 50 percent of the world's population.

Human rights today has become a byword for all; the means by which all the victims can be given a voice and a face. But women have carved a vision that goes far beyond the conventional notion of rights.

This defines rights from the point of view of the woman and her community. While recognizing that the state has become the greatest violator of the rights of its people, women also define violations of non-state actors in terms of human rights.

In the constantly changing landscape of human rights, women and men are challenged to make these rights a reality. Exposing violations becomes the first concern. In order to give credence to new forms of violence against women, and the pattern and magnitude of such violations, it is very important that these cases are identified and documented. Even as violence against women within traditional structures is being made known, new patterns of domestic violence and violence within communities due to ethnic conflict and communal struggles are emerging.

The ethic of consumerism is providing a new breeding ground for prostitution, sex trafficking, and child labor. While male power and control have been identified as the cause, this has also to be linked to the deepening crisis in modern society brought about by economic globalization. For instance, sexual violence is more than just an individual crime committed by individual men in a patriarchal society. It is organized gender-based violence perpetrated against women by the forces of the state, by police, fundamentalists, communal forces, and armies that seek to exercise control through terror.

The participants of the recent training session in Phnom Penh, Cambodia looked at these issues from their own personal experiences and from the perspective of women in their communities. The Asian region is characterized by diversity as broad as the ricefields and complex as the rainforests, by cultures as old as Angkor Wat, and by traditions as long as the Mekong and Yangtze rivers. Asian women have experiences that are particular to their region and specific to their cultures, but also common to their condition as women. Recognizing their inalienable rights demands recognition of both their diversity and of their shared humanity.

In defining rights we used methods of inquiry that are not invasive, but rather put instruments in the hands of the women. Training was not a simple path from definitions to demands, because the very concepts and definitions actually emerged as part of the process. As we gathered information about the experience of the women, we realized that they were learning about oppression even as they informed us. In doing documentation, investigation, and monitoring, we realized that we were looking for something that we did not fully recognize and that we were drawing on contributors, and material that was complex and rich.

Asia is composed of societies with a moralizing tradition. Many of the darkest sorrows of women are impossible to discuss in the light of day or in the public marketplace. While remaining sensitive to custom and cultures, in our search for justice we try to look for the code words and secret understandings that women have developed to express their anguish. We try to give a voice to women who speak in sighs and through deeds. We try to unearth the real facts by using our creative instincts to spot telltale indicators, or similar conditions. We cannot always expect answers in direct response to a direct question, because the subject may be too shameful, or too dangerous. But there are often other ways of asking.

We must understand that we are striving to define a concept in an alien environment. The accepted context and boundaries of human rights have been set out by societies ruled by men and oriented around the sanctity of the individual. Like the sea, the land, and its fruits, women have been seen as tools, vessels, and resources.

But promoting women's human rights means seeking out another vision of human rights that sees women as people, and places them in the environment of which they are part. Otherwise violence against women will continue to be accepted as normal, even as the world changes for the worse. That cannot be permitted, any more than it can with war, hunger, and scarcity.

• Indai Lourdes Sajor was jailed for political reasons under the regime of Ferdinand Marcos, the former dictator of the Philippines. She is executive director of the Asian Centre for Women's Human Rights (ASCENT). tel: 632-928-4973; fax: 632-533-0452;  email ASCENT.

Conference Report: The Problem

Defining Women's Rights

How can women claim separate and distinct rights when they comprise over half the world's population? Surely, protecting human rights implies protecting the rights of women as well?

This is the first question to be answered in any discussion of women's rights. When human rights were first defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in 1948, it would not even have been asked. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration declares that human rights are universal and are enjoyed by all persons without discrimination. To the extent that women had a separate identity, it was as wives and mothers.

As times have changed, it has become sadly clear that women face discrimination because they are women. The challenge facing women's groups has been to identify and eradicate these forms of discrimination. An important step was made with the adoption, in 1981, of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This convention prohibits not just overt discrimination, but any practices that perpetuate the inequality of women.

But CEDAW does not go far enough. As society evolves, so do abuses. For example, when the Universal Declaration was drafted in 1948, women were thought of as nurturers and part of the family. Protect the family and women would be protected, went the thinking. Today, women are understood to enjoy rights independently of the family. Indeed, the family can – in extreme circumstances – even be a source of violence and discrimination against women. (One thinks of female genital mutilation, domestic violence, forced marriage.) Discrimination, of course, can take many forms. New forms appear constantly in a changing world – for example, based on sexual orientation, or against those suffering from HIV/AIDS infection.

As a result, the human rights campaign is forever taking women's groups on the trail of new abuses. As Indai Sajor explained, women's sexual and reproductive freedoms do not receive full protection as women's human rights. Women activists, says Sajor, must continually campaign for the clarification and advancement of rights, as well as expose and protest violations of rights already well established.

To say that human rights are constantly evolving is not to say that the core content varies from region to region or culture to culture. This needed to be stressed, because the seminar was taking place in a region where several leaders have challenged the basic notion of "universal" human rights and argued that human rights is a "Western concept" and that Asia has different "values." Asians, they say, settle their differences through reconciliation, not confrontation or challenge. They also argue that "Asian society" views government as a provider and a support – instead of a threat to individual liberties.

This has been rejected by human rights campaigners. The core notion, they agree, is holding governments accountable for their commitment to uphold and protect rights and freedoms. Any attempt by Asian governments to be held to a lesser standard is a crude attempt to avoid criticism.

Southeast Asia- A Region of Violence Against Women

Parts of Southeast Asia have enjoyed high levels of education and health, economic growth and strong government. All are preconditions for the fulfillment of women's rights. In spite of this, women suffer from a wide range of abuses throughout the region; in some ways, it is a litmus test of the problem.

This starts with old-style repression in Burma, of the sort that has fallen out of fashion in this post-Cold War era. The military seized power in 1962; in 1988 opposition to military rule erupted into massive countrywide protests, which translated into a sweeping victory by democratic parties in the 1990 elections; instead of stepping gracefully aside, the military responded with more violence. The impact has been felt by both men and women – particularly women who have played a prominent role in the democratic movement. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratic leader, has been under house arrest throughout the 1990s. Ayea Khaing, from the Burmese Women's Union, told the seminar how she had been arrested at the age of 17, and beaten in jail. But it is the byproduct of repression – practices like forced labor and the massive expulsion of refugees to Bangladesh and Thailand – that have fallen most heavily on women.

In Indonesia, women on the island of Aceh have suffered from war. Aceh was under military rule between 1989 and 1998, leaving a terrible legacy. According to one seminar participant, Cut Zahara from Indonesia, there are 39,000 widows on the island. Even today, she says, rape is still employed by the military against local women as an instrument of terror.

Last summer, Indonesia was struck by a wave of protests against the rule of President Suharto. While many sympathized with their goal, the protestors also took the opportunity to vent their rage against Indonesia's Chinese minority, which had flourished economically under Suharto. They chose rape to make their point, showing how sexual violence against women can even be used as an instrument of political revenge. These terrible acts were monitored with great courage by the Volunteers Team for Humanity. (A profile appears in issue three of this series.)

Domestic violence is prevalent throughout the region, according to participants. But in Cambodia, according to Seth Mardy of the Project against Domestic Violence (Phnom Penh) it has reached epidemic proportions. One reason is Cambodia's legacy of political violence. Up to two million Cambodians died from exhaustion, starvation, and forced labor during the era of the Khmer Rouge. Coming after a decade of war, this unleashed a culture of violence that still takes a toll on women. In one 1994 report by the Project against Domestic Violence, one woman recalled how her husband – a former Khmer Rouge soldier – came home drunk and took an axe to her and their son. "I could kill you whenever I want, and no one would know," he said. "I have eaten human liver raw."

How Economic Crisis Affects Women

Asia shows how economic crisis – and a misguided international response – falls heavily on women, greatly increasing their vulnerability to abuse.

The problem is particularly acute in Thailand, where a sudden run on the currency (baht) in the summer of 1997 triggered the regional crisis: 100,000 Thais have been laid off; 80,000 were women who were employed in the kind of low-paying, low productivity jobs that were the first to be sacrificed.

The same is true of migrant workers. Of the million migrants in Thailand, 800,000 are from Burma, and half of them are women. They do the risky, tedious work that Thais don't want to do, but this did not save them from dismissal and deportation when the crisis struck. According to Nataporn Ongwisith, from the Migrants Assistance Programme in Chiang Mai, the law allows them to bring complaints against an abusive employer. But for many that means confessing to being an illegal immigrant – and hence inviting deportation. Many do not know the language. They also receive little help from union leaders, who tend to be men. In short, the entire economic structure acts against women. This rendered them vulnerable to added discrimination when crisis struck.

Pornpit Puckmai, from EMPOWER in Chiang Mai, said that economic hardship is forcing more and more women into prostitution. These women act through agents, and start work with a debt. They have to work harder and harder just to clear the debt – at grave risk to their health. But they receive no compensation if they contract AIDS. Sex-work is not protected by labor laws in Thailand.

Women are also vulnerable to economic change in Vietnam, even though Vietnam's economy has been thriving since being opened up in 1986. Vietnam's large, low cost labor force has attracted foreign investment and led to scores of joint ventures. Many make labor-intensive products like clothing, footwear, and processed food. These industries have traditionally employed women. Often, however, conditions are unsafe, working hours are long, facilities for women are non-existent. There is no legal protection, and many factories do not have union representatives. Physical and sexual abuse is common in these foreign-owned companies, but the women workers rarely complain – so desperately do they need the money.

Of course, women would be vulnerable to sexual and domestic abuse even if times were normal. The economic crisis has merely made it worse – much worse. Throughout Asia, women have found themselves out of work, or having to work more for less money. As the family budget shrinks, the potential for domestic abuse grows.

Patriarchal Society and Political Power

Participants agreed that women of Southeast Asia live in a patriarchal society, and this makes the problem worse. What does it mean? It means that in the Philippines and Indonesia, women struggle to supplement the family income, often putting up with abuse in the workplace. At home, however, they have no economic power. The husband's signature is required to buy a washing machine. The woman of the house might earn the family income, but she is not entitled to take out monthly loans. Women might even pay for the home – but the contract of purchase can only be signed by a man. Yet if the husband owes money or defaults on a loan, the family's entire assets goes down with him.

In other words, women lack equal protection where it all starts – at home. "Cambodians use the word power a lot – men want to have the power." says Seth Mardy. "To break patriarchy we must stand up to it. Many times it is women who subjugate themselves."

It is widely assumed that Asian women are "passive and weak." If so, there are reasons for it. The 1994 report from the Project against Domestic Violence in Cambodia, referred to above, found that of 24 women who left their husbands, all but one returned home. Why did they put up with further abuse? Because they were afraid that their children would be looked down on without fathers, and because they had no home to go to. (Money was less important: in 40 out of the 50 families surveyed, the woman was the primary provider). In addition, widows have much higher standing in society than divorcees.

Patriarchy also extends to politics. Women are prevented from effecting change because they lack political power. Several constitutions state that women and men enjoy equal rights, but this is rarely the case because men make the laws. Participants at the seminar engaged in a lively discussion on this. They noted that there are 24 Senators in the Philippines, but only four are women. In Cambodia, there are only seven women members among the 122 members of the National Assembly, where the laws are made. Of the 30 parties in Cambodia that fielded candidates in the most recent elections, three represented women – but none of their candidates were elected.

The structures of society are dominated by males, and the laws are not always favorable or protective of women. Many crimes against women – particularly those of sexual violence, like sexual slavery, incest, and trafficking – are not even punishable under law. In other cases, notably abortion in the Philippines, the law is so unfriendly to women that a woman has to go underground, at considerable risk. The law could be changed to provide clinics to assist women, or a health system that can help women achieve their choice. But it doesn't – one more sign that the roots of discrimination go deep into society.

In the next issue: The Solutions

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