Annual Gathering of the Group of Women
Parliamentarians (2012)
“Citizen Security for Women, a
Parliamentary Task“
Valparaiso, May 9-10, 2012
WHEREAS, the
delegates representing all 4 regions of the Americas, namely North America,
Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, met at the 2012 Gathering of
the Group of Women Parliamentarians of the Americas held in Valparaíso, Chile,
on May 9-10, 2012; and
WHEREAS, the
purpose of the meeting was to discuss the issue of Citizen Security for Women,
which comprises the phenomenon of femicide, the trafficking in women and girls,
and the global crisis of women’s human rights; and
WHEREAS, men
and women participants debated on the causes of human trafficking, gender
violence, labour violence, systemic sexual violence against women, poverty,
discriminatory policies and practices (on account of gender, ethnicity, HIV
carrier status, migratory status, refugee status, displacement, pregnancy,
disability, childhood or old age, unfavourable economic situation, armed
conflict or deprivation of liberty, in addition to limited access to
education); and
WHEREAS, participants
identified gender violence as an issue affecting girls and women alike,
regardless of their age, ethnicity or social or economic level, thus requiring
a multi-sectoral and transnational debate; and
WHEREAS, some
laws are currently in force that provide for the protection of women and girls
in particular, which laws should be more effectively enforced, and new
legislation should be passed in order to strengthen the legislative capacity of
Member States; and
WHEREAS there
is a pressing need to standardize data collection criteria and research protocols
in order to create national statistics; and
WHEREAS, participants
agreed that national budgets should reflect government priorities,
NOW, THEREFORE, WE RECOMMEND
1. Reasserting the international
conventions on women’s human rights, including the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action endorsed by the
Fourth World Conference on Women, the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Belem do Pará Convention, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, the International Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD), and particularly, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.
2. Creating a system for sharing concrete
positive experiences. It is essential to legislate in a participatory way and
to involve the executive and legislative powers in order to approve budgets
that are in line with the intended goals. Furthermore, effective ongoing
oversight and assessment of public policies should be provided.
3. Promoting education and
awareness-raising mechanisms through parliaments in order to prevent violence
at an early age. This requires a clear definition of all the elements involved
in human trafficking and femicide in order to support the detection,
prevention, and prosecution of such crimes.
4. Raising awareness on human trafficking
and its causes in order to comply with the legislation in force and promoting
new laws to prevent human trafficking and prosecute traffickers, as well as to
protect the rights of victims and of those who may be vulnerable to
trafficking.
5. Exercising surveillance through
parliaments to ensure that national budgets are more consistent in terms of the
allocation of resources to the agencies in charge of preventing, identifying,
and treating gender violence, labour exploitation, and human trafficking.
6. As far as Member States are concerned,
redefining their economic models in order to consider excluded populations and
those people who are more vulnerable to trafficking, taking into consideration
the economic incentives involved in human trafficking. In redefining economy,
greater attention should be paid to the demand for human trafficking and on
those suspected of engaging in arm and drug trafficking, as well as on illegal
trade practices.
We wish to thank all men and women who
participated at the 2012 Gathering of the Group of Women Parliamentarians for
their valuable contribution to drafting this document; our special
acknowledgment to the representatives of Trinidad and Tobago, Senator Lyndira
Oudit, and of Dominican Republic, Deputy Lucía Alba, for their suggestions.