New U.N. Framework for Legislation on Violence against Women Released (November 2008)

Good practices in legislation on violence against women, a report of the expert group meeting organized by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in May 2008, has been released.  The expert group was convened in response to the Secretary-General’s 2006 in-depth study on all forms of violence against women and General Assembly resolution 61/143.  The group studied different legislative approaches to violence against women and developed this model framework for legislation based upon best practices and lessons learned. 

Cheryl Thomas, Director of the Women’s Program of The Advocates for Human Rights, is a member of the expert group and served as Rapporteur.

Roundtable on Draft Domestic Violence Law and Report Launch in Tajikistan (October 2008)

In October 2008, The Advocates for Human Rights sent two staff members to Tajikistan to convene a roundtable on The Advocates’ Commentary to the draft Tajik law “On Protection from Family Violence,” at the invitation of UNIFEM. The Advocates welcomed the opportunity to speak about the provisions of the law during the drafting process and before the enactment of a law which might harm victims. The Advocates also launched the report Domestic Violence in Tajikistan, written in 2006 and updated in 2008. The report provided 19 specific recommendations for the Tajik government’s response to violence against women, and will provide guidance for legislators and practitioners as they work out the details of the draft law.  The staff members also attended a two-day conference entitled “Innovative Approaches to Domestic Violence” which was sponsored by OSCE and held in Dushanbe.  Experts from 20 different countries participated, including Georgia, Moldova, Macedonia, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Finland, Scotland, Austria, France and Spain.

The Advocates Releases Report on Domestic Violence in Tajikistan

Domestic Violence in Tajikistan (October 2008)

Domestic violence is a serious problem in Tajikistan.  In November 2005 and April 2006, The Advocates for Human Rights sent delegations to Tajikistan to investigate the government and community response to domestic violence.  The delegations conducted over one hundred interviews of domestic violence survivors, national and local government representatives, judges, prosecutors, members of the militia, doctors, religious leaders, attorneys, representatives of non-governmental organizations, representatives of international organizations, academics and a journalist.  Once the interviews were completed, The Advocates drafted a human rights report that analyzes the response of both the criminal justice system and civil law to the problem of domestic violence, outlines Tajikistan’s obligations under international law, and includes recommendations for addressing this human rights violation.  The Advocates has also compiled an addendum, which provides a two-year update of current conditions and new developments in Tajikistan since the initial draft of the report.  The report is being released in conjunction with The Advocates’ delegation to Tajikistan in October 2008. 

The Advocates Publishes Sex Trafficking Needs Assessment for the State of Minnesota (Originally published September 2008; revised edition October 2008)

Sex trafficking violates women and children’s basic human rights, including the right to be free from slavery and slavery-like practices; the right to equal protection under the law; the right to be free from discrimination based on race, nationality, and gender; and the rights to life, security of person and freedom from torture.  Governments also violate trafficked persons’ rights when they fail to prevent sex trafficking, prosecute perpetrators or provide trafficked persons with effective remedies for these violations, such as access to courts and legal immigration status.

At the request of the State of Minnesota’s Human Trafficking Task Force, The Advocates for Human Rights has prepared and published a needs assessment on sex trafficking in Minnesota.  The report examines the government response to this issue at the local, state, tribal and federal levels; identifies facilities and services currently available to trafficking victims in Minnesota; assesses their effectiveness; and makes recommendations for coordinating services to better meet the needs of sex trafficking victims statewide.

Click here for the full report.

Click here for the Executive Summary.

Click here for the Appendices.

Women's Program Director in Vienna for Expert Group Meeting on Legislation on Violence Against Women (May 2008)

Cheryl Thomas, Director of the Women’s Human Rights Program, was one of 15 experts in Vienna for the United Nations Expert Group Meeting on good practices in legislation on violence against women that took place on May 26-28, 2008.  The meeting was hosted by the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDAW/DESA) in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Experts came together in Vienna from around the world, including Fiji, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States to analyze different approaches to laws on violence against women, assess lessons learned in the implementation of these laws, and recommend standards for future legislation.

On May 26, each participant presented a paper prepared in advance of the expert meeting.  The presentations provided the first opportunity for the experts to meet as one group and to begin discussing legislation from around the world on violence against women.  On May 27, the group was split into two working groups, one which discussed domestic violence legislation and another which discussed sexual assault.

Currently, each working group is drafting papers summarizing the discussions in their respective groups and recommendations reached by the groups through consensus.  The recommendations are intended as guidelines based on the expert knowledge and legislation already in place.  These guidelines are expected to assist governments with existing laws on violence against women and to develop new legislation.

To access the UN website for the meeting (including the expert papers), click here.

Women's Program Invited to Provide Training in Yerevan, Armenia (May 2008)

The Women’s Rights Center (WRC), an NGO in Yerevan, Armenia, has invited the Women’s Human Rights Program to conduct advocacy and lobbying training with the WRC Working Group in June 2008.  The Working Group is an interdisciplinary team of representatives from the government and non-governmental organizations who are working on the development of the draft law on domestic violence.  The upcoming training constitutes another step in the process of enacting a law to ensure victim safety and promote offender accountability.

The WRC Working Group has been working hard over the last several months to draft the Republic of Armenia Law on Domestic Violence.  Recently, the WRC organized a roundtable discussion of the draft law with fifty-one representatives from Ministry of Social and Labor Issues, Yerevan City Hall, Science, Social and Health Departments of Yerevan District Communities, and international and non-governmental organizations.  To read more about the roundtable discussion, please click here. The training on advocacy and lobbying will take place in Yerevan, Armenia on June 24-25, 2008. 

In 2000, The Advocates for Human Rights published a report on domestic violence in Armenia.  To access the report, click here.

Cheryl Thomas to Participate in U.N. Expert Group Meeting on Violence against Women in May 2008

Women’s Human Rights Program Director Cheryl Thomas was selected to be one of 15 experts from around the world to participate in a United Nations Expert Group Meeting on good practices in legislation on violence against women in Vienna on May 26-28, 2008. The meeting is being hosted by the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDAW/DESA) in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The expert group will analyze different legislative approaches; assess lessons learned in regard to laws and legislative reforms on violence against women; and identify effective approaches and recommend future strategies for legislation on violence against women.

The meeting is in response to the December 2006 study on all forms of violence against women by the Secretary-General of the U.N., as well as a U.N. General Assembly resolution of 19 December 2006, calling upon Member States and the United Nations system to intensify their efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women.

As part of her participation in the meeting, Cheryl Thomas will prepare and discuss a paper on effective legislation on violence against women in the region of Eastern Europe, where we have worked for fifteen years.

The expert group will be developing guidelines and a model framework for legislation on violence against women, to be used by States as they continue to work on legal reform on this critical issue.

The Advocates for Human Rights and Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation Launch New Report on Bulgaria's Domestic Violence Law (April 2008)

The Advocates for Human Rights and the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF) are pleased to announce the release of a new publication, Implementation of the Bulgarian Law on Protection against Domestic Violence: A Human Rights Report.  On March 16, 2005, Bulgaria passed a new law to combat domestic violence.  Since then, thousands of victims of domestic violence have come forward to use the law to obtain protection against their abusers.  In 2006 alone, more than 2,000 cases of domestic violence under the new law were brought before the courts, resulting in 800 orders for protection.

Throughout 2007, the Advocates and BGRF conducted human rights monitoring to investigate implementation of the law by all principals, including the state, police, judges, prosecutors, media and NGOs.  This report presents the findings and makes recommendations to improve implementation of the law.  This report was produced with the support of the Oak Foundation and UNIFEM.  Please click here to read the report.

Regional Conference on Domestic Violence Legal Reform in Sofia, Bulgaria, February 12-14, 2008

A summary of the conference, along with an extensive listing of conference materials and presentations and a photo gallery, is available on the Stop Violence Against Women website here.

Regional Conference on Domestic Violence Legal Reform Featured in Minnesota Women's Press

The February 20, 2008 issue of Minnesota Women's Press featured extensive coverage of the recent Regional Conference on Domestic Violence Legal Reform in Sofia, Bulgaria (February 12-14, 2008).  The Advocates' Women's Program co-presented the conference with the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation and sent a team of four staff members and three long-time volunteers to the conference.  Read the complete article here.

Landmark I-VAWA Legislation Introduced in Congress

The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) was introduced in the U.S. Congress by Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) on October 31, 2007.  After two years of development led by Amnesty International USA, the Family Violence Prevention Fund and Women’s Edge Coalition, and in consultation with more than 150 U.S.-based experts (including The Advocates for Human Rights) and 40 international women’s groups, the landmark legislation provides funding of $1 billion over 5 years to combat violence against women and girls on a global scale through international assistance programs.

The Women’s Human Rights Program was asked to comment on language in the legislation on several occasions, and did so with input from several of our Advisory Committee members, including Aviva Breen, Loretta Frederick, and Mary Louise Klas.  Much of our suggested language was retained in the final form of the legislation.

In addition to the financial assistance programs in 10-20 targeted countries, I-VAWA would organize gender-related activities of the State Department in one centralized office, the “Office for Women’s Global Initiatives”.  A third component of the legislation provides a more effective response to violence against women and girls in humanitarian crises, conflict and post-conflict situations.

For more information about I-VAWA, including what action you can take to help pass this historic legislation, please see the Amnesty International website here.

Training for Judges, Prosecutors and Police in the Republic of Georgia (October, 2007)

At the invitation of the non-profit group, the Anti-Violence Network of Georgia, The Advocates for Human Rights sent a team to Tbilisi, Georgia from October 1 – October 10, 2007 to train judges, prosecutors and police on best practices for implementation of the new Georgian domestic violence law.  Traveling to Georgia to train these legal professionals were Cheryl Thomas, Director of the Women’s Program, Judge Mary Louise Klas, Judge Kathryn Quaintance and Loretta Frederick, Legal Counsel for the Battered Women’s Justice Project.  The Advocates for Human Rights Executive Director Robin Phillips joined the team in Georgia after her visit to the Liberian refugee camps in Ghana. 

The Advocates for Human Rights presented three 2-day trainings to a total of 70 police officers, prosecutors and civil and criminal court judges.  Participants were from the capital city of Tbilisi and from the regions of Georgia.   The trainings focused on Georgia’s new domestic violence law, passed in the summer of 2006.  The law includes an Order for Protection remedy for victims of violence, a new remedy which is being tested throughout the region.   The following topics were discussed at the trainings: model police, prosecutor and judicial response to domestic violence; coordinated community response; evaluating evidence in domestic violence protective order applications; risk evaluation; custody issues; and strangulation in domestic violence cases.  Participants also discussed their experience to date with the implementation of the new law.  Police reported that almost 400 restrictive orders (similar to a protective order) had been issued under the new law over the past year. 

The trainings were part of an ongoing collaboration between The Advocates for Human Rights and groups in Georgia working to end violence against women and child abuse.  In particular, The Advocates for Human Rights has worked in partnership with Georgian NGOs and IGOs on legal reform – including extensive consultation with legal professionals in drafting a new domestic violence law.  In 2005, The Advocates for Human Rights hosted in our offices in Minneapolis a group of 12 legal professionals from Georgia for two weeks of discussions on best practices in legal reform on domestic violence.  The Georgian group was then in the process of drafting their new domestic violence law.  This law passed in Parliament in the summer of 2006.  The group observed domestic violence hearings in Minnesota courts, rode along with police officers in squad cars and learned about Minnesota’s history of legal reform on domestic violence from advocates, prosecutors, police and judges.   In 2006, the United Nations invited The Advocates for Human Rights to conduct research on domestic violence and child abuse in Georgia.  The report on this research, published in January 2007, identified strengths and weaknesses in the Georgian government’s response to domestic violence and child abuse and included recommendations for improvements.    

The Advocates for Human Rights congratulates the advocates and legal professionals in Georgia for their demonstrated commitment to ending domestic violence, and is grateful for the opportunity to work in partnership towards our common goal. 

At the invitation of Global Rights Morocco, The Advocates for Human Rights Women’s Program Director, Cheryl Thomas, traveled to Fez, Morocco in October to present at a workshop entitled "Promoting a Law on Violence Against Women in Morocco".  Participants at the workshop were representatives of women’s advocacy groups from around the country who are providing direct services to victims of violence and working on advocacy and awareness campaigns to lay the groundwork for a new domestic violence law in Morocco. 

The two-day workshop included discussions about model domestic violence laws and policies from around the world, highlights of civil and criminal legal reform efforts on domestic violence from other countries, including the order for protection remedy, strengths and weaknesses of domestic violence legal reform and Morocco’s current laws relevant to violence against women.  Other presenters at the workshop were Moroccan human rights lawyer Maitre Ahmed Arrehmouch and Payal Saksena of Global Rights, India.  The culmination of the two-day workshop was a simulated presentation to a panel of Moroccan parliamentarians (portrayed by the workshop presenters) of a new domestic violence law.  Participants were asked to write five important provisions of a new law and support them in a presentation to Parliament.   Participants selected key concepts learned over the two-day workshop to include in a draft law.   

The Advocates for Human Rights is grateful to be able to share our experience in legal reform on domestic violence with these dedicated Moroccan women’s rights advocates.

Third Season of Women's Human Rights Film Series Announced (October, 2007)

The third season of the Women’s Human Rights Film Series, presented by The Advocates for Human Rights and the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, will feature six presentations of film and discussion from October through March.  All screenings are free and open to the public.  New this year are additional screenings of each film at the Humphrey Center on the University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus, hosted by the Center on Women and Public Policy. 

For a complete listing of dates and descriptions, click here.

Regional Conference on Domestic Violence Legal Reform Announced (October, 2007)

The Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation and The Advocates for Human Rights, with the support of the Oak Foundation and the Open Society Institute’s Human Rights and Governance Program, are pleased to announce that the Regional Conference on Legal Reform on Domestic Violence will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria on February 12 – 14, 2008.

The Advocates Concludes Fact-Finding Mission to Bulgaria (July 2007)

The Women’s Human Rights Program successfully completed a two-week mission to Bulgaria to monitor implementation of the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence. Since the law passed in March 2005, The Advocates has worked with its longtime partner, the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF), to train police and judges on the implementation of the law. The Advocates is currently working with BGRF to document the challenges and successes of the law’s implementation and to make recommendations to improve the government’s response.

From July 3-18, staff attorneys Mary Ellingen and Rosalyn Park visited six cities in Bulgaria, including Sofia, Plovdiv, Pleven, Ruse, Varna and Burgas, accompanied by lawyers from BGRF. The team conducted thirty interviews with lawyers, judges, police, prosecutors, and NGO representatives. The team observed many positive things happening throughout the country, including more effective assistance to victims of domestic violence where there is a strong NGO presence and a coordinated community response is in place. For example, police in one city described their plans to establish a center for police and NGOs to jointly address prevention and to provide consultations to victims, replicating an already successful model in Sofia.

There is still a need, however, for greater public awareness and use of the law. In addition, NGOs in Bulgaria need greater resources, and there is a severe lack of shelters. Furthermore, the law currently requires that the application for a protection order be filed within thirty thirty days of the domestic violence act, thus posing obstacles to victims seeking protection. Also, interviewees stressed the need for legislative changes that would criminalize violations of protection orders and increase criminal penalties for acts of domestic violence. Based on these and on earlier findings, The Advocates will publish its conclusions and recommendations in a report this fall.

Letter to the Editor from Women's Program Staff in July 16, 2007 Star Tribune

Women's Program Staff Attorney Angela Bortel and Director Cheryl Thomas submitted a comment to the Star Tribune on their July 7th coverage of a brothel raid in Minneapolis.  It was published as a letter to the editor on July 16th.  Read the full text here.

"Journey to Safety" at National Criminal Justice Conference (June 26, 2007)

 An audience of nearly 500 criminal justice professionals from around the country gave a standing ovation to a performance of Journey to Safety at a national conference for arrest grantees in St. Paul on June 26^th.  The performance by Pangea World Theater took place at the “Milestones & Momentum: Strengthening Community Responses to Violence Against Women” conference presented by the Battered Women’s Justice Project.  The performance consists of a series of vignettes showing the obstacles battered refugee and immigrant women and their families face in accessing social services and obtaining justice, including language, culture, pressure from their community to remain silent, and concerns about immigration status.  Conference attendees also received copies of the “Journey to Safety: The Battered Immigrant Woman’s Experience” Video and Facilitator’s Guide, the training package created by The Advocates with Pangea World Theater and the Battered Women’s Justice Project.

Women's Program Selected to Conduct Human Sex Trafficking Needs Assessment for the State of Minnesota (May, 2007)

The Women’s Human Rights Program at The Advocates has been selected by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Justice Programs to conduct a human sex trafficking needs assessment for the state.  The assessment, requested by the Minnesota Trafficking Task Force, will identify facilities and services currently available to trafficking victims in Minnesota, assess their effectiveness, and make recommendations on how the community might better coordinate and serve the needs of trafficking victims statewide.  In preparing this assessment, we will apply the documentation and fact-finding techniques we developed in our overseas work and have adapted through our local work to analyze the services available to and the barriers faced by trafficked persons when seeking safety and support.  The Advocates will publish its findings in a report due out in the summer of 2008.

The Women’s Program of The Advocates for Human Rights Provides an Assessment of Domestic and Child Abuse for the UN Country Team in the Republic of Georgia (May, 2007)

Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Georgia: An Assessment of Current Standings of Law and Practice Regarding Domestic Violence and Child Abuse in Georgia, and Recommendations for Future United Nations Country Team Involvement has been published by the United Nations Country Team in Georgia.  The authors of the Assessment are The Advocates for Human Rights and the Institute for Policy Studies in Georgia.

The UN Country Team in Georgia includes the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia (RC).  The authors of the assessment evaluated current research and conducted numerous interviews with law enforcement professionals, social and medical service providers and legislators in order to assess the problems of domestic abuse and child abuse in Georgia and the response of governmental agencies, international institutions and social service agencies to these complex issues.

The authors also made recommendations to the UN Country Team to support Georgia’s government institutions, social service organizations and advocacy organizations as they meet the challenges of implementing the new Law of Georgia on Elimination of Domestic Violence, Protection of and Support to Its Victims to better provide safety for abuse victims and accountability for offenders.  The law, enacted in May of 2006, addresses both domestic abuse and child abuse. Commentary on the new law is included in the assessment.