- On Monday, The International Criminal Court began a trial against Uganda’s Army senior commander Dominic Ongwen for crimes that include rape. Convictions at the ICC for sexual violence are a hugely important step for justice in the international community.
- On Tuesday, Ohio’s legislature passed an almost complete abortion ban with no exceptions for rape. According to international standards, denial of abortion services for rape victims constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
- Also on Tuesday, the Nigerian police pronounced the order of an investigation of a case of Nigerian officials raping and impregnating women and girls in displacement camps after a Human Rights Watch report was released in October. Victims of war rape are entitled to safe abortion services under international law.
- On Thursday, it was announced that a women’s rights bill will go to parliament in 2017 in Burma to better protect Burmese women from violence. Violence against women in Myanmar is a severe problem, and a new legal framework is fundamental to fighting this.
- Today, is the UN’s International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. Today, we commemorate those Yazidis who are victims of ISIS’s acts of genocide.
Global Justice Center Blog
On the International Day of Commemoration of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide the International Community Must Act to End Ongoing Genocide Committed by ISIS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—December 9, 2016
[NEW YORK] — Today the United Nations marks the second International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of the Crime. On this day, as we reflect on the legacy of genocide, yet again the international community is failing to take action in face of an ongoing genocide. ISIS is committing genocide, including through acts of rape and sexual slavery, against the Yazidi and other ethnic minorities, and the world must take immediate action to stop these atrocities.
GJC in Brussels
GJC meets in Brussels this week with EU decision-makers to raise awareness of the new anti-abortion restrictions likely to be put in place by a Trump-Pence Administration, and what this means for the important strides the EU has taken to protect rape victim’s right to abortion services in armed conflict.
Eliminate the Chilling Effect
A Hindrance on Abortions to Rape Victims
by Eva Marie Wüst Vestergaard
US abortion restrictions constrain abortion speech and services around the world. Under a Trump administration, it is likely these restrictions will be expanded, causing confusion for providers and harming women raped in war.
For the past six years, the Global Justice Center has worked to lift the US abortion ban on foreign aid. The Helms Amendment stipulates that US funding cannot be used for any kind of abortion speech and services. However, this does not constrain foreign organizations from using other funding for abortion activities as long as their funding is segregated. This latitude is not well known and in the aftermath of the US election, it is now also imperilled.
The Mexico City Policy or the Global Gag Rule (GGR), imposed by Reagan, requires that foreign organizations receiving US funds for family planning activities cannot perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning. Foreign organizations under GGR are allowed to spend other funding for abortion speech and services in the cases of rape, incest, or if the “mother’s life would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term”, as these are not methods of family planning.
The GGR has continuously been rescinded under democratic presidencies and reinstated under republican presidencies. It was rescinded by President Obama eight years ago and will most likely be reinstated by Trump. When the GGR is reinstated it produces a “chilling effect” on providers of abortion services around the world.
The chilling effect refers to the fact that US abortion restrictions are so complicated and incomprehensible that providers avoid any activity on abortion as a preventive measure to avoid the risk of losing funding. It is, for example, a common misconception that the Helms amendment is a total ban on abortion speech and services, whilst the ban only covers US funding, not alternative segregated funding.
Should a reinstatement of the GGR become a reality, foreign organizations may be likely to disregard abortion services in spite of having autonomy to provide them to rape victims and other cases that are not defined as family planning. Therefore, it is vital to be fully informed of what these restrictions entail, be wary of misconceptions, and eliminate the chilling effect that hinders raped women’s right to abortion around the world.
GJC's Shadow Report Featured by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
GJC's Shadow Report to the Committee against Torture on Sri Lanka’s Abortion Law was highlighted by the International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion.