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Chapter 7 Making Sex Persecution Matter When we become able to conceive of the humanity of distant human beings, of their dignity and their needs, we at least begin to ask the hard questions about the contingency that affects people's lives more than any other, the contingency ofbirth location. -Martha Nussbaum, Sex and Social Justice, 1999 What are the global impacts of the refugee movement studied, for policy and theory? In conclusion I illuminate the development and entrenchment of women's human rights in refugee policy at international, regional , and national levels, as impacted by the Canadian model. I then consider the theoretical implications of the political process studied, revisiting explanations and implications of new noncitizen rights in particular and the broader means through which new human rights are made viable. Asylum Policy for Women: International Developments UNHCR The Canadian Guidelines necessarily built on upon previous advances in knowledge about women's rights generally and women refugees specifically, but marked a fundamental and radical turning point, becoming a model for other countries as well as regional and international bodies. The highest level impact was felt in the UNHCR, which took on board the human rights implications shortly after the Canadian Guidelines were instated in 1993. Executive Committee Conclusion No. 73, "Refugee Protection and Sexual Violence" (1993) adopts explicit and forceful human rights language to address sexual violence in particular as persecution, stating that the UNHCR Executive Committee (ExCom): Making Sex Persecution Matter 227 Strongly condemns persecution through sexual violence, which not only constitutes a gross violation of human rights, as well as, when committed in the context of armed conflict, a grave breach of humanitarian law, but is also a particularly serious offence to human dignity; Supports the recognition as refugees of persons whose claim to refugee status is based upon a well-founded fear of persecution, through sexual violence, for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; Recommends that in procedures for the determination of refugee status, asylumseekers who may have suffered sexual violence be treated with particular sensitivity. Over the following years the Executive Committee worked toward the adoption of guidelines similar to the Canadian model. ExCom, currently made up of sixty-eight member states, meets in Geneva annually to review and approve the UNHCR's programs and budget, advise on international protection, and discuss a wide range of other issues with UNHCR and its intergovernmental and nongovernmental partners. Its discussion and negotiation of this issue was consequently wide reaching, and its conclusions reflect substantial international consensus. Its 1995 General Conclusion on International Protection (No. 77g [XLVI]) exceeded the 1993 conclusion by specifically calling on the High Commissioner, «to support and promote efforts by States towards the development and implementation of criteria and guidelines on responses to persecution specifically aimed at women, by sharing information on States' initiatives to develop such criteria and guidelines, and by monitoring to ensure their fair and consistent application. In accordance with the principle that women's rights are human rights, these guidelines should recognize as refugees women whose claim to refugee status is based upon well-founded fear of persecution for reasons enumerated in the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol, including persecution through sexual violence or other gender-related persecution." Over the next years the Executive Committee reiterated its call in a series of conclusions, recommendations, and reports, including its report Sexual Violence Against Refugees: Guidelines on Prevention and Response (UNHCR 1995); and its statements within its General Conclusion on International Protection in 1996, 1997, and 1999.1 In the latter, ExCom broadened its call to «encourage States, UNHCR and other concerned actors to promote wider acceptance, and inclusion in their protection criteria of the notion that persecution may be gender-related or effected through sexual violence; further encourage UNHCR and other concerned actors to develop, promote and implement guidelines, codes of conduct and 228 Chapter 7 training programmes on gender-related refugee issues, in order to support the mainstreaming of a gender perspective and enhance accountability for the implementation of gender policies." The March 2001 report of the Inter-Agency Lessons Learned Conference Proceedings, Prevention and Response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Refugee Situations, and the outcomes of the second track of the Global Consultations on International Protection in 2001, in particular its Summary Conclusions-Gender-Related Persecution, furthered international negotiations . They were taken into account in the UNHCR's January 2000 «Position Paper on Gender-Related Persecution:' which also notes...

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