Some 200 women legislators from over 120 countries attended the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians held today as the 122nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) gets under way in Bangkok (Thailand). They called on parliaments and their members throughout the world “to ensure that every effort is made to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in every sector of society”, in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand, who is also a UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador. Princess Bajrakitiyabha - the keynote speaker of the Women Parliamentarians Meeting - pointed out the fact that over the past years, the number of women prisoners worldwide has continued to increase dramatically. “Problems concerning the degradation and abuse of women prisonners have begun to emerge. This poses challenges to both the prisoners themselves and the criminal justice systems”.
Women prisoners are often regarded as the forgetten population and they are probably the most vulnerable to violence, as their only protectikon is the mercy of their perpetrators. “Such violence doesn’t always come in physical form. Psychological stress due to a double jeopardy of doing time and being discriminated against can constitute a violence itself. The pain of separation from children can also aggravate the trauma and self-harm”, underlined Princess Bajrakitiyabha.
Her involvement started when she became the UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassasador for Thailand in 2008 and since then the Say No to Violence against Women campaign in her country resulted in the collection of over 3 million sigantures. “This sent an unequivocalo message that Thailand, as a nation, will not tolerate violence against women”, stressed Princess Bajrakitiyabha, who considers educaton key to address violence against women.
“Women parliamentarians around the world have the power to bring about real change to our business as usual”, underlined Princess Bajrakitiyabha. She suggested women MPs some ways to champion violence against women. Legislatros could strenghten international standards and norms, develop legislations, increase budget and fund programes on violence against women, particularly in favour of victim assistance and urban planning for public safety. Women parliamentarians have a unique and powerful voice to raise public awareness about violence against women and the plight of women prisoners.
“This can be achieved through a dialogue with your constituencies, the media, and various public fora. In so doing, you should aim to enhance the synergies among governements, non-governmental organizations, and civil society. Combating violence against women, including in prison settings, requires a strong political will of Members States”, stressed Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand. The Meeting of Women Parliamentarians also discussed questions relating to the panel entitled The role of Parliaments in Fulfilling the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to be held on Tuesday 30 March.
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