Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Agradecimientos
Cuando ya se acerca el fin de una etapa tan importante en nuestras vidas como lo
es la culminacin de nuestra carrera universitaria, no nos queda ms que
agradecer a quienes nos acompaaron en cada proceso que vivimos. En primer
lugar, quisiramos agradecer a nuestras familias, padres y hermanos, que sin
duda alguna son el apoyo y pilar fundamental que nos acompa a lo largo de
estos aos. Tambin a nuestros compaeros, que cada vez que podan nos
prestaban la ayuda necesaria o una palabra de apoyo en este a veces difcil
camino. Por ltimo, pero no menos importante, queremos agradecer a todos
aquellos que nos entregaron las herramientas que hoy poseemos: nuestros
profesores. No podemos dejar de nombrar a Patricia Quezada, una profesora que
marc nuestros primeros aos de carrera con sus conocimientos y que marca
tambin el final de sta al ser nuestra profesora gua; Andrs Rojas y Veronika
Dobrucki, profesores fundamentales en nuestros ltimos dos aos de universidad.
As tambin agradecer a nuestras queridas profesoras Mara Eugenia Hernndez
y Rommy Anabaln, que sin duda fue un privilegio contar con ellas en nuestro
aprendizaje. Y as tantos otros docentes, entre ellos nuestra directora de carrera y
coordinadores que fueron parte de este camino. Saber que pudimos contar con
ustedes es uno de los principales valores que nos llevaremos de esto.
ndice
Resumen o abstract
1. Introduccin
2. Descripcin
3.Traduccin
3.1 Introduccin
3.2.1 Introduccin
3.2.2. Macroanlisis
3.2.3. Microanlisis
12
19
3.3.1. Introduccin
19
19
3.3.3 Aplicacin
20
4. Glosario
35
5. Bibliografa
37
Abstract.
Violence against women is a topic that has grown stronger when it comes to talking
about human rights. On this context, Human Rights Watch has spent several years
publishing different reports from all around the world, showing how serious
situations of abuse keep violating the fundamental rights of people. The two texts
that were chosen to be translated for this project were written by said organization
and display violence against women in two different countries: South Sudan and
China. In addition to the translated texts, the project includes a glossary,
Keywords.
Human rights, marriage, prostitution, rape, sexual abuse, violence
culturas
cuya
historia
tradicin
choca
con
las
expectativas
viven
realidades
tal
vez
muy
distintas
otras
naciones.
Pero los textos no solo quieren informar sobre estas situaciones sino que tambin
es posible leer la clara intencin de incentivar a la gente necesaria para poder
hacer los cambios correspondientes y as acabar con los temas que plantean.
A pesar de que los ttulos de los textos mencionados anteriormente no
entregan demasiada informacin como para determinar la funcin textual ms
adecuada para ellos, al momento de leer y comprender los textos saltan a la luz
sus caractersticas ms importantes. Ambos textos tienen como funcin ms
importante la funcin informativa, ya que pretenden dar a conocer realidades que
se viven otros pases y que no son las mejores para vivir. Esto nos lleva a la
segunda funcin ms importante del texto que es la funcin prescriptiva ya que
est expresado en el texto que se espera alguna reaccin a los temas que se
plantean. En ambos textos se invita, casi en forma imperativa, a los gobiernos,
ttulo
Swept
Away:
Abuses
Against
Sex
Workers
in
China
traduccin de los textos This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him y Swept
Away, ambos publicados por la asociacin Human Rights Watch. Adems contar
con 40 fichas terminolgicas y el glosario correspondiente a ellas.
Para la correcta realizacin de este trabajo, lo primero que hicimos fue
seleccionar el texto, luego dividirlo en partes iguales, lo que corresponde
aproximadamente a 12,000 palabras cada una. Posterior a esto, seleccionamos
los trminos que consideramos necesarios para la realizacin de las fichas, y
finalmente se hizo una edicin del texto en conjunto para mantener el mismo
formato y utilizar los mismos trminos en caso de que se repitieran.
Indirectas:
Literal
Prstamo
Calco
Transposicin
Modulacin
Equivalencia
Amplificacin
Omisin
Adaptacin
Descripcin
3.3.3 Aplicacin
1. Literal
Consiste en la traduccin palabra por palabra cuando la lengua de origen (Lo) y la
lengua meta (Lm) coinciden exactamente.
En la mayora de los casos son muy limitadas las partes de un texto que
nos permitiran realizar una traduccin literal. En caso de existir, nos veramos
ante un procedimiento simple; siempre y cuando haya una correspondencia de
significado entre la Lo y la Lm.
Ingls
Mary now lives with her uncle.
Espaol
Mary ahora vive con su to.
her friends and sought help from sus amigas y busc ayuda en Human
the Human Rights Commission
(HRC).
siglas en ingls).
caregivers.
cuidadores.
2. Prstamo
Es la adopcin en una lengua de un vocablo extranjero. Una de las condiciones de
los prstamos es que la lengua que los adopte pueda pronunciarlos. Primero se
adopta el trmino, luego hay un perodo de adaptacin, habitualizacin y por
ltimo viene la lexicalizacin, es decir, cuando la palabra pasa a formar parte de la
lengua.
Ingls
Espaol
Observacin
El ao 2012, el Ministerio de
Health completed a
desarrollo en el rea de
cualquiera'.
(conductores de taxi-moto)
pudiesen embarazarme y
impregnate me and
luego rechazarme.
reject me.
Esta palabra
Tingting, a 31-year-old
de origen
karaoke hostess in
aos, anfitriona de un
japons ya
forma parte de
such incident:
nuestro lxico.
por lo que no
fue necesario
traducirla o
explicar su
significado.
3. Calco
Son las expresiones, ya sea vocablos o estructuras, adoptadas por la lengua
receptora, y traducidas literalmente.
En este tipo de traduccin hay que tener cuidado de no crear calcos ya
existentes y de no cometer faltas ortogrficas.
Ingls
Espaol
punishment
amenazas de muerte o la
AIDS
derechos de la no discriminacin y
la igualdad, la seguridad de la
independence.
4. Transposicin
Consiste en sustituir una categora gramatical por otra.
Ingls
As a result,
Espaol
Como resultado, el
Observacin
En este caso se hizo
failure to combat
una transposicn de
child marriage is
el matrimonio infantil
adverbio a verbo
likely to have
porque dejar el
serious
adverbio en espaol no
implications for
Sur.
development of
verbo.
South Sudan.
They kept yelling
Ellos me gritaban
Pdrete! Admtelo de
una vez!
5. Modulacin
Es la operacin mediante la que se transmite el mensaje desde un punto de vista
diferente. Es el trmino aplicado en lo fontico que implica un cambio de tonalidad,
es decir, que hay un cambio de punto de vista.
Ingls
South Sudanese
Espaol
Las mujeres de Sudn del
Observacin
En este caso se
hardships and
dificultades y obstculos
para darle un
mayor nfasis a la
dentro de ellos se
informacin que
se quiere
levels of literacy,
analfabetismo y pobreza,
transmitir.
pronounced gender
gran desigualdad de
gaps in education,
gnero en la educacin y
la tasa de mortalidad
estimated at 2,054
live births.
There are also fears
or less traditional so
mentalidad ms fuerte o
good wives.
unique to cases
se da tambin en otros
campaigns, sex
se encuentran
desprotegidas frente a
arbitrary detention.
brutalidad policial y
detencin arbitraria.
6. Equivalencia
En palabras simples, se trata de la trasmisin de un mismo significado a travs de
un mensaje absolutamente distinto. Aqu encontramos todos los refranes,
proverbios y giros idiomticos.
Ingls
One maternal death
Espaol
La muerte de una madre no
Observacin
En estos tres
casos se opt
por buscar una
se paraliz y no pudo
meses.
months.
opcin ms
cercana al lxico
del texto meta.
blue, because I
wouldnt admit to
a la prostitucin
prostitution
7. Amplificacin
Tcnica de traduccin que consiste en una expansin del sentido de una categora
gramatical, principalmente de una proposicin, de una Lo a una Lm para expresar
la misma idea.
Ingls
Some parents keep
Espaol
Algunos padres evitan
la escuela,
have reached
especialmente luego de
schooling may
expose them to
clases se expongan a
risks of premarital
premarital y embarazo,
their chances of
sus posibilidades de
getting married or
casarse u obtener un
Observacin
dowry upon
de casarse.
marriage.
Se utiliz esta
I felt so wronged
expresin porque
llevar
como la traduccin de
nuestro texto est
dirigida a un pblico
chileno, asumimos
que este va a estar
familiarizado con la
expresin.
spiked my drink
algo en mi bebida
Non-prostitution job
Se encuentran
opportunities for
diferentes oportunidades
women living in
poverty include
employment in
viven en la pobreza no
factories,
ejerzan la prostitucin,
restaurants, retail,
fbricas, restaurantes,
service.
8. Omisin
Se refiere a la eliminacin de elementos que se consideran redundantes o poco
importantes, pero tambin inadecuados por determinadas cuestiones culturales o
ideolgicas. Este procedimiento se relaciona con los temas complejos que son
partes de la ideologa, la manipulacin, la censura y otras formas de intervencin
en traduccin.
Ingls
Human Rights Watch
Espaol
Los investigadores de Human Rights
researchers interviewed 87
aos.
marriage or becoming
pregnant.
Administrative Punishment
Administrativas de Seguridad, la
a host of complementary
complementarias.
regulations.
Espaol
Algunas astillas de la varilla
Observacin
En este caso se
se enterraron en mi cara y en
centro de salud
ya que no
and I had to go to
sabemos si se
hospital [shows
cicatrices].
refiere a un
hospital como los
scars].
que conocemos
ac u otro
servicio de salud.
In April [2012], my
that he wanted me
to go to my
husband.
El ao pasado, mientras
comenzaron a golpearme.
beating me.
Only one-third of
college-educated
individuals in China
are female
mujeres
10. Descripcin
Reemplazo de un trmino o expresin con una descripcin de su forma o funcin.
Esta tcnica suele utilizarse cuando el trmino del texto Lo no lograra
comprenderse con su sola traduccin por motivos mayoritariamente culturales.
Ingls
Under many South Sudanese
Espaol
Bajo muchos sistemas de derecho
novio.
No obstante, en caso de
detencin administrativa,
procedimiento bajo el cual a los
presos se les detiene sin ningn
cargo o juicio, de hasta dos aos.
que
consideramos
necesarios
para
la
confeccin
de
las
fichas
Espaol
Administrative detention
Detencin administrativa
Adultery
Adulterio
Assault
Ataque
Case law
Jurisprudencia
Cesarean section
Cesrea
Child marriage
Matrimonio infantil
Coalition
Coalicin
Coerced confession
Confesin forzada
Consent
Consentimiento
Contraception
Anticonceptivo
Counseling
Consejera
Crackdowns
Medidas de represin
Domestic violence
Violencia domstica
Dowry
Dote
Fibroid
Fibroma
Espaol
Fine
Multa
Gender equality
Igualdad de gnero
Gender-based violence
Violencia de gnero
Harassment
Acoso
Mortalidad infantil
Kidnapping
Secuestro
Law enforcement
Policas
Literacy
Alfabetismo
Marital rape
Violacin marital
Midwife
Matrona
Obstetric fistula
Fstula obsttrica
Police custody
Custodia policial
Prosecutor
Fiscal
Public health
Salud pblica
Sex worker
Trabajadora sexual
Solicit
Solicitar
Stillbirth
Mortinata
Human Trafficking
Trata de personas
Transgender
Transexual
Anexo 1
H U M A N
R I G H T S
W A T C H
This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him
Child and Forced Marriage in South Sudan
Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the
world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political
freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to
justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable.
We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and
respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international
community to support the cause of human rights for all.
Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries,
and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg,
London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto,
Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich.
For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org
MARCH 2013
ISBN: 1-56432-997-6
This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him
Child and Forced Marriage in South Sudan
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 95
Helen, 16, stands with her husband Jade, 50, outside their home in a village near Juba. Helen married
at 15 and said she would have chosen school over marriage, but her family was unable to afford school
fees. She was in labor for five days before having a cesarean section. Her son is now 8 months old.
Kansuk, Central Equatoria State, February 2013.
2 CHILD MARRIAGE
SUMMARY
I did not know him before. I did not
love him. I told my family, I dont
want this man. My people said,
This old man can feed us, you will
marry him.
Atong G., 16, forced to marry a 50-yearold man in July 2011
Akech B. loved to study and dreamed of becoming
a nurse. But when she was 14, her uncle who was
raising her, told her she was too old for school. He
forced her to leave school and told her that she had
to marry a man whom Akech described as old, grayhaired, and married to another woman with whom
he had several children.
Akech begged her uncle to allow her to continue
her education. He refused. Girls are born so that
people can eat. All I want is to get my dowry, he
told her. The man paid 75 cows for Akech, which
signified that the marriage had taken place. She
tried to resist, but her male cousins beat her
severely, accused her of dishonoring her family,
and forced her to go to the mans house.
Akech fled and hid with a friend. Her uncle found her
and took her to prison, where he told officials that
she had run away from her husband and needed to
be taught a lesson. They imprisoned her for a night.
When her cousins came for her they beat her so
badly that she could hardly walk. Then they took her
back to her husband.
After that, Akech felt that she had no choice, but to stay.
CHILD MARRIAGE 3
4 CHILD MARRIAGE
CHILD MARRIAGE 5
6 CHILD MARRIAGE
Mary eloped with her husband when she was 14. Her husband beat her severely
and stabbed her for talking to another boy. As a result, she lost the use of her
right hand. When her husband took her to the police station and accused her of
adultery, the police caned her as punishment. Her husband was never charged for
assaulting her. Mary now lives with her uncle.
Juba, Central Equatoria State, February 2013.
CHILD MARRIAGE 7
8 CHILD MARRIAGE
DOWRY
Families reach marriage agreements between
themselves and choose marriage partners without
the consent or even knowledge of girls. They have an
interest in marrying off their girls as early as possible,
and to the highest bidder, since dowryunlike in
many other countriesis paid by the groom and
his family to the girls family and can include cattle,
money, and other gifts.
Dowry also makes divorce and separation more
difficult for women. Many women forfeit all their
belongings if they separate or divorce. Under many
South Sudanese customary law systems, divorce
is not widely accepted and only possible when
the dowry is repaid to the husbands familya
requirement that can create tensions, especially
since the dowry is often shared amongst the brides
extended family.
CHILD MARRIAGE 9
10 CHILD MARRIAGE
CHILD MARRIAGE 11
12 CHILD MARRIAGE
EDUCATION
Child marriage frequently interrupts girls education
or deprives them of it altogether. Most of the girls
and women interviewed43 out of 61 who had
attended school, left after three to five years of
primary education.
The Ministry of Education told Human Rights Watch
that they do not collect data on the number of
girls who drop out of school to get married or due
to pregnancy. However, the director general for
education in Western Equatoria State said that
despite the lack of statistics, from what we see
in schools, drop-out rates due to marriage and
pregnancy are very high.
Some parents keep girls out of school, especially
after they have reached puberty, for fear that
schooling may expose them to risks of premarital sex
and pregnancy that would decrease their chances
of getting married or fetching a high dowry upon
marriage.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 15 girls who were
married and in school attending alternative education
programs. However, the majority of girls with whom
we spoke had dropped out of school and said it
was difficult to continue school after marriage or
becoming pregnant. Some of the reasons given by
girls were lack of money to pay school fees, lack of
child care and unavailability of adult classes, or the
need to do chores. Others said that their husbands
would not allow them to continue school after
marriage alleging that they were unfaithful if they
insisted on going to school.
My father refused me to go to
school. He said it is a waste of
money to educate a girl. He said
marriage will bring me respect in
the community. Now I have grown
up and I know that this is not true.
I cannot get work to support my
children and I see girls who have
some education can get jobs.
Mary K., Yambio County
14 CHILD MARRIAGE
CHILD MARRIAGE 15
16 CHILD MARRIAGE
Left: Annette, 15, teaches her sister in Kajo Keji. Annette married
at 14 and miscarried in her first year of marriage. While Annettes
husband said she could go to school when he could afford to
send her, he also wants children, which will add to the couples
financial burden and make her return to school difficult.
Kajo Keji, Central Equatoria State, February 2013.
Below: The Hon. Rachel Anok Omot Obal, Jonglei States minister
of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare, is a vocal opponent of early
marriage. She is working to create new schools and dormitories to
broaden opportunities for girls to obtain education.
Bor, Jonglei State, February 2013.
CHILD MARRIAGE 17
18 CHILD MARRIAGE
CHILD MARRIAGE 19
JUSTICE
Girls and women in South Sudan have few rights in their homes and in marriage,
and face many risks when they resist or try to leave forced marriages.
Many of the girls interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they had tried to reason
with their families when faced with imminent marriage to someone they did not wish
to marry. When these efforts failedand they did in most casesmany had no choice
but to get married. Some women and girls try at great personal risk to avoid forced and
early marriages. Some seek help from their families, traditional authorities, or elders.
Others flee to religious leaders or human rights organizations, or look for assistance from
government officials and the police. Even if they manage to flee, they face many hurdles
to getting protection and accessing justice, and rarely get the help they need.
There are many weaknesses in the administration of justice in South Sudan, such as lack
of infrastructure, resources, adequate laws, and well-trained personnel. Generally, these
weaknesses affect womens ability to obtain justice for gender-based crimes, including
forced marriages. Statutory courts are often inaccessible; they are far away and women
lack legal counsel to help them navigate the system, or the necessary protection to lodge
complaints. As early and forced marriages are accepted in many South Sudan traditions
and cultures, customary courts offer limited hope for escape. With both statutory and
customary courts staffed almost entirely by men, women encounter discrimination when
seeking justice in either forum.
Akuots father died when she was a young child. Now 16, her uncle tried
to force her into marriage, despite the fact that both she and her mother
protested. Akuot resisted the marriage and ran away, determined to
continue her education. Her uncle and her male cousins caught her,
dragged her back to their village, and beat her for three days while
keeping her locked inside without food or water. Akuots aunt, who
tried to intervene, was beaten so badly that she suffered permanent
and disabling injuries. Akuot received help from a nongovernmental
organization (NGO), but many women and girls are not aware of their
rights, or do not know where to look for assistance outside of their
families or community elders, who often fail them. Akuot is back in
school, and living with her mother and siblings in a house that the NGO
and the Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare built for them.
Bor, Jonglei State, February 2013.
20 CHILD MARRIAGE
CHILD MARRIAGE 21
22 CHILD MARRIAGE
CHILD MARRIAGE 23
24 CHILD MARRIAGE
HEALTH
Early marriage contributes to violations of the right
to health. It puts girls at greater risk of dying or illhealth as a result of early pregnancy and childbirth.
Their children also face higher mortality rates.
These increased risks are not only related to age,
but also to girls low levels of education, low social
and economic status, and lack of access to health
related information and services.
Obstetric Fistula
Early marriage is a major risk factor for fistula
developmenta devastating childbirth injury
that leaves its victims with urine and/or fecal
incontinence that causes infection, pain, and bad
smell, and triggers stigma and the breakdown of
marriages, loss of employment, and challenges in
family and community life.
The risk of obstetric fistula is heightened by
young married girls poor socio-economic status,
and lack of education and access to appropriate
reproductive and maternal health care. However,
studies show that physical immaturity is the key
risk for girls under 15 because their pelvises are not
fully developed and thus susceptible to obstructed
laborthe main cause of fistula.
26 CHILD MARRIAGE
A young woman recovers after giving birth to twins in Bor Hospital. She was
married at the age of 12 and had her first child at the age of 15, enduring a
protracted five-day labor. She is now 20 and these are her 4th and 5th children.
Bor, Jonglei State, February 2013.
CHILD MARRIAGE 27
28 CHILD MARRIAGE
CHILD MARRIAGE 29
RECOMMENDATIONS
TO THE PRESIDENT OF SOUTH SUDAN
t
guidelines.
t
t
marriage.
t
t
cases.
t
maintenance.
t
In particular:
t
rural areas.
t
t
inheritance;
both parties.
CHILD MARRIAGE 31
t
t
t
t
t
to attend school.
t
t
TO THE JUDICIARY
t
t
t
t
implementation.
home deliveries.
t
t
once it is developed.
t
of child marriage.
CHILD MARRIAGE 33
34 CHILD MARRIAGE
Methodology
This report is based on research conducted between March and October 2012 in Western
Equatoria State, Central Equatoria State, and Jonglei State. Human Rights Watch
researchers interviewed 87 girls and women. Some girls and women were unsure about
their age, but most girls and women we interviewed were with girls and women who were
married as children, under the age of 18.
Other interviews were conducted with government officials in the Ministry of Justice,
Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health.
We also spoke to the Chief Justice and officials from the South Sudan Human Rights
Commission; representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working on
womens rights, United Nations and international donor organizations; womens rights
experts and activists, a doctor, a nurse, teachers, traditional leaders and elders including
chiefs; and three prison officials.
Individual women interviewees were identified with the assistance of local NGOs providing
services to women and most interviews occurred in their private offices. Where women
were interviewed in villages, the interviews were conducted in their homes with as much
privacy as possible. All participants were informed of the purpose of the interview, its
voluntary nature, and the ways the information would be used. Each orally consented to be
interviewed. Women were told they could decline to answer questions or end the interview
at any time, particularly where they were recounting traumatic personal experiences.
Interviews lasted between thirty minutes and one hour. Some interviews were conducted
in English but most interviews were conducted in various local languages with the
assistance of a female interpreter.
Care was taken to minimize the risk to women who were recounting difficult experiences
that could further traumatize them. Interviewees did not receive any material
compensation, but were reimbursed the cost of public transport to and from the interview.
Pseudonyms have been used to protect the privacy and security of the women and girls
interviewed for the report. In some cases other identifying information about interviewees
has also been withheld upon request.
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
36
Human Rights Watch also conducted a review of relevant laws, policies, surveys, and
reports from the government of South Sudan, the United Nations, academics, NGOs, and
other sources. We have conducted an extensive review of literature on child marriage in
South Sudan and other countries where there are similar negative consequences on the
lives of girls and women.
37
1 The CPA was signed by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in January
2005, bringing an end to the 22-year civil war that started in 1983. It granted regional autonomy to Southern Sudan and
provided for the sharing of oil revenues between the parties. It further set a timetable by which Southern Sudan would hold a
referendum on its independence.
2 The ministry faces significant challenges that have limited its operation. These include inadequate budget, poor
understanding and appreciation of the role of the ministry by other government ministries, and lack of technical capacity. For
a detailed analysis of these weaknesses see, Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Comprehensive Country Gender
Assessment, April 2012, on file with Human Rights Watch (HRW), pp. 148-151.
3 For example see, Joint Donor Team, Fact-Sheet: Gender Equality, undated, http://www.jdt-juba.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/02/Gender_fact_sheet_update_sep_2011.pdf (accessed October 8, 2012). The Joint Donor Team to
the Republic of South Sudan is comprised of the governments of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom, Canada and
the Netherlands. Ibid; UK Department for International Development (South Sudan), Operational Plan: 2011-2015, July 2011,
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publications1/op/2011/south-sudan-1.pdf (accessed October 8, 2012), p. 4; United
States Agency for International Development (USAID), South Sudan Transition Strategy 2011-2013, June 2011,
http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PDACR770.pdf (accessed October 8, 2012), pp. 29, 40, and 48.
4 South Sudan Development Plan 2011-2013: Realising Freedom, Equality, Justice, Peace and Prosperity for All, August
2011, http://www.jdt-juba.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/South-Sudan-Development-Plan-2011-13.pdf (accessed
October 8, 2012), pp. 21 and 87.
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
38
status.5 Other provisions call for all levels of government [to] enact laws to combat
harmful customs and traditions which undermine the dignity and status of women;6 and
for the recognition of womens right to equal pay for equal work and other related benefits
with men.7 The constitution also establishes a 25 percent quota for female representation
in all national and state executive and legislative organs of government.
These initiatives have helped to produce some encouraging change. For example, women
have become more visible in public and political life and hold a number of political offices:
33.5 percent of members of the national legislative assembly are women8 and there is a
female paramount chief in Eastern Equatoria State.9 Women have begun to engage in
politics (many voted in the referendum), and civil society groups are gaining strength. A
new, albeit fragile, movement to support womens equality has been growing steadily.
However, despite these encouraging signs, the rights of girls and women in South Sudan
remain significantly curtailed. The following sections detail four of the most significant
areas in which these limitations are felt: marriage and divorce; education; reproductive,
maternal and child health; and physical safety.
39
Families reach marriage agreements between themselves and choose marriage partners
without the consent or even knowledge of girls. They have an interest in marrying off their
girls as early as possible, and to the highest bidder, since dowry, unlike in many other
countries, is paid by the groom and his family to the girls family and can include cattle,
money and other gifts.
Dowry also makes divorce and separation more difficult for women. Many women forfeit
all their belongings if they separate or divorce.13 Under many South Sudanese customary
law systems, divorce is not widely accepted and only possible when the dowry is repaid
to the husbands familya requirement that can create tensions, especially since the
dowry is often shared amongst the brides extended family.14 As a result, families have a
financial incentive to ensure that marriages remain intact even if the girl faces abuse,
and women who face violence in their marriages, may face pressure to reconcile despite
risks to their safety and wellbeing.15 Alek P., who fled from her husband and his other
wife who beat her, said,
My uncles tell me, We cant find the cows to pay back your husband so you
have to return to him. My uncles and cousins watch me all the time.... If I
go somewhere and they find out, they beat me and threaten to take my
mother to prison.16
A woman who leaves her husband without obtaining a divorce, and any man with whom
she subsequently has a relationship, can be accused of adultery17an offence under
South Sudans penal code punishable by customary compensation awards, court fines,
13 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p. 6;
Human Rights Watch interview with Paleki Matthew, executive director, South Sudan Womens Empowerment Network, Juba,
October 31, 2012.
14 NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, p. 23. The amount of dowry to be returned
depends on the number of children a woman has borne during the marriage. The more the children, the less the amount
repaid. Stern, This Is How Marriage Happens Sometimes, Friederike Bubenzer; p. 18.
15 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p. 5.
16 Human Rights Watch interview with Alek P., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
17 To change this situation, a prospective suitor will have to pay the remaining dowry to the womans husband, a
requirement that affects the ability of separated women to remarry. NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in
South Sudan, p. 28.
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
40
18 Penal Code, 2008, art. 266. Under this article, adultery is defined as consensual intercourse with the spouse of another person.
19 Human Rights Watch, South Sudan - Prison Is Not for Me: Arbitrary Detention in South Sudan, June 2012,
41
an important opportunity to educate and inform girls about their human rights and
child marriage.
The General Education Bill, pending before the legislature, which prohibits sex
between students and teachers and provides for dismissing and decertifying any
educator who impregnates a student.
Despite the efforts described above, and an increase in the enrollment of girls in school
since 2009, government statistics for 2011 show that only 39 percent of primary school
students and 30 percent of secondary students are female 29
Girls face several barriers to accessing education, and may be withdrawn from school to
marry, to help with household chores or care for smaller children, which is viewed as
training for their future roles as wives and mothers. Despite lack of accurate statistics, it is
also believed that teenage pregnancy and sexual harassment by teachers and the
community affects girls ability to stay in school.30
27 General Education Bill, art. 16. There have been numerous media reports of sexual relationships between students and teachers.
See for example, Teachers suspended for impregnating school girls, Gurtong, January 11, 2013,
http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ctl/ArticleView/mid/519/articleId/9123/categoryId/4/Teachers-Suspended-ForImpregnating-School-Girls.aspx (accessed January 20, 2013); Teacher dismissed over schoolgirl pregnancies in Rumbek, Sudan
Tribune, December 3, 2011, http://www.sudantribune.com/Teachers-dismissed-over-schoolgirl,40897 (accessed January 20, 2013).
28 These programs are supported by USAID.
29 Republic of South Sudan Ministry of General Education, Education Statistics for the Republic of South Sudan, 2011, pp.
17, 22.
30 See, Schockland Project Partners with Save the Children as lead coordinator, A study report on school levies in south
sudan: impact on enrolment and retention, June 2010; and Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Comprehensive
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
42
Only 10 percent of women are attended by skilled health personnel during delivery.34
About 5,000 girls and women are affected by obstetric fistula each year.36
Maternal mortality is recognized as a key health concern in South Sudan, which has one of
the highest maternal mortality ratios (MMR) in the world (around 2,054 deaths per 100,000
live births).37 In 2012, the Ministry of Health completed a health sector development plan
that prioritizes maternal and child health, under the slogan, One maternal death is one
too many.38
The ministry, with significant donor support, has expended a great deal of effort to
improve the quality and availability of health services generally. However, many
servicesincluding for reproductive and maternal healthremain limited, and often of
poor quality or not timely when available due to a dearth of qualified health personnel,
equipment, and supplies.
31 Ministry of Health, 2006 Sudan Household Health Survey (SHHS), 2007, on file with HRW, p. xiv.
32 Ibid., p. xviii.
33 Ibid.
34 Ibid.
35 Ibid.
36 Ibid., p. 135.
37 Ministry of Health, 2006 Sudan Household Health Survey (SHHS), 2007, on file with HRW, p. xviii. South Sudans MMR is
higher than that of Chad and Somalia, estimated by WHO and others to have the highest rates in the world. WHO et al.,
Trends in Maternal Mortality, 1990-2010, p. 1.
38 Ministry of Health, Health Sector Development Plan, 2012-2016,
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=republic%20of%20south%20sudan%20ministry%20of%20health%2C%20%E2
%80%9Chealth%20sector%20development%20plan&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bsfsouth-sudan.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2FHSDP%2520Final%2520draft%2520January%25202012.doc&ei=ikAZUcaLHczH0AG_k4CYDQ&usg=AFQjCNELtQGNGSqmiid3duX_2Pko0s
RtPw (accessed February 11, 2013).
43
http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADN752.pdf (accessed January 2012), p. 5. Another study by UNICEF in Lakes, Upper Nile,
and Central Equatoria States found that communities have poor understanding of the consequences of child marriage,
especially the impact on the health of the mother and child. UNICEF, Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on Child Marriage
in Southern Sudan: The Case of Lakes, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria States, February 2010, on file with HRW, p. 21.
41 Ministry of Health, Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategic Plan, p. 9.
42 An increase in violence in post-conflict countries has been noted in other countries. It is commonly reported that violence
against women increases when war-related fighting dies down. See, Rachel Jewkes, Comprehensive Response to Rape
needed in Conflict Setting, 2007, Lancet, (369), pp. 2140-41.
43 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p.6;
Nada Mustafa Ali, Gender and State Building in South Sudan, 2011, http://www.usip.org/files/resources/SR%20298.pdf
(accessed April 15, 2012), p. 9; NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, pp. 31-34; Accord,
Initial Support to Develop a Road Map for a South Sudan National Action Plan for the Implementation of United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1325, p. 21; Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Comprehensive Country Gender
Assessment, p. 140.
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
44
against women occurs in the home, within the family unit.44 But it also happens within
communities, and at the hands of militia groups and government security forces. Ongoing
internal conflict and insecurity make women particularly vulnerable to such abuses.45
There is no specific law on violence against women in South Sudan. The penal code
criminalizes assault and rape, but does not criminalize marital rape.46
Meanwhile, statutory and customary justice systems fail to provide redress for survivors of
violence, whose security and access to justice is often compromised by family and
customary courts prioritizing family reconciliation. Some girls and women are forced to
marry their rapists, an option that families and communities often prefer as it prevents
men from going to jail and supposedly maintains a womans or girls dignity within the
community, while the dowry compensates her family.47
Survivors of violence who seek help via the formal justice system, for example by bringing
criminal charges against perpetrators of violence, mostly fail as police and the courts are
ill-equipped to respond effectively.48 Most survivors also do not have access to services,
such as health care, counseling, and safe recovery spaces.49
The Police Service, with support from various UN agencies, has developed Special
Protection Units (SPUs). These specialized units, which are situated at police stations, are
staffed by officers trained to investigate and prosecute cases involving women and
children, and to ensure provision of legal aid, protection, medical care, and psychosocial
support. The utility of these units has been undermined by a shortage of trained personnel
44 NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, p. 34.
45 Nada Mustafa Ali, Gender and State Building in South Sudan, p. 9.
46 Penal Code, arts. 21 and 247. While coerced marital sex is not against the law, the violence accompanying the act may
47 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p. 6.
South Sudanese societies stigmatizes rape survivors. See, DAwol, Anyieth. 2011. Sibu ana, sibu ana (Leave Me, Leave
Me): Survivors of Sexual Violence in South Sudan. In Friederike Bubenzer and Orly Stern, eds. Hope, Pain and Patience: The
Lives of Women in South Sudan (Johannesburg: Jacana Media), p. 54; NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns
in South Sudan, p. 41.
48 This includes many of the challenges discussed in Chapter IV. on barriers to justice for victims of child marriage, including
lack of training for police and other law enforcement officials on womens rights, lack of resources, and weak legal context
for addressing violence against women.
49 Marcy Hersh, For South Sudans Women, the War hasnt Ended, August 5, 2012,
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/news/regions/africa/south-sudan-women-violence-assault (accessed October 8,
2012); DAwol, Anyieth, Sibu ana, sibu ana (Leave me, Leave Me): Survivors of Sexual Violence in South Sudan, p. 69.
45
and by the transfer of trained officers to police stations without SPUs. They currently
remain largely ineffective and unavailable outside of major urban centers.50
The Ministry of Gender finalized a national Gender Policy in 2012 that prioritizes sexual
and gender-based violence. According to the policy, a National Plan of Action will be
developed, along with new laws, to eradicate sexual and gender-based violence. The
policy also calls for the development and implementation of standard operating
procedures for prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence and the
establishment of safe centers for the trauma counseling of victims. Concrete progress in
these areas has not yet been achieved.
Currently, a small number of UN agencies, international, and national NGOs are trying to
respond to violence against women, but resources are scarce.52 Some local organizations
and government officials say they are trying to address child marriage, although their
efforts are limited by lack of a comprehensive action plan. According to one local NGO
executive director, Weve been talking about the issue of early marriage for a long time,
but there hasnt been any structured or systematic lobbying or advocacy strategy.53
50 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p. 3;
NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, pp. 40-41. The Police Service and UN agencies are
hoping to address shortcomings through additional trainings and through the establishment of a National Special Protection
Unit coordination office that will oversee and supervise all SPUs in the country. Human Rights Watch email communication
with Gertrude Mbiru, GBV Specialist, UNICEF South Sudan, January 18, 2013. Human Rights Watch interview with Fatuma
Ibrahim and Solla Asea, UNICEF, Juba, January 23, 2013.
51 The Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, South Sudan National Gender Policy, 2012, p. 33.
52 Marcy Hersh, For South Sudans Women, the War hasnt Ended, August 5, 2012,
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
46
Dowry
Dowry payment is a key driver of child marriage in South Sudan, where families see their
daughters as sources of wealth. A marriage is sealed after a man and his family negotiates
and pays a dowry to a womans family in the form of cattle, other animals, or, increasingly,
money. Human Rights Watch interviewed 47 girls who said they were forced to marry
because their families wanted to get dowry. In pastoralist communities, dowry is largely paid
in cattle, while agriculturalist communities combine money with cattle or other livestock.
Although common in South Sudanese communities, dowry payments vary depending on
ethnic group, social status, and family wealth.55 According to Ayen C., from Bor County,
My husband paid 75 cows as dowry for me. We never talked or courted
before we got married. When I learned about the marriage, I felt very bitter. I
told my father, I dont want to go to this man. He said, I have loved the
cattle that this man has, you will marry him.56
54 For comparative analysis see, UNICEF, The State of the Worlds Children: Adolescence, An Age of Opportunity, 2011,
www.unicef.org/sowc2011/ (accessed May 15, 2012), p. 34; International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Child
Marriage around the World, 2006, http://www.icrw.org/files/images/Child-Marriage-Fact-Sheet-Around-the-World.pdf
(accessed September 15, 2012).
55 Orly Stern, This
Is How Marriage Happens Sometimes: Women and Marriage in South Sudan, Friederike Bubenzer, p. 10.
56 Human Rights Watch interview with Ayen C., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
47
Customary practices attach great social and economic importance to dowry payment, and
a husbands consequent rights over his wife.57 It may increase the likelihood of violence
against women by reinforcing gender stereotypes that view the woman as the property of
her family or husband. Many women, including Ageer M., said that they were beaten if they
resisted marrying:
The man I loved did not have cows and my uncles rejected him. My
husband paid 120 cows. I refused him but they beat me badly and took
me by force to him. The man forced me to have sex with him so I had to
stay there.58
Poverty
Poor families may view girls as a financial burden, prompting them to marry them off to
alleviate that burden. In a context of limited economic resources and opportunities, girls
are also seen as economic assets as their marriages provide cattle, other animals,
money, and gifts.59 Some families believe that giving away their daughters in marriage
may give her a chance for a better life and better prospects for the future.
Girls get married when their families cannot meet their basic needs or pay for them to
continue schooling. Some of the girls interviewed told us that they got married hoping to
escape poverty. Pontinanta J. has nine siblings and neither of her parents is employed.
She told Human Rights Watch that she was married in 2006 at the age of 13 because my
father did not want to pay my school fees. Sometimes we had no food at home.60
57 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p. 4.
58 Human Rights Watch interview with Ageer M., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
59 The study by NPA and others in 2010 and 2011 found that bride wealth has become an economic undertaking for many
families, and that it had gone up 64 percent compared with 1983, and 44 percent compared with the end of the war in 2005.
NPA, Gender-based Concerns and Protection in South Sudan, p. 21.
60 Human Rights Watch interview with Pontinanta J., Yambio County, March 7, 2012.
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
48
marriage, is considered the best option for girls. Those who delay marrying may be
scorned by the community and labeled as expired goods.61
Twenty four-year-old Poni W. was completing her first year of university when Human
Rights Watch interviewed her. She is unmarried, and has no children. She told us,
In our village, people have negative attitudes if you are mature and unmarried.
People will pester you to get married. When I go home they all ask when I will
get married. The boys also abuse you, saying you are expired.62
One significant factor contributing to child marriage is the widespread perception amongst
many South Sudanese that teenage pregnancy undermines family honor. Early marriage is
viewed as a way to protect girls from pre-marital sex and unwanted pregnancy, which is
seen as undermining family honorpotentially reducing the amount of dowry and the
familys economic advancement. A woman interviewed by Human Rights Watch told us,
If you decide to delay your daughters marriage, she may get pregnant. The
man may not pay many cows. That is why we marry them early. There is a
big fear of girls getting pregnant out of wedlock.63
Akuot M. was 15 when she married a 30-year-old man in 2010 and said her father forced
her into marriage because
He feared that the boda boda men [motorcycle taxi drivers] would
impregnate me and reject me. He said I had already reached puberty and
was too big to be in school. He said I needed to bring dowry.64
When unmarried girls get pregnant, or even if they are suspected of being sexually active,
they may be forced to marry the man involved. Poni W. told Human Rights Watch, In our
village, once you get pregnant at home they chase you to go to the boys home. They dont
61 Orly Stern, This Is How Marriage Happens Sometimes: Women and Marriage in South Sudan, Friederike Bubenzer, p. 7.
62 Human Rights Watch interview with Poni W. Juba County, March 20, 2012.
63 Human Rights Watch interview with Yar B., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
64 Human Rights Watch interview with Akuot M., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
49
allow you to stay at home. Poni told us that her brothers forced her 17-year-old sister to
marry the man who impregnated her, although she did not want to and hoped to finish
secondary school.65
Keji L., 29, wept as she told Human Rights Watch that her uncle forced her to marry her
boyfriend when she was 14, convinced that she was sleeping with him after she visited him
at his home:
When I returned home my uncle started beating me saying that I have
chosen to visit boys so it means I want to get married. He beat me so
badly using a big stick for about an hour asking me, Where is the man
you are sleeping with? Some pieces of the wood got into my face and
upper arm near the shoulder and I had to go to hospital [shows scars]. He
beat me till we reached the boys home, and he left me there.... I feel a lot
of pain when I remember this because I was not interested in getting
married. He messed my education66.
She said her sister was also forced to marry under similar circumstances:
She went to disco and my uncle said she had spent the night with a boy. He
told her to go to him. He carried her to the mans home.67
65 Human Rights Watch interview with Poni W., Juba County, March 20, 2012.
66 Human Rights Watch interview with Keji L., Juba County, March 20, 2012.
67 Human Rights Watch interview with Keji L., Juba County, March 20, 2012.
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
50
Violence
A World Health Organization multi-country study on womens health and domestic violence
found that younger women, particularly those aged 1519, and those with lower levels of
education faced a higher risk of physical or sexual violence at the hands of a partner in
almost all the countries studied, than older and more educated women.68 Research
suggests that spousal age difference is also a risk factor- associated with violence and
abuse, including marital rape.69
Child marriage creates an environment that increases young brides vulnerability to
physical, sexual, psychological, and economic abuse. Because early marriage limits
young married girls knowledge and skills, resources, social support networks, mobility
and autonomy, they often have little power in relation to their husband or his family.
In addition, the large age gap between child brides and their spouses makes them less
able to negotiate when and how sex takes place in a marriage, including safer sex and
family planning.70 In South Sudan, a married girl or woman often leaves her maternal home
to live with her husband and his family. Power and authority in the home is customarily
68 WHO,
Multi-country Study on Womens Health and Domestic Violence against Women: Initial Results on Prevalence,
Health Outcomes and Womens Responses: Summary Report, 2005,
http://www.who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study/summary_report/summary_report_English2.pdf
(accessed February 15, 2012), p. 8. The multi-country study found that in all the countries studies, except Japan and
Ethiopia, girls in this age bracket were more vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse by a partner, non-partner, or both,
than older women.
69 Robert Jensen and Rebecca Thornton, Early Female Marriage in the Developing World, Gender and Development, July
70 IPPF, Ending Child Marriage, p. 11; Robert Jensen and Rebecca Thornton, Early Female Marriage in the Developing
51
held by men and older women, and this can place young married girls at greater risk of
abuse and violence.71
71 ICRW, Too Young to Wed: Education & Action Toward Ending Child, 2005, http://www.icrw.org/files/publications/Too-
72 Human Rights Watch interview with Anyier D., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
52
parents because her husband-to-be has not completed paying the dowry of 70 cows asked
for by her family. She told Human Rights Watch,
I am now confined at home. My family does not allow me to leave home
because they think I will get another man. I dont even go to the market
anymore or see my friends.73
73 Human Rights Watch interview with Atong G., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
74 For some media reports on such cases, see South Sudans Human Rights Commission Condemns Forced Marriages,
South Sudan, Juba, April 2012; Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, May 11, 2012,
http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12148&LangID=E (accessed February 12, 2013).
53
cows. The old man had never spoken with the girl. In our area, people dont
even inform the girl [if they want to marry her]. So the old man went and
asked her family. Her family went to the cattle camp and saw the 200 cows.
In the evening, they told the girl, We want to hand you over to this man.
The girl refused. She said, I dont know this man. I have never spoken to
him, and he is not my age. Then some young people took the girl to a
nearby forest. They tied her to a tree and beat her up until she died. There
are so many other stories. 76
Suicide
Girls who do not wish to marry or who want to escape forced marriages may also be at risk
of suicide. Dem told Human Rights Watch that he is aware of cases of girls who have killed
themselves because they are forced to marry someone that they dont love. He said, I
am from Lakes State, and I know of so many such cases. There are also many cases like
this in Warrap and Jonglei. 77
Girls who are forced into marriage suffer great emotional pain. Agata N. told us about her
sisters tribulations after she was forced to marry a boy who had made her pregnant:
My sister is having problems because she is married to a man she doesnt
love and the man doesnt love her. She got pregnant and was chased to
that boy. He doesnt support her. The child doesnt even look healthy. They
dont talk. Sometimes he doesnt sleep at home. He doesnt show concern
when the child is sick. My sister says she might kill herself.78
Violence in Marriage
The majority of girls and women interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that they were
abused by their husbands after the marriage. They told us that they were beaten and
76 Human Rights Watch interview with Samuel Dem, senior inspector, directorate of alternative education, Ministry of General
Education and Instruction, Juba, September 9, 2012. Lakes State is inhabited mainly by the Dinka ethnic group, a pastoralist
community who value cattle a lot. Dowry for the Dinka is paid mainly in cattle.
77 Human Rights Watch interview with Samuel Dem, senior inspector, directorate of alternative education, Ministry of General
78 Human Rights Watch interview with Agata N., Juba County, March 19, 2012.
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
54
verbally abused for not being good at house chores, for not conceiving, for asking for
financial support, or questioning their husbands fidelity. Eight told us that their husbands
kept them from contacting their family or friends, going to the market, or looking for a job.
Other girls complained that their husbands constantly accused them of being unfaithful,
slept at the homes of other women, or brought other women home.
!Kolong K., 30, married at the age of 16. She told Human Rights Watch that she faced many
problems in her marriage because she was young and did not know how to run a home:
I did not know anything about marriage when I got married. The man
[husband] used to fight me all the time because I was unable to do the house
chores. Sometimes he would fight me if I went to visit my lady friends. I liked
to play football with other girls. I would go to play and be late to make food
and he would beat me. We still fight. It has never stopped.79
Aguet told us that her husband also physically abuses her. My husband beats me
because he says I am not working for him well, she said.80
Married girls may also suffer abuse by elder co-wives and other relatives. Alek P. guesses
she is 16. She told Human Rights Watch that her uncles forced her to marry a 45-year-old
man who already had a wife. She said,
The first wife is strong in the house. She saw me as an enemy and she did not
accept me. She was harassing me all the time and even beat me, so I left.81
Christina G., 13, said she got married to escape from her alcoholic and violent parents. She
now faces violence from her husband and father-in-law:
My husband is a casual worker but he does not support us. He is not at
home a lot of times and does not tell me where he goes. If he comes home
and does not find food, he quarrels and beats me. I tell him I dont have
79 Human Rights Watch interview with Kolong K., Rokon County, March 22, 2012.
80 Human Rights Watch interview with Aguet N., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
81 Human Rights Watch interview with Alek P., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
55
money to buy food and he asks why I cannot go to the bush like other
women to collect greens and cook them. But I dont know what greens to
get. Sometimes I even sleep hungry. I cry a lot and I regret why I got married.
I live with my husbands family. My father-in-law also quarrels [with] me
about lack of food in the house and says his son married a lazy woman. I
sell firewood to make money. Sometimes I get two or five pounds in a day
and sometimes I dont sell. At home I had problems, and here I have more
problems. I will persevere in the marriage as I have nowhere to go.82
Some of the girls and women interviewed said that their husbands did not allow them to
leave home, or to visit friends. Gloria C., pointing to a scar on her right hand below the
elbow, told us,
My husband told me not to go to the market, visit friends or my relatives. If I
did, he would quarrel [with] me and beat me. One time he was beating me
and the wood broke and got into my hand.83
Marital rape is common in South Sudan, although, as earlier noted, it is not recognized in
law. Seven of the girls whom Human Rights Watch interviewed said their husbands had
forced them to have sex. Ageer M. told us her husband raped her, aided by his brothers:
I had refused to have sex with him, but he forced me. My brothers-in-law
used to lock me up in the house during the day so that I dont go anywhere,
and so that I can have sex with him.84
Margaret B. told Human Rights Watch that her husband physically, emotionally, and
sexually abused her. She said,
I had fibroids and was in a lot of pain. Sex was painful. If I told my
husband I had pain, he would get out shouting that he was going to look
82 Human Rights Watch interview with Christina G., Yambio County, March 8, 2012.
83 Human Rights Watch interview with Gloria C., Yambio County, March 7, 2012.
84 Human Rights Watch interview with Ageer M., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
56
for sex elsewhere because I had refused him. Sometimes he would have
sex with me anyway.85
85 Human Rights Watch interview with Margaret B., Yambio County, March 7, 2012.
86 Human Rights Watch interview with Ayen C., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
87 Human Rights Watch interview with Penina W., Yambio County, March 7, 2012.
57
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
58
they reach teenage years, especially between ages 15 and 17. I have not
seen many that drop out to stay at home. Most drop out to get married.93
Out of the 61 girls interviewed who had been in school, 39 told us that they had dropped
out to get married. Fourteen had dropped out due to pregnancy.
According to Alfred Lodiong, deputy director of the Directorate of Gender Equity and Social
Change, part of the Ministry of General Education, Juba,
Parents sell their girls. They dont value education; they value cows. The
question is how to make them understand that education is more valuable
than cows.94
Some parents keep girls out of school, especially after they have reached puberty, for fear
that schooling may expose them to risks of premarital sex and pregnancy that would
decrease their chances of getting married or fetching a high dowry upon marriage. One
woman told us, Sometimes a girl becomes big in school and boys start noticing her. Bad
things can happen, so it is better she gets married.95
There are also fears that education makes girls strong headed or less traditional so that
they do not make good wives. A member of a group of elders that we interviewed about
their views on girls education, told us,
Education is not good. It brings much freedom to the woman, and she will
not listen to you. You can even lose a woman you have married with so
many cows because of education.96
93 Human
Rights Watch interview with Jacob Malual, head teacher at Mamer Primary School in Kohlnyang, Bor County,
March 14, 2012.
94 Human Rights Watch interview with Alfred Lodiong, deputy director, Directorate of Gender Equity and Social Change,
Rights Watch interview with Rebecca Deng, community member, during a focus group discussion with women
in Bor County, March 14, 2012.
96 Human Rights Watch interview with Chief Mandit Ber during a focus group discussion with chiefs and elders, Bor County,
59
Human Rights Watch interviewed 15 girls who were married and in school attending
alternative education programs. However, the majority of girls we spoke to had dropped
out of school and said it was difficult to continue school after marriage or becoming
pregnant. Some of the reasons given by girls were lack of money to pay school fees, lack of
child care and unavailability of adult classes, or the need to do chores. Others said that
their husbands would not allow them to continue school after marriage alleging that they
were unfaithful if they insisted on going to school.
Atong G. told us, I was going to school in class five. I stopped school after getting
engaged because my husband said other men will see me.97
Those girls and women who had not returned to school after marriage said they regretted
not being able to complete their education. Akur L., 19, was married at the age of 13 in
2003 and dropped out of school. She told Human Rights Watch,
My uncles forced me to marry a man who was old enough to be my
grandfather. I was going to school and in class six. I liked school. If I was
given a chance to finish school, I would not be having these problems,
working as a waitress and having separated from my husband.
Akur said she wanted to return to school but there was no school for adult learners in her
area of Jonglei state.98
Anyier D., 18, told Human Rights Watch that her uncles forced her to leave school in 2008
to marry an old man she did not know. She was 14, and in class one. She said,
I would wish to return to school even if I have children. People think that I
am happy but I am not because I dont have an education. I dont have
something of my own and I am only cleaning offices. If I had gone to
secondary school, I would get a good job.99
97 Human Rights Watch interview with Atong G., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
98 Human Rights Watch interview with Akur L., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
99 Human Rights Watch interview with Anyier D., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
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The girls and women interviewed by Human Rights Watch who had returned to school
following pregnancy or marriage enjoyed learning and appreciated the benefits that would
come with having an education. Penina W., 21, told Human Rights Watch why she decided
to return to school:
I stayed with my husband for four years but because I did not conceive, he
became distant and abusive. The fifth year he chased me away. I got
another boyfriend who is the father to my young boy. But he has refused to
marry me or take care of the child. I stay with my younger sister and my
child. My sister finished senior three and got a job. So I decided to return to
school so that I can also get education and get a job.100
Penina completed primary school and passed her final examination. She plans to go to
secondary school, although she said she did not have the school fees or someone to look
after her baby while she goes to school. She is cultivating food crops that she sells and
uses the money to buy food and save for her school fees.
100 Human Rights Watch interview with Penina W., Yambio County, March 7, 2012.
101 Transitional Constitution, art. 15.
61
In terms of international law, older children have the right to participate in decisions about
whom and when they marry as soon they have the maturity to understand the implications
of their decisions.103
But no matter what their age, childrens traditionally low status in many African societies
and well-entrenched cultural beliefs undermine their ability to oppose the wishes or
opinion of a parent, guardian, or elder. Some families in South Sudan coerce or force girls
into marriage and use violence, threats of death or being cursed, or the need to protect
family honor and family well-being.
Almost all the girls we interviewed, including those aged 17-18, told Human Rights Watch
that they had been forced into marriage; and that no one had asked for their views on
whether they wanted to get married or to the chosen person.
Furthermore, many of the girls we interviewed told us that no one had explained to them
the responsibilities that come with marriage, including issues around sexual relations,
childbirth and childcare, and other family obligations.
Rosa B. married before she had reached puberty. She told Human Rights Watch,
I did not know what is involved in marriage. I had been hearing other
women talking about having sex between men and women when they are
married. I was scared of having sex for the first time. I was not ready for it.
Rosa said when she asked her elder sister about what to expect in marriage, she advised
her, to provide whatever my husband says, and to respect and obey him and his relatives
because he had paid dowry for me.104
102 UNICEF Innocenti Digest, Early Marriage: Child Spouses, No. 7, March 2001, http://www.unicefirc.org/publications/pdf/digest7e.pdf (accessed April 20, 2012), p. 4.
103 Article 12 of the Convention on the Right of the Child notes that States parties shall assure a child who is capable of
forming his or her views the right to freely express those views in accordance with the age and maturity of the child. CRC, art.
12. However, there are challenges in determining the age a child should be before he or she can consent fully and freely to
marriage and sexual relations, and with full understanding of the implications of such a union, including the risks of
underage marriage. See, UNICEF Innocenti Digest, Early Marriage: Child Spouses, No. 7, March 2001, http://www.unicefirc.org/publications/pdf/digest7e.pdf (accessed April 20, 2012), pp. 9-11 for a discussion on the difficulty of determining full
and free consent to marriage for different categories of children under the age of 18.
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Penina W., 21, married at 14 and is separated from her husband. She said,
I did not know anything about what it means to be married. I got married
because I was hoping that the man will support me because I was
suffering at home.105
Health Consequences
Early marriage contributes to violations of the right to health.106 It puts girls at greater risk
of dying or ill-health as a result of early pregnancy and childbirth.107 Their children also face
higher mortality rates.108 These increased risks are not only related to age, but also to girls
low levels of education, low social and economic status, and lack of access to health
related information and services.109Household responsibilities and other factors that may
cause stress and anxiety may further aggravate the negative outcomes of pregnancy.110
When they are physically more mature, girls have a better chance of surviving pregnancy and
are able to better care for their children.111 Studies have also shown that girls who continue
104 Human Rights Watch interview with Rosa B., Yambio County, March 9, 2012.
105 Human Rights Watch interview with Penina W., Yambio County, March 7, 2012.
106 According to the World Health organization, reproductive health and rights, implies that people are able to have a
responsible, satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when
and how often to do so. Implicit in this are the right of men and women to be informed of and to have access to safe,
effective, affordable and acceptable methods of fertility regulation of their choice, and the right of access to appropriate
health care services that will enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth and provide couples with the best
chance of having a healthy infant. WHO, Reproductive Health, undated,
http://www.who.int/topics/reproductive_health/en/ (accessed October 20, 2012).
107 Poor health remains a significant problem in developing countries. It was estimated that 287 000 maternal deaths
110 Save the Children, State of the Worlds Mothers: Children Having Children, 2004 May 2004,
http://www.ungei.org/resources/files/SaveTheChildren_SOWM_2004_final.pdf (accessed October 10, 2012) p. 14.
111 The organization Save the Children has found that higher levels of education also contribute to an increased use of
contraception and reduced rate of infant mortality. Save the Children, Women on the Front Lines of Healthcare: State of the
Worlds Mothers, 2010, http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%7D/SOWM2010-Women-on-the-Front-Lines-of-Health-Care.pdf (accessed April 11, 2012), p. 32.
63
their education, especially until completing secondary school, are more likely to invest in
their own childrens education, enabling future generations to become economically
independent and positive contributors to society.112 On the other hand, children of young
and illiterate mothers tend to face their same cycle of childhood deprivation and abuse.113
Obstetric Fistula
Early marriage is a major risk factor for fistula developmenta devastating childbirth injury
that leaves its victims with urine and/or fecal incontinence that causes infection, pain, and
bad smell, and triggers stigma and the breakdown of marriages, loss of employment, and
challenges in family and community life.
The risk of obstetric fistula is heightened by young married girls poor socio-economic
status, and lack of education and access to appropriate reproductive and maternal health
care. However, studies show that physical immaturity is the key risk for girls under 15114
because their pelvises are not fully developed and thus susceptible to obstructed labor
the main cause of fistula.115
About 5,000 girls and women in South Sudan suffer from fistula each year.116 A doctor at Juba
teaching hospital told Human Rights Watch that although the hospital lacks accurate fistula
statistics, they see many cases of teenagers with obstructed labor, not only from Juba but
other states in the country.117 I see many girls who come here with obstructed labor. You
know their bodies are still young, a midwife at a government hospital in WES told us.118
112 UNICEF, The State of the Worlds Children, p. 64; UNICEF Innocenti Digest, Early Marriage: Child Spouses, No. 7, March
113 UNICEF Innocenti Digest, Early Marriage: Child Spouses, No. 7, March 2001, http://www.unicef-
115 The term obstructed labor indicates a failure to progress due to mechanical problems such as a mismatch between the
size of the presenting part of the fetus and the mothers pelvis. Some mal-presentations such as a brow presentation or a
shoulder presentation will also cause obstruction. Pathological enlargement of the fetal head and ineffective uterine
contractions may also obstruct labor. These different causes of difficult labor may co-exist. J. P. Neilson et al., Obstructed
Labour: Reducing Maternal Death and Disability during Pregnancy, British Medical Bulletin, vol. 67 (2003), pp. 191-204;
Nawal Nour, An Introduction to Maternal Mortality, Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 1, no. 2 (2008), pp. 77-81;
and WHO, Obstetric Fistula: Guiding Principles for Clinical Management and Programme Development, 2006,
http://www.endfistula.org/webdav/site/endfistula/shared/documents/publications/who_obstetric_fistula.pdf (accessed
September 15, 2012), p.3.
116 Ibid.
117 Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Mergani Abdalla Mohamed, Juba Teaching Hospital, March 17, 2012.
118 Human Rights Watch interview with a senior midwife at Yambio state hospital, Yambio County, March 8,
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
64
2012.
Victoria J. married in 2009 at 14, and became pregnant shortly thereafter. She said,
I started labor in the morning on a Friday. The nurse kept checking and
saying I will deliver safely. On Monday she said I was weak. The doctor
decided to operate on me. At operation they found the baby was dead. The
doctor said the baby had died due to the long labor. After that I found out
that urine was coming out all the time.119
2012.
121 Human Rights Watch interview with Jane F., Yambio County, March 8, 2012.
65
Girls told us they did not discuss sex with their parents, and those that had been to school
said they did not receive sex education. Gloria C. said she got pregnant at 14 or 15. I didnt
know that I would get pregnant by having sex, she said. I was just playing sex.122
A nurse in Western Equatoria State commented about this issue in her community:
Girls here are very sexually active. They say they are playing sex (South
Sudanese common expression for sexual intercourse). But they have very
little information about pregnancy and contraception.123
Human Rights Watch interviewed 10 girls who told us that they became pregnant after their
first sexual encounter. All believed that they would not get pregnant because it was their
first time. All of them said they did not have information on family planning and
contraception. Other girls who were married also told us they did not have this information.
Young married girls also have limited ability to make decisions about their health and that
of their children. They are relatively powerless in their families, and often lack the
autonomy, information, and economic means to access contraception and other
reproductive health care. Violence and discrimination in the home may also limit their
uptake of reproductive and sexual health services, even in cases of emergency.
Rosa B., 20, thinks she married at the age of 12. She told Human Rights Watch that she
gave birth to her first child at home because, My husband refused me to go to the
hospital. He told me there is an old woman who helps other women and I will use her.124
Rosa said that after delivery, her right leg was paralyzed and she could not walk well for
two months. She told us that her husband sought traditional treatment for her although
she kept asking him to take her to the hospital.
Christina G. is also not sure of her date of birth but says her mother told her she is 13. She
told Human Rights Watch that they live near a hospital, but when she went into labor,
122 Human Rights Watch interview with Gloria C., Yambio County, March 7, 2012.
123 Human Rights Watch interview with a senior midwife at Yambio state hospital, Yambio County, March 8,
124 Human Rights Watch interview with Rosa B., Yambio County, March 9, 2012.
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66
2012.
125 Human Rights Watch interview with Christina G., Yambio County, March 8, 2012.
126 UNICEF Innocenti Digest, Early Marriage: Child Spouses, No. 7, March 2001, http://www.unicef-
irc.org/publications/pdf/digest7e.pdf (accessed April 20, 2012), p. 12. As mentioned earlier in the report, girls in South
Sudan are considered ready for marriage when they reach puberty. A significant number of girls interviewed by Human Rights
Watch were married before the age of 15. The CRC covers everyone up to age 18 and regards childhood as a process of
development one that does not end with a definitive physical maturity marker.
127 Population Council, Understanding Sex Without consent Among Young People: A Neglected Priority, Brief no. 7, July
67
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Rachel B.s Story: Failed by the Government and Forced into Marriage
Fifteen-year-old Rachel B. loved to study.129 When Human Rights Watch interviewed her in
March 2012 she was attending school. But she told us her dream of getting a good education
began to fade in 2011 when her parents decided to marry her to a man who was about 40
years old and already had a wife and children:
My family and the mans family got together and agreed on the dowry of 26,000 pounds
[about $7,429], which was paid in December 2011. Afterwards, my mother and father came
to me and said, Today you are going to your house [getting married].
I told them I didnt want to get married because I wanted to study. They insisted I had to
marry him because he had paid dowry. They forcefully took me to his house in New Site.130
I spent three days there. I was crying all the time. On the third day I escaped and returned
home. My father called my mother and said I should stay at home until he returned home to
settle the matter. I told them that I would kill myself if I had to go [with the man her parents
wanted her to marry].
Rachel took the advice of one of her friends and sought help from the Human Rights
Commission (HRC). The HRC sent her to a center for vulnerable children managed by the
Central Equatoria State Ministry of Social Development where she stayed for two weeks. She
was then told to return home to her family. In March 2012, when Human Rights Watch first
interviewed her, she was living at home, under constant threat, and desperate to continue
her education. She told us:
I dont feel safe at home. Every day [my family] are fighting me, and I believe that they can
kill me. I am always thinking about how unsafe I am, even when I am at school. I cannot
concentrate in class because of these fears. I also fear that the man can kidnap me on my
way to school, rape me, or he can beat me or kill me. I want the government to help me, to
send me somewhere where I can be safe and study. If there was a shelter where I would be
safe, I would go there.
129 Human Rights Watch met Rachel through the South Sudan Human Rights Commission who had tried unsuccessfully to
130 An area outside Juba and the location of South Sudans military headquarters, where many soldiers reside.
69
Her family continued with their plan to have her married. Rachel told Human Rights Watch
about the marriage when we interviewed her again:
In April [2012], my uncles son came to our home and said that he wanted me to go to my
husband. He beat me and told me that he would kill me if I refused to get married to the
man. He said the family had used the money my husband gave and were not in a position to
repay, so I had to marry him. He took me to my uncles home. There, my uncle beat me, tied
my ankles and wrists with metal wire, and locked me inside a room. They took my phone and
people at the home watched me constantly. I was not allowed to go to school.
Rachel escaped and again sought help from the HRC who placed her at a center for girls,
where she remained for two weeks. In mid-April, Rachels family went to the offices of the
HRC, armed, and demanded that Rachel be released to them. They eventually took her away.
The HRC referred Rachels case to the Ministry of Justice where prosecutors said they were
pursuing her case, though no charges have ever been brought against her family members,
nor any arrests made. After her second attempt to escape, Rachel made a statement to the
police, which included testimony about the abuse she had suffered.
Despite the involvement of multiple government agencies in Rachels case, none were able
to protect her and her whereabouts at time of writing were unknown to Human Rights
Watch. Officials from the HRC and the government told Human Rights Watch that they
believe Rachel is married and living with her husband.
131 NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, pp. 39-40; Ministry of Gender, Child and Social
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Across the country, law enforcement services are weak and police are under-trained and
under-resourced.132 In particular, aside of the SPUs, police are given little training on how
to handle cases of gender-based violence and for the most part, they have little knowledge
of womens rights.
Most police officers are men, many of whom are older, uneducated former soldiers with
conservative views about womens place in society. Reports by local and international
organizations indicate police often refuse to assist women who report domestic abuse,
claiming that this falls outside of their jurisdiction and sending them home to address the
issue within their families.133
A recent study by the Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare noted the lack of
urgency by the police and government prosecutorskey institutions responsible for
addressing gender-based crimes in terms of protection, investigation, prosecution and
enforcementin dealing with cases of gender-based violence. It stated,
Both institutions are mostly unaware of the magnitude and
manifestations of gender based crimes. The result has been deprioritization of SGBV offences like rape and concentration on cases like
murder, which the public attorney thought [were] more important. Thus, few
gender-related cases reach [the] court or are prosecuted. For example,
those who kill girls engaging in commercial sex go scot free. A man who
beat his sister to death for refusing to marry an elderly man was released
the same day without any charges.134
Lack of Shelters
South Sudan has no shelters designed to assist survivors of gender-based violence (GBV).
As Rachels case demonstrates, lack of shelters or safe spaces where girls can seek
protection and help when at risk of forced marriage, or when they run away from them is a
132 Human Rights Watch, Prison Is Not for Me, pp. 23-25.
133 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p. 3;
DAwol, Anyieth, Sibu ana, sibu ana (Leave Me, Leave Me): Survivors of Sexual Violence in South Sudan, pp. 5377;
NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, pp. 39-41; Ministry of Gender, Child and Social
Welfare, Comprehensive Country Gender Assessment, pp. 65-66.
134 Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Comprehensive Country Gender Assessment, p. 69.
71
key barrier to effectively responding to forced marriages and domestic violence generally.
Girls who resist forced marriages may face physical, verbal, and psychological violence
from their families or husbands and are not safe at home.
A center run by an NGO, Confident Children out of Conflict, has occasionally
accommodated victims of forced marriage. Another small center, known as Toto-Chan, run
by the Central Equatoria State Ministry of Gender and Social Welfare has also housed such
girls, including Rachel. A ministry official however noted that it is not our mandate to keep
such girls. We are not a safe house.135 The Juba Orphanage has also served as a temporary
refuge in at least three cases of which Human Rights Watch is aware. The supervisor
emphasized however that the center is in fact intended to provide long-term
accommodation for orphans.136
Donors and some government officials have expressed concerns about how shelters can
respond to GBV cases. While some support their establishment, others fear that women
there can more easily be targeted by their husbands and families. For example, Konga said
the following about lack of shelters:
We would like the government to look into establishing a center where cases
such as Rachels can be referred. Right now, girls who are being forced into
marriage have nowhere to go. So they cant report because even if they do so
there is no way of protecting them. Mostly they go to the police and dont get
the services they need. So they go home and get married. Girls need support
when they run. Sometimes they come with only one dress and need sanitary
pads. Some children are really traumatized by the beatings and need time to
heal. If there is a place where people can report GBV cases, many more will
come if they are assured of confidentiality and security.137
Human Rights Watch asked the head of the women and juvenile justice department in the
national Ministry of Justice about protection for girls who bring complaints against their
own families in cases of forced marriage. He commented,
135 Human Rights Watch interview with Emily Konga, senior inspector for gender in the Ministry of Gender and Social
136 Ibid.
137 Ibid.
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73
140 For protections in the Transitional Constitution and the Penal Code, see Chapter I, p. 10.
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womens right to choose their own spouse and to enter into marriage with their full and
free consent. South Sudan should also take necessary legislative and other measures to
ensure that anyone who intentionally forces an adult or a child to enter into a marriage is
appropriately penalized, and that marriages concluded under force may be voidable,
annulled, or dissolved without undue burden placed on the victim.
The Child Act defines a child as anyone under 18 and states that, every child has the right
to be protected from early marriage.141 The Child Act includes the rights of children to nondiscrimination, birth registration, health, education, life, survival and development, an
opinion, protection from torture and degrading treatment, and to protection from abuse.142
Article 22 states that, Government shall take concrete measures to protect children from
all forms of abuse and to ensure that any child who becomes the victim of abuse shall
be accorded appropriate treatment and rehabilitation.143 Article 22 provides that those
convicted of abusing a child can be sentenced to 14 years, and article 30 provides that
anyone convicted of violating the rights of a child as guaranteed by the Child Act can be
convicted and sentenced to up to seven years.
While these articles can be read together to prohibit child marriage and sanction those
who force their children to marry, there is a need for clearer and more direct legislation, or
at least for the judiciary to clarify how these provisions should be applied through judicial
opinions or circulars.
The 2011 Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan does not set a minimum
age of marriage. Instead, it ambiguously states that, Every person of marriageable age
shall have the right to marry a person of the opposite sex and to found a family according
to their respective family laws, and no marriage shall be entered into without the free and
full consent of the man and woman intending to marry.144 The Penal Code does not
criminalize those who procure a child marriage, but does contain a provision criminalizing
kidnapping or abducting a woman to compel her into marriage.
75
How the current definition of rape applies to sexual intercourse in the context of child
marriage is also unclear. Under the Penal Code, 18 is the age of consent to sex. The same
article excludes sexual intercourse by a married couple from the definition of rape.
These gaps in the law perpetuate discrimination and inequality between men and women
in the right to marry and found a family.
government have provided any guidance as to what constitutes the best interests of
the child, for the purposes of the Child Act.
Under the Code of Civil Procedure Act, customary law is the source of law for marriage,
divorce, child custody and other family- related issues.147 The Code of Civil Procedure also
includes a caveat that such customs should not be applied if they are contrary to justice,
equity or good conscience.
145 Article 10 provides that, except in a state of emergency, no derogation from the rights and freedoms enshrined in this Bill
shall be made. The Bill of Rights shall be upheld, protected, and applied by the Supreme Court and other competent courts.
Article 167(3) states that courts shall apply customary law subject to this Constitution and the law.
146 Child Act, art. 4(4).
147 Code of Civil Procedure Act states in article six,
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While the provisions of the Transitional Constitution, the Child Act and the Code of Civil
Procedure offer solutions for how conflicts between customary laws and human rights
should be resolved, there are no published court decisions articulating this line of
reasoning or offering guidance in interpretation of customary laws consistent with the
Transitional Constitution. The Supreme Court has not issued any judicial circulars offering
clarification to courts on how to use the provisions of the Transitional Constitution.
A government official commented on the challenges posed by customary law in addressing
child marriage, noting,
There is a law, but early marriage is a traditional act. If you try to stop it,
people will accuse you of wanting to change their culture. Judges are having
a hard time passing sentences for early marriage. The Child Act cannot be
implemented completely because of tradition.148
Customary courts are familiar and accessible, and are therefore used by the vast majority
of the population including women and girls. They serve as the primary institutional
recourse for communities in matters of marriage. But the chiefs who preside over
customary courts are usually older men, and their decisions frequently reflect deeply
ingrained patriarchal views. They generally do not enforce the same definition of a child as
the Child Act. Normally, girls are considered ready for marriage as soon as they reach
pubertyat around 12rather than 18.149
Customary courts generally favor restorative and consensual solutions over punitive ones.
Under customary law, for example, homicide, adultery, theft, and injury may be resolved
through awards of compensation, often in the form of cows or other livestock, from the
perpetrator to the injured party.150
149 South Sudan Human Rights Commission, 2011 Annual Report, p.32; Child Act, art. 4(4), pp. 2-10.;United Nations
Population Fund and DPK Consulting, Adapting Restorative Justice Principles to Reform Customary Courts in Dealing with
Gender-based Violence in Southern Sudan, May 2008, http://www.docstoc.com/docs/61181823/ADAPTING-RESTORATIVEJUSTICE-PRI (accessed February 11, 2013).
150 Currently, both statutory and customary courts impose sentences of terms of imprisonment together with customary
compensation awards. Human Rights Watch, Prison is not for Me, p. 65.
77
While these are accepted ways of settling disputes within communities, the failure of
customary courts to address the criminal elements of certain gender-based crimes leaves
victims without an adequate remedy. In Rachels case, the Ministry of Justice agreed to
release her to her family, despite the violence that she faced, because the family said they
would settle the issue as a family matter.
While South Sudan is struggling with how to harmonize its plural justice system,151 these
legal inconsistencies add to a culture of impunity for violations of womens rights
including through child marriage.
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investigator at the Human Rights Commission who had tried to help Rachel told us that her
family threatened to take him to court, claiming that he wanted to marry her, but dowry
had been paid by another man.154
79
who had forced me to get married. I decided to stay even if it meant dying in
the home. Even if he had been beating me, I would have stayed because in
our culture people stay in marriages with problems.157
Article 36 of the Child Act requires that all levels of government should provide effective
remedies to redress violations of the rights in this Act, including through access to child
friendly, independent complaints procedures and competent Courts. However, the girls
with whom Human Rights Watch spoke did not know where to seek help when faced with
a forced marriage or once they had entered one. Many of the girls we interviewed told us
that their only option was to go to their families or community elders.
When Human Rights Watch asked a head teacher if any girls had sought help from him
for forced marriage, he told us,
No girls have reported to me that they are being forced into marriage. Of
course there are many cases, but these are considered family affairs and
the girls are not allowed talk about them to outsiders. Girls dont report
these cases because they have no power in their families, and fear
retribution if they challenge their decisions. Even girls who want to refuse
forced marriages dont know where to report these cases.158
Because of this lack of information many girls and women do not report forced marriage
cases to the authorities.
157 Human Rights Watch interview with Ayen C., Bor County, March 15, 2012.
158 Human
Rights Watch interview with Jacob Malual, head teacher at Mamer Primary School in Kohlnyang, Bor County,
March 14, 2012.
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None of the girls we interviewed said that their families had listened to them when they
tried to resist marriage. Instead, as discussed in previous sections, many were brutally
beaten, threatened with curses, taken to the police, or their movements restricted to
coerce them into marriage.
Some girls run to their families or went to traditional authorities for assistance because
their husbands were abusing them, only to be returned to their abusive husbands.
81
http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ctl/ArticleView/mid/519/articleId/5440/President-Kiirs-IndependenceSpeech-In-Full.aspx (accessed February 19, 2012).Since independence, South Sudan has ratified the Geneva Conventions,
the Refugee Convention, the Mine Ban Treaty, and seven conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
160 The 1978 Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of Treaties, representative of the current status of
international law, provides for the continuity of obligations in respect of all treaties that were binding on a predecessor state.
Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of Treaties, adopted August 22, 1978, 1946 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into
force November 6 1996, art. 35. The UN Commission on Human Rights and UN Treaty bodies have also underlined the
continuing nature of human rights treaty obligations on successor states. UN Commission on Human Rights, Succession of
States in respect of international human rights treaties, Resolutions 1993/223, 1994/16 and 1995/18; UN Human Rights
Committee, General Comment 26, Continuity of obligations (Sixty-first session, 1997), Compilation of General Comments and
General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.8/Rev.1 (1997), p. 173.
THIS OLD MAN CAN FEED US, YOU WILL MARRY HIM
82
Disabilities (CRPD), the Supplementary Convention on Slavery, the Slave Trade, and
Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Palermo Protocol), the
African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (African Charter), the African Charter on the
Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC);161 and a responsibility not to take any actions
that would undermine the object and purpose of the Protocol to the African Charter on
Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol) that
Sudan has signed but not ratified.162
Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S.171, entered into force March 23, 1976, ratified by Sudan on March 18,
1986; Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), adopted November 20, 1989, G.A. Res. 44/25,annex, 44 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No.
49) at 167, U.N. Doc. A/44/49 (1989), entered into force September 2, 1990, ratified by Sudan on August 3, 1990; International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), adopted December16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp.
(No. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 993 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into force January 3, 1976, ratified by Sudan on March 18, 1986;
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), adopted December 13, 2006, G.A. Res. 61/106, Annex I, U.N. GAOR,
61st Sess., Supp. (No. 49) at 65, U.N. Doc. A/61/49 (2006), entered into force May 3, 2008, ratified by Sudan on April 24, 2009;
African [Banjul] Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, adopted June 27, 1981, OAU Doc.CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982),
entered into force October 21, 1986, ratified by Sudan on February 18, 1986; African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
(ACRWC), OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/24.9/49 (1990), November 29, 1999, ratified by Sudan July 30, 2005.
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1155, p. 331, entered into force on
January 27, 1980, art. 18. Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on The Rights of Women in Africa (the
Maputo Protocol), adopted July 11, 2003, entered into force November 2005, signed by Sudan June 30, 2008.
83
165 The Maputo Protocol in article six calls for States to develop laws that establish 18 as the minimum age of marriage; while
article 18 of the African Charter requires in article 18 that, States eliminate every discrimination against women and also
ensure the protection of the rights of the woman and the child as stipulated in international declarations and conventions.
166 Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), adopted December 10, 1948, G.A. Res. 217A(III), U.N. Doc. A/810 at 71
(1948), art. 16, ICCPR, art. 23, and ICESCR, art. 10 (1).
the ICESCR, sets out States parties obligations to ensure that men and women have an equal right to choose if, whom, and
when to marry.
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84
Doc.CRC/C/GC/12(2009), para. 2.
171 Ibid.
172 For example see, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 4, Adolescent Health and Development
in the Context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, (Thirty-third session, 2003), para. 20. There is an evolving
consensus in international law that 18 should be the minimum age for marriage.
85
to specify the minimum age of marriage as 18 years.173 The Maputo Protocol also specifies
that states are to enact appropriate national legislative measures to guarantee that the
minimum age of marriage for women shall be 18 years.174
The CRC defines a child as anyone below the age of 18 years.175 South Sudan should amend
the Child Act to reflect this standard. Because South Sudan recognizes customary law as
integral to its legal system, it needs to ensure that both judicial and customary legal
processes adopt and enforce the same definition of a child and a minimum age for marriage.
South Sudan should also pass legislation requiring the registration of marriage. The
Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of
Marriages states that all marriages should be registered by a competent authority.176 The
Maputo Protocol also calls on governments to ensure that all marriages are recorded in
writing and registered in accordance with national laws.177 The CRC committee has also
addressed the obligation of governments to make the registration of all births and
marriages compulsory and to put in place measures to enforce implementation.
Right to Health
By virtue of its inherited international human rights obligations, South Sudan is required to
fulfill the right to health on a nondiscriminatory basis. This right is enshrined in numerous
international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the ICESCR, the African Charter, the Maputo Protocol, and the CRC. The ICESCR
specifies that everyone has a right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of
physical and mental health, and requires that it be implemented without discrimination
on the basis of sex, age, or other prohibited grounds.178 Article 24 of the CRC recognizes
childrens rights to health and to access health services, and notably the right to be
protected from traditional practices prejudicial to the health of the child. 179
art.6 (a).
175 CRC, art. 1. In the context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child means every human being below the age of
18 years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier."
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86
The African Charter recognizes that every individual has the right to receive information
and the right to education.180 The Maputo Protocol specifically includes the right to
have family planning education and further obligates governments to provide adequate,
affordable and accessible health services, including information, education and
communication programs to women especially those in rural areas.181
Several treaties and authoritative interpretations specifically note that reducing maternal
mortality rates and improving maternal health services should be considered priorities in
the progressive realization of the right to health. The ICSECR provides that the full
realization of the right to health requires States Parties to take steps to reduce rates of
still-births and infant mortality. The committee that monitors the ICESCR has noted a need
to develop and implement a comprehensive national strategy for promoting women's right
to health throughout their life span, noting,
A major goal [of a national strategy] should be reducing women's health
risks, particularly lowering rates of maternal mortality and protecting
women from domestic violence. The realization of women's right to
health requires the removal of all barriers interfering with access to
health services, education and information, including in the area of
sexual and reproductive health. It is also important to undertake
preventive, promotive and remedial action to shield women from the
impact of harmful traditional cultural practices and norms that deny them
their full reproductive rights.182
Underage marriage has serious health consequences for girls and contributes to South
Sudans extremely high maternal and infant mortality rates. The government of South
Sudan should take steps to reduce its high rates of child marriage, and to improve girls
and womens access to reproductive health care and information to ensure that it fulfills
its right to health obligations.
182 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), Substantive Issues Arising in the Implementation of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 14, The Right to the Highest
Attainable Standard of Health, E/C.12/2000/4 (2000), para. 14. para. 21.
87
Right to Education
The ICESCR and the CRC guarantee to everyone the right to free and compulsory education.183
The right to equal opportunity in education is stipulated in the CRC, the African Charter, the
Maputo Protocol, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.184
In its general recommendation on the aims of education, the CRC committee explains the
purpose of education to develop a childs personality, talent, mental and physical
abilities to full potential and to prepare a child to assume lifes responsibilities.185 It
remarks that an education provides children with life skills such as critical thinking, the
ability to make well-balanced decisions, to develop a healthy lifestyle and good social
relationships; and empowers them by developing their self-esteem and confidence.186
Early and forced marriages are a major contributor to South Sudans extremely low rates of
school enrollmentparticularly at the secondary levelamong girls and literacy among
women. It is also a major cause of school drop-out for girls. By failing to curb child
marriages, South Sudan is failing in its obligation to ensure access to education for boys
and girls on an equal basis.
2001), Compilation of General Comments and General recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, UN Doc.
HRI/gen/1/rev.7, p.294, para. 1 (a).
186 Ibid., para. 2.
187 ICCPR, HRC, General Comment 31, Nature of the general legal obligation on states parties to the Covenant (hereinafter
"General Comment 31"), para. 9, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.13 (2004); UN Committee Against Torture (CAT), General
Comment No. 2: Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties, 24 January 2008.CAT/C/GC/2.
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obligation to protect children from violence includes protection from parents or other
caregivers.188 Article 34 of the CRC clearly delineates the obligation of states to protect
children from sexual exploitation and abuse.189
The Maputo Protocol calls on States to adopt legislative, administrative, social and
economic measures as may be necessary to identify the causes and consequences, and
ensure the prevention, punishment, and eradication of all forms of violence against
women, including sexual violence whether it occurs in private or public.190 It specifically
requires that States take measures to protect women who are at risk of being subjected to
harmful practices or all other forms of violence, abuse and intolerance, and to establish
mechanisms and accessible services for effective information, rehabilitation and
reparation for victims of violence against women.191
As this report shows, girls who are subjected to child marriage may experience violence
from their spouses, in-laws, and other family members. This includes physical, verbal,
sexual, and psychological abuse. Girls and women dont always report violence to the
authorities due to a number of cultural and legal barriers noted earlier. Nonetheless, some
women do report abuse, including forced marriages, but they rarely get help.
South Sudans obligation to prevent, investigate, prosecute, and punish violence against
girls and women includes ensuring that state actors, such as the police, the judiciary and
customary courts take all reasonable steps to provide everyone within its territory with
effective protection against such violence by private parties.192 Included in this obligation
is the States duty to effectively investigate whenever such violence occurs, which
international human rights tribunal case law says involves an investigation capable of
leading to the identification and punishment of those responsible.193 In a case involving
sexual assault one human rights court has noted,
188 CRC, art. 19.
189 Ibid., art. 34.
190 Maputo Protocol,
Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998-I, p. 324; Jordan v. the United Kingdom, no. 24746/94, judgment of May 4, 2001;
89
The Court finds further that rape is for its victim an offence of manifestly
debasing character and thus emphasizes the State's procedural obligation
arising in this context. The effective official investigation should be capable
of leading to the identification and punishment of those responsible. The
minimum standards as to effectiveness defined by the Court's case-law also
include the requirements that the investigation must be independent,
impartial and subject to public scrutiny, and that the competent authorities
must act with exemplary diligence and promptness.194
Police and customary courts inaction in the face of violence against women creates an
atmosphere of impunity facilitating further violence, and dissuades women from seeking
help. Their failure to act exposes girls and women to further violence, especially once the
perpetrator knows the survivor has reported the attack, as some cases in this report show.
Finucane v. the United Kingdom, no. 29178/95, judgment of July 1 2003; Isayeva v. Russia, 57950/00, judgment of July 27,
2004; Adali v. Turkey, 38187/97, judgment March 31, 2005.
194 Maslova and Nalbandov v Russia Application No. 839/02, judgment of January 24, 2008, para 91. See also cases cited by
the court in this finding: S.W. v. the United Kingdom, judgment of November 22, 1995, Series A no. 335-B; C.R. v. the United
Kingdom, judgment of November 22, 1995, Series A no. 335-C; and M.C. v. Bulgaria, no. 39272/98, 153, ECHR 2003-XII.
Assenov and Others v. Turkey, judgment of October 28, 1998, Reports 1998-VIII, p. 3290, 102, and Labita v. Italy [GC], no.
26772/95, 131, ECHR 2000-IV.
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195 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Marrying too Young: End Child Marriage, 2012,
http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/publications/2012/MarryingTooYoung.pdf (accessed
October 18, 2012), p. 22.
counterparts (44 percent and 22 percent, respectively). Girls with a primary education are twice as likely to marry as those with a
secondary or higher education. However, those with no education are three times more likely. The rate of child marriage among the
poorest 20 percent is 54 percent compared to 16 among the richest 20. Ibid., pp. 34 35. Also see United Nations Childrens Fund
(UNICEF), Early Marriage, A Harmful Traditional Practice, A Statistical Exploration, 2005,
http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Early_Marriage_12.lo.pdf (accessed February 20, 2012), pp. 3-4; International Planned
Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Ending Child Marriage: A Guide for Global Policy Action, first published in September 2006, current
edition published in November 2007, http://www.unfpa.org/upload/lib_pub_file/662_filename_endchildmarriage.pdf (accessed
91
The introduction in 2012 by the UN of the first International Day of the Girl, which
had child marriage as its theme.
January 28, 2012), p. 10; Center for Global Investment, Girls Count: A Global Investment and Action Agenda, 2008,
http://www.coalitionforadolescentgirls.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Girls_Count_2009.pdf (accessed May 15, 2012), pp. 42-43.
202 The three current
strategic objectives for this global partnership include: increased awareness of the harmful impact of
child marriage at the local, national and international levels; expanded policy, financial and other support to end child
marriage and to support married girls; and strengthened learning and coordination between organisations working to end
child marriage. See, http://girlsnotbrides.org/. As of February 2013, the coalition had around 223 member organizations in
over 43 countries across Africa, Europe, South Asia and the US, with three emerging national chapters in Ethiopia, Tanzania
and the US. Girls Not Brides Newsletter, on file with HRW.
203 The report recommends that the Human Rights Council develop a more comprehensive approach to the issue of servile
marriage and that States enact legislation to prevent the practice, provide support to victims, and launch campaigns to raise
awareness of its negative impact. Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery,
including its Causes and Consequences, A/HRC/21/41, July 10, 2012,
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session21/A-HRC-21-41_en.pdf (accessed October 2, 2012).
204 See, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s414; http://blog.iwhc.org/2012/07/rep-betty-mccollum-d-mn-and-
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Innovative programs, policies, and strategies to tackle child marriage have been
developed in other countries. These programs are implemented and supported by a
combination of local and international NGOs, national governments, bilateral donors, UN
entities, international financial institutions, and foundations.
Many programs to end child marriage are not well documented or evaluated. There are,
however, evaluations available for programs in India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia,
Afghanistan, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Senegal, and Yemen. A review of the
available programmatic evaluations and analysis suggest that successful efforts reach
across sectors and integrate a range of approaches that address the root causes of child
marriage, and simultaneously promote girls human rights. Five approaches seem
essential in these efforts:206
Empowering girls with information, skills, and support networks: These programs aim
to empower girls at risk of child marriage through life skills, vocational and livelihoods
training, safe spaces for girls to discuss their futures, the provision of information about
their options, and the development of support networks. Such interventions can help
equip girls with knowledge and skills in areas relevant to their lives, including sexual and
reproductive health, nutrition, and their rights under the law. Girls are empowered when
and if they are able to learn skills that help them to develop a livelihood, help them to
better communicate, to negotiate and advocate for themselves both in the short and long
term, and to make decisions that directly affect their lives.
Improving girls access to quality formal education: Girls education, especially at the
secondary level, is strongly associated with delayed marriage. Education is a right in itself,
and being in school confers numerous protections and benefits for girls. Educational
opportunities offer girls positive alternatives to child marriage that are generally
acceptable to the family and community. From a cultural standpoint, being in school can
support the perception that girls are still children and not of marriageable age. Schooling
206 Malhotra, A., et al., 2011, Solutions to End Child Marriage: What the Evidence shows, 2011,
http://www.icrw.org/publications/solutions-end-child-marriage (accessed March 15, 2012), pp. 10-20; UNFPA, Marrying too
Young: end Child Marriage,: 2012,
http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/publications/2012/MarryingTooYoung.pdf (accessed
October 5, 2012); UNICEF, The State of the Worlds Children 2011, http://www.unicef.org/sowc2011/pdfs/SOWC-2011-MainReport_EN_02092011.pdf, (accessed January 16, 2012). p.33.
93
helps a girl develop social networks and acquire skills and information, which contribute
to her ability to communicate, negotiate for her best interests, and participate in decisions
that affect her life.
Educating and mobilizing parents and community members to change harmful social
norms: Families and community elders usually make the decision for a girl to marry early.
Sanctions for failing to meet social expectations for marriage are also administered by the
family and broader community. Programs in this category educate parents and mobilize
communities to try and change social norms and forge a more supportive, less punitive
environment for girls and families who are willing and ready to change the custom of early
marriage. Enlisting parents and community members helps to mitigate possible
unintended consequences of girls participation in programs, and also reinforces a
programs messages and activities.
Enhancing the economic situation of girls and their families: Poverty and lack of viable
income-generating options for girls and their families contribute to the high rate of child
marriages. This approach aims to provide immediate and long-term economic
opportunities for families to enable them to postpone the marriage of their daughters, and
to keep them in school through secondary levels. Incentives may include loans,
scholarships, subsidies, and conditional cash transfers. Increasing employment
opportunities for girls through microfinance schemes or vocational training can generate
viable alternatives to child marriage, especially for girls unable to continue their formal
schooling. Improving girls economic standing can also give them a higher status in their
families and on this basis, greater control over their lives. For families themselves, direct
cash transfers and income-generating activities for their daughters can help to alleviate
economic and social pressures that lead to early marriage.
Fostering an enabling legal and policy framework: Legislation and appropriate
enforcement measures are fundamental for defending the human rights of girls at risk of
child marriage. Essential components include: ensuring that domestic legislationin line
with international human rights standardsupholds the age of 18 as the minimum legal
age of marriage for both males and females; promoting birth and marriage registration;
and challenging harmful customs, traditions, and practices that do not comply with human
rights standardssuch as tolerance for gender-based violencethrough national and subnational laws and social programs.
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94
Acknowledgements
This report was written by Agnes Odhiambo, Africa researcher in the Womens Rights
Division. The report is based on research conducted by Agnes Odhiambo and Womens
Rights Consultant Elizabeth Ashamu Deng. The report was edited by Liesl Gerntholtz,
director of the Womens Rights Division; Jehanne Henry, senior researcher with the Africa
Division; Diederik Lohman, senior researcher with the Health and Human Rights Division;
Juliane Kippenberg, senior researcher with the Childrens Rights Division; Aisling Reidy,
senior legal advisor; and Danielle Haas, senior program editor at Human Rights Watch.
All images were taken by Brent Stirton, photojournalist reporting for Human Rights
Watch. Multimedia conception and coordination was provided by Veronica Matushaj,
creative director; Anna Lopriore, creative manager; and senior associates Ivy Shen and
Jenny Catherall.
Report production and editorial assistance was provided by Matthew Rullo, coordinator of
the Womens Rights Division; Grace Choi, publications director; Kathy Mills, publications
specialist; and Fitzroy Hepkins, administrative manager.
Human Rights Watch would like to express our deep appreciation to all of the individuals
who agreed to be interviewed for this report, as well as the local womens rights activists
and NGO representatives who helped to facilitate our research in South Sudan. We also
greatly acknowledge the generous donors who support the work of the Womens Rights
Division at Human Rights Watch, in particular the Ribbink van den Hoek Family Foundation,
which funded the research and multimedia for this report.
95
This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him
Child and Forced Marriage in South Sudan
Almost half of South Sudanese girls between ages 15 and 19 are married, some as young as age 12. An egregious violation of
women and girls human rights, child marriage in South Sudan exacerbates the countrys high levels of poverty, low levels of
literacy, pronounced gender gaps in education, and soaring rates of maternal mortalitycurrently among the highest in the
world.
Many families in South Sudan see child marriage as a means of accessing cattle, money, and other gifts by transferring wealth
through the traditional payment of dowries. Based on in-depth interviews with 87 girls and women in three South Sudanese
states, This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him examines how the practice of child marriage negatively shapes the
experiences, status, and security of South Sudanese women and girls; violates their right to health, education, physical
integrity, and to marry with free consent; and limits their progress and capacity to participate in all spheres of life.
If the government, assisted by its development partners, does not combat child marriage it could have serious implications for
South Sudans future development. The report recommends strong measures to ensure protection for victims of child marriage
and their access to effective support services, the development and implementation of guidelines for a coordinated government
response, and comprehensive reform of South Sudanese marriage laws so that gender equality is a cornerstone of the countrys
development agenda.
hrw.org
H U M A N
R I G H T S
W A T C H
SWEPT AWAY
Swept Away
Abuses against Sex Workers in China
Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the
world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political
freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to
justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable.
We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and
respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international
community to support the cause of human rights for all.
Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries,
and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg,
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Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich.
For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org
MAY 2013
978-1-62313-0091
Swept Away
Abuses Against Sex Workers in China
Map of China ..................................................................................................................... iii
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1
Key Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 5
Methodology...................................................................................................................... 6
I. Background ..................................................................................................................... 9
Venues for Sex Work ............................................................................................................... 10
Factors Leading to Sex Work ................................................................................................... 11
Sex Work Under Current Chinese Law ...................................................................................... 14
Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................51
Map of China
Summary
Prostitutes, as we have been calling them, should be termed waylaid women
from now on. We ought to show respect to this special group of people.
Liu Shaowu, head of the Public Order Management Bureau, Public
Security Ministry, December 2010
Once when I was soliciting on the street, the police just came and started
beating me up. There were five or six of them, they just beat me to a pulp.
Xiao Jing, a sex worker interviewed in Beijing, 2011
The Chinese Center for Disease Control tested me last year. But they never
told me the results. I hope I dont have AIDS.
Interview with Zhangping, a sex worker interviewed in Beijing, 2009
The momentous economic and social change in China in recent decades has been
accompanied by a sharp increase in inequality and in the numbers of women in sex work.
The United Nations, citing Chinese police sources, estimates that four to six million adult
women currently engage in sex work. Although sex work is illegal in China, it is ubiquitous,
present not only in large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, but also in
smaller cities and towns down to the smallest townships in remote rural areas. Sex
workers typically work from karaoke bars, hotels, massage parlors, and hair salons, as well
as in public parks and streets.
Under Chinese law, all aspects of sex workincluding solicitation, sale, and purchase of
sexare illegal. Chinese law treats most sex work-related offences as administrative
violations, punishable by fines and short periods of police custody or administrative
detention rather than criminal penalties. Nonetheless, for repeat offenders it allows for
administrative detention of up to two years. In line with its prohibitionist public stance, the
government periodically carries out vigorous nationwide crackdown campaigns called
saohuang dafei (literally, sweep away the yellow [i.e. prostitution and pornography]
and strike down the illegal [seize and destroy pornographic materials]).
Women engaging in sex work are victims of a wide range of police abuses; this report
documents arbitrary arrests and detentions, physical violence, and other ill-treatment of
sex workers in Beijing, and discusses the national legal framework that facilitates these
abuses. Women interviewed for this report told Human Rights Watch of arbitrary fines, of
possession of condoms used as evidence against them, of being detained following sex
with undercover police officers, and of having almost no hope of winning remedies for
rights violations by clients, bosses, or state agents. Sex workers also face high risks of
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
While many of these practices violate Chinese law as well as international human rights
law, the government is doing far too little to bring an end to the abuses or to ensure that
women in sex work have access to health services. The women we spoke with reported
abuse by public health agencies, especially local offices of Chinas Center for Disease
Control (CDC). These abuses included forced or coercive HIV testing, privacy infringements,
disclosure of HIV test results to third parties, and mistreatment by health officials, all of
which violate the right to health as defined under Chinese and international law.
Research for this report included more than 140 interviews with sex workers, clients, police,
public health officials, academic specialists, and members of international and domestic
nongovernmental organizations between 2008 and 2012. At the heart of the research were
interviews with 75 women sex workers in Beijing, including 20 detailed interviews with
women between the ages of 20 and 63. Because the information about uncorrected
abuses in the nations capitalwhere in theory law enforcement should be strongest
track with the findings of interviews from other parts of the country, Human Rights Watch
believes similar problems exist nationwide.
In our interviews, we focused on the womens interactions with police and public health
agencies, two institutions with which they have frequent, direct contact. It does not
attempt to analyze the actions of all agencies relevant to regulation of prostitution, such as
those providing social services or child protection, those addressing trafficking, and those
that run Custody and Education centers for women. Nor does this report attempt to
comprehensively analyze Chinas response to trafficking in persons.
*
SWEPT AWAY
Officially considered as one of the six evils of societyalong with gambling, superstition,
drug trafficking, pornography, and trafficking of women and childrenprostitution is
labeled by the Chinese government as an ugly social phenomenon that goes against
socialist spiritual civilization. Even though in practice Chinese authorities effectively
tolerate prostitution and entertainment venues that offer prostitution services, these
campaigns mobilize large numbers of law enforcement agents across the country and
typically last between several weeks and a few months. In 2012 Beijing authorities
initiated two campaigns, one lasting from April 20 to May 30, and another ahead of the 18th
Party Congress in October and November. In the course of these campaigns, police
repeatedly raided entertainment venues, hair salons, massage parlors, and other places
where sex work occurs. They forced some venues to close, and detained large numbers of
women suspected of being sex workers.
These highly publicized crackdowns generate a climate conducive to increased incidences
of police brutality and other abuses of sex workers. Because police crackdowns drive the
trade further underground, they effectively increase the vulnerability of women who
engage in sex work to police and client abuse. They also induce some sex workers to
engage in higher risk sexual behavior. Many sex workers, for instance, say they avoid
carrying condoms during campaigns to minimize the risk of arrest. Moreover, activists told
Human Rights Watch that women detained in these sweeps are rarely referred by law
enforcement officials to services they may need or want, such as social services, health
care, or employment or training resources.
The Chinese government, which in 2003 belatedly but comprehensively began addressing
the HIV/AIDS crisis, has focused many of its HIV testing and educational programs on
people who engage in sex work; official data suggest that the rate of HIV infection among
sex workers nationwide ranges from 3 to 10 percent. Some of these efforts, however, entail
coercive testing and violations of privacy rights. The Chinese government justifies these
practices in the name of public health, but international experience has demonstrated that
for HIV to be successfully curbed, populations such as sex workers must be able to obtain
confidential health care without fear of harassment or discrimination.
Although sex work is illegal in China, people who engage in sex work are entitled to the
same rights and freedoms as other people, including the rights to equality and nondiscrimination, privacy, security of person, freedom from arbitrary detention, equality
3
before the law, due process of law, health, and, importantly, the right to a remedy when
the abovementioned rights are violated.
The imposition of punitive penalties for voluntary, consensual sexual relations amongst
adults violates a number of internationally recognized human rights, including the rights to
personal autonomy and privacy. Human Rights Watch takes the position that this also
holds true with respect to voluntary adult commercial sex work, and that respecting
consenting adults autonomy to choose to engage in voluntary sex work is consistent with
respect for their human rights. Criminalization of sex work also creates barriers for those
engaged in sex work to exercise basic rights such as availing themselves of government
protection from violence, access to justice for abuses, access to essential health services
as an element of the right to health, and other available services. Failure to uphold the
rights of the millions of women who voluntarily engage in sex work leaves them subject to
discrimination, abuse, exploitation, and undercuts public health policies.
Human Rights Watch believes the Chinese government should take immediate steps to
protect the human rights of all people who engage in sex work. It should repeal the host of
laws and regulations that are repressive and misused by the police, and end the practice
of indiscriminate law enforcement sweeps. The government should also lift its sharp
restrictions on the ability of civil society organizationsincluding sex worker
organizationsto register and carry out their activities freely within the boundaries of the
law. Finally, it should commit to international standards on HIV/AIDS testing, particularly
with respect to privacy and informed consent.
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Key Recommendations
Methodology
The scope of this study is necessarily limited by research constraints in China. The country
remains closed to official and open research by international human rights organizations,
and the Chinese government strictly limits the activities of civil society and
nongovernmental organizations on a variety of subjects, particularly those related to
human rights abuses.
Human Rights Watch focused its investigation on adult women who engage in sex work on
the streets, in public places such as parks, and in small brothels that masquerade as
massage parlors and hair salons, primarily in Beijing. These women are vulnerable to
violence, abuse, and public health risks. They have limited protection from abusive police
and clients because they tend to work alone or in the vicinity of only a few other sex workers.
They tend to have little knowledge of their legal rights and strategies to protect their health.
This subset of the sex worker population has previously been often overlooked in research
on sex work in China, which tends to focus on women working as hostesses in karaoke
venues (yule changsuo), as they are generally easier for researchers to access.
Research for this report included more than 140 interviews with sex workers, clients, police,
public health officials, academic specialists, and members of international and domestic
nongovernmental organizations between 2008 and 2012. At the heart of the research were
interviews with 75 women sex workers in Beijing, including 20 detailed interviews with
women between the ages of 20 and 63. All of those 20 detailed interviews were conducted
in the homes of two women engaging in sex work: a small rented room and a makeshift
shack in a back alley. Human Rights Watch also carried out two focus group discussions,
one with a group of six women who solicit clients in public spaces, and one with a group of
five women who work in hair salons and massage parlors. All of the sex workers we spoke
with said they had voluntarily chosen sex work, though many had few job options and
could earn significantly more money in sex work than in other jobs. None were currently in
a situation that qualifies as trafficking.
The names and identifying details of those with whom we met have been withheld to
protect their safety. All names of sex workers used in the report are pseudonyms. All those
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we interviewed were informed of the purpose of the interview, its voluntary nature, and the
ways in which the information would be used. All interviewees provided verbal consent to
be interviewed. All were informed that they could decline to answer questions or could end
the interview at any time. In some cases, interviewees who traveled to attend interviews
were reimbursed up to 100 yuan (US$15) for public transport and meal costs.
None of the interviewees were minors when this research was conducted. At least four
had experienced commercial sexual exploitation when they were children, at ages 15 and
16. At least two of the interviewees had originally been trafficked into forced prostitution;
at the time of our research, they had escaped their traffickers, and said they were selling
sex voluntarily. In assessing the voluntariness of womens decision to engage in sex
work, Human Rights Watch applied the elements of the definition of trafficking set forth
in the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially
Women and Children.
Ten of the sex workers we spoke with solicited customers in public spaces. Eight of them
worked in small brothels that were disguised as hair salons and massage parlors. Two of
them worked in small karaoke venues but had previously worked in public parks.
Secondary sources we consulted include Chinese government documents, laws, and
policies; reports from domestic NGOs, international NGOs, and international organizations;
interviews with members of domestic nongovernmental organizations, international
nongovernmental organizations, foreign governments, and international organizations
working on issues pertaining to sex work, public health, trafficking, and human rights;
news articles from Chinese and international media; and writings by Chinese and foreign
academic experts on prostitution.
Male and transgender sex workers are also vulnerable to abuse, but due to research
limitations this report does not address their situation.
This report also does not address Chinese government responses to children (those under
18) in situations of commercial sexual exploitation. The approaches appropriate to
children, who in no way can be considered to be voluntarily engaging in sex work and in
most cases should be considered trafficking victims, differ from those that should be
applied to adults.
7
The report also does not attempt to analyze the Chinese governments overall response to
trafficking in persons, although it includes some references to legal standards and
protections applicable both to individuals engaging in sex work and to trafficking victims.
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I. Background
While prostitution decreased significantly in the years following the establishment of the
Peoples Republic of China in 1949, it reemerged with the economic liberalization reforms
that began in 1978.1 It first reappeared in the large coastal cities, and is now widespread in
urban and rural areas throughout China.2
There are no exact figures on the number of people who engage in sex work in China.3
Estimates of the number of women sex workers from the past decade range from one
million to ten million.4 The United Nations Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China, citing
Chinese Public Security sources, estimated that there were four to six million sex workers
in 2000.5 In 2010 the official China Daily cited estimates ranging from three to ten million.6
Others have used figures in police reports on anti-prostitution campaigns to estimate citylevel rates, calculating that in 2000 Beijing had between 200,000 and 300,000 sex
workers.7 While many of these sources do not distinguish between numbers of women and
1 When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power in 1949, it was intent on eliminating prostitution. Selling sex for
money was considered a capitalist phenomenon incompatible with the basic tenets of communist ideology. The CCP
embarked on an aggressive campaign to rid the country of prostitution by shutting down brothels, and sending sex workers
and clients to re-education centers. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, officials declared that prostitution had been
eradicated from society. See Gail Hershatter, Dangerous Pleasures : Prostitution and Modernity in Twentieth-century
Shanghai (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997); Christian Henriot, Prostitution and Sexuality in Shanghai: A Social
History 1849-1949 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001).
2 Joan Kaufman, Arthur Kleinman, and Tony Saich, AIDS and Social Policy in China (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center
3 Chinese official documents in English language generally refer to sex work as prostitution, and to the purchase of sexual
services as visiting prostitutes, in line with the Chinese terms used in law, maiyin piaochang (
), preferred by Chinese sex workers advocates, is of recent introduction.
work (xing gongzuo,
4 Yan Hong and Xiaoming Li, Behavioral Studies of Female Sex Workers in China: A Literature Review and Recommendation for
Future Research, AIDS & Behavior, vol. 12(4) (2007), p. 623; Daniel Bell, Sexual development, Guardian, January 28, 2007,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jan/28/sexualdevelopment (accessed January 22, 2012); Suiming Pan,
William Parish, and AL Wang, Chinese Peoples Sexual Relationships and Sexual Behavior (Zhongguoren de Xing Guanxi yu Xing
Xingwei) China Sex Studies, vol. 5 (2000); Joan Kaufman and Jing Jun, China and AIDSThe time to act is now, Science, vol.
296 (2002), p. 2239; UNAIDS Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China, HIV/AIDS: Chinas Titanic Peril, 2001 Update of the AIDS
situation and Needs Assessment Report, 2002, www.hivpolicy.org/Library/HPP000056.pdf (accessed January 23, 2012); and
Zhong Wei, A Close Look at Chinas Sex Industry, Lianhe Zaobao (
, Oct. 2, 2000.
5 UNAIDS Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China, HIV/AIDS: Chinas Titanic Peril, 2001 Update of the AIDS situation and Needs
7 Zhong Wei, A Close Look at Chinas Sex Industry; and UNAIDS Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China, HIV/AIDS: Chinas
Titanic Peril, 2001 Update of the AIDS situation and Needs Assessment Report, 2002,
www.hivpolicy.org/Library/HPP000056.pdf (accessed January 23, 2012).
men, or adults and children engaged in sex work or in situations of commercial sexual
exploitation, adult women appear to constitute the overwhelming majority of sex workers.
8 Elaine Jeffreys, China, Sex and Prostitution (London; New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004), p. 168.
9 Human Rights Watch first focus group, Beijing, 2011.
10 Ibid.
11 Human Rights Watch second focus group, Beijing, 2011.
12 Human Rights Watch interview with Hong Jie, Beijing, 2011.
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10
(US$15 to 75) per sexual service. Sex rarely occurs in the actual entertainment venue. Instead,
they usually go to the clients home, the sex workers home, or a hotel.13
Other venues for sex work include hotels14 or private locations arranged through the Internet.15
Venues in which sex work takes place are typically run by managers (laoban), who are
responsible for the overall business, such as food, drink, and music in karaoke bars.
Madams (mami) work in these venues, and are responsible for all aspects of business that
pertains to sex workers. They arrange transactions with clients, and usually receive a 10 to
30 percent commission.16 Women who sell sex in public spaces often also work for
madams or pimps. Some women work independently.
any special services, or work from the hotels entertainment facilities (typically karaoke venues and bars). Hotels in China
frequently allow such practices.
15 So-called elite sex workers act as escorts and second wives (baoernai) for wealthy government officials and
businessmen who are often already married. These men might provide them with housing and a living allowance. University
students have become involved in these types of prostitution. Some women can earn the equivalent of thousands of dollars,
as well as lavish gifts and career advancing favors. Human Rights Watch did not interview any women who work as escorts or
second wives for this report. Suowei Xiao, The Second-Wife Phenomenon and the Relational Construction of Class-Coded
Masculinities in Contemporary China, Men and Masculinities, vol. 14(5) (2011); Human Rights Watch interview with public
health expert Beijing, 2011; Tom Doctoroff, Second Wives and Chinas Booming Luxury Market, Huffington Post, February 17,
2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-doctoroff/second-wives-and-chinas-b_b_824380.html (accessed February 22,
2012); and Human Rights Watch interview with Shushu, Beijing, 2009.
16 Human Rights Watch first and second focus groups, Beijing, 2011.
17 Hong and Li, Behavioral Studies of Female Sex Workers in China, AIDS & Behavior (2009), p. 631; Vincent E. Gil et al.,
Prostitutes, prostitution and STD HIV transmission in mainland China, Social Science & Medicine, vol. 42 (1) (1996), p. 141;
World Health Organization (WHO), Sex Work in Asia, 2001,
http://www.wpro.who.int/themes_focuses/theme1/focus4/pub_doc. asp (accessed June 1, 2011);
Asian Development Bank, Peoples Republic of China: country gender assessment, 2006,
http://www.adb.org/documents/peoples-republic-china-country-gender-assessment (accessed February 23, 2012); United
Nations Development Program, Human Development Report, 2008,
11
While not all sex workers face the constrained choices presented by these circumstances,
none of the women interviewed by Human Rights Watch had other employment options that
would provide earnings close to the earnings they anticipated in sex work. Lili, a widow who
left her job selling clothes in her hometown in Henan to enter prostitution in Beijing, cited
her ability to support her family as the main reason for selling sex services:
I earn a few thousand yuan a month, which is enough to support my family. It
is much more than I could earn working in an office or doing manual labor.19
Xiao Li, who left her 13-year-old daughter with her parents in rural Hubei to work in Beijing,
explained that her income was considerably higher as a sex worker than what she
previously earned farming:
My income now [as a sex worker] is a couple thousand yuan a month, which
is about four times more than I used to earn.20
Several interviewees said they entered the sex trade after losing financial support from
their husbands. Both Mimi and Amei started selling sex after getting divorced.21
Review, April 26, 2002, http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/public/0205/ye.html (accessed February 23, 2012); Susan J.
Rogers et al., Reaching and Identifying the STD/HIV Risk of Sex Workers in Beijing, AIDS Education and Prevention, vol.
14(3) (2002), p. 217.
19 Human Rights Watch interview with Lili, Beijing, 2011.
20 Human Rights Watch interview with Xiao Li, Beijing, 2011.
21 Human Rights Watch interview with Mimi and Amei,
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Beijing, 2011.
12
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/national/asiathepacific/china/name,3421,en.html, p. 101.
http://www.adb.org/documents/peoples-republic-china-country-gender-assessment, p.25.
25 Ibid, p. 11.
26 Human Rights Watch interview with Lingling, Beijing, 2011.
27 Zhang Ye, Hope for Migrant Women Workers, China Business Review, April 26, 2002,
28 Susan J. Rogers et al., Reaching and Identifying the STD/HIV Risk of Sex Workers in Beijing, AIDS Education and
13
), Standing
Committee of the National People's Congress, August 28, 2005; Decision of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples
Congress on Strict Prohibition Against Prostitution and Whoring (
), Standing Committee
of the National People's Congress, September 4, 1991. All provinces have adopted these regulations with minimal variations. See,
for instance Guizhou Province Regulations on the Prohibition of Prostitution (
), Guizhou Province
Peoples Congress, 2004, art. 2; Hunan Province Regulations on the Prohibition of Prostitution (
), Hunan
Province Peoples Congress, 1990, art. 3; and Heilongjiang Province Regulations on the Prohibition of Prostitution (
), Heilongjiang Province Peoples Congress, 1996, art. 2.
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14
They are very surprised when they hear about their legal rights. They dont
have any legal knowledge. They dont know that lawyers can protect them.30
Sex workers face one of four levels of administrative punishment that can be imposed
entirely at the discretion of the police without court proceedings:31
1. Five days of administrative detention, or a fine of up to 500 yuan (US$75) if the
circumstances are judged minor.32
2. Ten to 15 days of administrative detention, and/or a fine of up to 5,000 yuan
(US$750) in ordinary cases.33
3. An educational coercive administrative measure of six months to two years of
detention in a Custody and Education (shourong jiaoyu) facility.34
4. A sentence to Re-education Through Labor (RTL) (laodong jiaoyang) for up to two
years (limited to repeat offenders).35
Fines
Only a small proportion of women suspected of involvement in sex work are actually
incarcerated for prostitution.36 Most are first detained, either on site or at the police
station (paichusuo), often on grounds of solicitation, fined, and then released.
According to the Ministry of Public Security, the fines help supplement the operational
costs of local law enforcement.37
These fines are generally not recorded as part of the prostitution case data published in
official annual statistical yearbooks, making it impossible to know how many such fines
30 Human Rights Watch interview with sex worker rights lawyer, Beijing, 2008.
31 Fu and Choy, Administrative Detention of Prostitutes: The Legal Aspects, in Gender Policy and HIV in China, (Deventer:
33 Ibid. The law does not define what ordinary cases are.
34 Decision of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress on Strict Prohibition Against Prostitution and
Whoring (
35 Ibid.
36 Human Rights Watch interview with a mainland legal scholar, Hong Kong, October 2011.
37 Sarah Biddulph, Legal Reform and Administrative Detention Powers in China (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,
2008), p. 175.
15
are imposed each year. The Ministry of Public Security warns local police against
substituting fines for detention.38 However, the practice is widespread.39
Fines for prostitution are an important source of extra-budgetary revenue for local law
enforcement.40 Local police at times have fixed quotas for the amount of money they are
expected to collect through fines, even though the Ministry of Public Security prohibits
such targets.41 Discretion over the imposition of fines on sex workers also provides
opportunities for corruption, as described by many sex workers interviewed by Human
Rights Watch and detailed below.
Administrative Detention
Due process protections are virtually absent from the administrative detention systems in
which prostitution offenders are held.42 As noted above, defendants are not entitled to a
lawyer, and a sentence to administrative detention is not decided by a court but by a
committee headed by the police. There are no meaningful procedures to appeal or seek
remedies for procedural violations.
As a result, both the Custody and Education system, which is administered by the Ministry
of Public Security, and Re-education Through Labor (RTL), which is administered by the
Ministry of Justice, constitute forms of arbitrary detention under international law since
they allow individuals to be deprived of their liberty without due process of law.43 Past
research conducted on these institutions has documented widespread abuses, including
arbitrary detention, forced labor, and physical and psychological abuse.44
38 Ibid, p. 174.
39 Ibid, pp. 174-175; and Fu and Choy, Administrative Detention of Prostitutes, p. 198.
40 Ibid, p. 198;
Hualing Fu and P Choy, Policing for Profit: Fiscal Crisis and Institutionalized Corruption of Chinese Police, in
Policing, Security and Corruption (USA: Office of International Criminal Justice, 2004), pp. 537552; Elaine Jeffreys, China,
Sex and Prostitution, p. 107.
41 Biddulph, Legal Reform and Administrative Detention Powers in China, p. 175.
42
See, e.g., UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Mission to China, December
29, 2004, E/CN.4/2005/6/Add.4, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/42d66e570.html (accessed February 29, 2012).
43 Ibid. The government announced in January 2013 that it intended to reform and possibly stop using the RTL system in
2013, but without specifying whether it would be replaced with a new system of administrative detention or not. Nicholas
Bequelin (Human Rights Watch), Re-education Revisited, commentary, The International Herald Tribune, January 30, 2013,
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/01/30/china-re-education-revisited (accessed April 2, 2013).
44 Human Rights Watch, China - Where Darkness Knows No Limits, January 7, 2010,
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16
The government does not disclose information on the number of individuals held in
Custody and Education centers, and the exact number of centers is unclear.45 In 2000, 183
such facilities existed, holding 18,000 inmates.46
The Custody and Education system is supposed to provide sex workers and clients with
educational support, including literacy and vocational training; health monitoring, with
testing and treatment for sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs); and work experience.47
Previous research shows that, in practice, this system of incarceration largely fails to
achieve its purported rehabilitative mandate, with forced labor by inmates taking
precedence over the other stated goals.48
RTL is only imposed on sex workers who are repeat offenders. Since 1999 sex workers are
increasingly sent to Custody and Education institutions instead of RTL.49 In January 2013
Chinese media reported that the government intended to stop using the RTL system by
the end of the year.50 However, there has been no such announcement for Custody and
Education or forced drug detoxification centers, and the government may be considering
setting up another system of administrative detention in place of RTL, rather than
abolishing the system outright.51
In the Chinese legal system, individuals suspected of administrative offences enjoy far
fewer procedural protections than do suspects in the criminal system. On paper, those
charged with crimes are entitled to access to a lawyer within 48 hours of detention, among
45 Biddulph, Legal Reform and Administrative Detention Powers in China, p. 165, citing Zhan Wei, Research Report on Chinas
1.8
), Legal Daily (
of forced labour hailed, but some fear it may return in another form, South China Morning Post (Hong Kong),
January 9, 2013.
17
other defense rights, and are tried and sentenced by a court composed of a three-judge
bench rather than police. In practice, however, the procedural rights of criminal suspects
are also routinely violated and ignored by the judicial system.52
dafei) anti-prostitution campaigns. These campaigns typically last between several weeks
and a few months. During such periods, police repeatedly raid entertainment venues, hair
salons, massage parlors, and other spaces where sex work occurs, force venues to close, and
detain large numbers of women suspected of being sex workers.54
One such campaign, conducted in Beijing from April 20 to May 30, 2012, resulted in the
closing of 48 entertainment venues, according to the Beijing Municipal Public Security
Bureau.55 In a second campaign, launched on June 26, the Beijing police raided 180
entertainment venues and detained 660 suspects in a twoweek period.56
52 On
this point see Mike McConville (ed.), Criminal Justice in China (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011);
Human Rights Watch, China - Walking on Thin Ice, April 29, 2008, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/04/28/walkingthin-ice.
China Sex Worker Organization Network Forum, Research on the Impact of 2010 Crackdown on Sex Work and HIV
Interventions in China (
:2010
), January 2010,
http://asiacatalyst.org/blog/2012/01/the-impact-of-2010-crackdown-on-sex-work-and-hiv-interventions-in-china.html
(accessed January 21, 2013).
53
54 For updated details about the campaigns, see the website of the Peoples Republic of China, National Sweep Away
[Pornography and Prostitution] and Strike Down Illegal Publications (
), www.shdf.gov.cn (accessed January
21, 2013).
55 Crackdown on venues suspected of prostitution, China Daily, June 13, 2012, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/201206/13/content_15497944.htm (accessed January 21, 2013)
56
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18
Shame Parades
Police sometimes parade suspected sex workers through city streets in shame parades
designed to educate the public. Although the practice has now been banned by the
government, several shame parades were given media coverage during the 2010 campaign.64
57
Biddulph, Legal Reform and Administrative Detention Powers in China, pp. 157-164.
58
Ibid., p. 10.
59 China Sex Worker Organization Network Forum, Research on the Impact of 2010 Crackdown on Sex Work and HIV
Interventions in China (
:2010
), January 2010, p.5,
http://asiacatalyst.org/blog/2012/01/the-impact-of-2010-crackdown-on-sex-work-and-hiv-interventions-in-china.html
(accessed January 21, 2013).
60 Ibid., p. 15.
61 Ibid., p. 15.
62 Ibid., p. 21.
63 Ibid., p. 23.
64 In July, in Dongguan (Guangdong province) sex workers were handcuffed, tied up with a rope, and dragged around the street for
public humiliation. Police officers took photos, and posted them online. Also in July, in Wuhan, the local police posted notices
throughout the city with the names of sex workers and clients who had been arrested for prostitution. In September, in Hangzhou,
a local police station sent letters to the families of women in the neighborhood who were suspected of being involved in
prostitution, informing them of this possibility. They did so unbeknownst to the women. See Tan Zhi Hong, Controversy over
police from Dongguan, Guangdong parading prostitutes through the streets on a leash (
),
Hongwang, July 18, 2010, http://china.rednet.cn/c/2010/07/18/2011536.htm (accessed February 29, 2012); Wang Xinzi, Wuhan
19
Such public shaming events resulted in significant public outcry. Through internet posts
and blogs, citizens expressed support for the women and criticized the police.65 Following
these reactions, the Ministry of Public Security issued a notice in July 2010 that called for
an end to shame parades in anti-prostitution crackdowns.66 Similar notices had been
issued several times previously.67 No sex worker shame parades have been reported in
state media since July 2010, although the public shaming of individuals suspected of other
offenses has occurred. Absent efforts to prosecute those who oversee public shaming
efforts, it is possible they will occur again in the future.
police post official notices on the street revealing the names of individuals who engage in prostitution (
), Changjiang Shangbao, July 17, 2010, http://news.163.com/10/0717/02/6BOU3MNS00011229.html
(accessed February 29, 2012); and Li Yunfang, A police station in Hangzhou cracks down on prostitution by notifying families of
women who work in hair salons (
"
"
), Sichuan Online, September 6, 2010,
http://news.163.com/10/0906/06/6FSKSU6O00011229.html (accessed February 29, 2012).
65 Andrew Jacobs, China Pushes to End Public Shaming, New York Times, July 27, 2010,
66 Flora Sapio, Perp Parades, post to Forgotten Archipelagoes (blog), July 26, 2010,
http://florasapio.blogspot.com/2010/07/perpparades.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FOTlS+%28Forgotten+Ar
chipelagoes%29 (accessed February 29, 2012); Li Hong Xun, The Ministry of Public Security Issues a Notice Criticizing
Shame Parades of Individuals who Engage in Prostitution (
), Dahewang, July 26,
2010, http://news.china.com/zh_cn/domestic/945/20100726/16042470.html (accessed February 29, 2012); and Andrew
Jacobs, China Seeks End to Public Shaming of Suspects, New York Times, July 27, 2010,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/world/asia/28china.html?_r=2&ref=global-home (accessed February 29, 2010).
67 Flora Sapio, Perp Parades, post to Forgotten Archipelagoes (blog), July 26, 2010,
http://florasapio.blogspot.com/2010/07/perpparades.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FOTlS+%28Forgotten+Ar
chipelagoes%29 (accessed February 29, 2012).
68 China Sex Worker Organization Network Forum, Research on the Impact of 2010 Crackdown on Sex Work and HIV
Interventions in China (
:2010
), January 2010, p. 5,
http://asiacatalyst.org/blog/2012/01/the-impact-of-2010-crackdown-on-sex-work-and-hiv-interventions-in-china.html
(accessed January 21, 2013).
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20
collaborated to produce a report on the effects of the 2010 crackdown on the provision of
health services to people who engage in sex work.69
Individual activists have also played a critical role in raising awareness about
discrimination and violence against sex workers. Writer and activist Ye Haiyan, who blogs
under the name Hooligan Sparrow, first began to raise such concerns in 2005, and has
since documented police abuse of sex workers and the detrimental public health effects of
possession of condoms being used as evidence of prostitution.70
In December 2012 a coalition of Chinese sex worker organizations took the unprecedented
step of publicly circulating a petition calling for an end to violence against sex workers.
The letter decried the lack of protection of personal safety for female, male, and
transgender sex workers, citing 218 documented incidents, including eight in which sex
workers were killed. The letter also mentioned that sex workers are often reluctant to use
the law to protect their rights because they are often detained for illegal actions.71
These groups face challenging working conditions.72 While Chinese civil society
organizations generally encounter significant state-level resistance and harassment, sex
worker organizations are in a particularly tenuous situation because they work with a
population the government primarily sees through a law enforcement perspective. The
China Grassroots Womens Rights Center in Wuhan, founded by Ye Haiyan, has been the
target of police raids in response to Yes activism.73 One prominent grassroots organization
had to shut down in 2011 after harassment by local officials left staff feeling it was unsafe
for them to carry out their work.74
69 Ibid.
70 Global Voices, China: Prostituting to Defend Sex Workers Rights, January 15, 2012,
71 Beijing Zuoyou Center Joint letter on ending violence against sex workers (
72 China Sex Worker Organization Network Forum, Research on the Impact of 2010 Crackdown on Sex Work and HIV
Interventions in China (
:2010
), January 2010,
http://asiacatalyst.org/blog/2012/01/the-impact-of-2010-crackdown-on-sex-work-and-hiv-interventions-in-china.html, p. 5.
73 Old Profession, New Debate, Economist, Oct 27, 2012 http://www.economist.com/news/china/21...565275-one-
74 Human Rights Watch interview with a sex worker group organizer, Beijing, 2011.
21
Peer educators for some sex worker NGOs report that the 2010 crackdown had a negative
effect on their work. They found that [p]revious prevention patterns are gone, and its
more difficult for sex work peer educators to find target groups, which will decrease the
health services provided.75
75 China Sex Worker Organization Network Forum, Research on the Impact of 2010 Crackdown on Sex Work and HIV
Interventions in China (
:2010
), January 2010,
http://asiacatalyst.org/blog/2012/01/the-impact-of-2010-crackdown-on-sex-work-and-hiv-interventions-in-china.html
(accessed February 28, 2012).
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22
76 Government of the Peoples Republic of China, Combined fifth and sixth periodic report of States Parties to the Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, CEDAW /C/CHN/5-6, June 10, 2004.
77 Public Security Organs People's Police Discipline Regulations (
:
), State Council of the
Peoples Republic of China, April 10, 2010, effective June 1, 2010, http://edu.sina.com.cn/official/2010-0507/1153245435.shtml (accessed April 16, 2013).
23
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The first time I was arrested, they had no proof of prostitution. The police
interrogated me, and threatened me. They used verbal abuse and violent
methods to make me confess. I refused to, regardless of how hard they
beat me. They finally let me go.82
Yingying, a 42-year-old from Chongqing, recounted:
The police will sometimes extort confessions out of you. Theyll beat and
insult sex workers, and extort confessions out of you. If you cant endure
the process, then you just give up and admit [it].83
Xiao Li, from rural Hubei, told Human Rights Watch that admitting to sex work under duress
also entails risks:
After you are arrested and taken to the police station, they need to get you
to admit [to prostitution]. They look for evidence. If you dont admit, theyll
beat you. But if you can bear the beating, usually theyll detain you for 24
hours and then let you go. But if you admit to prostitution when they beat
you, [you might] be sent to Re-education Through Labor for six months.84
Experiences of manifestly unlawful abuses while in police custody, as well as the trauma
that often results from such episodes, constitute a powerful deterrent for sex workers to
turn to other police to report these or other crimes. None of the women we interviewed
said they had lodged a complaint or filed criminal charges against police who had
abused them.
25
the wall while he was arresting her: The police ran after me, grabbed me, and smashed
my head into the wall.85
Neighborhood level police sometimes employ auxiliaries (zhian lianfang), who are not
generally trained or monitored, and who have a reputation for brutality among sex workers.86
Auxiliaries are contractors who are not officially part of the police force but assist police
officers in their missions.87 Several women interviewed by Human Rights Watch said
auxiliaries beat them during arrests for suspected prostitution. Xiao Mei told of having been
beaten by police auxiliaries in Beijing in 2010 under the watch of police officers:
Last year when I was soliciting on the street, the police just came and
started beating me. They made the assistant police beat me. There were
five or six of them; they just beat me to a pulp.88
Meimei, a young woman from Hebei who solicits in a public park in Beijing, also told
Human Rights Watch that she had been beaten by an auxiliary acting on the orders of a
police officer:
Once in 2005, I had already settled on a price with a client. But I had a feeling
that someone was following us from behind, so to be safe, I told the client
that I wasnt willing to do it. I got arrested anyway. The police officer said the
client had solicited me, and wanted me to admit it. Because I didnt admit it,
the assistant police beat me, and as he was beating me he said there was a
reason he was beating me, I was a whore. The police officer stood by the side
and watched. He pretended that he didnt know what was going on. That is
the most horrible thing that has ever happened to me in my life.89
:
), General Affairs Department of Beijing Municipality, May 20, 1985, http://code.fabao365.com/law_462409.html
(accessed April 2, 2013). See also Flora Sapio, Sovereign Power and the Law in China: Zones of Exception in the Criminal
Justice System (Leiden: Brill, 2010), pp. 139-174.
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27
Sex workers also run the risk of being arrested and detained as retribution against
managers of entertainment venues who have displeased local power holders. Tingting,
a 31-year-old karaoke hostess in Beijing, described one such incident:
When I was working at [a previous entertainment venue], they [the police]
told us we were arrested because our boss offended someone. That was
the first time I was arrested. They just kept us for a couple hours and
released us.93
Zhanghua, who worked in a massage parlor that also provides sexual services, said the
police were predisposed to trust false statements from clients:
One client came to our massage parlor to get a regular foot massage. He left
after a few minutes, because he thought the price of the foot massage was
not appropriate. A few minutes later, the police came and arrested us for
prostitution. They said the man had said we offered him sexual services.
But we had not. I felt so wronged. Those police officers will do whatever it
takes to get the results they want.94
One woman told Human Rights Watch that it was illegal for police to arrest clients:
The police dont have the right to interrogate clients, they are only allowed
to interrogate sex workers. If they are good clients, theyll say the girl is a
friend of theirs and that there isnt a problem. If its a bad client, then the
girl will get into trouble.95
In fact, by law, clients as well as sex workers are liable for legal penalties and, particularly
during anti-prostitution drives, some clients are fined or administratively detained.
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Other Violations
Use of Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution
As mentioned above, administrative punishments for prostitution in China, including
fines and fixed-term detention, require evidence that sexual services were provided in
exchange for money or property.96 Despite regulations specifically forbidding the practice,
sex workers told Human Rights Watch that on occasion police in Beijing used mere
possession of condoms as evidence of prostitution.97 This practice deters sex workers
from carrying condoms, putting them at increased risk of HIV.98 One woman told Human
Rights Watch:
In the police stationthey will look to see if you have condoms, and will ask
you why. The law says it is not a problem [to carry condoms], but the police
act differently.99
Several women engaged in sex work reported that police interrogated them about why
they had condoms without any evidence of prostitution. Shushu, for example, said that
when police in Beijing questioned her they asked her about condoms she had in her
possession:
They saw my condoms, and asked how many I use every day, how many
men do I have sex with.100
98 Joseph Lau et al., A Study on Female Sex Workers in Southern China (Shenzhen): HIV-related Knowledge, Condom Use and STD
History, AIDS Care, vol. 14, no. 2 (April 2002), pp. 219233; Guomei Xia and Xiushi Yang, Risky Sexual Behavior Among Female
Entertainment Workers in China: Implications for HIV/STD Prevention Intervention, AIDS Education and Prevention: Official
Publication of the International Society for AIDS Education, vol. 17, no. 2 (April 2005), pp. 143156; Joseph D. Tucker and Xin Ren,
Sex Worker Incarceration in the Peoples Republic of China, Sexually Transmitted Infections, vol. 84, no.1, (February 2008); Scott
Burris and Guomei Xia, The Risk Environment For Commercial Sex Work In China: Considering the Role of Law and Law
Enforcement Practices, in Gender Policy and HIV in China, (Deventer: Springer Netherlands, 2009); Kenneth C. Land, ed., The
Springer Series on Demographic Methods and Population Analysis, (Deventer: Springer Netherlands, 2009).
99
29
), 2010.
102 Yang Zhen Dong, Haikou Police Crackdown On Prostitution (
), unpublished document, 2009 (on file with Human Rights Watch). Beijing
Aizhixing, Report on Ten Media Outlets Violating the Principles for Propagating Education about HIV/AIDS Prevention,
Suspected of Reporting about Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution (
10
), 2010.
104 Human Rights Watch interview with Jia Yue, Beijing, 2009.
105 Human Rights Watch interview with Jingying, Beijing, 2009.
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Xiao Yue, who started selling sex in Beijing after being laid off from her factory job in
Heilongjiang, reported a police officer posing as a client, having sex with her, and then
arresting her. After arresting her, the undercover police officer allegedly said to her:
We can solicit sex wherever we want, whenever we want. After were done,
we still have our job to do, we will still crack down on prostitution.106
Jianmei, a 22-year-old from Sichuan working in a massage parlor in Beijing, told Human
Rights Watch that police entrapped her and other sex workers in order to extort money:
The police are really unfair. In this neighborhood, when there are
crackdowns and they want to earn more money, they arrange to have a
client come into our venue and ask for sexual services. Once the services
have started, the client calls the police, who arrest us both. They then fine
the sex worker, and split the money with the client.107
Sex workers are sometimes victims of police retribution if they refuse their sexual advances:
One off-duty police officer solicited me one night. He was really drunk, and
very rude. I had to hit him with my purse and run away from him. He and
some other police officers arrested me the next day and detained me
overnightIts because I hit him.108
Women in sex work also said that at times police officers extort bribes from clients in
facilities they raid:
Police once busted usthree men and two girls. They came in with a gun.
The guys just handed over 30 or 40,000 yuan (US$4,500-6,000) and they
left. The police then took us in to the station.109
106 Human Rights Watch interview with Xiao Yue, Beijing, 2011.
107 Human Rights Watch interview with Jianmei, Beijing, 2009.
108 Human Rights Watch interview with Jingan, Beijing, 2009.
109 Human Rights Watch interview with Lili, Beijing, 2011.
31
Xiao Mei, who had been arrested five times in 2008-2009 by the police in Beijing,
described how police used their knowledge of her past arrests to extort money from her:
Last time I was arrested, I was just standing on the street doing nothing
wrong. The police took me in, and put a lot of pressure on me. They forced
me to admit that I had engaged in prostitution. I paid a 3,000 yuan fine
(US$485) and they let me go after 24 hours.110
2008
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Juanxiu, a 42-year-old from Zhejiang province who worked in a foot massage parlor in
Beijing, reported similar lack of police response when she was robbed:
Once three men came into our venue. They noticed my purse hanging by
the door. When they left, they just took it away with them. I reported it to
the police. But they werent going to make a concerted effort to find itThe
police wont take us seriously.113
Xiaoyue, who has been selling sex for 17 years to pay for her sons education, told Human
Rights Watch that she had been raped by a client, but that when she reported it to the
police, she felt like they did not take her claim seriously:
It had no effect, and I felt like I could not voice my grievance.114
One woman said she was convinced that filing a criminal complaint after she was robbed
led to many subsequent detentions for prostitution. Xiaojing said:
I was once robbed at knifepoint by a clientI decided to follow the rules
like a normal person [i.e., a non-sex worker], and reported the crime to the
police. But the case was never solved, there was no outcome After that, I
was arrested for prostitution many times by the police, they identified me
as a sex worker because I had reported the robbery.115
Another said:
Ive encountered clients who have stolen my cell phone, or who havent
paid me. Ive dealt with it on my own, or have asked friends to help. I dont
seek out the police. Other sex workers I know who have encountered such
problems also just deal with it on their own.116
33
Mimi, a farmer in Henan prior to moving to Beijing and entering the sex trade, told Human
Rights Watch:
My friend got her bag stolen by a client, who also beat and wounded her. She
eventually reported it to the police, but they refused to handle the case.117
Mimi said that her friends experience made it unlikely she would report anything the next
time she was a victim of crime. Some sex workers do not contact police even when they are
victims of serious physical and sexual violence, including rape:
Ive been raped several times. But because I am a sex worker, and selling
sex is a violation of the law, I could be arrested. So I have never been
willing to report to the police. I just have to grin and bear it.118
Lingxue, who recounted having been raped, said that she had not contacted the police:
I went to a hotel with one client, and when I arrived, three of his friends
were also there. They raped me all night. I wasnt willing to report to the
police. I just cried for weeks. My friends told me to report it.119
Similarly, Lili said:
If I experience client violence, Ill try to talk him out of it. If it is really
unbearable, Ill just leave without getting paid. In any case, I would never
report to the police.120
Some women engaged in sex work told Human Rights Watch that they had not reported
crimes committed against fellow sex workers, also out of fear or a sense of futility.
Manqing said she once saw a woman who was taken away unconscious by the client who
had beaten her at their workplace in Beijing:
117 Human Rights Watch interview with Mimi, Beijing, 2011.
118 Human Rights Watch interview with Lijia, Beijing, 2009.
119 Human Rights Watch interview with Lingxue, Beijing, 2009.
120 Human Rights Watch interview with Lili, Beijing, 2011.
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Once a client started kicking and beating a girl who worked in our venue. He
beat her unconscious. Then, he took her away in his car. We didnt call the
police because we didnt want to encounter any trouble. I dont know what
happened to her that night, but she eventually came back to work.121
Even women who had previously been victims of trafficking told Human Rights Watch that,
at the time, they did not dare seek police assistance. Mengfei, trafficked into forced
prostitution at age 15, said that even though the police came to the venue where she was
working, she was too afraid to approach them:
I met a woman who said she would help me find a job and feed me. When she
told me she would pay me 2,000 yuan (US$324) to host clients in a karaoke
bar, I wanted to run away. But I couldnt escape. Then, she and her boyfriend
told me that I would have to sell sex. I hid in a room and cried, and when they
found me, they beat me and broke my nose. Then they forced me to workThe
police once came to the karaoke bar, but I was too scared to ask for help.122
The failure of law enforcement to respond appropriately when crimes against sex workers
are brought to their attention leads to severe under-reporting of such crimes. It also
contributes to the perception that crimes against sex workers are less serious and less
worthy of investigation than crimes against people who do not engage in prostitution.
35
record of the interview must be made and approved by the suspect.125 A written decision
must provide evidence, and reasons and legal basis for the decision.126 The suspect must
be informed of their right to appeal the decision, and must be able to appeal without fear
of being penalized even more harshly.127
Physical abuse and torture of sex workers by police, and police sex with a sex worker prior to
arrest, are violations of the Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China, the Peoples Police
Law of the Peoples Republic of China, and the Prison Law of the Peoples Republic of China.
Article 38 of the Constitution guarantees the personal dignity of citizens. According to
the Police Law, law enforcement agents must exercise their functions and powers
respectively in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and administrative rules
and regulations.128 They may not inflict bodily punishment on detainees.129 The Prison Law
prohibits guards from violating the personal safety of detainees, using torture or corporal
punishment, beating or conniving with others to beat a prisoner, or humiliating the human
dignity of a prisoner.130
The use of condoms as evidence of prostitution is a violation of the 1998 Notice on
Principles for Propaganda and Education Concerning AIDS Prevention, which instructs
police to refrain from using condoms as evidence of prostitution.131
The National Human Rights Action Plan of the Chinese government denounces corporal
punishment, abuses, insult of detainees or extraction of confessions by torture.132 It
further requires police and prison authorities to undertake effective measures to prohibit
abuse and insult of detainees.133
125 Ibid.
126 Ibid., p. 172.
127 Ibid.
128 Peoples Police law of the Peoples Republic of China (
February 28, 1995, art. 105.
132 National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2008-2010), April 13, 2009, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-
133 Ibid.
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In failing to take crimes against sex workers seriously, the police are violating the Police
Law, which obligates them to prevent, stop and investigate illegal and criminal
activities.134 Police who fail to do so are guilty of dereliction of duty and liable to
administrative sanctions and possible criminal prosecution.135
Chinese activists have argued that public shaming is also a violation of the Chinese
Constitution, which guarantees that [t]he personal dignity of citizens of the Peoples
Republic of China is inviolable. Insult, libel, false accusation, or false incrimination
directed against citizens by any means is prohibited.136
136 Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China, December 4, 1982, article 38; Wang Yi, Do Prostitutes Deserve the Right
GAOR Supp. (no. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), entered into force Mar. 23, 1976, signed by China on October 5, 1998;
Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1155, p. 331, entered into force on January 27,
1980, art. 18, requires signatories to refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose of the treaty.
138 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), art.9, 1.
139 Ibid., art.9, 2.
140See Communication No. 458/1991, A. W. Mukong v. Cameroon (Views adopted on 21 July 1994), U.N. doc. GAOR, A/49/40
37
Physical beatings and public shaming of sex workers constitute torture or cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment under international law, as well as violations of the right to physical
integrity guaranteed under article 9 of the ICCPR. China is a party to the U.N. Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.141 Article 1
defines torture as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is
intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes asintimidating or coercing him when
such pain or suffering is inflicted byor with the consent or acquiescence of a public official
or other person acting in an official capacity.142
Under its obligation as a party to the U.N. Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), China has agreed to pursue by all appropriate means
and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women.143 The U.N.
Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a committee of
experts that monitor states parties implementation of CEDAW, has clarified that the antidiscrimination provisions of CEDAW apply to gender-based violence, defined as violence that
is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately.
It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts,
coercion and other deprivations of liberty. Police violence disproportionately directed at
women suspected of engaging in sex work constitutes a form of gender-based discrimination.
Article 6 of CEDAW requires that states take measures to suppress all forms of trafficking in
women and exploitation of the prostitution of women. The CEDAW Committee has
emphasized that: Poverty and unemployment force many women, including young girls,
into prostitution. Prostitutes are especially vulnerable to violence because their status,
which may be unlawful, tends to marginalize them. They need the equal protection of laws
against rape and other forms of violence.144
144 UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, General Recommendation No. 19, Violence Against
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39
This section describes the experiences of women engaged in sex work who have come into
contact with public health authorities in Beijing, especially the local offices of the Chinese
Center for Disease Control (CDC). Beijing health authorities apply national health policies,
and the findings are thus likely to be relevant beyond Beijing.
145 These include: Certain Number of Regulations on AIDS supervision and management (
),
January 14, 1988, art. 5 and 8 ; Regulations for Dalian city AIDS supervision and management (
),
January 1, 2000, art.7; Regulations for Beijing city Government AIDS supervision and management (
), Bejing City Government, January 1, 1999, art. 8; Shanghai city methods of AIDS prevention (
), Shangai City Government, December 30, 1998, art. 15; and Regulations for Sichuan province prevention and control of
STDs and AIDS (
), Sichuan Provincial Government, January 1 2003, art.1, 2, 16, and 17.
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Several interviewees told Human Rights Watch of having been forcibly tested by CDC or
detention center staff, either in detention centers or while working in venues monitored
by the CDC.146
Shushu, for example, said she had been tested without consent after she was brought to a
clinic by Beijing police:
When I was arrested, they brought me to the detention center, but first they
took me to the health clinic next door to get an AIDS test and a pregnancy
test. You have to do the tests.147
Lanying, a 25-year-old from Guizhou province, told of being tested by a person she
believed was a public health official in the venue where she worked in Beijing:
Once when I was at the venue someone came to do testing. The boss [of the
venue] told us to do it so we all did it. Most sex workers just do what the
boss tells them to do. I dont know what would have happened if we didnt
want to do the testThey said it was to test if we have AIDSI dont
remember if they came back to tell us the results.148
The coercive and forced testing of sex workers has been documented in several studies by
the Beijing Aizhixing Institute, a civil society group.149 The institute has repeatedly raised
concern about national and local regulations that permit forced testing of sex workers.
One Chinese CDC employee in Beijing and two foreign public health experts working for
foreign governments who have direct experience in the matter told us of HIV testing practices
that do not appear to involve informed consent.150 According to the Chinese CDC employee:
146 Under the authority of the Ministry of Health, the CDC carries out programs to reduce the transmission of sexually transmitted
diseases, and HIV/AIDS in particular, within sex worker populations. Local CDCs must implement a national surveillance system
that carries out blood tests in order to monitor rates of HIV/AIDS within sex worker populations. They are also responsible for
conducting HIV/AIDS outreach education activities amongst sex workers, see Kaufman et. al., AIDS and Social Policy in China.
147 Human Rights Watch interview with Shushu, Beijing, 2009.
148 Human Rights Watch interview with Lanying, Beijing, 2009.
149 Beijing Aizhixing Institute, 2006 Report on AIDS Laws and Human Rights (2006
), 2007;
Beijing Aizhixing Institute, 2008 Report on Attitudes, Protection of Rights and Interests, and Needs of Beijing Female Sex
Workers (08
,
), 2008.
41
150 Human Rights Watch interview with China Center for Disease Control, Beijing, 2011; Human Rights Watch interview with
civil society public health organization, Beijing, 2011; and Human Rights Watch interview with international public health
organization, Beijing, 2011.
151 Human Rights Watch interview with China Center for Disease Control, Beijing, 2011.
152 Human Rights Watch first and second focus groups, Beijing, 2011.
153 Human Rights Watch interview with domestic civil society organization, Beijing, 2011.
154 Human Rights Watch interview with international public health organization, Beijing, 2011.
155 Yan Hong and Xiaoming Li, Behavioral Studies of Female Sex Workers in China: A Literature Review and Recommendation
for Future Research, AIDS & Behavior, vol. 12(4) (2007), p. 632.
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When we collaborate with managers [who give health workers access to sex
workers], they say that we have to give them the test results.156
One civil society representative described to Human Rights Watch having observed CDC
officials in Beijing displaying test results publicly:
I accompanied several sex workers to get tested. We waited for the results,
and when they came, they just put them out on a table for everyone to see.
And two of them tested positive.157
The CDC does not systematically report test results to sex workers. If HIV/AIDS results are
positive, they will contact them to draw blood again and get a second test. However,
reporting of negative results occurs inconsistently, creating confusion amongst sex
workers.158 Zhangping, who engages in sex work in Beijing, told Human Rights Watch:
The CDC tested me last year. But they never told me the results. I hope I dont
have AIDS.159
Human Rights Watch also spoke with a CDC employee who said that they sometimes draw
blood without telling sex workers that they are testing them for HIV/AIDS.160 A public
health academic familiar with CDC outreach also said CDC staff members sometimes tell
women working in entertainment venues that they are drawing blood as part of a general
physical exam, without providing details on the types of tests they will conduct.161
These practices are clearly at odds with the CDCs own mission statements, which
provides that it must provide HIV/AIDS counseling and treatment for sex workers, a
process in which individuals make an informed decision about undergoing an HIV test
156 Human Rights Watch interview with China Center for Disease Control, Beijing, 2011.
157 Human Rights Watch interview with civil society public health organization, Beijing, 2011.
158 Human Rights Watch interview with international public health organization, Beijing, 2011.
159 Human Rights Watch interview with Zhangping, Beijing, 2009.
160 Human Rights Watch interview with China Center for Disease Control, Beijing, 2011.
161 Human Rights Watch interview, Beijing, December 2011.
43
after receiving adequate counseling with all aspects of the individual session and
results being kept strictly confidential.162
162 United Nations Technical Working Group on MSM, Enabling effective voluntary counseling and testing for men who have sex
with men: Increasing the role of community based organizations in scaling up VCT services for MSM in China, October 2008,
http://www.undp.org.cn/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&catid=18&topic=7&sid=4379&mode=threa
d&order=0&thold=0 (accessed March 2, 2012).
163 Laurie Burkitt, Controversy over China Push to Eliminate Anonymous HIV Tests, post to China Real Time Report (blog),
Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2012, http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/02/14/controversy-over-china-push-toeliminate-anonymous-hiv-tests/ (accessed March 6, 2012).
164 CDC responds concerns over real-name HIV tests, Xinhua, February 13, 2012,
165 Beijing hints at real-name registration for HIV testing, Want China Times, February 11, 2012,
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Chinese NGOs working with sex workers are uniformly critical of the attitude of CDC staff in
Beijing towards sex workers. According to one staff member:
Sex workers feel uncomfortable when they go to the clinic, because CDC
staff will give them dirty looks. It is an attitude problem at the CDC.168
One member of an international NGO familiar with CDC sex worker outreach programs
described the attitude of CDC personnel, which the individual had directly observed. In
this individuals view, the CDCs treatment of sex workers is driving them away from
needed services:
The CDC needs to provide sex-worker-friendly services. The clinics
discriminate against sex workers, and are judgmental. I have heard that sex
workers have gone to the clinic, whose staff knows they are sex workers,
looks down on them, and treats them poorly. Because the clinics are not
open and friendly, sex workers do not want to go there.169
Domestic activists charge that the mistreatment that sex workers experience in interactions
with health workers amounts to a violation of the personal dignity of citizens of the Peoples
Republic of China, guaranteed under article 38 of the Chinese Constitution and the
provisions contained in the 1992 Law on the Protection of Womens Rights and Interests.170
168 Human Rights Watch interview with a public health civil society organization, Beijing, 2011.
169 Human Rights Watch with an international public health organization, Beijing, 2011.
170 Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China, December 4, 1982, article 38; Law of the People's Republic of China on the
), October 1, 1992.
171 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), adopted December 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A
(XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1996), entered into force January 3, 1976, ratified by China on
March 27, 2001.
45
the event of sickness.172 Article 2 stipulates that states must take steps, individually
and through international assistance and cooperationwith a view to achieving
progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant.173
CEDAW also provides in article 12 that States Parties shall take all appropriate
measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care in order
to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health care services.
General Comment 14 of the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides
a framework for understanding the right to health. It specifies that this is a right to a system
of health protection which provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest
attainable level of health.174 It proscribes any discrimination in access to health care and
underlying determinants of health.175 The CEDAW Committees General Recommendation 24
on the right to health also calls on states to give special attention to the health needs and
rights of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, such as women in prostitution. 176
International law also prohibits non-consensual medical procedures. The ICESCRs General
Comment 14 declares that the right to health includes the right to be free from
interference, such as the right to be free fromnon-consensual medical treatment.177 The
CEDAW Committees General Recommendation 24 provides that states should Require all
health services to be consistent with the human rights of women, including the rights to
autonomy, privacy, confidentiality, informed consent and choice.178
The U.N. HIV/AIDS and Human Rights International Guidelines specify that public health
legislation should ensure that HIV testing of individuals should only be performed with
the specific informed consent of that individual.179 These guidelines also explicitly
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation No. 24, The Right to Health,
A/54/38/Rev.1 (1999), para. 31 (e).
179 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 14, para. 8.
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46
reject all forms of mandatory and compulsory HIV testing, and make plain that HIV
testing should be voluntary.180
The coerced testing and discrimination reported above violate these international laws
and principles. Such behavior conflicts with the article 12 stipulation to create conditions
that assure to all medical service.181
Mandatory HIV testing violates fundamental rights to the security of the person182 and the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental health183 protected by international
treaties to which China is a party.
180 UNHCR and UNAIDS, International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, 2006 Consolidated Version, para. 20(b).
181 ICESCR.
182 Everyone has the right to liberty and security of the person, ICCPR, art. 9(1).
183 The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable
47
IV. Recommendations
To the State Council:
Ensure that crimes against sex workers are properly investigated, and actively
encourage reporting of crimes against sex workers.
Initiate a public education campaign promoting the legal rights of sex workers, the
illegality of police and public health abuse against them, and the due process
rights of all suspects under Chinese law and international instruments.
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Prohibit police from using the possession of condoms as grounds for arresting,
questioning, or detaining persons suspected of sex work, or as evidence to support
prosecution of prostitution and related offenses. Issue a directive to all officers
emphasizing the public health importance of condoms for HIV prevention, and
sexual and reproductive health. Ensure that officers are regularly trained on this
protocol and held accountable for any transgressions.
Publicly acknowledge and condemn abuses by public health officials against sex
workers.
Provide training to Chinese Center for Disease Control HIV/AIDS treatment site staff
on confidentiality, stigma and discrimination, and related subjects. Retrain or
discharge staff who discriminate or behave inappropriately towards sex workers.
Expand access to voluntary, affordable, community-based health care for sex workers.
Express concern to the central government and relevant agencies about abuses
against sex workers, and the impunity enjoyed by police and public health officials.
Encourage the Chinese government to fully abolish the RTL and Custody and
Education systems in which sex workers and others are arbitrarily detained, and
49
discourage replacing these systems with any forms of trial and detention that fall
short of international standards.
Actively encourage the Chinese government to adopt and put into practice services
and programs for sex workers on a voluntary basis with the participation of sex
worker groups.
Support local human rights groups and sex worker groups that are assisting sex
workers on a voluntary, participatory basis.
Actively support the creation of civil society organizations that address the needs
of sex workers throughout the country, and provide ongoing support for existing
organizations.
SWEPT AWAY
50
Acknowledgments
This report was reviewed and edited by Nicholas Bequelin, senior Asia researcher, Sophie
Richardson, China director, Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director, Liesl Gerntholtz,
Womens Rights Division director, Janet Walsh, Womens Rights Division deputy director,
Joe Amon, Health and Human Rights Division director, Aisling Reidy, senior legal advisor,
and Joseph Saunders, deputy program director.
Production assistance was provided by Shaivalini Parmar, associate in the Asia division,
Grace Choi, publications director, Kathy Mills, publications specialist, and Ivy Shen,
multimedia production assistant.
Human Rights Watch is grateful to the sex workers and other experts whom we interviewed
for this report and who assisted us in our investigations.
51
SWEPT AWAY
Against a background of rapid economic and social change, it is estimated that anywhere between one and ten
million Chinese women have turned to sex work as a way to earn a living.
Swept Away documents police abuses against women who engage in sex work in Beijing, including arbitrary
arrests and fines, beatings and physical assaults, and torture to elicit confessions. Because of these abuses by
law enforcement, sex workers are unwilling and afraid to turn to the police when they are victims of crimes and
other abuses at the hands of private individuals.
The report also describes human rights violations by public health agencies against sex workers, especially
local offices of Chinas Center for Disease Control (CDC), such as coercive HIV testing, privacy infringements,
disclosure of HIV test results to third parties, and mistreatment by health officials.
Chinese authorities generally use administrative rather than criminal law in policing sex work, yet this can
include punishments including fines and up to two years in detention without a trial. Human Rights Watch calls
on Chinese authorities instead to protect women in sex work from abuses, ensure their access to health
services, end periodic clean-up campaigns that lead to increased abuses against them, and remove criminal
and administrative sanctions for consensual adult sex work. Authorities should also end harassment of
nongovernmental organizations that provide assistance to sex workers.
hrw.org
Anexo 2
Resumen y recomendaciones
Resumen
No lo conoca. No lo amaba. Le dije a mi familia "no quiero a este hombre." Ellos
me dijeron, "l puede alimentarnos, te casars con l."
Atong G., 16, obligada a casarse con un hombre de 50 aos en julio del 2011.
Akech B. amaba estudiar y soaba con ser enfermera, pero cuando tena 14
aos su to, quien la cri, le dijo que ya era muy mayor para ir a la escuela. La
oblig a dejar sus estudios y le dijo que tena que casarse con un hombre a
quien Akech describi como viejo, canoso y casado con otra mujer con la que
tena muchos hijos.
Akech le suplic a su to que la dejara continuar con su educacin. l no
accedi. Las nias nacen para que las personas puedan comer. Lo nico que
Trabajar para hacer una reforma integral de las leyes de Sudn del Sur
con respecto al matrimonio, separacin, divorcio y temas relacionados; y
de
las
mujeres
sud
de
la
violacin
sus
derechos.
Baidit, Estado de Junqali, febrero de
2013.
Dotes
Las familias llegan a acuerdos matrimoniales entre ellas y eligen compaeros de
matrimonio sin el consentimiento o conocimiento de las nias. Ellos tienen un
inters en casar a sus nias lo antes posible y al mejor postor ya que la dote, a
diferencia de otros pases, lo paga el novio y su familia a la familia de la novia.
Estos bienes pueden incluir ganado, dinero y otros regalos.
Las dotes hacen que el divorcio y la separacin sean aun ms difciles
para las mujeres. Muchas mujeres pierden todas sus pertenencias si se separan
o divorcian. Bajo muchos sistemas de derecho consuetudinario, es decir
aquellos derechos que son regulados por las tradiciones y costumbres tpicas de
un pas, en Sudn del Sur el divorcio no es aceptable y solo es posible llevarlo a
cabo cuando la dote se le devuelve a la familia del novio. Sin duda, este
Sin
embargo,
el
sindicato
de
Educacin
El matrimonio infantil, por lo general, interrumpe la educacin de las nias o las
priva completamente de este derecho. La mayora de las nias y mujeres
entrevistadas (43 de 61) que asistan a clases, abandonaron sus estudios luego
de tres o cinco aos de la educacin primaria.
El Ministerio de Educacin le dijo a Human Rights Watch que ellos no
llevan un registro de la cantidad de nias que abandonan la escuela porque se
casan o por quedar embarazadas. Sin embargo, el director general de educacin
en el Estado de Ecuatoria Occidental dijo que a pesar de la falta de estadsticas,
'por lo que vemos en las escuelas, las cifras de abandono de estudios por
matrimonio o embarazo son bastante altas.
Annette,
15,
le
ensea
su
espontneo
primer
ao
de
durante
su
matrimonio.
El
El padre de Akuot muri cuando ella era pequea. Ahora, con 16 aos, su
to intent forzarla a casarse sin importar que ella y su madre se opusieran a
Sudn del Sur no cuenta con albergues diseados para ayudar a sobrevivientes
de violencia de gnero. La carencia de albergues o espacios seguros donde las
Recomendaciones
Al presidente de Sudn del Sur
infantil
en
conformidad
con
las
buenas
prcticas
responsables
del
manejo
de
los
casos,
soluciones
proteccin.
En relacin a tomar conciencia sobre el matrimonio infantil en las comunidades
Llevar a cabo una campaa nacional para tomar conciencia con el fin de
informar al pblico sobre el matrimonio infantil. Involucrar a nias y
mujeres, ministerios de gobierno competentes, lderes tradicionales y
lderes, y ONGs a la campaa.
Al ministerio de Justicia
Trabajar en busca de una reforma completa de las leyes sud sudanesas en
relacin al matrimonio, divorcio, separacin y temas relacionados, en
colaboracin con ministerios y agencias de gobierno competentes, la Asamblea
Legislativa nacional, expertos, ONGs y grupos de sociedad civil que trabajan con
el apoyo al derecho de la mujer. En particular:
En relacin a la falta de un Cdigo de Familia integral
En relacin a tratar las brechas en las leyes actuales con respecto al matrimonio
y temas relacionados
una manutencin para sus hijos de parte de los padres de estos como lo
estipula la Ley de Derechos del Nio.
Al poder Judicial
Crear conciencia entre los trabajadores del rea de salud y el resto de las
personas sobre la importancia de registrar todos los nacimientos,
incluidos los partos en casa.
Crear conciencia pblica sobre los peligros del matrimonio infantil. Esto
puede incluir mantener un dilogo con comunidades y lderes
tradicionales sobre los peligros de esta costumbre.
las
agencias
de
las
Naciones
Unidas
se
realizaron
entrevistas
autoridades
de
gobierno
Comisin
Sud
sudanesa
de
Derechos
Humanos;
representantes
de
sus
experiencias
difciles
que
pudieran
traumatizarlas.
Los
en
julio
del
ao
2011
luego
de
un
referndum
de
autodeterminacin.
y harn de sta un
tema transversal dentro del plan de desarrollo programado para los tres aos
posteriores a la independencia.
1 El acuerdo global de paz lo firmaron el Gobierno de Sudn y el Movimiento / Ejrcito de Liberacin Popular de Sudn (M/ELPS)
en enero del ao 2005, dndole fin a la guerra civil de 22 aos que comenz en 1983. Le otorg autonoma regional a la regin
del sur de Sudn y la reparticin de los ingresos del petrleo entre ambas partes. Tambin estableci un cronograma por el que
Sudn del Sur podra llevar a cabo un referndum de su independencia.
2 El ministerio enfrenta grandes desafos que limitan su funcionamiento. Estos incluyen un presupuesto inadecuado, poca
comprensin y apreciacin del rol del ministerio por parte de otros ministerios de gobierno, y la falta de capacidad tcnica. Para
un anlisis detallado de estas debilidades revise, Ministerio de Gnero, Infantil y de Bienestar Social, Comprehensive Country
Gender Assessment, April 2012, on file with Human Rights Watch (HRW), pp. 148-151.
3 Por ejemplo, revise, Joint Donor Team, Fact-Sheet: Gender Equality, undated, http://www.jdt-Yuba.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/02/Gender_fact_sheet_update_sep_2011.pdf (accessed October 8, 2012). El Joint Donor Team de la
Repblica de Sudn del Sur est compuesto por los gobiernos de Noruega, Dinamarca, Suecia, Reino Unido, Canad y Paises
Bajos. Ibid; UK Department for International Development (South Sudan), Operational Plan: 2011-2015, July 2011,
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publications1/op/2011/south-sudan-1.pdf (accessed October 8, 2012), p. 4; United States
Agency for International Development (USAID), South Sudan Transition Strategy 2011-2013, June 2011,
http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PDACR770.pdf (accessed October 8, 2012), pp. 29, 40, and 48.
4 South Sudan Development Plan 2011-2013: Realising Freedom, Equality, Justice, Peace and Prosperity for All, August 2011,
http://www.jdt-Yuba.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/South-Sudan-Development-Plan-2011-13.pdf (accessed October 8, 2012),
pp. 21 y 87.
5 Constitucin de Transicin, arts. 5(c), 33,126 y 167.
estimulantes. Por ejemplo, las mujeres lograron hacerse notar en la vida pblica
y poltica y obtuvieron una cantidad de oficios polticos: un 33,5 por ciento de los
8
Las
y se cumplen estrictamente.
vida en familia.
6 Ibid., art. 16 (4d).
separan o divorcian.
las familias tienen un incentivo financiero para asegurar que los matrimonios
sigan intactos incluso si la nia se ve expuesta al abuso. Las mujeres que se ven
enfrentadas a la violencia en sus matrimonios pueden sufrir la presin del resto
de su comunidad para lograr una reconciliacin sin importar los riesgos de su
15
seguridad y bienestar.
adulterio , un delito que bajo el cdigo penal de Sudn del Sur se puede
penalizar con el pago de indemnizaciones, pago de multa a un tribunal, o con
18
13 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p. 6;
Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Paleki Matthew, director ejecutivo de la red South Sudan Womens Empowerment Network,
Yuba, 31 de octubre de 2012.
14 NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, p. 23. El monto del dote que debe ser retribuido
depende del nmero de hijos que la mujer dio a luz durante el matrimonio, es decir, a mayor cantidad de hijos, menor es el monto
a pagar. Stern, This Is How Marriage Happens Sometimes, Friederike Bubenzer; p. 18.
15 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p. 5.
16 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Alek P., Condado de Bor, 15 de marzo de 2012.
17 Para cambiar esta situacin, el prospecto pretendiente tendra que pagar lo que falta del la dote al esposo de la mujer, un
requisito que afecta la posibilidad de que las mujeres separadas puedan volver a casarse. NPA, Gender-based Violence and
Protection Concerns in South Sudan, p. 28.
18 Cdigo Penal, 2008, art. 266. Bajo este artculo, el adulterio se define como una relacin sexual consentida con la pareja
(esposa en este caso) de otra persona.
mujeres.
Algunas mujeres
hijos.
asistir a clases.
24
sistema.
25
(actualmente en
reproductiva.
19 Human Rights Watch, South Sudan - Prison Is Not for Me: Arbitrary Detention in South Sudan, June 2012,
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/southsudan0612_forinsert4Upload.pdf (accessed August 10, 2012), p. 55. Tambin
revise, NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, p. 28.
20 NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, p. 25.
21 Constitucin de Transicin, art. 17 (2) and Child Act, 2008, arts. 6 y 8.
22 Stern, This Is How Marriage Happens Sometimes: Women and Marriage in South Sudan, Friederike Bubenzer; p. 18.
23 Para una completa revisin del sistema de educacin alternativo revise Ministerio General de Educacin, Alternative
Education Systems Baseline Survey and Evaluation, June 2012, on file with HRW.
24 Estadsticas de educacin para la Repblica de Sudn del Sur, Ministerio General de Educacin, p.88.
25 Este programa es financiado y respaldado por la UNICEF y Canad.
26 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Thelma Majela, Yuba, 17 de enero del 2012.
27
sigue inconcluso;
A pesar de los
mujeres.
27 Declaracin de Derechos de la Educacin, art. 16. Existen un sinnmero de informes mediticos sobre relaciones sexuales
entre profesores y estudiantes. Vea por ejemplo, Teachers suspended for impregnating school girls, Gurtong, January 11, 2013,
http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ctl/ArticleView/mid/519/articleId/9123/categoryId/4/Teachers-Suspended-ForImpregnating-School-Girls.aspx (accessed January 20, 2013); Teacher dismissed over schoolgirl pregnancies in Rumbek,
Sudan Tribune, December 3, 2011, http://www.sudantribune.com/Teachers-dismissed-over-schoolgirl,40897 (accessed January
20, 2013).
28 Estos programas cuentan con el respaldo de USAID.
29 Ministerio de Educacin General de la Repblica de Sudn del Sur, Education Statistics for the Republic of South Sudan,
2011, pp. 17, 22.
30 Revise, Ministerio de Gnero, Infantil y de Bienestar Social, Comprehensive Country Gender Assessment, pp. 115-117.
severa.
Solo un 3.5 por ciento de las mujeres utiliza algn tipo de tratamiento
32
anticonceptivo.
33
35
cada ao.
El
40
El Ministerio desarroll un
casadas, e incluir el apoyo a la promulgacin a una ley que limite la edad para
41
La
violencia domstica es vista como algo normal para hombres y mujeres. Las
formas ms comunes incluyen el abuso verbal y fsico, violencia sexual,
43
unidad familiar
abusos.
46
violacin marital.
47 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p. 6. Las
sociedades sud sudanesas estigmatizan a los sobrevivientes de violaciones. Revise, DAwol, Anyieth. 2011. Sibu ana, sibu ana
(Leave Me, Leave Me): Survivors of Sexual Violence in South Sudan. En Friederike Bubenzer y Orly Stern, eds. Hope, Pain and
Patience: The Lives of Women in South Sudan (Johannesburg: Jacana Media), p. 54; NPA, Gender-based Violence and
Protection Concerns in South Sudan, p. 41.
48 Esto incluye muchos de los desafos discutidos en el captulo IV sobre las barreras de justicia para vctimas de matrimonio
infantil, incluida la falta de capacitacin policial y otros agentes policiales sobre los derechos de la mujer, falta de recursos, y un
contexto legal dbil para tratar la violencia contra la mujer.
49
Marcy
Hersh,
For
South
Sudans
Women,
the
War
hasnt
Ended,
August
5,
2012,
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/news/regions/africa/south-sudan-women-violence-assault (accessed October 8, 2012);
DAwol, Anyieth, Sibu ana, sibu ana (Leave me, Leave Me): Survivors of Sexual Violence in South Sudan, p. 69.
urbanos ms grandes.
50 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p. 3;
NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, pp. 40-41. El Servicio de Polica y las agencias de la
ONU esperan poder abordar las falencias a travs de capacitacin adicional y del establecimiento de una oficina de coordinacin
de la Unidad de Proteccin Nacional Especial que monitoree y supervise todas las SPUs en el pas. Comunicacin por correo
electrnico de Human Rights Watch con Gertrude Mbiru, especialista en violencia de gnero, UNICEF Sudn del Sur, 18 de
enero de 2013. Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Fatuma Ibrahim y Solla Asea, UNICEF, Yuba, 23 de enero de 2013.
51 Ministerio de Gnero, Infantil y de Bienestar Social, South Sudan National Gender Policy, 2012, p. 33.
52
Marcy
Hersh,
For
South
Sudans
Women,
the
War
hasnt
Ended,
August
5,
2012,
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/news/regions/africa/south-sudan-women-violence-assault (accessed October 8, 2012);
DAwol, Anyieth Sibu ana, sibu ana (leave me, Leave Me): Survivors of Sexual Violence in South Sudan, p. 69.
53 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Lona James Lowilla, directora ejecutiva de Voices for Change, Yuba, 4 de septiembre
de 2012.
infantil.
de la mitad (48 por ciento) de las nias sud sudanesas entre los 15 y 19 aos
tienen esposo.
Segn investigaciones llevadas a cabo por Human Rights Watch y otras
organizaciones existen diversos factores que contribuyen a esta peligrosa
prctica en Sudn del Sur (acentuados por la falta de un marco poltico o judicial
slido para asegurar que las leyes existentes diseadas para prevenir y abordar
el matrimonio prematuro se regulen).
A
continuacin
se
presentan
los
factores
probablemente
ms
De acuerdo a
l."
54 Para un anlisis comparativo revise, UNICEF, The State of the Worlds Children: Adolescence, An Age of Opportunity, 2011,
www.unicef.org/sowc2011/ (accessed May 15, 2012), p. 34; International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Child
Marriage around the World, 2006, http://www.icrw.org/files/images/Child-Marriage-Fact-Sheet-Around-the-World.pdf (accessed
September 15, 2012).
55 Orly Stern, This Is How Marriage Happens Sometimes: Women and Marriage in South Sudan, Friederike Bubenzer, p. 10.
56 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Ayen C., condado de Bor, 15 de marzo de 2012.
sobre su esposa.
58
quedarme.
Pobreza
Las familias pobres pueden ver a las nias como una carga financiera, las
incitan a casarse para alivianar esa carga. Las nias tambin son vistas como
activos econmicos en un contexto donde los recursos econmicos y
oportunidades son limitados ya que son sus matrimonios los que los abastecen
59
entregar a sus hijas en matrimonio les puede dar una vida mejor y mejores
expectativas para el futuro.
Las nias se casan cuando sus familias no pueden cubrir sus
necesidades bsicas y pagarles la educacin. Algunas de las nias
entrevistadas nos dijeron que ellas se casaron con la esperanza de salir de la
pobreza. Pontinanta J. tiene nueve hermanos y ninguno de sus padres tiene
empleo. Ella le dijo a Human Rights Watch que se cas el ao 2006 a los 13
aos porque 'mi padre no quera pagar para que asistiera a la escuela.' A veces
60
63
64
permiten que te quedes en casa. Poni nos dijo que sus hermanos obligaron a su
hermana de 17 aos a casarse con el hombre que la embaraz, a pesar de que
65
66
circunstancias similares:
Ella fue a una disco pero mi to insisti en que pas la noche con un chico. Le
67
69
marital.
por lo general los tiene el hombre y la mujer mayor, y esto puede poner a las
71
Como muestra este informe, las nias que intentan oponerse a estos
matrimonios prematuros y forzados pueden sufrir consecuencias brutales a
manos de sus familias. En casos documentados por Human Rights Watch, las
nias eran atacadas fsicamente y abusadas verbalmente. En algunos casos,
72
Once nias nos dijeron que sus familias les controlaban todo lo que
hacan antes de casarse. Atong G., 18, se comprometi en julio del 2011 contra
su voluntad. Ella viva con sus
71 ICRW, Too Young to Wed: Education & Action Toward Ending Child, 2005, http://www.icrw.org/files/publications/Too- Youngto-Wed-Education-and-Action-Toward-Ending-Child-Marriage.pdf (accessed June 12, 2012), p. 11. See also, Robert Jensen and
Rebecca Thornton, Early Female Marriage in the Developing World, Gender and Development, pp. 9-19.
72 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Anyier D., condado de Bor, 15 de marzo de 2012.
73
74
El hombre nunca habl con la nia. En nuestro pas, la gente ni siquiera informa
a la nia (si quieren casarse con ella). As que el hombre fue y pregunt a su
familia. La familia fue al ganadero y vio las 200 cabezas de ganado. En la tarde,
ellos le dijeron a la nia: queremos entregarte a este hombre. La nia se neg.
Ella dijo: No conozco a este hombre, nunca he hablado con l y ni siquiera tiene
mi edad. Luego, un grupo de jvenes tom a la nia y la llev a un boque
cercano. La amarraron a un rbol y la golpearon hasta que muri. Tal como sta,
hay tantas otras historias.76
Suicidio
Las nias que no desean casarse o quieren escapar de casamientos forzados
pueden estar en riesgo de suicidarse. Dem dijo a Human Rights Watch que l
estaba al tanto de los casos de nias que se haban suicidado porque estaban
obligadas a casarse con alguien a quien no amaban. l dijo: soy del estado de
Lagos y conozco muchos de estos casos. Hay muchos casos como este en
Warab y Junqali.77
Las nias que son forzadas a casarse sufren un gran dolor emocional.
Agata N. nos habl sobre los problemas de su hermana luego de ser obligada a
casarse con un chico que la dej embarazada: Mi hermana tiene problemas
porque est casada con un hombre al que no ama y l no la ama a ella. Ella est
embarazada y de perseguir al chico. l no la apoya. Su hijo ni siquiera se ve
saludable. Ellos no hablan. A veces l no duerme en su casa. l no se muestra
preocupado cuando el beb est enfermo. Mi hermana dice que tal vez se
suicide. 78
Violencia en el matrimonio
La mayora de las nias y mujeres entrevistadas
dijeron que sufrieron violencia por parte de sus esposos luego de casarse. Nos
dijeron que eran golpeadas y vctimas de violencia verbal por no ser buenas en
las tareas del hogar, por no poder quedar embarazadas, por pedir apoyo
econmico o por cuestionar la fidelidad de su esposo.
76 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Samuel Dem inspector superior en la Junta Directiva de Educacin Alternativa, Ministro
de Educacin e Instruccin General, Juba, 9 de septiembre de 2012. En el Estado de Lagos habitan principalmente personas de
la etnia Dinka, una comunidad trashumante que valora el ganado. Las dotes para los Dinka generalmente son en ganado.
77 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Samuel Dem inspector superior en la Junta Directiva de Educacin Alternativa, Ministro
de Educacin e Instruccin General, Juba, 9 de septiembre de 2012.
78 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Agata N., Condado de Juba, 19 de marzo de 2012.
Ocho de ellas nos dijeron que sus esposos les prohiban contactar a sus
familias o amigos, ir al mercado o buscar un trabajo. Otras nias se quejaron de
que sus esposos, de manera constante, las acusaban de ser infieles, o dorman
en casas de otras mujeres o traan otras mujeres a sus casas.
Kolong K., 30, se cas a los 15 aos. Ella cont a Human Rights Watch
que enfrent muchos problemas en su matrimonio debido a que era joven y no
saba cmo manejar un hogar: No saba nada del matrimonio cuando me cas.
El hombre (esposo) peleaba conmigo todo el tiempo porque yo no era capaz de
realizar las tareas del hogar. Algunas veces peleaba conmigo si visitaba a mis
amigas. Me gusta jugar futbol con otras chicas. Yo sala a jugar y llegaba tarde a
preparar comida as que l me golpeaba. Aun peleamos. Nunca paramos de
hacerlo.79
Dejar matrimonios violentos
Las vctimas de matrimonios forzados a una temprana edad tal vez no puedan
dejar sus matrimonios abusivos debido a presiones econmicas, falta de apoyo
conseguir un trabajo para mantener a mis hijos y veo a chicas que tienen algo de
educacin y gracias a eso consiguen trabajo. (May K., Condado de Yambio, 7 de
marzo de 2012).
La Constitucin de Transicin y Leyes Infantiles del ao 2008 (artculo 14
y 29) estipulan el derecho de educacin primaria obligatoria para todos los
ciudadanos sin discriminacin, incluyendo todos los gneros, entre otros
aspectos. 88 Declara que ningn infante deber ser sujeto a prcticas
explotadoras o abusivas, dainas para su educacin, salud o bienestar.89
El matrimonio en esta etapa de vida a menudo interrumpe la educacin de
las nias o las aleja por completo de ella. La mayora de las nias y mujeres
entrevistadas (43 de 61) que haban ido a la escuela, la dejaron luego de tres a
cinco aos de educacin primaria. Mary K. del Condado de Yambio, dijo:
Mi padre no me dejaba ir a la escuela. Deca que era una prdida de dinero
educar a una nia. Deca que el matrimonio me dara respeto dentro de mi
comunidad. Ahora que crec me di cuenta que esto no es verdad. No puedo
conseguir un trabajo para ayudar a mis hijos y veo a mujeres que tienen
educacin y s pueden conseguir trabajos.90
El Ministro de Educacin dijo a Human Rights Watch que ellos no guardan
la informacin sobre el nmero de nias que dejan la escuela para casarse o
debido al embarazo.91 Sin embargo, el director general por la educacin en
Ecuatoria Occidental coment que a pesar de la falta de estadsticas: "por lo que
vemos en las escuelas, los ndices de abandono de estudios debido al
matrimonio y al embarazo son muy altos".92 El director de una escuela en el
Condado de Bor, en el Estado de Junqali, nos dijo:
Algunas veces los padres no permiten a sus hijas que vayan a la escuela. Hay
muchas nias que dejan la escuela debido al matrimonio. Los ndices de
abandono de estudios son muy altos una vez que alcanzan la juventud,
especialmente entre los 15 y 17 aos. No he visto que las que abandonan sus
estudios se queden en casa, la mayora de ellas lo hace para casarse.93
88 Constitucin de Transicin, art. 29 (1). 89 Ibid., art. 17 (1d).
90 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Mary K., Condado de Yambio, 7 de marzo de 2012.
91 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Michael Jalom, director general por la education en WES, Condado de Yambio, 12 de
marzo de 2012.
92 Ibid.
93 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Jacob Malual, Director de la escuela primaria Mamer Primary School en Kohlnyang,
Condado de Bor, 14 de marzo de 2012.
Tambin temen que la educacin haga que las nias tengan una
mentalidad ms fuerte o menos tradicional, lo que las puede convertir en "malas"
esposas.
La educacin no es buena. Le entrega mucha libertad a la mujer y ella
dejar de escucharte. Incluso puedes perder una mujer con la que te casaste por
muchas vacas debido a la educacin.96
94 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Alfred Lodiong, director adjunto en el Directorio de Igualdad de Gnero y Cambio Social,
Ministerio de Educacin General, Juba, 10 de septiembre de 2012.
95 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Rebecca Deng, miembro de la comunidad, durante un foco de discusin con mujeres en
el Condado de Bor, 14 de marzo de 2012.
96 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch al Jefe Mandit Ber durante un foco de discusin con jefes y ancianos, Condado de Bor, 14
de marzo 2012.
Las nias y mujeres entrevistadas por Human Rights Watch que volvieron
a la escuela luego del embarazo o matrimonio disfrutaban del aprendizaje y
valoraban los beneficios que trae consigo la educacin. Penina W., 21, cont a
Human Rights Watch porqu decidi volver a la escuela: Estuve con mi marido
por cuatro aos pero debido a que no poda quedar embarazada l se volvi
ms lejano y abusivo. Al quinto ao l me ech de su lado. Tuve otro novio que
es el padre de mi hijo pequeo pero l se neg a casarse conmigo o a hacerse
cargo del nio. Me qued con mi hermana pequea y mi hijo. Mi hermana
termin el tercer ao superior y consigui un trabajo. Por lo que decid volver a la
escuela para as tener educacin y conseguir un trabajo.100
Penina complet su educacin primaria y aprob su examen final. Planea
ir a la escuela secundaria, aunque no tiene dinero para los costos de educacin
o alguien que cuide a su beb mientras va a la escuela. Cultiva alimentos que
luego vende para poder comprar otros alimentos y ahorrar para sus gastos
escolares.
Negacin al derecho de consentir completa y libremente al matrimonio
Si viene alguien en la forma correcta a pedir la mano de una nia en
matrimonio, podemos entregar a la nia. El problema es cuando ella decide por
s misma casarse con alguien a quien la familia no aprueba. Lder Akech
Malek, Condado de Bor, 14 de marzo del 2012
La Constitucin de Transicin le da a la mujer el derecho de consentir el
matrimonio pero esta provisin legal es simblica.101 Como muestran los
testimonios en este informe, las nias son obligadas por sus familias a casarse.
Generalmente, el matrimonio infantil involucra la imposicin de un
compaero de vida para la nia. Tambin se considera como matrimonio forzado
ya que las nias no son legalmente capaces de consentir de forma libre,
completa e informada casarse.102
100 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Penina W., Condado de Yambio, 7 de marzo de 2012.
101 Constitucin de Transicin, art. 15.
Penina W., 21, se cas a los 14 aos y est separada de su esposo. Ella
dijo: No saba nada sobre qu significaba estar casada. Me cas porque
esperaba que ese hombre me ayudara ya que yo estaba sufriendo en casa. 105
Consecuencias para la salud
British Medical Bulletin, vol. 67 (2003), pp. 191-204; Nawal Nour, An Introduction to Maternal Mortality, Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, vol. 1, no. 2 (2008), pp. 77-81; and WHO, Obstetric Fistula: Guiding Principles for Clinical Management and
Programme
Development,
2006,
http://www.endfistula.org/webdav/site/endfistula/shared/documents/publications/who_obstetric_fistula.pdf (accessed September
15,
2012),p.3.
116 Ibid.
117 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Dr. Mergani Abdalla Mohamed, Juba Teaching Hospital, 17 de marzo de 2012.
118 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a una matrona en el Hospital estatal de Yambio, Condado de Yambio, 8 de marzo de
2012.
Las nias nos dijeron que no hablaban de sexo con sus padres y aquellas
que haban ido a la escuela dijeron que no tuvieron educacin sexual. Gloria C.
dijo que qued embaraza a los 14 o 15 aos. No saba que quedara
embarazada por tener relaciones sexuales, dijo. Yo solo jugaba a tener
relaciones. 122
Una enfermera del Estado de Ecuatoria Occidental coment sobre este
problema en su comunidad: Las nias aqu son sexualmente activas. Ellas
dicen que juegan a tener relaciones sexuales (una expresin comn en Sudan
del Sur). Pero tienen muy poca informacin sobre el embarazo y los mtodos
anticonceptivos. 123
Human Rights Watch entrevist a 10 nias que nos dijeron que quedaron
embarazadas luego de su primera relacin sexual. Todas creyeron que no
quedaran embarazadas por ser su primera vez. Todas dijeron que no tenan
informacin de la planificacin familiar o la anticoncepcin. Otras nias que
estaban casadas tambin nos dijeron que no manejaban esa informacin.
Las nias que estn casadas tambin tienen capacidad limitada para
tomar decisiones sobre su salud y sobre sus hijos. Casi no tienen poder dentro
de sus familias y a menudo no tienen autonoma, informacin o medios
econmicos para acceder a anticonceptivos y a otras formas salud reproductiva.
La violencia y la discriminacin en el hogar pueden limitar su comprensin de los
servicios de salud sexual y reproductiva incluso en casos de emergencia.
Rosa B., 20, cree que se cas a los 12 aos. Le dijo a Human Rights
Watch que dio a luz a su primer hijo en su casa porque mi esposo se negaba a
dejarme ir al hospital. Me dijo que haba una anciana que ayuda a otras mujeres
a dar a luz y que ella me ayudara a m.124 Rosa dijo que luego de tener a su
beb su pierna derecha se paraliz y no pudo caminar bien durante dos meses.
Nos dijo que su esposo busc un tratamiento tradicional para ella aunque ella le
peda que la llevara al hospital.
Christina G. tampoco est segura de su fecha de nacimiento pero su
madre le dijo que tiene 13 aos. Ella dijo a Human Rights Watch que vivan
cerca de un hospital pero cuando comenz con trabajo de parto:
122 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Gloria C., Condado de Yambio, 7 de marzo de 2012.
123 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a una matrona en el Hospital estatal de Yambio, Condado de Yambio, 8 de marzo de
2012.
124 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Rosa B., Condado de Yambio, 9 de marzo de 2012.
Mi esposo se neg a dejarme ir al hospital. Estuve en trabajo de parto por tres
das en mi casa con una ayudante de parto tradicional antes de que l accediera
llevarme al hospital. El doctor dijo que mi cuerpo era muy joven. Me oper para
sacar a mi beb.125
viven en sus matrimonios forzados y las oportunidades que perdieron para ser
felices y poder desarrollarse.
125 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Christina G., Condado de Yambio, 8 de marzo de 2012.
126 UNICEF Innocenti Digest, Early Marriage: Child Spouses, No. 7, March 2001,
http://www.unicefirc.org/publications/pdf/digest7e.pdf (accessed April 20, 2012), p. 12. Como mencionamos antes en el informe,
las nias en Sudn del Sur estn consideradas para el matrimonio a partir de la pubertad. Un nmero importante de nias que
entrevist Human Rights Watch se casaron antes de los 15 aos. La CRC protege a cualquiera menor de 18 aos y se refiere a
la infancia como un proceso de desarrollo, un proceso que no termina con un seo fsico y de madurez definitivo.
127 Population Council, Understanding Sex Without consent Among Young People: A Neglected Priority, Brief no. 7, July 2007,
http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/TABriefs/PGY_Brief07_NonconsensualSex.pdf (accessed September 12, 2012), p. 3.
IV. No hay proteccin ni justicia para las vctimas del matrimonio infantil
Las nias y mujeres en Sudn del Sur tienen pocos derechos dentro de sus
hogares y matrimonios, y enfrentan muchos riesgos cuando se resisten o
intentan dejar sus matrimonios forzados.
Muchas de las nias entrevistadas por Human Rights Watch dijeron que
intentaron razonar con sus familias cuando el matrimonio con alguien con quien
no deseaban casarse era inminente. Cuando esos esfuerzos fallaban (como en
la mayora de los casos), muchas no tenan otra opcin ms que casarse.
Algunas mujeres y nias, a pesar del gran riesgo que corran, intentan evitar los
matrimonios forzados y a una edad temprana. Algunas buscan ayuda en sus
familias, con autoridades tradicionales o con los ancianos. Otras recurren a
lderes religiosos o a organizaciones de derechos humanos, o buscan ayuda en
funcionarios gubernamentales y la polica. Incluso si logran escaparse enfrentan
muchos obstculos para acceder a proteccin y justicia y muy pocas veces
consiguen la ayuda necesaria.
Hay muchas debilidades en la administracin de justicia en Sudn del Sur
como por ejemplo falta de infraestructura, de recursos, leyes adecuadas y
personal bien preparado.128 Generalmente, estas debilidades afectan la
posibilidad de las mujeres de obtener justicia por crmenes de gnero, donde se
problema. Les dije que me matara si tena que irme (con el hombre que sus
padres queran que se casara).
Rachel tom el consejo de una de sus amigas y busc ayuda en Human
Rights Commission (HRC por sus siglas en ingls). La HRC la envi a un centro
para nios vulnerables dirigido por el Ministerio de Desarrollo Social del Estado
de Ecuatoria Central donde se qued por dos semanas. Luego la enviaron a
casa con su familia. En marzo del ao 2012, cuando Human Rights Watch la
entrevist por primera vez, viva en su casa, bajo amenazas constantes y con
grandes deseos de continuar su educacin. Nos dijo: No me siento segura en
casa. Cada da mi familia discute conmigo y creo que pueden matarme un da.
Siempre pienso en el peligro que estoy, incluso cuando estoy en la escuela. No
me puedo concentrar en clases debido a esos miedos. Tambin temo que ese
hombre pueda raptarme en el camino a la escuela, o violarme o golpearme o
matarme. Quiero que el gobierno me ayude, que me enve a algn lugar donde
est segura y pueda estudiar. Si existiera algn refugio donde pueda estar
segura, yo ira.
129 Human Rights Watch conoci a Rachel a travs de met Rachel Human Rights Commission de Sudn del Sur, quienes
intentaron, sin xito, en ayudarla a dejar su matrimonio forzado.
130 Un area en las afuera de Juba y la ubicacin de las centrales de la milica de Sudn del Sur, aqu viven muchos soldados.
pero como mencionamos, existe una gran falta de personal adecuado y adems
no estn disponibles en todas las estaciones policiales.
131 NPA, Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, pp. 39-40; Ministry of Gender, Child and Social
Welfare, Comprehensive Country Gender Assessment," pp. 9 and 28.
aquellos que matan nias que participan en el comercio sexual quedan impunes.
Un hombre que golpea a su hermana hasta matarla por negarse a casarse con
un hombre mayor, qued en libertad el mismo da sin ningn cargo en su
contra.134
Falta de refugios
En Sudn de Sur no existen los refugios diseados para asistir a sobrevivientes
de violencia de gnero. Como lo muestra el caso de Rachel, la falta de refugios
o espacios seguros, donde las nias puedan buscar proteccin y ayuda cuando
estn en riesgo de un matrimonio forzado o cuando escapan de l, es una
barrera clave para responder de manera efectiva a matrimonios forzados y a
violencia intrafamiliar en general. Las nias que se resisten a estos matrimonios
pueden enfrentar violencia fsica, verbal y sicolgica de parte de sus familias o
esposos y no estn a salvo en sus hogares.
132 Human Rights Watch, Prison Is Not for Me, pp. 23-25.
133 Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment: Womens Security and the Law in South Sudan, p. 3;
DAwol, Anyieth, Sibu ana, sibu ana (Leave Me, Leave Me): Survivors of Sexual Violence in South Sudan, pp. 5377; NPA,
Gender-based Violence and Protection Concerns in South Sudan, pp. 39-41; Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare,
Comprehensive Country Gender Assessment, pp. 65-66.
134 Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Comprehensive Country Gender Assessment, p. 69.
140
una legislacin que establezca como edad mnima de matrimonio los 18 aos y
que proteja los derechos de las mujeres para elegir el esposo que ellas quieran y
casarse con libre consentimiento. Sudn del Sur tambin debera tomar las
medidas legislativas necesarias para asegurar que cualquiera que fuerce
intencionalmente a un adulto o nio a casarse sea penalizado apropiadamente y
que los matrimonios que terminan por la fuerza sean anulables o disueltos sin
que la vctima reciba alguna carga.
La Ley de Derechos del Nio define como nio a cualquier persona menor
de 18 aos y declara que cada nio tiene el derecho a ser protegido de un
matrimonio a temprana edad.
141
142
El artculo 19 declara que Los Estados parte adoptarn todas las medidas
legislativas, administrativas, sociales y educativas apropiadas para proteger al
nio contra toda forma abusoEsas medidas de proteccin debern
comprender,
segn
corresponda,
procedimientos
eficaces
para
el
Sin embargo, est claro en la constitucin que todas las leyes, ya sean
consuetudinarias o estatutarias, estn sujetas a la Carta de Derechos. 145 La
Ley de Derechos del Nio entrega su apoyo a la no aplicacin de prcticas
habituales dainas como lo es el matrimonio infantil, a travs de una estipulacin
que estima que tanto leyes consuetudinarias como tradicionales deben aplicarse
excepto en los casos en que aquellas leyes contradigan a los mejores intereses
de un nio. 146 Desafortunadamente, ni los tribunales o el gobierno entregan
una gua sobre cules son los mejores intereses de un nio en acuerdo con lo
que propone La Ley de Derechos del Nio.
Segn el Cdigo de Procedimiento Civil, la ley consuetudinaria es la fuente para
las leyes de matrimonio, divorcio, custodia infantil y otros asuntos relacionados a
la familia.147 El Cdigo de Procedimiento Civil tambin incluye una advertencia
sobre aquellas prcticas que no deberan aplicarse si van en contra de la
justicia, igualdad o buena fe.
145 El artculo 10 estipula que, excepto en un estado de emergencia, no se deber hacer menoscabo de los derechos y
libertades consagradas en esta Carta. La Carta de Derechos debe mantenerse, protegerse y aplicarse en la Corte Suprema y
otros tribunales competentes. El artculo 167(3) declara que los tribunales pueden aplicar la ley consuetudinaria mientras est
sujeto a esta Constitucin y la ley.
146 Ley de Derechos del Nio, art. 4(4).
147 El Cdigo de Procedimiento Civil declara en el artculo seis Cuando una demanda u otro procedimiento en un Tribunal Civil
levante dudas sobre sucesin, herencias, legados, presentes, matrimonio, divorcio o relaciones familiares, la regla para decidir
deber ser: (a) cualquier tradicin aplicable a las partes involucradas, mientras no sea contraria a la justicia, igualdad o buena
voluntad, y que no fue alterada por sta ni otra promulgacin, o fue invalidada por decisin de un Tribunal competente; o (b) la
Ley Sharia en los casos donde los partes son musulmanas, excepto si fue modificado por la tradicin mencionada antes.
emitido ningn peridico jurdico que ofrezca una aclaracin a los tribunales
sobre cmo utilizar las estipulaciones de la Constitucin de Transicin.
Un funcionario del gobierno habl sobre los desafos que supone la ley
consuetudinaria cuando se refiere al matrimonio infantil: No hay nada. Existe
una ley, pero casarse a una edad temprana es una tradicin. Si intentas
detenerlo, la gente te acusar de querer cambiar su cultura. A los jueces les
cuesta mucho dictar una sentencia en contra del matrimonio infantil. La Ley de
Derechos del Nio no se puede aplicar completamente debido a la tradicin.148
Los tribunales consuetudinarios son comunes y accesibles, por lo que son
utilizados por la gran mayora de la poblacin, incluso por mujeres y nias. En
asuntos matrimoniales sirven como un recurso primario para las comunidades.
Pero los jefes que dirigen el tribunal consuetudinario a menudo son hombres
mayores y sus decisiones reflejan de manera muy profunda su visin arraigada
del patriarcado. A menudo, ellos no refuerzan la misma definicin de un nio que
la que ofrece la Ley de Derechos del Nio. Normalmente, se considera que las
nias estn listas para el matrimonio cuando alcanzan la pubertad, cerca de los
12 aos en vez de los 18.149
En general, los tribunales consuetudinarios favorecen las soluciones
restaurativas y de mutuo acuerdo por sobre las soluciones disciplinarias. Por
ejemplo, bajo la ley consuetudinaria los homicidios, adulterios, robos y perjuicios
pueden resolverse con una compensacin, ya sea en vacas u otro ganado, por
parte del perpetrador a su vctima.150
148 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Martin Mogga, director de proteccin infantil, CES Ministerio de Gnero y Desarrollo
Social, Juba, 4 de septiembre de 2012.
149 South Sudan Human Rights Commission, 2011 Annual Report, p.32; Child Act, art. 4(4), pp. 2-10.;United Nations
Population Fund and DPK Consulting, Adapting Restorative Justice Principles to Reform Customary Courts in Dealing with
Gender-based
Violence
in
Southern
Sudan,
May
2008,
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/61181823/ADAPTINGRESTORATIVEJUSTICE-PRI (accessed February 11, 2013).
150 Actualmente, tanto el tribunal estatutario como el consuetudinario dan sentencias en trminos de encarcelamiento en
conjunto con indemnizaciones. Human Rights Watch, Prison is not for Me, p. 65.
Y aunque esas son formas aceptadas para resolver las disputas dentro de
las comunidades, los tribunales consuetudinarios fallan al momento de tratar los
elementos criminales de ciertos delitos de gnero lo que deja a las vctimas sin
una solucin adecuada. En el caso de Rachel, el Ministerio de Justicia acept
entregarla a su familia a pesar de la violencia que ella enfrent porque su familia
dijo que resolveran el problema como asunto familiar.
Mientras Sudn del Sur lucha para armonizar su sistema plural de justicia
151
cuando ya estaban en uno. Muchas de las nias que entrevistamos nos dijeron
que su nica opcin era acudir a sus familias o a los ms ancianos de su
comunidad.
Cuando Human Rights Watch le pregunt a profesor jefe si alguna de las
nias haba buscado ayuda en l debido a un matrimonio forzado, l nos dijo:
Ninguna nia le inform que la obligaban a casarse. Por supuesto hay muchos
casos pero stos se consideran asuntos familiares y las nias no tienen
permitido hablar de ellos con extraos. Las nias no denuncian esos casos
porque no tienen poder en sus familias y temen a represalias si desafan sus
decisiones. Incluso las nias que se niegan a un matrimonio forzado no saben
dnde denunciar estos casos.158
Debido a la falta de informacin muchas nias y mujeres no denuncian los
casos de matrimonios forzados a las autoridades.
Falta de apoyo familiar y comunitario
Muchas de las vctimas de matrimonios forzados y a una temprana edad que
entrevistamos, tambin sufran de violencia domstica pero se sentan
incapaces de dejar el matrimonio debido a presiones econmicas, falta de apoyo
familiar y otras circunstancias sociales, lo que empeoraba su vulnerabilidad.
158 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Jacob Malual, director de la escuela primaria Mamer Primary School en Kohlnyang,
Condado de Bor, 14 de marzo de 2012.
Ninguna de las nias que entrevistamos dijo que sus familias las
escuchaban cuando intentaban resistirse al matrimonio. En cambio, como lo
comentamos en secciones anteriores, muchas sufrieron golpizas brutales,
amenazas de maldiciones, las llevaron a la polica o coartaban sus movimientos
para obligarlas a casarse.
161
y una responsabilidad de
desigual. Es obligacin del estado garantizar que las mujeres tengan igual
proteccin ante la ley, y el no hacerlo constituye una violacin.
Derecho a un matrimonio libre y plenamente consentido, y poder elegir al
cnyuge
Sudn del Sur debe garantizar que quienes contraen matrimonio lo hacen con su
pleno y libre consentimiento. Esto se reconoce en la Declaracin Universal de
los Derechos Humanos, en el Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Polticos
(ICCPR, por sus siglas en ingls) y en el Pacto Internacional de Derechos
Econmicos, Sociales y Culturales (ICESCR, por su sigla en ingls).166 La
Convencin sobre el Consentimiento para el Matrimonio especfica, adems,
que cada cnyuge debe dar su consentimiento en persona... segn lo prescrito
por la ley.
167
168 Observacin general no. 16 del Comit de Derechos Econmicos y Sociales, que supervisa la aplicacin de la ICESCR,
establece las obligaciones de los Estados Partes a garantizar que hombres y mujeres tienen el mismo derecho a elegir la
persona y el momento para casarse
169
El informe de observaciones
170
172
A nivel regional en
frica, la Carta Africana sobre los Derechos y el Bienestar del Nio exige
explcitamente a los Estados a adoptar medidas eficaces, incluso de carcter
legislativo
169 CRC, art. 12.
170 Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 12, The Right of the Child to Be Heard, U.N.
Doc.CRC/C/GC/12(2009), para. 2.
171 Ibid.
172 Vese, por ejemplo, Comit de los Derechos del Nio de las Naciones Unidas, Observacin general No. 4, La salud y el
desarrollo de los adolescentes en el prembulo de la Convencin sobre los Derechos del Nio, (sesin 33, ao 2003), prr. 20.
Existe un consenso en evolucin en el derecho internacional que la edad mnima para el matrimonio debe ser a los 18 aos.
176
gobiernos para asegurar que todos los matrimonios se registran por escrito y en
conformidad con las leyes nacionales. 177 El comit de la CRC tambin aborda la
obligacin que tienen los gobiernos de registrar todos los nacimientos y
matrimonios
poner
en
marcha
medidas
para
hacer
cumplir
esta
implementacin.
Derecho a la salud
Sudn del Sur tiene la obligacin de cumplir con el derecho a la salud sobre una
base no discriminatoria, en virtud de sus obligaciones internacionales de
derechos humanos heredados. Este derecho se consagra en numerosos
instrumentos internacionales de derechos humanos el ICESCR, la Carta, entre
ellos la Declaracin Universal de Derechos Humanos, Africana, el Protocolo de
Maputo y la CRC. En el ICESCR se especifica que toda persona tiene derecho
al disfrute del ms alto nivel posible de salud fsica y mental y requiere que se
implemente sin discriminacin por razn de sexo, edad u otros motivos
prohibidos.
178
y en particular el derecho a
180
En el Protocolo de Maputo se
Derecho a la educacin
En el Pacto Internacional de Derechos Econmicos, Sociales y Culturales y la
Convencin sobre los Derechos del Nio se garantiza que toda persona tiene
derecho a una educacin libre y compulsoria.
183
El derecho a la igualdad de
188
190
Se solicita
especficamente que los Estados tomen medidas para proteger a la mujer que
est en riesgo de ser sujeta a prcticas dainas o cualquier otra forma de
violencia, abuso e intolerancia, y establecer mecanismos y servicios accesibles
para la informacin efectiva, rehabilitacin y reparacin de las vctimas de
violencia contra la mujer. 191
Tal como se muestra en este informe, las nias que son vctimas de
matrimonio infantil pueden experimentar violencia por parte de sus cnyuges,
parientes polticos y otros miembros de la familia. Esto incluye abuso fsico,
verbal, sexual y psicolgico. Generalmente, mujeres y nias no denuncian estos
actos de violencia a las autoridades debido a una serie de barreras culturales y
legales. No obstante, algunas mujeres reportan abuso, entre las que se incluyen
los matrimonios forzados, pero rara vez reciben ayuda.
La obligacin de Sudn del Sur de prevenir, investigar, procesar y
sancionar la violencia contra las mujeres y nias incluye garantizar que los
actores
estatales,
tales
como
la
polica,
los
tribunales
judiciales
192
Estado de investigar con eficacia cada vez que se produce este tipo de violencia,
lo que implica una investigacin capaz de conducir a la identificacin y sancin
de los responsables, de acuerdo a La jurisprudencia del Tribunal Internacional
de Derechos Humanos. 193
Un tribunal de derechos humanos destac lo siguiente sobre un caso en el que
se involucra un asalto sexual,
188 CRC, art. 19.
189 Ibid., art. 34.
190 Maputo Protocol, arts. 4 (2 and b) and 3 (4).
191 Maputo Protocol, arts. 5 (d) and 4 (2f).
192 Regarding responsibility as to private acts, see ICCPR, HRC, General Comment 31, Nature of the general legal obligation on
states parties to the Covenant, para. 9, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.13 (2004); UN Committee Against Torture (CAT),
General Comment No. 2: Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties, 24 January 2008.CAT/C/GC/2. Regarding the
responsibility of states extending to all within their jurisdiction, see ICCPR, art. 2(1).
193 See amongst others, the European Court of Human Rights decisions in Kaya v. Turkey, judgment of 19 February 1998,
Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998-I, p. 324; Jordan v. the United Kingdom, no. 24746/94, judgment of May 4, 2001;
expone las nias y las mujeres a nuevos actos de violencia, sobre todo una vez
que el perpetrador sabe que el sobreviviente report el ataque, ya que algunos
de los casos en este informe lo demuestran.
Finucane v. the United Kingdom, no. 29178/95, judgment of July 1 2003; Isayeva v. Russia, 57950/00, judgment of July 27,
2004; Adali v. Turkey, 38187/97, judgment March 31, 2005.
194 Maslova and Nalbandov v Russia Application No. 839/02, judgment of January 24, 2008, para 91. See also cases cited by the
court in this finding: S.W. v. the United Kingdom, judgment of November 22, 1995, Series A no. 335-B; C.R. v. the United
Kingdom, judgment of November 22, 1995, Series A no. 335-C; and M.C. v. Bulgaria, no. 39272/98, 153, ECHR 2003-XII.
Assenov and Others v. Turkey, judgment of October 28, 1998, Reports 1998-VIII, p. 3290, 102, and Labita v. Italy [GC], no.
26772/95, 131, ECHR 2000-IV.
196
197
198
matrimonio infantil se revela que el sur de Asia, con un 46 por ciento, y frica
subsahariana, con 37 por ciento, tienen el mayor predominio en cuanto a
matrimonios infantiles. En las dos regiones, dos de cada cinco nias se casan o
entran en una unin antes de los 18 aos.199 En frica subsahariana, la prctica
es ms comn en frica Occidental y Central, ya que el 41 por ciento de las
mujeres entre 20 a 24 aos de edad se casaron antes de cumplir la mayora de
edad. La tasa en frica Oriental y Central tambin es alta, con un 34 por ciento.
200
195 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Marrying too Young: End Child Marriage, 2012,
http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/publications/2012/MarryingTooYoung.pdf (accessed
October 18, 2012), p. 22.
196 Ibid., p. 23.
197 Pases de frica subsahariana que progresaron de manera notable en la reduccin de los niveles de matrimonio infantil,
entre ellos Benn, Camern, Congo, Etiopa, Lesoto, Liberia, Ruanda, Sierra Leona, Todo, Uganda, Repblica Unida de Tanzania
y Zimbabue. Ibid., p. 24.
198 UNFPA, Marrying too Young: End Child Marriage, p. 44.
199 Ibid., p. 26.
200 Ibid., p. 26.
201 En el informe del UNFPA se demuestra que las nias que viven en zonas rurales de pases en desarrollo tienden el doble a
casarse, en comparacin a las tasas de las zonas urbanas (44 y 22 por ciento, respectivamente). Las nias con educacin
primaria tienen el doble de probabilidades de casarse en comparacin a las que tienen una educacin secundaria o superior. Sin
embargo, aquellas que no tienen educacin tienen el triple de probabilidades. La tasa de matrimonio infantil entre el 20 por ciento
ms pobre es de 54 por ciento en comparacin al 16 por ciento del 20 ms adinerado. Ibid., pp. 34 35. Vase tambin Fondo
para la Infancia de las Naciones Unidas (UNICEF), Matrimonio precoz: una prctica tradicional nociva. Una exploracin
estadstica, 2005, http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Early_Marriage_12.lo.pdf (visitado en febrero 20, 2012), pp. 3-4;
Federacin Internacional de Planificacin Familiar (IPPF), Ending Child Marriage: A Guide for Global Policy Action, publicado
por
primera
vez
en
septiembre
de
2006,
ltima
edicin
publicada
en
noviembre
de
2007,
http://www.unfpa.org/upload/lib_pub_file/662_filename_endchildmarriage.pdf (visitado
204
En enero 28, 2012), p. 10; Centro de Inversin Globl, Girls Count: A Global Investment and Action Agenda, 2008,
http://www.coalitionforadolescentgirls.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Girls_Count_2009.pdf (visitado en mayo 15, 2012), pp. 4243.
202 Los tres objetivos estratgicos actuales de esta asociacin mundial incluyen: una mayor conciencia de los efectos
perjudiciales del matrimonio infantil en los planos locales, nacionales e internacionales; poltica ampliada, apoyo financiero y de
otras caractersticas para acabar con el matrimonio infantil y apoyar a las nias que contrajeron matrimonio, y fortalecer el
aprendizaje y coordinacin entre las organizaciones que trabajan para poner fin a matrimonio infantil. Vase,
http://girlsnotbrides.org/. As de febrero 2013, la coalicin tena alrededor de 223 organizaciones miembros en ms de 43 pases
de frica, Europa, Asia del Sur y los EE.UU., con tresnuevas sucursales nacionales en Etiopa, Tanzania y los EE.UU. Boletn de
noticias de Girls not Brides, en los archivos de Human Rights Watch.
203 El informe recomienda que el Consejo de Derechos Humanos desarrolle un enfoque ms global en cuanto al matrimonio
servil y que los Estados promulguen leyes para prevenir la prctica, adems de brindar apoyo a las vctimas y poner en marcha
campaas de sensibilizacin sobre sus efectos negativos. Consejo de Derechos Humanos, Informe de la Reportera Especial
sobre las Formas Contemporneas de la Esclavitud, incluidas sus Causas y Consecuencias, A/HRC/21/41, julio 10, 2012,
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session21/A-HRC-21-41_en.pdf (visitado en octubre 2,
2012). 204 Vase, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s414; http://blog.iwhc.org/2012/07/rep-betty-mccollum-d-mn-andrepaaron-schock-r-il-introduce-child-marriage-legislation-in-u-s-house-of-representatives/ (visitado en julio 20, 2012).
205 Vase, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:s.414.
Estos programas se
206 Malhotra, A., et al., 2011, Solutions to End Child Marriage: What the Evidence shows, 2011,
http://www.icrw.org/publications/solutions-end-child-marriage (accessed March 15, 2012), pp. 10-20; UNFPA, Marrying too
Young: end Child Marriage,: 2012,
http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/publications/2012/MarryingTooYoung.pdf (accessed
October 5, 2012); UNICEF, The State of the Worlds Children 2011, http://www.unicef.org/sowc2011/pdfs/SOWC-2011-MainReport_EN_02092011.pdf, (accessed January 16, 2012). p.33.
matrimonio
temprana
edad.
Dichas
familias
tambin
Agradecimientos
El presente informe es obra de Agnes Odhiambo, investigadora africana de la
Divisin de Derechos de la Mujer, y se basa una investigacin realizada por
Agnes Odhiambo y Elizabeth Ashami Deng, consultora de los Derechos de la
Mujer. Entre los editores del presente informe se encuentran Liesl Gerntholtz,
directora de la Divisin de Derechos de la Mujer; Jehanne Henry, investigadora
de la Divisin de frica; Diederik Lohman, investigador de la Divisin de
Derechos Humanos y Salud; Juliane Kippenberg, investigadora de la Divisin de
Derechos del Nio; Aisling Reidy, asesora jurdico superior; y Danielle Haas,
editora de programas de Human Rights Watch.
Brent Stirton, fotoperiodista de Human Rights Watch, captur todas las
fotografas que aqu se muestran. Veronica Matushaj y Anna Lopriore, ambas
directoras creativas; y las asociadas superiores Ivy Shen y Jenny Catherall
estuvieron a cargo de la concepcin y coordinacin multimedia.
La produccin de informes y asistencia editorial se relacionan
directamente con Matthew Rullo, coordinador de la Divisin de Derechos de la
Mujer; Grace Choi, directora de publicaciones; Kahy Mills, especialista en
publicaciones; y Fitzroy Hepkins, director administrativo.
Human Rights Watch quiere expresar su ms profundo agradecimiento a
todas las personas que aceptaron dar una entrevista para la realizacin de este
informe, as como tambin a los activistas locales de los derechos de las
mujeres y representantes de las organizaciones no gubernamentales que
ayudaron a facilitar nuestra investigacin en Sudn del Sur. Tambin queremos
reconocer en gran medida a los generosos donantes que apoyan el trabajo de la
Barridas
Copyright 2013 Human Rights Watch
Todos los derechos reservados.
Impreso en los Estados Unidos de Amrica.
ISBN: 978-1-62313-0091
Portada de Rafael Jimenez
Human Rights Watch se dedica a proteger los derechos humanos de las
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Mapa de China
Resumen
Las prostitutas, como solemos llamarlas, deberan denominarse acompaantes
de ahora en adelante.... Debemos mostrar respeto a este grupo especial de
personas.
-Liu Shaowu, jefe de la Oficina de Gestin de Orden Pblico, Ministerio de
Seguridad, Diciembre 2010
El Centro Chino para la Prevencin y Control de Enfermedades me examin el
ao pasado, pero nunca me dieron los resultados. Espero no tener SIDA.
-Entrevista a Zhangping, trabajadora sexual entrevistada en Pekn, 2009
los
delitos
relacionados
con
el
trabajo
sexual
como
violaciones
Poner fin de inmediato a las pruebas obligatorias del VIH / SIDA para las
trabajadoras sexuales, requerir del consentimiento informado de parte de
ellas antes de realizar la prueba, informarles sobre los resultados de la
prueba del VIH, hacer un asesoramiento adecuado disponible antes y
despus de la realizacin de la prueba, e implementar programas que se
ajusten a las normas internacionales.
no
gubernamentales
nacionales,
organizaciones
no
mujeres y
1 Cuando el Partido Comunista de China (PCCh) lleg al poder en el ao 1949, se intent eliminar la prostitucin. Se consideraba
que el vender sexo a cambio dinero era un fenmeno capitalista incompatible con los principios bsicos de la ideologa
comunista. El PCCh lider una agresiva campaa para librar al pas de la prostitucin al cerrar los prostbulos, y al enviar a las
trabajadoras sexuales y a sus clientes a centros de reeducacin. A finales del ao 1950 y comienzos del 1960, los funcionarios
declararon que la prostitucin se haba erradicado de la sociedad. Vase Gail Hershatter, Dangerous Pleasures : Prostitution and
Modernity in Twentieth-century Shanghai (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997); Christian Henriot, Prostitution and
Sexuality in Shanghai: A Social History 1849-1949 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001).
2 Joan Kaufman, Arthur Kleinman, and Tony Saich, AIDS and Social Policy in China (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center
Publications, 2006), http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/ihsg/publications/pdf/AIDSinChina.pdf, pp. 50-51.
3 Los documentos oficiales chinos en idioma Ingls en general se refieren al trabajo sexual como "prostitucin", y para la compra
de servicios sexuales como "prostitutas de visita," de acuerdo con los trminos chinos utilizados en la ley, maiyin piaochang (
). El trmino trabajo sexual (xing gongzuo,
), que es el predilecto entre los defensores de los trabajadores sexuales
de China, es de reciente introduccin.
4 Yan Hong and Xiaoming Li, Behavioral Studies of Female Sex Workers in China: A Literature Review and Recommendation for
Future Research, AIDS & Behavior, vol. 12(4) (2007), p. 623; Daniel Bell, Sexual development, Guardian, January 28, 2007,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jan/28/sexualdevelopment (accessed January 22, 2012); Suiming Pan, William
Parish, and AL Wang, Chinese Peoples Sexual Relationships and Sexual Behavior (Zhongguoren de Xing Guanxi yu Xing
Xingwei) China Sex Studies, vol. 5 (2000); Joan Kaufman and Jing Jun, China and AIDSThe time to act is now, Science, vol.
296 (2002), p. 2239; UNAIDS Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China, HIV/AIDS: Chinas Titanic Peril, 2001 Update of the AIDS
situation and Needs Assessment Report, 2002, www.hivpolicy.org/Library/HPP000056.pdf (accessed January 23, 2012); and
Zhong Wei, A Close Look at Chinas Sex Industry, Lianhe Zaobao ( :
,
), Oct. 2, 2000.
5 UNAIDS Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China, HIV/AIDS: Chinas Titanic Peril, 2001 Update of the AIDS situation and Needs
Assessment Report, 2002, www.hivpolicy.org/Library/HPP000056.pdf (accessed January 23, 2012).
6 Debate: Prostitution, China Daily, May 31, 2010, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/201005/31/content_9909738.htm (accessed March 22, 2012)
7 Zhong Wei, A Close Look at Chinas Sex Industry; and UNAIDS Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China, HIV/AIDS: Chinas
Titanic Peril, 2001 Update of the AIDS situation and Needs Assessment Report, 2002,
www.hivpolicy.org/Library/HPP000056.pdf (accessed January 23, 2012).
un karaoke. Ellas nos informaron que sus ingresos van desde los 100 a 500
yuanes (USD $15 a $75) por servicio sexual.
8 Elaine Jeffreys, China, Sex and Prostitution (London; New
9 Human Rights Watch first focus group, Beijing, 2011.
10 Ibid.
11 Human Rights Watch second focus group, Beijing, 2011.
12 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a Hong Jie, Beijing, 2011.
14
de Internet. 15
Normalmente, los administradores (laoban) estn a cargo de estos
lugares, y tambin son responsables de la empresa en general, inclusive de la
comida, bebidas y msica del karaoke. Las matronas (mami) trabajan en estos
lugares y son las responsables de todos los aspectos del negocio que involucran
a las trabajadoras sexuales. Ellas gestionan las transacciones con los clientes, y
por lo general reciben de un 10 a 30 por ciento de comisin.16 A menudo, las
mujeres que se prostituyen en los espacios pblicos tambin trabajan para las
matronas o proxenetas. Algunas mujeres trabajan de forma independiente.
Los principales factores del trabajo sexual
En las encuestas nacionales se muestra que la mayora de las mujeres chinas
que participan en el trabajo sexual son migrantes de zonas rurales o pequeas
ciudades que terminaron la secundaria. 17
Las mujeres que participan en el comercio sexual nos contaron sobre una
serie de factores que contribuyeron a su decisin de ejercer en el trabajo sexual.
En sus explicaciones se hace eco de los hallazgos de otros investigadores en
relacin al trabajo sexual de las mujeres en China. Estos factores incluyen la
22
Adems, existen
23
seis aos de edad nunca fueron a la escuela, 2,5 veces ms que los hombres.
Slo un tercio de las personas con educacin universitaria en China son
mujeres. 24
Por otra parte, el desempleo afecta de manera desproporcionada a las
mujeres, que tambin tienen menos probabilidades de ser recontratadas.
25
29
30 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a un abogado sobre los derechos de las trabajadoras sexuales, Pekn, 2008.
31 Fu and Choy, Administrative Detention of Prostitutes: The Legal Aspects, in Gender Policy and HIV in China, (Deventer:
Springer Netherlands, 2009), p. 191.
32 Public Security Administrative Punishment Law (
), 2006, art. 66.
33 Ibid. The law does not define what ordinary cases are.
34 Decision of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress on Strict Prohibition Against Prostitution and
Whoring (
), Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, 1991, Section 4.
35 Ibid.
36 Entrevista de Human Rights Watch a un experto en materias legales, Hong Kong, octubre 2011.
37 Sarah Biddulph, Legal Reform and Administrative Detention Powers in China (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,
2008), p. 175.
38
extiende. 39
Las multas por prostitucin son una fuente importante de ingresos extra
presupuestados para la polica local.
40
41
Detencin Administrativa
Las protecciones al debido preciso son prcticamente inexistentes por parte de
los sistemas de detencin administrativa por el cual se procesan los crmenes
detencin
arbitraria.53
Estas
campaas
se
llevan
cabo
52 On this point see Mike McConville (ed.), Criminal Justice in China (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011);
Human Rights Watch, China - Walking on Thin Ice , April 29, 2008, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/04/28/walkingthinice.
53 China Sex Worker Organization Network Forum, Research on the Impact of 2010 Crackdown on Sex Work and HIV
Interventions in China (
:2010
), January 2010,
http://asiacatalyst.org/blog/2012/01/the-impact-of-2010-crackdown-on-sex-work-and-hiv-interventions-in-china.html
(accessed January 21, 2013).
54 For updated details about the campaigns, see the website of the Peoples Republic of China, National Sweep Away
[Pornography and Prostitution] and Strike Down Illegal Publications (
), www.shdf.gov.cn (accessed January
21, 2013).
55 Crackdown on venues suspected of prostitution, China Daily, June 13, 2012, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/201206/13/content_15497944.htm (accessed January 21, 2013)
56 Prostitution crackdown, Global Times, July 13, 2012, http://english.people.com.cn/90882/7874597.html (accessed
January 21, 2013)
Desfiles de la vergenza
De vez en cuando, la polica fuerza a supuestas trabajadoras sexuales a desfilar
por las calles. Esta prctica, llamada desfiles de la vergenza, se concibi con
el propsito de educar a la gente. Ahora prohibidas por el gobierno, estas
medidas recibieron amplia cobertura meditica durante la campaa del ao
2010.64
57 Biddulph, Legal Reform and Administrative Detention Powers in China, pp. 157-164.
58Ibid., p. 10.
59 China Sex Worker Organization Network Forum, Research on the Impact of 2010 Crackdown on Sex Work and HIV
Interventions in China (
:2010
), January 2010, p.5,
http://asiacatalyst.org/blog/2012/01/the-impact-of-2010-crackdown-on-sex-work-and-hiv-interventions-in-china.html
(accessed January 21, 2013).
60 Ibid., p. 15.
61 Ibid., p. 15.
62 Ibid., p. 21.
63 Ibid., p. 23.
64 En julio, en la ciudad de Dongguan (ubicada en la provincia de Guangdong), a un grupo de trabajadoras sexuales las
esposaron, las amarraron con una cuerda y las arrastraron por la calle para humillarlas pblicamente. La polica tom fotos del
evento y las publicaron en Internet. Adems de esto, en junio en la ciudad de Wuhan, la polica local peg por toda la ciudad
avisos que revelaban el nombre de trabajadoras sexuales y clientes que haban sido arrestados por estar vinculados a la
prostitucin. En el mes de septiembre en Hangzhou, una estacin local de polica envi cartas a las familias de aquellas mujeres
sospechosas de prostitucin, en donde se les informaba sobre dichas sospechas. Todo esto ocurri sin que las sospechosas
estuvieran al tanto de la situacin.
de
concienciacin
sobre
derechos
para
comunidades
de
2010,
66 Flora
Sapio,
Perp
Parades,
post
to
Forgotten
Archipelagoes
(blog),
July
26,
2010,
http://florasapio.blogspot.com/2010/07/perpparades.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A
+blogspot%2FOTlS+%28Forgotten+Ar chipelagoes%29 (accessed February 29, 2012); Li Hong Xun, The Ministry of Public
Security Issues a Notice Criticizing Shame Parades of Individuals who Engage in Prostitution (
), Dahewang, July 26,
2010, http://news.china.com/zh_cn/domestic/945/20100726/16042470.html (accessed February 29, 2012); and Andrew Jacobs,
China
Seeks
End
to
Public
Shaming
of
Suspects,
New
York
Times,
July
27,
2010,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/world/asia/28china.html?_r=2&ref=global-home (accessed February 29, 2010).
67 Flora
Sapio,
Perp
Parades,
post
to
Forgotten
Archipelagoes
(blog),
July
26,
2010,
http://florasapio.blogspot.com/2010/07/perpparades.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FOTlS+%28Forgotten+Ar
chipelagoes%29 (accessed February 29, 2012).
68 China Sex Worker Organization Network Forum, Research on the Impact of 2010 Crackdown on Sex Work and HIV
Interventions in China (
:2010
), January 2010, p. 5,
http://asiacatalyst.org/blog/2012/01/the-impact-of-2010-crackdown-on-sex-work-and-hiv-interventions-in-china.html
(accessed January 21, 2013).
Algunos activistas individuales han cumplido un rol crucial en crear
conciencia acerca de la violenta discriminacin que se comete en contra de
trabajadoras sexuales. El ao 2005, la autora y activista Ye Haiyan comenz a
69 Ibid.
70
Global
Voices,
China:
Prostituting
to
Defend
Sex
Workers
Rights,
January
15,
2012,
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/01/15/china-prostituting-to-defend-sex-workers-rights/ (accessed January 30, 2012).
71 Beijing Zuoyou Center Joint letter on ending violence against sex workers (
:
),
December 17, 2012 (on file with Human Rights Watch).
72 China Sex Worker Organization Network Forum, Research on the Impact of 2010 Crackdown on Sex Work and HIV
Interventions in China (
:2010
), January 2010,
http://asiacatalyst.org/blog/2012/01/the-impact-of-2010-crackdown-on-sex-work-and-hiv-interventions-in-china.html, p. 5.
73 Old Profession, New Debate, Economist, Oct 27, 2012 http://www.economist.com/news/china/21...565275-onewoman%E2%80%99s-controversial-campaign-legalise-prostitution-old-profession-new-debate (accessed January 20, 2013).
74 Human Rights Watch interview with a sex worker group organizer, Beijing, 2011.
:
1, 2010,
), State Council of
http://edu.sina.com.cn/official/2010-05-
auxiliares las golpearon durante arrestos por sospecha de prostitucin. Xiao Mei
cont haber recibido una golpiza por parte de auxiliares en Pekn el ao 2010,
bajo vigilancia de agentes de la polica:
86 Human Rights Watch interview with staff member of domestic civil society organization, Beijing, 2011.
87 Regulations on the Duties and responsibilities of Auxiliaries (
:
),
General Affairs Department of Beijing Municipality, May 20, 1985, http://code.fabao365.com/law_462409.html (accessed April 2,
2013). See also Flora Sapio, Sovereign Power and the Law in China: Zones of Exception in the CriminalJustice System (Leiden:
Brill, 2010), pp. 139-174.
88 Human Rights Watch interview with Xiaomei, Beijing, 2009.
89 Human Rights Watch interview with Meimei, Beijing, 2011
27
Otras transgresiones
Uso de condones como evidencia de prostitucin
Como se mencion anteriormente, los castigos administrativos por prostitucin
en China, entre ellos multas y detencin por un tiempo definido, requieren
evidencia que demuestre una prestacin de algn tipo de servicio sexual a
), 2010.
102 Yang Zhen Dong, Haikou Police Crackdown On Prostitution (
), Hainan, August 4, 2009
http://news.hainan.net/newshtml08/2009w7r27/539353f0.htm (accessed March 23, 2011).
103 Womens Health Center (
), unpublished document, 2009 (on file with Human Rights Watch). Beijing Aizhixing,
Report on Ten Media Outlets Violating the Principles for Propagating Education about HIV/AIDS Prevention, Suspected of
Reporting about Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution (
10
), 2010.
104 Human Rights Watch interview with Jia Yue, Beijing, 2009.
105 Human Rights Watch interview with Jingying, Beijing, 2009.
La polica de Pekn haba arrestado a Xiao Mei cinco veces entre el 2008
y el 2009. Ella relat cmo la polica utiliz su historial de arresto para
extorsionarla:
Mimi dijo que tras la experiencia de su amiga, es muy probable que ella
no haga ninguna denuncia la prxima vez que sea vctima de algn delito. An
cuando son vctimas de fuertes agresiones fsicas y sexuales, algunas
trabajadoras sexuales prefieren no contactar a la polica:
Estas
violaciones
ocurren
durante
la
implementacin
de
polticas
), January
), January 1,
2000, art.7; Regulations for Beijing city Government AIDS supervision and management (
Bejing City Government, January 1, 1999, art. 8; Shanghai city methods of AIDS prevention (
),
), Shangai
City Government, December 30, 1998, art. 15; and Regulations for Sichuan province prevention and control of STDs and AIDS (
), Sichuan Provincial Government, January 1 2003, art.1, 2, 16, and 17.
exmenes
se
divulgan
terceros,
como
ha
ocurrido
cuando
de difusin del CDC sobre trabajo sexual, describi la actitud del personal
del CDC, de acuerdo a lo que vio en primera persona.
Los activistas locales reclaman que los malos tratos que enfrentan las
trabajadoras sexuales al interactuar con empleados de salud corresponden a
una violacin a la dignidad personal de los ciudadanos de la Repblica Popular
China, que est garantizada bajo el artculo 38 de la constitucin china y las
disposiciones presentes en la ley de la proteccin de los intereses y derechos
de las mujeres, aprobada en 1992.170
Ley internacional y abusos de salud
China es parte del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Econmicos, Sociales y
Culturales (ICESCR, por su sigla en ingls).171 El artculo 12 indica que los
Estados Partes "reconocen el derecho de toda persona al disfrute del ms alto
nivel posible de salud fsica y mental" y llaman a "la creacin de condiciones
que aseguren a todos asistencia mdica y servicios mdicos en caso de
enfermedad".172
168 Human Rights Watch interview with a public health civil society organization, Beijing, 2011.
169 Human Rights Watch with an international public health organization, Beijing, 2011.
170 Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China, December 4, 1982, article 38; Law of the People's Republic of China on the
Protection of Women's Rights and Interests (
), October 1, 1992.
171 Pacto Internacional de Derechos Econmicos, Sociales y Culturales (ICESCR), adoptado el 16 de diciembre de 1966,
G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp.
El artculo 2 estipula que los estados deben "adoptar medidas, tanto por
separado como mediante la asistencia y la cooperacin (...) para lograr
progresivamente (...) la plena efectividad de los derechos aqu reconocidos." 173
En el artculo 12 de la CETFDCM se especifica que "Los Estados Partes
adoptarn todas las medidas apropiadas para eliminar la discriminacin contra
la mujer en la esfera de la atencin mdica a fin de asegurar, en condiciones
de igualdad entre hombres y mujeres, el acceso a servicios de atencin
mdica."
La observacin general 14 del Comit de Derechos Econmicos,
Sociales y Culturales de las Naciones Unidas (CDESC), que supervisa al
ICESCR, proporciona un marco para comprender el derecho a la salud. En l
se especifica que es un derecho "a un sistema de proteccin de la salud que
brinde a las personas oportunidades iguales para disfrutar del ms alto nivel
posible de salud."174 Proscribe adems "toda discriminacin en lo referente al
acceso a la atencin de la salud y los factores determinantes bsicos de la
salud."175
sus
derechos
la
autonoma,
intimidad,
confidencialidad,
182 ICESCR.
183 Everyone has the right to liberty and security of the person, ICCPR, art. 9(1).
184 The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of physical and mental health, ICESCR, art. 12.
IV. Recomendaciones
Al Consejo de Estado:
Los
cuerpos
policiales
deben
cesar
inmediatamente
cualquier
programas
de
examinacin
acorde
estndares
internacionales.
Agradecimientos
La revisin y edicin de este informe estuvo a cargo de Nicholas Bequelin,
investigador experto en Asia, Sophie Richardson, directora de asuntos de China,
Elaine Pearson, subdirectora de asuntos de Asia, Liesl Gerntholtz, directora de
divisin de derechos de la mujer, Janet Walsh, subdirectora de divisin de
derechos de la mujer, Joe Amon, director de divisin de salud y derechos
humanos, Aisling Reidy, asesora jurdico superior, y Joseph Saunder,
subdirector de programa.
La entrega de asistencia de produccin vino de parte de Shaivalini
Parmar, asociada en la divisin de Asia, Grace Choi, directora de publicaciones,
Kathy Mills, especialista en publicaciones y Ivy Shen, asistenta de produccin
multimedia.
Human Rights Watch quisiera agradecer a las trabajadoras sexuales y
expertos a quienes entrevistamos y que colaboraron en nuestra investigacin.
Barridas
Abusos contra trabajadoras sexuales en China
En el contexto de un rpido desarrollo econmico y cambios sociales, se
estima que alrededor de una a diez millones de mujeres chinas han recurrido a
la prostitucin para ganarse la vida.
Barridas documenta abusos por parte de la polica en contra de mujeres
dedicadas al comercio sexual en Pekn, incluyendo arrestos y multas
arbitrarias, golpizas, torturas y otro tipo de agresiones fsicas utilizadas para
obtener confesiones. Puesto que estos abusos son cometidos por cuerpos
policiales, las trabajadoras sexuales prefieren no recurrir a la polica cuando
son vctimas de crmenes o abusos por parte de particulares.
Este informe tambin describe las violaciones a los derechos humanos
que cometen organismos de salud pblica, tales como las sedes locales de los
Centros para el Control y la Prevencin de Enfermedades (CDC) de China, en
contra de trabajadoras sexuales. Estos abusos incluyen examinaciones
forzadas de VIH, violacin a la privacidad del paciente, divulgacin de
resultados de exmenes a terceros y malos tratos por parte de autoridades de
la salud.
En general, las autoridades chinas utilizan leyes administrativas en vez
de leyes criminales para vigilar el comercio sexual. Sin embargo, esto puede
desencadenar en castigos que incluyen multas y detenciones sin juicios, que
pueden durar hasta dos aos. Human Rights Watch hace un llamado a las
autoridades chinas para que protejan a las trabajadoras sexuales de estos
abusos, que aseguren su acceso a servicios de salud, que acaben con las
Anexo 3
Detention without charge or trial that is authorized by administrative order rather than by judicial decree.
Fuente
Ejemplo
Most sex work-related offences are deemed administrative rather than criminal offenses under domestic law, and
most are punished through the imposition of fines and short periods of police custody or administrative
detention.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
Muchos de los delitos relacionados con el trabajo sexual se consideran administrativos en lugar de infracciones
penales del derecho interno, y la mayora se castigan mediante la imposicin de multas y cortos perodos de
detencin preventiva o detencin administrativa.
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Ficha Terminolgica 002
Trmino
Adultery (Sust.)
Definicin
Voluntary sexual intercourse by a married person with someone besides his or her spouse.
Fuente
Ejemplo
When her husband took her to the police station and accused her of adultery, the police caned her as
punishment.
Cuando su esposo la llev a la estacin de polica y la acus de adulterio, los policas la azotaron con una vara
a modo de castigo.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
Campo
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Fecha de
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Observaciones
Fuente
Ejemplo
Swept Away documents police abuses against women who engage in sex work in Beijing, including arbitrary
arrests and fines, beatings and physical assaults, and torture to elicit confessions.
"Barridas" documenta abusos por parte de la polica en contra de mujeres dedicadas al comercio sexual en
Beijing, incluyendo arrestos y multas arbitrarias, golpizas, torturas y otro tipo de agresiones fsicas utilizados
para obtener confesiones.
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Ficha Terminolgica 004
Trmino
Case-law (Sust.)
Definicin
Fuente
The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. (s.f.). Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Recuperado el 10 de septiembre de 2015, de http://www.court.nl.ca/supreme/appeal/glossary.html
Ejemplo
The minimum standards as to effectiveness defined by the Court's case-law also include the requirements that
the investigation must be independent, impartial and subject to public scrutiny, and that the competent authorities
must act with exemplary diligence and promptness.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
Las normas mnimas en cuanto a la eficacia, definidas por la jurisprudencia del tribunal, tambin incluyen
requisitos tales como una investigacin independiente, imparcial y sujeta a escrutinio pblico, y que las
autoridades competentes acten con rapidez y diligencia ejemplar.
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Ficha Terminolgica 005
Trmino
Cesarean Section (Sust.)
Definicin
Surgical procedure used to deliver a baby through incisions in the mother's abdomen and uterus.
Fuente
Mayo Clinic Staff. (04 de agosto de 2015). Mayo Clinic. Recuperado el 09 de septiembre de 2015, de Mayo
Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/c-section/basics/definition/prc-20014571
Ejemplo
She was in labor for five days before having a cesarean section.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
Estuvo en trabajo de parto durante cinco das antes de que le hicieran una cesrea.
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Ficha Terminolgica 006
Trmino
Child marriage (Sust.)
Definicin
Fuente
Ejemplo
For women and girls like Akech, these hardships are all too often compounded by a serious human rights
violation: child marriage.
Para mujeres y nias como Akech, estas dificultades empeoran por una grave violacin a los derechos humanos:
el matrimonio infantil.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
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Observaciones
An organization or organizations whose members commit to an agreed-on purpose and shared decision making
to influence an external institution or target, while each member organization maintains its own autonomy.
Fuente
Ejemplo
In December 2012 a coalition of Chinese sex worker organizations took the unprecedented step of publicly
circulating a petition calling for an end to violence against sex workers.
En diciembre del 2012, una coalicin de trabajadores sexuales de China tom un paso sin precedentes; hacer
circular pblicamente una peticin que llamaba a ponerle fin a la violencia a la que se ven expuestos.
Alternativa de
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Ficha Terminolgica 008
Trmino
Consent (Sust.)
Definicin
When someone agrees, gives permission, or says "yes" to sexual activity with other persons. Consent is always
freely given and all people in a sexual situation must feel that they are able to say "yes" or "no" or stop the sexual
activity at any point.
Fuente
University of Michigan. (2015). Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center. Recuperado el 04 de octubre
de 2015, de https://sapac.umich.edu/article/49
Ejemplo
The Transitional Constitution gives women the right to consent to marriage, but this legal provision is largely
symbolic.
La Constitucin Transicional le da a la mujer el derecho de consentir el matrimonio pero esta provisin legal es
ms que nada simblica.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
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Ficha Terminolgica 009
Trmino
Contraception (Sust.)
Definicin
The use various devices, drugs, agents, sexual practices, or surgical procedures to prevent conception or
impregnation (pregnancy).
Fuente
Nordqvist, C. (13 de diciembre de 2012). Medical News Today. Recuperado el 04 de octubre de 2015, de
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/162762.php
Ejemplo
Margaret B. told Human Rights Watch that her husband forced her to stop using contraception although she
was not ready to have another child.
Margaret B. dijo a Human Rights Watch que su esposo la oblig a dejar de usar anticonceptivos incluso
cuando ella no estaba lista para tener otro hijo.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
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http://www.proz.com/?sp=gloss/term&id=478
9914 Se busc el trmino en IATE pero no se
logr encontrar la denificin ms adecuada,
por lo que se decidi buscarlo en Proz.com
Fuente
Learning-oriented process, which occurs usually in an interactive relationship, with the aim of helping a person
learn more about the self, and to use suchunderstanding to enable the person to become an effective member of
society.
UNESCO. (2001). UNESCO. Recuperado el 6 de octubre de 2015, de
http://www.unesco.org/education/mebam/module_2.pdf
Ejemplo
Immediately end mandatory HIV/AIDS testing of sex workers, require informed consent prior to testing, inform
anyone tested for HIV of the results, make appropriate counseling available before and after the test, and
implement testing programs that conform with international standards.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
Terminar inmediatamente con la toma obligada de exmenes de VIH/sida a trabajadoras sexuales, requerir
consentimiento informado previo al examen, informar a la persona sobre el resultado de su examen, asegurar
que haya un asesoramiento apropiada previo y posterior al examen e implementar programas de examinacin
acorde a estndares internacionales.
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Fuente
Ejemplo
Alternativa de
Traduccin
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http://www.proz.com/?sp=gloss/term&id=235
814 No se encontr ficha en IATE, por lo que
se realiz una bsqueda en Proz, arrojando
la traduccin que aqu se presenta.
This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him
Ficha Terminolgica 012
Trmino
Domestic violence (Sust.)
Definicin
Fuente
Ejemplo
Alternativa de
Traduccin
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Ficha Terminolgica 013
Trmino
Dowry (Sust.)
Definicin
Any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly by one party to a
marriage to the other party to the marriage.
Fuente
The Dowry Prohibition Act. (20 de mayo de 1961). Ministry of Women and Child Development . Recuperado el 11
de septiembre de 2015, de http://wcd.nic.in/dowryprohibitionact.htm
Ejemplo
Dowry also makes divorce and separation more difficult for women.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
El pago de dote hace que el divorcio y la separacin sea aun ms difcil para las mujeres.
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http://www.proz.com/?sp=gloss/term&id=150
8030 El trmino aparece en IATE pero no es
muy fiable por lo que se opt por buscarlo en
Proz donde si era mas fiable la traduccin ya
que es como se encuentra mayormente en el
buscador Google. Se opt por esta definicin
que era ms general porque 'dowry' se
define como los bienes que da la futura
esposa al futuro esposo pero en Sudn del
Sur la prctica es al revs, el novio entrega
bienes a la familia de la esposa.
Procedural safeguard to ensure that a person's life, liberty, or property is not taken without a fair process or
procedure.
Fuente
Ejemplo
Detention is also considered arbitrary, even if authorized by law, if it includes elements of inappropriateness,
injustice, lack of predictability and due process of law.
Incluso si hay una autorizacin legal de por medio, una detencin tambin se considerar arbitraria si se da
"inadecuacin, injusticia y falta de previsibilidad y debido proceso legal.
Alternativa de
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Ficha Terminolgica 015
Trmino
Fibroids (Sust.)
Definicin
Non-cancerous (benign) tumors that grow from the muscle layers of the uterus (womb). They are also known as
uterine fibroids, myomas, or fibromyomas.
Fuente
Nordqvist, C. (20 de julio de 2015). Medical News Today. Recuperado el 04 de octubre de 2015, de
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151405.php
Ejemplo
Alternativa de
Traduccin
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Ficha Terminolgica 016
Trmino
Gender equality (Sust.)
Definicin
Refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys.
Fuente
Ejemplo
These initiatives include establishing institutions and positions to spearhead gender equality and womens
empowerment in national development programs and policies, such as a parliamentary gender committee, a
presidential adviser on gender and human rights, and the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
Estas iniciativas incluyen instituciones establecidas y puestos para iniciar la igualdad de gnero y el
empoderamiento femenino con programas y polticas en desarrollo tales como: el comit parlamentario de
gnero, un consejero presidencial sobre gnero y derechos humanos, y el Ministerio de Asuntos de Gnero,
Infancia y Bienestar Social.
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Trmino
Gender-based violence (Sust.)
Definicin
Violence that occurs as a result of the normative role expectations associated with each gender, along with the
unequal power relationships between the two genders, within the context of a specific society.
Fuente
Bloom, S. (octubre de 2008). DM&E for Peacebuilding . Recuperado el 11 de septiembre de 2015, de DM&E for
peace: http://dmeforpeace.org/sites/default/files/010714_ms-08-30.pdf
Ejemplo
Alternativa de
Traduccin
Sudn del Sur no cuenta con albergues diseados para ayudar a sobrevivientes de violencia de gnero.
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Trmino
Harassment (Sust.)
Definicin
Form of discrimination. It involves any unwanted physical or verbal behaviour that offends or humiliates you.
Generally, harassment is a behaviour that persists over time
Fuente
The Canadian Human Rights Commission. (09 de enero de 2013). Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Recuperado el 04 de octubre de 2015, de http://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/eng/content/what-harassment.
Ejemplo
The abuses mentioned include all forms of physical or mental violence, injury, abuse, negligent treatment,
maltreatment or exploitation sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment including, but not limited to rape.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
Los abusos mencionados incluyen "toda forma de violencia fsica o mental, lesin, abuso, trato negligente,
maltrato o explotacin, abuso sexual y acoso, lo que inlcluye, pero no se limita, a la violacin.
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Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or
other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, among others.
Fuente
Segn United Nations of Drugs and Crime. (s.f.). UNODC. Recuperado el 10 de septiembre de 2015, de
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.htm
Ejemplo
Trafficking in persons is a criminal offense. These laws and regulations apply across China.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
La trata de personas es un delito penal. Estas leyes y regulaciones se aplican a travs de toda China.
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Ficha Terminolgica 020
Trmino
Infant Mortality Rate (Sust.)
Definicin
Probability of dying between birth and exactly one year of age expressed per 1,000 live births.
Fuente
Ejemplo
Underage marriage has serious health consequences for girls and contributes to South
Sudans extremely high maternal and infant mortality rates.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
El matrimonio infantil tiene consecuencias graves para la salud de las nias y contribuye a tasas de mortalidad
infantil y materna considerablemente altas para Sudn del Sur.
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Ficha Terminolgica 021
Trmino
Kidnapping (Sust.)
Definicin
The taking of a person from one place to another against his or her will, or the confining of a person to a
controlled space. - See more at: http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminalcharges/kidnapping.html#sthash.eZE4WI08.dpuf
Fuente
Ejemplo
Chiefs and judges, however, sometimes rely on provisions against kidnapping or abduction as a legal basis for
imposing prison sentences.
Sin embargo, lderes y jueces a veces confan en estipulaciones en contra de secuestros y raptos como si fueran
bases legales para establecer sentencias de encarcelamiento.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
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Officer, agent, or employee of a State, unit of local government, or an Indian tribe authorized by law or by a
government agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, or investigation of any violation of
criminal law, or authorized by law to supervise sentenced criminal offenders.
Fuente
Initiative, T. B. (s.f.). U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. Recuperado el 10 de septiembre de
2015, de http://ojp.gov/bvpbasi/bvpfaqs_eligibility_9.htm
Ejemplo
Even though in practice Chinese authorities effectively tolerate prostitution and entertainment venues that offer
prostitution services, these campaigns mobilize large numbers of law enforcement agents across the country
and typically last between several weeks and a few months.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
A pesar de que en la prctica las autoridades chinas toleran, de manera efectiva, los lugares de prostitucin y
entretenimiento que ofrecen servicios de prostitucin, estas campaas movilizan a un gran nmero de policas
en todo el pas y por lo general duran entre varias semanas y unos pocos meses.
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Ficha Terminolgica 023
Trmino
Literacy (Sust.)
Definicin
Set of tangible skills particularly the cognitive skills of reading and writing that are independent of the context
in which they are acquired and the background of the person who acquires them.
Fuente
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2005). Literacy for life. Paris, Francia.
Ejemplo
South Sudanese women face myriad hardships and obstacles in their daily lives, including high levels of poverty,
low levels of literacy, pronounced gender gaps in education, and the highest maternal mortality rate in the
worldestimated at 2,054 deaths per 100,000 live births.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
Las mujeres de Sudn del Sur se enfrentan a muchas dificultades y obstculos en sus vidas cotidianas, dentro
de ellos se incluyen: altos niveles de pobreza y de analfabetismo, gran desigualdad de gnero en la educacin
y la tasa de mortalidad materna (TMM) ms alta del mundo - se estiman 2,054 muertes por 100,000 nacimientos
con vida.
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Trmino
Marital rape (Sust.)
Definicin
Any unwanted intercourse or penetration (vaginal, anal, or oral) obtained by force, threat of force, or when the
wife is unable to consent.
Fuente
Ejemplo
Marital rape is common in South Sudan, although, as earlier noted, it is not recognized in law.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
La violacin conyugal es comn en Sudn del Sur, aunque como destacamos antes, no est reconocida por la
ley.
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07 de octubre Observaciones
de 2015
This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him
Ficha Terminolgica 025
Trmino
Maternal mortality ratio (Sust.)
Definicin
Number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy
termination per 100,000 live births.
Fuente
WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, The World Bank, and the United Nations Population Division. (2014). The World Bank.
Recuperado el 11 de septiembre de 2015, de The World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
Ejemplo
Maternal mortality is recognized as a key health concern in South Sudan, which has one of the highest maternal
mortality ratios (MMR) in the world (around 2,054 deaths per 100,000 live births).
Las mujeres de Sudn del Sur enfrentan a muchas dificultades y obstculos en sus vidas cotidianas, dentro de
ellos se incluyen: altos niveles de pobreza y de analfabetismo, gran desigualdad de gnero en la educacin y la
tasa de mortalidad materna (TMM) ms alta del mundo - se estiman 2,054 muertes por 100,000 nacimientos
con vida.
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MT 1236 Rights and Freedoms, BT1 Rights of the Individual, NT1 Sexual Discrimination
Fecha de
registro
11 de
septiembre
de 2015
Observaciones
This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him
Ficha Terminolgica 026
Trmino
Midwife (Sust.)
Definicin
Traditional care providers for mothers and infants. Midwives are trained professionals with expertise and skills in
supporting women to maintain healthy pregnancies and have optimal births and recoveries during the postpartum
period.
Fuente
Midwife Alliance. (2015). The Midwives Alliance of North America. Recuperado el 07 de octubre de 2015, de
http://mana.org/about-midwives/what-is-a-midwife
Ejemplo
A midwife at a government hospital told Human Rights Watch that it was difficult to offer family planning services
to women because many husbands want their wives to continue having children.
Una matrona de un hospital estatal dijo a Human Rights Watch que era difcil ofrecer servicios de planificacin
familiar a mujeres debido a que muchos esposos quieren que ellas sigan teniendo hijos.
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07 de octubre Observaciones
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This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him
Ficha Terminolgica 027
Trmino
Obstetric fistula (Sust.)
Definicin
Hole between the birth canal and bladder or rectum caused by prolonged, obstructed labour without treatment.
Fuente
United Nations Population Fund. (29 de junio de 2015). United Nations Population Fund. Recuperado el 11 de
septiembre de 2015, de United Nations Population Fund: http://www.unfpa.org/obstetric-fistula#
Ejemplo
The risk of obstetric fistula is heightened by young married girls poor socio-economic status, and lack of
education and access to appropriate reproductive and maternal health care.
Los riesgos de la fstula obsttrica son mayores para nias casadas a corta edad, de un estatus
socioeconmico bajo y la falta de educacin y acceso a servicios de salud reproductiva y maternal.
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MT 1236 Rights and Freedoms, BT1 Rights of the Individual, NT1 Sexual Discrimination
Fecha de
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11 de
septiembre
de 2015
Observaciones
Fuente
National Paralegal College. (2007). National Paralegal College. Recuperado el 6 de octubre de 2015, de
http://nationalparalegal.edu/conLawCrimProc_Public/PoliceInterrogation/Custody.asp
Ejemplo
Some of the abuses meted out to sex workers in police custody constitute torture under domestic law.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
Algunos de los abusos contra trabajadoras sexuales bajo custodia policial constituyen tortura bajo ley
domstica.
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MT 1236 Rights and Freedoms, BT1 Rights of the Individual, NT1 Sexual Discrimination
Fecha de
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06 de octubre Observaciones
de 2015
This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him
Ficha Terminolgica 029
Trmino
Prosecutor (Sust.)
Definicin
Administrator of justice, an advocate, and an officer of the court; the prosecutor must exercise sound discretion in
the performance of his or her functions.
Fuente
Ejemplo
The HRC referred Rachels case to the Ministry of Justice where prosecutors said they were pursuing her case,
though no charges have ever been brought against her family members, nor any arrests made.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
La HRC envi el caso de Rachel al Ministerio de Justicia donde fiscales dijeron que proseguiran con su caso
aunque no hay cargos para los miembros de su familia y tampoco arrestos asociados a ninguno de ellos.
Campo
Semntico
MT 1236 Rights and Freedoms, BT1 Rights of the Individual, NT1 Sexual Discrimination
Fecha de
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07 de octubre Observaciones
de 2015
All organized measures (whether public or private) to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among
the population as a whole.
Fuente
World Health Organization. (s.f.). World Health Organization . Recuperado el 6 de octubre de 2015, de
http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story076/en/
Ejemplo
These practices directly undermine Chinas public health objectives of reducing the burden of HIV/AIDS within
communities of sex workers, and successfully reducing HIV/AIDS in the population at large.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
Los objetivos de la salud pblica de China apuntan a reducir la carga del VIH/sida entre las comunidades de
trabajadores sexuales y de la poblacin en general. Sin embargo, las prcticas antes mencionadas debilitan
estos planes.
MT 1236 Rights and Freedoms, BT1 Rights of the Individual, NT1 Sexual Discrimination
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Fecha de
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06 de octubre Observaciones
de 2015
Women, men and transgendered people who receive money or goods in exchange for sexual services, and who
consciously define those activities as income generating even if they do not consider sex work as their
occupation.
Fuente
Ejemplo
Many sex workers, for instance, say they avoid carrying condoms during campaigns to minimize the risk of
arrest.
Por ejemplo, muchas de las trabajadoras sexuales evitan llevar condones durante las campaas para reducir
el riesgo de arresto.
Alternativa de
Traduccin
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MT 1236 Rights and Freedoms, BT1 Rights of the Individual, NT1 Sexual Discrimination
Fecha de
registro
13
septiembre
de 2015
Observaciones
Request to one person by another to perform a sexual act in exchange for a fee.
Fuente
Ejemplo
Women also solicit clients in public places such as streets and parks. In such cases, the
sex act might take place in a secluded place outdoors but, more often, those involved go
to the sex workers or clients home, or rent a hotel room.
Las mujeres tambin solicitan a los clientes en lugares pblicos tales como calles y parques. En tales casos, el
acto sexual podra ocurrir en un lugar aislado al aire libre, pero los involucrados a menudo van a la casa del
cliente o de la trabajadora sexual, o alquilan una habitacin
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Traduccin
Campo
Semntico
MT 1236 Rights and Freedoms, BT1 Rights of the Individual, NT1 Sexual Discrimination
Fecha de
registro
10
septiembre
de 2015
Observaciones
http://www.proz.com/?sp=gloss%2Fterm&id=
1504233 No se encontr ninguna ficha en
IATE bajo la traduccin 'solicitar' que tuviera
relacin con la prostitucin. Se realiz una
bsqueda en Proz, eligiendo la traduccin
que aqu se presenta.
This Old Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him
Ficha Terminolgica 033
Trmino
Still-birth (Sust.)
Definicin
Fuente
Ejemplo
The ICSECR provides that the full realization of the right to health requires States Parties to take steps to reduce
rates of still-births and infant mortality.
En el ICSECR se establece que la plena realizacin de este derecho obliga a los Estados Partes a tomar
medidas para la reduccin de las tasas de mortalidad infantil y mortinata.
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MT 1236 Rights and Freedoms, BT1 Rights of the Individual, NT1 Sexual Discrimination
Fecha de
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10
septiembre
de 2015
Observaciones
A person whose gender identity, gender expression, or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with
the sex to which they were assigned at birth.
Fuente
Ejemplo
The letter decried the lack of protection of personal safety for female, male, and transgender sex workers, citing
218 documented incidents, including eight in which sex workers were killed.
Dicha peticin condenaba la falta de proteccin de la seguridad personal de trabajadores sexuales, tanto
mujeres, hombres y transexuales, al citar 218 casos registrados, de los cuales ocho fueron asesinatos.
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MT 1236 Rights and Freedoms, BT1 Rights of the Individual, NT1 Sexual Discrimination
Fecha de
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3 de octubre
de 2015
Observaciones
Anexo 4