Combating Gender-based Violence: Q&A with Holly Burkhalter

Worldwide, women and girls are at increased risk of certain forms of violent oppression because of their gender. Despite laws against trafficking, rape and illegal property seizure, women are disproportionately affected by these crimes and often find little support in the devastating aftermath. However, when women can rely on their local justice systems for protection of the law, their vulnerability to gender-based violence is dramatically reduced.

Read on to learn how IJM’s mission to make public justice systems work for the poor combats gender-based violence.

Holly Burkhalter is IJM’s Vice President of Government Relations.

Q: What is gender-based violence?

HB: Gender-based violence is the term used to encompass a whole category of crimes that are often committed against women and girls. Sexual violence is the most important category of these crimes, but these crimes are not limited to sexual violence. For example, property expropriation from widows in countries where women’s right to inherit is not secure is a crime based on their powerlessness because of their gender.

Q: So why does gender-based violence persist in the face of laws that make these crimes illegal?

Trafficked women and girls exit a brothel in India during an IJM operation in collaboration with local government officials. In 2007, IJM facilitated the rescue of over 200 trafficked girls and women.

HB: Though in some cases violence persists due to weaknesses in the law, there are other reasons. For example, child rape: that’s something that’s not legal anywhere. As we see in so many categories of violent crime against the poor and powerless, the issue is police protection, and the prosecution and conviction of perpetrators in sufficient numbers to deter the crime.

Right now, in much of the world, you just don’t have enough serious punishment for these violent crimes against women and girls to deter it, in spite of laws on the books.

Q: What can be done to protect women and girls who are particularly vulnerable to oppression?

HB: At IJM, we are working to begin to change the risk for perpetrators. We are working with local officials to create predictable prosecutions, convictions and jail terms for sexual violence, for sex trafficking, for illegal property seizure – all of which are forms of gender-based violence. We hope to see a new risk that has to be taken into consideration by would-be perpetrators – the very real possibility of going to jail for something that is currently so common it barely elicits a response.

Q: Aside from a strong record of persecutor prosecution, what else is necessary to combat these types of crimes?

HB: There is also a huge need for enhanced police training, prosecutor training, and, very importantly, growth in forensic capacity, so that you have trained medical doctors, nurses and technicians as well as police doctors who have the information and the supplies needed to get a proper forensic diagnosis of sexual violence against women and children.

Q: What can a lack of forensic capacity mean for actual cases?

12-year-old Rhonda* was raped at knifepoint while walking through a field to her grandmother’s house. Her grandmother pleaded with police to investigate but received no response. In Kenya’s overburdened legal system, victims of sexual violence like Rhonda face major systemic obstacles to justice. Through an IJM intervention, Rhonda’s rapist was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Today, Rhonda is doing well in school and working hard to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse.

HB: We have seen the importance – the overwhelming importance – of strong forensic, medical evidence of rape to take to the courtroom. And in many of the countries where we work we just stumble on this problem over and over again.

Take the case of Kenya. In Kenya about 70 percent of our lawyers’ casework is devoted to child victims of sexual violence and rape. Successful prosecution of these cases is very much dependent — not 100 percent, but very much dependent — on a proper medical documentation that the rape has occurred. And there is exactly one medical official who has been designated by the Kenyan authorities to be the proper person to do an examination and fill out a form, about not just rape cases but any violent crime in the city of Nairobi – a city of three million people.

Understandably, this person is overloaded and can’t possibly meet these demands. And we have seen that the lack of capacity in that office has negatively affected a number of our cases. It doesn’t have to be that way, it could be changed, but the government of Kenya has to demonstrate the political will to do so and simply designate more qualified doctors to serve in this role.

Q: Is there anything else vital to combating these types of crime?

HB: A third component that is necessary, in addition to building the expectation of perpetrator prosecution and building capacity, is building social demand for proper policing and a robust public justice system that both protects and defends victims of sexual violence. IJM conducts community training sessions on sexual violence and illegal property seizure in order to foster this social demand and educate vulnerable populations on their own rights.

Q: How does gender-based violence relate to other key issues affecting the global poor today?

When Enela’s* husband died, she was left with no source of income other than a small plot of land, which her father-in-law attempted to seize. Through IJM intervention, Enela’s rights were protected by the courts, and her father-in-law’s intimidation ceased. Enela now raises chickens on land she bought with the proceeds from the sale of her property and has built a new home that she lives in peacefully.

HB: I think that it is not going too far to say the world will never successfully confront the global AIDS pandemic if it does not simultaneously confront the epidemic of sexual violence in the world today, because sexual violence is behind women and girls’ vulnerability to the disease. The unique vulnerabilities in sex trafficking, in marital rape, in domestic violence and in child rape all have very profound implications for the AIDS pandemic. The prevalence of HIV in many Asian and African countries puts rape victims at very high risk for not just physical and mental trauma from the act itself, but potentially a deadly virus that for all too many is a virtual death sentence.

However, the AIDS pandemic also provides unique opportunities because governments are putting new money towards building health systems. I think that our policymakers and our leaders in the health field need to be thinking very creatively about at last considering judicial capacity and access to justice for rape victims as part of a health response.

Q: What can people do to combat gender-based violence?

HB: Possibly the best way we can make our concerns known is to appeal to our MPs, to say that this is really a role for foreign assistance. Money can’t buy everything, but without funding to help build capacity, very, very poor countries are going to have a rough time making this a priority. I would also encourage people to join IJM in our work to combat gender violence. We have an enormous need both for people to serve as advocates by educating and mobilizing their communities – their workplaces, their schools, their places of worship – and for professionals to join us as staff. There is a place for everyone in this work.

Learn how to get involved in IJM’s work today, or browse career opportunities.

* In order to protect the individuals IJM serves and those who carry out the work, faces of certain victims and IJM investigators have been blurred. To further conceal the identities of victims and safeguard ongoing IJM casework, pseudonyms (marked by an asterisk) have been used, though the accounts are real. Actual names and casework documentation are on file with IJM.

Combating Violence against Women and Girls

The Facts

Millions of girls and women are victims of oppressive violence:

• Worldwide, one in five women becomes a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime (U.N.).
• 80% of transnational human trafficking victims are women and girls (U.S. Department of State).
• In Uganda, 1 in 5 widows loses all or part of her inheritance through theft by relatives (PLAN).

IJM’s Response

IJM works to ensure that women and girls vulnerable to oppressive violence can rely on their countries’ legal and justice systems for protection.

IJM investigators compile proof of abuse and work with local authorities to ensure the immediate relief of victims of sex trafficking, sexual violence and illegal property seizure, along with other abuses. IJM lawyers then bring these cases of abuse through the local court system in order to secure justice for victims and create deterrence through perpetrator prosecution.

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IJM aftercare staff connect victims with services which meet their unique needs. This can vary from securing long-term accommodation, educational opportunities and vocational training for child victims of sex trafficking to ensuring that victims of illegal property seizure have access to micro-enterprise opportunities.

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IJM also works to bring about the structural changes that will protect girls and women from future abuse. IJM training sessions have educated thousands of individuals about sexual violence and illegal property seizure. These sessions serve to train vulnerable populations in their rights under local law, as well as increase social demand for responsive law enforcement. IJM’s police training also supports local authorities in their work to ensure that girls and women are protected from oppressive violence through capacity building and education.

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Join Us

Stand with IJM as we work to protect girls and women from violent oppression.

You can:

• Provide the financial support that enables IJM to intervene on behalf of victims of gender-based violence and other forms of abuse.
• Continue to educate yourself about the issues of injustice faced by the poor.
• Encourage your community to take action on behalf of victims of gender-based violence.

Volunteer for local organizations combating gender-based violence in your own community.