16 Days of Hope

By Joan Dawson

Nov. 25 marks the ``16 Days of Hope'' campaign, sponsored by the United Nations. It starts with Nov. 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence, and ends with Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day.

In between there's also Women Human Rights Defenders Day, World AIDS Day, and the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre where 14 women in an engineering department were targeted and killed.

Worldwide, violence is the number one killer of women ages 14-44. Violence against women takes many forms, such as domestic abuse, rape, homicide, bride burning or kidnapping, female genital circumcision, breast ironing, honor killings, stoning, acid attacks and sexual trafficking.

While men are also victims of violence, their causes of death in the same age category include disease, accidents, and suicide.

If you were unaware of how prevalent violence is to women, you are not alone. Violence against women is often dealt with by silence and acceptance. This can lead to impunity, which allows the violence to continue.

Often, stories about violence are scattered throughout newspapers. Collectively, they tell a story of some 1.5 to 3 million women that lose their life to violence every year. These numbers are not just statistics. They represent human lives.

When I left Korea this past summer, I went on a human rights delegation in Guatemala called ``For Women's Right to Live.'' Our delegation met with family members of victims, women's organizations, and politicians and lawyers.

In Guatemala, you see, over 3,000 women and girls have been murdered since the year 2000. Fewer than 30 cases have gone to court. And although more men are killed in Guatemala, the rates for women are rising faster and their deaths are far more brutal. They may be beaten, tied up with barbed wire, raped or strangled. Men, on the other hand, are often shot with a firearm.

During the delegation, we met with two parents in Guatemala who lost daughters. One lost her 15-year-old. The mother discovered her daughter had died when she saw her limp body on the evening news.

She went to the morgue to identify her. The daughter had been wounded. Her skull was fractured. Her fingernails were pulled back. She was raped. She was strangled.

I cannot adequately describe in words what it is like to hear a mother describe the brutal death of her child. Intense is the only word that comes to mind and it does little to convey the emotions of that day.

Unfortunately, in Guatemala, as in many places, the attitude of the populace is apathy. The attitude of the government is indifference. The attitude of the police and lawyers is pathetic.

Not unlike other countries, they blame the problem on women themselves. They blame it on her infidelity, her refusal to obey her husband, her clothing, etc. Some blame it on women's increasing status.

Others blame it on Guatemala's 36-year civil war. Although the war ended, the soldiers still walk the streets freely. Violence against women can serve a purpose: instill fear so that they may be controlled. Some point to the corruption in the police force, lack of political will, domestic violence and a machismo culture.

Nov 29: Women Human Rights Defenders Day

While activists, male and female alike, may be targeted for harassment, imprisoned or executed, women, in particular, face different forms of discrimination based solely on their gender.

Because women break social taboos by being visible and outspoken, they risk verbal abuse, sexual abuse, rape and other social consequences. Intimidating, humiliating or discouraging women from organizing and voicing their ideas censor women's freedom of expression. They can also reduce her status in the community. It can affect her reputation and employment, too.

Women may become assassination targets, as they have in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, the Philippines, and Somalia when they try to defend women's rights in public.

In Guatemala, every women's rights organization that we spoke to had been harassed. Some had break-ins. Others were threatened. Some hired guards. Simply defending women's rights put them in danger.

International Human Rights Day is a day devoted to recognize human rights and raise awareness about them. Many people in the world today still suffer from a lack of basic human rights such as food, water and security.

Others suffer from torture and lack of justice. Some injustices affect particular groups of people such as women, men, children, or the elderly; others affect us all equally. Basic or extreme, far or near, we must stop this human suffering. We cannot remain silent.

Albert Einstein said, ``The world is a dangerous place to live in, not because of the people who do evil, but because of the people who sit and let it happen.''

We don't have to sit and let it happen. 16 Days of Hope is also referred to as 16 Days of Activism. There are plenty of Web sites available to provide us with ideas on what to do.

We can simply donate to human rights organizations, do volunteer work, or write letters to newspaper editors or politicians. But we must act. Together we can make a difference.

Joan Dawson used to live and work in Korea as a high school textbook editor. She returned home to pursue her writing and interest in human rights. The above article is the second one that she has submitted to The Korea Times since returning to Washington, D.C. She can be reached at joanied@hotmail.com.