Check out a new video released by the Global Justice Center about rape as a weapon of war, the US Helms Amendment and humanitarian aid. 

Denying access to abortion for women and girls raped in war denies them their rights under the Geneva Conventions. Tell President Obama to Overturn Helms.

Join the Global Justice Center One Billion Rising Twitter Chat, February 13, 12pm-1pm. #LiftTheBan #OneBillionRising

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At the UN

• The UN Security Council affirmed its 2013 declaration of the rights of women impregnated by rape in armed conflict to abortions in October 2014. Read the statements by the Netherlands and Australia at the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security affirming the abortion rights of girls and women raped in war.
• Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in his September 2014 Report on sexual violence in conflict underscored the need for safe abortions for female war victims and emphasized that international humanitarian law governs medical care for female victims of war, not national laws.
• The Dutch and French governments also made statements at the UN Security Council, acknowledging that women raped in war are entitled to abortion services under the Geneva Conventions in April 2014.

Domestic Advocacy

• GJC submitted a Shadow Report to the UN Human Rights Council on how US abortion restrictions on foreign assistance violate its international law obligations for the 2015 Universal Periodic Review of the US.
• GJC submitted a Report on how US abortion restrictions perpetuate torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment to the UN Committee against Torture in a historic partnership with the World Organization against Torture comprised of some 297 affiliate organizations, for the November 2014 review of the US by the UN Committee Against Torture.
• GJC published documents obtained from the Department of State and the USAID through the Freedom of Information Process on GJC’s website.

International Advocacy

• The UK became the first country to implement the objectives of the August 12th Campaign by UK/DFID mandating that all UK funded entities to comply with the Geneva Conventions and ensure that war rape victims are provided access to safe abortion, irrespective of national anti-abortion laws in June 2014. The UK became the first country to recognize, as called for by GJC’s Rape as a Weapon of War Project, that rape is an illegal method of war under international humanitarian law. Furthermore, former UK Foreign Minister Hague announced that States using rape as a weapon of war are accountable for the additional war crime of using an unlawful weapon under the laws of war, opening up the justice framework for victims of war rape and gives them “two bites at the apple of accountability.”
• The incorporation of GJC’s language and arguments on Burma’s Constitution and gender equality in Burma into two reports by the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. These reports called for the amendment of the Constitution so as “to be in line with international standards,” the military to be put under civilian rule, an end to impunity of the military for crimes including sexual violence, and women’s participation in the peace process.
• Wrote an analysis of the unlawfulness of the US abortion ban put on all UN peacekeeping funds, in preparation for 2015 advocacy with military, the UN and NATO.
• Published an analysis of the European Union’s (“EU”) policy on abortion and the Geneva Conventions as violative of EU fundamental law and international humanitarian law as the basis for 2015 advocacy with the EU and potential litigation in the European Court of Human Rights.
• Co-authored with the Leitner Center at Fordham Law School a White Paper on the extent to which Burma has met its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW”) and the current situation of women in Burma in preparation, which will serve as a key document for our upcoming work with partners in Burma assisting them with Burma’s forthcoming review by the CEDAW Committee.

Media

• The New York Times published its third Editorial calling on President Obama to lift the US abortion restrictions placed on humanitarian aid to women and girls impregnated through rape in armed conflict in January 2014.
• Ms. Magazine published “The Cruelest Weapon,” written by GJC Legal Director Akila Radhakrishnan and GJC volunteer attorney Kristina Kallas, in its Fall 2014 issue.
• Published “The Other Red Line: The Use of Rape as an Unlawful Tactic of Warfare,” an analysis on rape as a tactic of war in the Global Policy Journal.
• Published a book chapter on the binding nature of Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace, and Security in the book “The Security Council in the Age of Human Rights.”
• Created and published 12 advocacy documents on GJC’s programmatic work for the June 2014 Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict hosted by the UK Government.

Check out an article by Janet Benshoof, Founder and President of GJC, in which she talks about her unique approaches to fighting for women's rights and how her personal experiences have shaped her understanding of feminism and law practice. 

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