RAPE has been recognised as a weapon of war and a crime against humanity, and some 104 countries have made marital rape a crime, the United Nations agency for women’s affairs, UNIFEM reports, as it marks International Women’s Day (IWD) today.

Listing the progress made on behalf of women worldwide since the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in

1995, UNIFEM Executive Director Noeleen Heyzer said the HIV/AIDS pandemic was now seen as a gender issue, as well as a health issue, and rape had been recognised as a weapon of war and a crime against humanity.

“Women’s human rights – monitored and upheld by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), now ratified by 185 countries – are now on every major agenda, national, regional and international,” she said in her message commemorating

the IWD.

She said there was global acceptance that gender equality was central to human development and human security, as stated in the Millennium Declaration.

Commemoration of International Women’s Day began in Europe on March 19, 1911, with a rally for women’s right to vote, hold public office and work outside the home. It gathered new momentum when more than 140 working women lost their lives in a fire in the Triangle Factory in New York City a week later, and grew over the next three years as women held rallies each year to protest the devastation of World War I.

As part of the progress since then, Heyzer said, laws and policies were being adopted to strengthen women’s economic security in such vital areas as land, property and inheritance rights, decent employment, and access to credit and markets.

“Quotas or other affirmative measures have been adopted to increase women’s representation in political decision-making in at least 95 countries, including many countries emerging from conflict,” she reported.

But she warned that all of that progress could be destroyed through violence against women.

“Deeply rooted in structures of gender inequality, violence against women fuels the spread of HIV/AIDS and destroys women’s ability to break through inter-generational cycles of poverty. Already horrific in times of peace, it intensifies during armed conflict as legal and justice systems break down along with systems of social and community support. Whether in peace or in war, violence against women takes a huge toll – from individuals and societies both.

“Fortunately, more and more countries are recognising these links, acknowledging that until they eliminate persistent gender inequalities and discrimination, both human security and human development will remain a distant dream. Governments are beginning to act: according to the secretary-general’s recent report, 89 states have legislative provisions on domestic violence, 104 countries have made marital rape a crime and 93 states prohibit trafficking in human beings. What is urgently needed is implementation,” the UNIFEM executive director said.

She urged that “laws be accompanied by resource allocations, institutional regulations and guidelines and systematic training for officials who will monitor and enforce them – including police and judiciary, health and social service providers”.

“Ending violence against women also requires changing public perceptions and breaking through barriers of culture and tradition to find non-violent ways to resolve conflicts in personal and public life.”