Publications by Year: 2001

2001
Sutherland CA, Sullivan C, Bybee D. Effects of Intimate Partner Violence Versus Poverty on Women's Health. Sage Publications. 2001;7 (10) :1122-1143. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/7/10/1122.short

This article investigated whether women's physical health symptoms were due to abuse, poverty, or both. A community sample of 397 women, about half of whom had been assaulted by an intimate partner, were interviewed about their income, experience of physical abuse, and physical health. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that both income and physical abuse contributed to women's rates of physical health symptoms. Abuse contributed to the variance in physical health beyond that predicted by income level alone. Findings suggest that abuse by an intimate partner or ex-partner negatively affects women's health and is especially detrimental to the health of low-income women.

Hagemann-White C. European Research on the Prevalence of Violence Against Women. Sage Publications; 2001. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/7/7/732.abstract

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

Prevalence estimates play a role in academic and policy analyses of violence against women. The debate on available figures and what they measure has tended toward overgeneralization with too little consideration of differences that might emerge from cross-national or cross-cultural comparison. The present review introduces 11 prevalence studies carried out between 1986 and 1997 in nine European countries, their research goals and methodology, and some salient figures. With a growing understanding of the need for sensitive research and clear definitions, there is regrettable lack of interchange within Europe, impeding comparative analysis. Issues for future research are discussed.

Bayefsky A. The UN Human Rights Treaty System: Universality at the Crossroads.; 2001. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www.bayefsky.com/tree.php/id/9250

The post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was constituted decades after most of the human rights treaties were adopted. Treaty body after treaty body was created, without a relationship to a High Commissioner, and without a relationship to each other. The result has been a burgeoning reporting burden, duplication of procedures, little effort to synchronize substantive outcomes, and rudimentary follow-up processes and responsibilities. In the meantime, treaty body members have struggled to preserve their independent expert status in a highly politicized UN environment, which has populated their numbers with many government surrogates and grossly underfinanced their work.

The reforms envisaged in this Report have assumed that improvements not requiring formal amendment will be more easily accomplished. Hence, the recommendations generally assume a six treaty body regime, and focus primarily on offering concrete suggestions for improvements in working methods of the treaty bodies and procedures at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The proposals for bolstering national level partnerships are also made in the context of the current conditions of overlap and a multiplicity of treaty bodies. Follow-up is the key missing component of the implementation regime, and therefore recommendations in this context are developed at some length. While one major reform requiring amendment is ultimately recommended, most of the specific recommendations concerning working methods and OHCHR processes remain relevant to a reorganized treaty regime. 

Violence in the Americas: A Regional Analysis. Organization of American States. 2001. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://www.oas.org/en/mesecvi/library.asp

Document can be located at the bottom of the web page

As a legally binding instrument, the Convention is unique in that it clearly delineates the state’s obligations to protect women’s right to a life without violence. Article 5 of the Convention states that:

Every woman is entitled to the free and full exercise of her civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and may rely on the full protection of those rights as embodied in regional and international instruments on human rights. The States Parties recognize that violence against women prevents and nullifies the exercise of these rights.

Article 7 of the Convention articulates the obligations of States Parties with respect to their role in the protection of women’s right to a life without violence. Specific obligations are listed that flow from the States Parties’ formal undertakings to refrain from committing acts of violence against women; demonstrate due diligence in preventing, investigating, and punishing violence against women; reform existing laws, policies, and administrative practices contributing to violence against women; and ensure that women victims have access to restitution, reparations, and other forms of just and effective remedies. Article 8 of the Convention also specifies that a number of other programs and measures must be adopted to promote public education and awareness, to mobilize communities in the fight against violence against women, and to offer specialized services and assistance to women victims.

The current review focuses on the implementation of the measures and dispositions described in articles 7 and 8 of the Convention. It also considers the efforts that are being deployed, as required by Article 9 of the Convention, to take special account of the vulnerability of women to violence by reason of their age, race, ethnic background, status as immigrants, socioeconomic position, or disabilities, among other factors.

Steinitz M. The Role of International Law in the Struggle against Sex-based and Gender-based Violence against Refugee Women. Submitted to The International Rescue Committee and The Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium; 2001. Publisher's VersionAbstract

http://reliefweb.int/report/world/role-international-law-struggle-agains...

This document introduces international law and its uses in the prevention of sex-based and gender-based violence against refugee women. For this purpose, it includes discussions on the following: 

- What is international law and which are its sources? 
- Is international law binding? 
- What international legal bodies exist? 
- What constitutes violence against women? 
- What are the primary legal documents securing the rights of refugee women? 
- Other governmental and non-governmental organizations dealing with refugee women