Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

Today is the first day of 16 days of activism to stop violence against women and I welcome the opportunity to address the House on this important matter.

Violence against women is a pervasive human rights abuse and is, unfortunately, an increasingly common feature of today's conflicts. It is used as a means of brutalising women. The violence is often extreme and can cause lasting physical and psychological damage. HIV-AIDS is a real risk for the victims. Such rapes may cause pregnancies which can result in victims being socially outcast and greatly impoverished. They may also ruin existing marital relationships or destroy the prospects of marriage.

The consequences of such violence are not solely confined to the victims. The intention of those who practise this violence is not only to terrorise their victims, but to terrorise the groups and communities to which they belong. Violence against women is often part of a ruthless and barbaric strategy to ethnically cleanse certain areas and is a prime instrument in the displacement of people internally and as refugees.

For all these reasons, gender-based violence must be recognised by the international community. Measures must be put in place to ensure we tackle it effectively. This means preventing it, in so far as is humanly possible, and properly dealing with the aftermath for those unfortunate to be its victims.

Last year, at the initiative of Amnesty International, a group of Irish development and human rights non-governmental organisations came together with the Department of Foreign Affairs to discuss how best to respond to the high levels of rape being reported in the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. All concerned recognised that the problem must be looked at in a systematic manner, rather than on a case by case or area by area basis.

Officials in the Department and representatives of the agencies involved formed a consortium to identify how best to develop institutional capacity to respond on a systematic basis to violence against women. The consortium included personnel from the Department, Amnesty International, Concern, Christian Aid, Child Fund of Ireland, Dtalk, Goal, Trócaire and Self Help. It commissioned research to identify current practice and this led to a report, launched by Mrs. Mary Robinson and the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, on 18 November. On that day, a round table meeting was held with the NGOs involved and they made commitments in their programmes to tackle violence against women. I am pleased to say that Mrs. Mary Robinson has taken on an oversight role in this regard and will review progress in 12 months' time.

The Department recognises violence against women as an extremely important human rights issue. It is an integral element of armed conflict and extremely widespread. It is systematically used as a weapon of war and is on the increase, especially in Africa. Some of the statistics are truly staggering. It is estimated that up to 75% of women in Liberia were raped during the conflict in the 1990s. In Rwanda, between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the genocide, and a decade later 67% of survivors are HIV positive.

Even in the context of humanitarian relief operations women are vulnerable to sexual exploitation in return for food rations, safe passage and access to essential goods and services. This reflects a profound failure by the international community to protect the fundamental rights of populations affected by conflict.

The report published by the Department of Foreign Affairs in co-operation with the Irish NGOs recognises the need to listen to the voices of women, especially those who are victims of violence. Their voices need to be heard at a political level. We must co-ordinate our response, not just at political level but in the field. Programmes must be designed that aim to reduce the incidence of violence and respond to the needs of women in areas where widespread abuse has taken place. In this regard, the Government is committed to putting in place significant appropriate financial resources.

This report is only the beginning of a process which I hope will, over the coming years, make a real difference to the lives of women in developing countries. I thank all involved in the preparation of this excellent report, including Mrs. Mary Robinson, for agreeing to be part of this important initiative. I am sure she will play an important leadership role in ensuring that the Initiative will be effectively implemented over the coming years.

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