Defending Human Rights: A Resource Book for Human

Members of the Kenyan Women Parliamentary Association
(KEWOPA) said it was a historic day:
“I have fought for 18 years to achieve this
legislation. Today is independence day for
women. Men got their independence in
1963 - but today women have achieved
independence from the cruel hands of
society” 28 said Sophia Abdi Noor.
Although the legislation is an exceptional step forward, it
takes more than just legislation to truly eradicate a practice
that is so deeply embedded in a culture, and WHRDs
continue to engage in this campaign. 29
Uganda:
In Uganda, women’s organisations; Akina Mama wa
Afrika, Action Aid International Uganda, Isis-WICCE and
Uganda Women’s Network attempted to stage a play
entitled “Vagina Monologues”, that addressed the high
incidence of sexual violence against women including
genital mutilation, incest, and sexual abuse. The play which
had been successfully staged in Kenya, was however,
banned by the Media Council for allegedly glorifying
what it called unnatural sex, i.e. masturbation, lesbianism
and homosexuality. The Council’s action amounted to
the restriction of freedom of expression and proof of the
power of patriarchy that is still prevalent in most decisionmaking
bodies. In the process of heated public debate,
the organisers experienced hostility and defamation by
government officials as well as other public figures. In a
more recent incident, the Minister of Ethics and Integrity
“advised” a leading hotel in Uganda not to provide a venue
for a workshop on sex workers’ rights which led to the
organisers being forced to relocate the workshop.
Ethiopia:
In 2001, the Ethiopian Government temporarily suspended
the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) and
froze its accounts for what it called “engaging in activities
different from those it was mandated by law”. 30 This
occurred following EWLA’s criticism of the Ministry of
28 Ibid According to this news article at the time of the African
Union summit in June which proposed prohibition of FGM,
Benin, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana,
Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Kenya, Central African Republic, Senegal,
Chad, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda already had legislation against
it. There are nine countries (including those where it is illegal) it
is still widely practiced: Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea,
Mali, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan, 85% of women undergo
mutilation.
29 IRIN News Article “Kenya: Legislation failing to curb
FGM/C” 2nd June 2011. http://www.irinnews.org/report.
aspxreportid=92869
30 Human Rights Watch (2001) Ethiopia: Government Attacks
Women Lawyers, October 17, 2001. http://www.hrw.org/
press/2001/10/ethiopia-1017-ltr.htm
Justice for failure to effectively prosecute a perpetrator
of ongoing domestic violence. EWLA, one of the few
outstanding NGOs in Ethiopia working for equality
and social justice, had to leave hundreds of cases of
domestic violence unattended during the period of the
suspension. The act of the Government constituted a clear
infringement on the freedom of expression and right to
disseminate information. However, EWLA was later able
to achieve a reinstatement of its operation through a
court verdict after the Minister of Justice was transferred
to a different portfolio. Tactics such as this continue to
be used by governments of the East and Horn of Africa.
In response to this trend, the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders,
Margaret Sekaggya, addressed this issue within a report
issued December 2010 in preparation for the 13th session
of the Human Rights Council. The SR instructs that no
state is permitted to implement measures of “intimidation,
profiling, confiscation of assets, suspension of activities
and exclusion from national consultative processes” on the
basis of discrimination.
Gender-Based Challenges
A decisive challenge women human rights
defenders face in their work is that the defender’s
sexuality is often central to the campaign against
their work. Often women human rights defenders
are targeted in a way that aims at hurting them
as women, 31 such as sexual violence and rape.
Minority rights defenders advocating for the rights
of gays and lesbians have faced attacks and the
threat of “curative” rape accompanies their work.
‘Sexuality-baiting’ is often used to “intimidate,
humiliate, embarrass, stifle or discourage women
from addressing issues of sexuality, sexual or other
human rights.” 32 This can take various shapes, most
of them aiming at compromising the credibility
and respect yielded by a defender. Labels such as
lesbian, alien and anti-culture are used to discredit
and de-legitimise the rights they are fighting for,
as well as their right to speak out. The persistent
tabooing of sexuality and sexual rights works as
a support for those attempting to silence women
human rights defenders.
Impunity for perpetrators
Acts violating the rights of WHRDs target individual
woman human rights defender as well
31 A/HRC/16/44, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human
Rights Defenders Margaret Sekaggya’s Report to the Human
Rights Council 20th December 2010. Found at paragraph 87 page
17. The report refers to a communication sent in 2005 from the
Central African Republic about an attempted rape of a woman
defender’s daughter, and the threatened rape of an LGBT activist
in Kenya.
32 Supra n. 6 page 8
Defending Human Rights: A Resource Book for Human Rights Defenders | 2nd Edition 35