Discrimination against women remains one of the most serious human rights problems, according to UN Human Rights Commissioner Navanethem Pillay. "Too many countries systematically discriminate against women, despite binding international standards and the recognized role of women in development and the maintenance of peace and security," the South African said in an epd interview on the occasion of 60. The 10th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10. December.
Violence against women is a huge problem all over the world. Yet it is grossly neglected by decision-makers, he said. "Rape is a crime and must be punished," stressed the jurist who, as a judge on the Rwanda Tribunal and the International Criminal Court, advocated for rape in conflict to be classified as a war crime. For example, she says, sexual violence is so widespread in the Democratic Republic of Congo because it is permitted there. "Impunity is the greatest challenge."The extent and brutality of sexual violence in Congo is unimaginable, she said. "All armed groups, Congolese and foreign, have used rape as a weapon of war," Pillay says. Although casualty figures could only be estimated, she said they were almost certainly the highest in the world in the past decade. "Restrained estimates put tens of thousands of women from old age to a few months old girls."And hardly any men have ever been punished. "That has to change".Violence against women, however, is not limited to conflict regions. Despite great progress in the past century, a certain degree of impunity for sexual and other forms of violence against women remains around the globe and in all societies, Pillay stressed. This is often caused by inadequate laws or their lack of implementation. This, she said, reflects the culturally conditioned idea that women are inferior and therefore have fewer rights.In some societies, men are aware that they can beat, injure, and in some cases even kill their wives or daughters without ending up in court, he said. "What message does a state send to the younger generation when it ignores assaults by one parent against the other?"