War an increasing threat to women
By Deirdre Graham
Women are increasingly at risk of being victims of human rights abuses because of an increasing number of nationalistic movements worldwide says the human rights group Amnesty International.
Prior to the fourth UN Conference on Women in Beijing in September, Amnesty hopes to increase public awareness of abuses against women — mothers being shot in Brazil for searching for sons, nuns being imprisoned for composing independence songs in Tibet, women in Algeria being shot dead for leaving their heads uncovered, women being flogged in Sudan for wearing trousers and in Indonesia women like trade unionist Marsinah being raped and murdered for organising strikes.
"Rape is used in war as a political weapon. In Bosnia-Hercegovina it's been used as a form of ethnic cleansing", said spokeswoman Malyni Mohamid.
"Women are seen as legitimate spoils of war. There is no country in the world that treats women as well as men.
"The increasing nationalistic and sectarian violence means women are at threat. Women are caught in between."
However, clear progress had been made and it was hoped the UN Conference would give governments a chance to commit themselves to standards such as not allowing perpetrators of abuses to go unpunished.
Amnesty wants the conference to conclude that governments are responsible for human rights violations committed by their forces and that all international human rights standards apply to women.