Campaigns to End Violence against Women and Girls - Virtual ...

The campaign achieved that (i) the Rome Statute recognized a range of GBV as war
crimes and crimes against humanity, (ii) the ICC Rules of Evidence and Procedure and
the ICC Elements of Crimes appropriately defined the gender-based crimes and had
gender-sensitive evidentiary rules and procedures, and (iii) qualified, deserving
candidates including women have been appointed to serve as ICC judges.
Challenges:
� Finding allies beyond the women’s movement: In the 1 st phase, national delegates
and fellow NGOs did not show much interest or support for the recognition of gender-
based crimes. The Caucus overcame resistance by producing well-researched
documents showing how women were targeted in war and the general impunity for
crimes against women.
� Different understanding of and national contexts for addressing gender-based
crimes: Apart from general lack of gender awareness, some Latin American country
delegates and Vatican-supported women’s groups opposed the positions of the
Women’s Caucus, for example, on the issue of forced pregnancy. With differing
national legal systems, some issues were more relevant to be included in the statute
to coalition members from particular countries. Some delegates were also
apprehensive of inclusion of sexual orientation. Despite the challenges, the Caucus
managed to decide on the issues by consensus among all members.
For recent information on gender-based crimes before the ICC, see the Women’s
Initiative for Gender Justice website.
Source: Based on an interview with Vahida Nainar, former Director of the Women’s
Caucus for Gender Justice.
Case Study: The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign (in Farsi) (Iran)
A successful advocacy campaign had imposed a moratorium on stoning for adultery in
2002. However, in 2006, Iranian human rights activists found that several women and
men were sentenced to death by stoning. In response, Iranian women’s rights activists
launched the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign in August 2006 as a coordinated
response to the resurgence of stoning as a sentence for adultery.
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Campaigns December 2011