Standing Committee of the Executive Committee
of the High Commissioner's Programme

(35th Meeting)

7-9 March 2006

NGO Statement on Agenda Item 5 - International Protection
(iii) Issues related to women at risk

Mr. Chairman,

The NGO community fully supports the proposal for an Executive Committee Conclusion on displaced women and girls at risk and welcomes UNHCR's background discussion paper on issues related to women at risk.

We welcome the extensive efforts taken so far by UNHCR in its range of guidelines and policies. We also welcome efforts by States in asylum procedures, and issuance of guidelines or introduction of sex/gender category in national legislation, but note that these approaches are not uniform. We support the proposal of an EXCOM Conclusion, and believe it can translate into the enhanced protection of women and girls by establishing criteria for identification at the field level, and detailing appropriate protection solutions both during displacement and when promoting durable solutions.

We continue to witness a myriad of human rights violations against displaced women and girls during all stages of displacement - sexual exploitation; harmful traditional practices including early, forced marriage and female genital mutilation; torture; abandonment; involuntary recruitment into militia and armed forces; the denial of rights of women, their spouses or partners including the right to earn livelihoods; abduction and trafficking; the lack of access to humanitarian assistance; and challenges in providing services on an equitable basis - and in matters such as education and livelihoods, lack of access to land and inequitable property rights, especially upon return, and the lack of meaningful participation in decisions affecting their lives.

Displaced women and girls continue to be marginalized and remain amongst the most vulnerable of groups within displaced communities. Moreover, these violations are often cyclical, with a history of repetition throughout all phases of displacement. Many displaced women and girls experience multiple traumatic events, including repeated sexual and gender based violence as a form of persecution, during flight, as IDPs, or in countries of first and subsequent asylum. The impact of each event is compounded by ensuing incidents and further compounded by lack of adequate protection. This creates extreme levels of risk and vulnerability to further abuse and trauma.

The failure of the international protection regime to respond to refugee women and girls at risk has been documented in refugee situations around the world. This includes in protracted refugee and IDP situations across Africa and Asia, and most recently - as documented by the Human Rights Commissioner Loiuse Arbour in her 2005 report - in the ongoing humanitarian emergency in Darfur Chad and Uganda. This systemic failure can lead to further incidences of violence, exploitation, sexual abuse and even death.

While comprehensive statistics are hard to come by, we present the following as an indicative example: in post-conflict Sierra Leone, the Rainbo Centre, which provides holistic services to refugee, IDP and returnee survivors of gender-based violence in Freetown, Koidu, and Kenema, reported the following statistics for the months of May - July 2005:

• 251 sexual assault cases reported during the three month period.

• 84% of the reported cases were rape cases.

• 60% of reported cases were girls between the ages 11-15; an additional 20% were girls between the ages 6-10.

Again, the statistics provided were reported cases. We know that many if not most cases of exploitation go unreported. We also know that these problems are not limited to West Africa but have been acknowledged and reported in refugee and IDP camps, settlements, and impacted urban areas throughout the world from Tanzania through Nepal to Colombia.

Recent research has documented statements made by UNHCR staff which supports the widespread nature of rape and sexual abuse of displaced women, such as: "If you can find a woman in this camp who has not been raped I will give you a prize!;" and "But they are all at risk - do you want to resettle every woman in this camp?"

This research has highlighted that although risk is high for all displaced persons, and in particular for women and girls, that in all populations there are some women and girls who face specific risks related to their gender or sex. There is an urgent need to identify and respond to these women on an individual basis as well as collectively. Although resettlement criteria for women at-risk exists, research has demonstrated various problems with its execution including: confusion over the definition; inconsistency between UNHCRs resettlement criteria and the ones various countries are applying; failures in implementation due in part to lack of adequate training of all staff involved in resettlement processes; disregard of rape and sexual abuse as sufficient grounds for resettlement; a culture of distrust of refugees' stories, or a disbelief in the extent of the abuses women and girls are facing; a lack of access to resettlement; lack of access to education; poor quality of physical, social and legal protection available; and slow response time among resettlement countries.

The pervasive denial of the livelihood and movement rights of the 1951 Convention and other international norms is also a factor in dependence and vulnerability to sexual exploitation and sexual and gender based violence in all phases of displacement. This is so not only when states deny women their rights to work, practice professions, run businesses, own property, move about freely, and choose their place of residence; women and girls are also increasingly vulnerable to violence and abuse when states deny men these rights. Addressing these problems is an international responsibility. Donor countries should direct development aid toward the empowerment of all displaced people, especially women, and the communities that host them to realize their rights. In addition, it must be assured that the existence of a definition of women at risk only in the context of resettlement does not mean that all other protection strategies and durable solutions are not actively pursued for women at risk.

As an international community, we have repeatedly failed to offer displaced women and girls effective protection. Clearly better guidance is needed at both the field level and resettlement country level on how to better identify and protect those at most risk.

A Conclusion on Displaced Women and Girls at Risk might articulate and/or lead to the following:

• An identification of risk factors which predispose displaced women and girls to risk, translated to;

• A better understanding amongst UNHCR staff, ExCom member States and partners, of the risks faced by displaced women and girls in various contexts including prior to and during flight, during displacement, upon return and in resettlement;

• The development of tools to better identify, assess and monitor the situation of displaced women and girls at risk, including the development of obligatory case management systems;

• The full participation of displaced women and girls in identifying their protection needs and implementing solutions,

• The engagement of men and boys in the promotion of and understanding of women' and girls' concerns;

• The promotion of gender sensitive interviewing techniques, and interpretation for displaced women and girls including the use of same-sex interviewers and separate interviews from accompanying male family members when UNHCR and states undertake refugee status determination and resettlement interviews;

• The promotion of early and simultaneous pursuit of durable solutions including early identification of women or girls at risk who have legitimate reasons for not wishing to integrate locally or return to their home or communities of origin;

• More timely, effective and responsive resettlement programs for displaced women and girls at risk;

• The empowerment of women to engage in livelihoods and support themselves with the rights to work, practice professions, run businesses, own property, and freedom of movement and the special vulnerability of women and girls to dependency, exploitation, and abuse even when men are denied these rights.

• The provision of education as key preventive element for physical, psychological and cognitive protection;

• A reiteration of specific and often unique social service needs for this population upon resettlement including schooling, counseling and psycho-social support;

• The development and implementation, in partnership with displaced women, girls and their communities, of viable, timely and effective protection solutions for women and girls at risk during displacement. This should include a range of short and medium term measures which would include access to safe houses, Safe spaces and Safe shelters in and outside camps, boarding schools or schools outside camps and relocation to another camp.

• Enhanced organizational accountability for the protection of displaced women and girls at risk.

In practice, community involvement in risk identification, prevention, and intervention are the most successful means of reducing the protection risks faced by displaced women and girls. Women and girls must be involved in their own protection and their communities, including the men, must be similarly engaged. Moreover, in terms of community-based involvement and in order to fully participate in decisions affecting their lives, in identifying their protection needs and solutions, women and girls should have access to good quality education services and vocational training. Education is not only a durable solution but also a protection tool that needs to be also addressed in situations of emergencies, and throughout the displacement circle. For enhanced effectiveness, these community-based responses should be supported by additional interventions, such as the provision of security personnel, the presence of female staff, and the availability of requisite health services and livelihood opportunities. It is, however, only through individual assessments and individualized responses that we can adequately address the unique protection concerns facing women and girls.

We, therefore, advocate for a strong Executive Committee Conclusion that provides specific risk factors to aid the identification of women and girls at risk, promotes mechanisms for robust monitoring of those at risk, emphasizes the role of the community in their own protection, and proposes urgent and longer term protection solutions that are practical - including expanded resettlement for this group.

Thank you.