UNFPA Statement on Combating Violence Against Indigenous Women And Girls: Article 22 Of The UN Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples

This statement addresses violence against indigenous women and girls with a particular focus on Latin America and Africa. It highlights some lessons identified at the community level that have proven effective in addressing violence among indigenous women, youth, and girls. The statement is addressed to the Eleventh Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples Issues of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

"At country level, UNFPA has also been carrying out initiatives in Latin America and Africa aimed at addressing the issue of gender based violence, particularly sexual violence and recognizes the need to step up efforts in attending this serious phenomenon.” Projects mentioned include:

• In Rwanda and Tanzania, UNFPA supported women's organisations by providing support to the "Gender Networking Programme" - strengthening a platform or mechanism through which indigenous women were able to advocate for their human rights and denounce the different forms of violence they experience.
• "Together with the Vice Ministry of Justice in Bolivia, UNFPA provided support for the inclusion and active participation of Indigenous Women in the Traditional Indigenous Justice System, so they may create awareness and address violence through existing indigenous mechanisms and customary law."
• "In Colombia, UNFPA supported the ONIC [Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia] in carrying out an assessment of Violence against Women, in order to address the increased sexual violence suffered by women, indigenous adolescents and youth in Nariño.... [I]t also carried out efforts aimed at strengthening the ¨Women and Family Offices¨ of the AWA peoples of Nariño, and promoted spaces for open dialogues among AWA women with their families, communities and local authorities."
• "Also in Colombia, UNFPA and the MDG [Millennium Development Goals] Spanish Fund continued supporting the elimination of FGM [Female genital mutilation] among the Emberá. Through a non-coercive and non- judgmental effort, the promotion of community awareness on the harms of the practice took place, and through collective decision making, the Embera Women, their families, communities and authorities publicly committed to abandon the practice and support the consolidation of an environment that facilitates and supports change."
• "In Guatemala, in collaboration with the Ixmucane Association and CICAM, UNFPA is supporting efforts to empower indigenous women and youth on legal frameworks and...it is rolling out an advocacy plan promoting partnerships with civil society organizations aimed at debating the importance of access to the justice and to reparation for indigenous women, victims of sexual violence, as a result of armed conflict."

Some of the lessons from these initiatives are the following: 

• “The need to promote participation and systematic processes of reflection for the empowerment of indigenous women, youth and adolescent girls, and their organizations;
• The need for respecting agreements between indigenous communities and institutions in order to ensure increasingly productive dialogues;   
• The need to promote full appropriation of these processes through respectful technical support, empathy and encouragement;
• The need to recognize that norms and procedures that sanction gender based violence and sexual violence are scarce; and
• There is a need for promoting the participation of indigenous women in local, traditional justice committees, recognizing the important role that they can play in supporting the administration of justice. "