Face to Face
An Interview with Shanti Dairiam
Shanthi Dairiam has focused her professional and community work on the promotion of women’s rights in a variety of contexts. She has undertaken collaborative projects with women’s NGOs, governments and international institutions that aim to contribute to the effective implementation of international human rights standards for the advancement of women. Her work has included creating and developing conceptual clarity and tools in regard to: the practical application of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (the CEDAW Convention), methodologies for research oriented advocacy, and training.
You have been working on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (the CEDAW Convention), what motivated you to work exclusively on this Convention?
I have been working on women’s rights for the past 35 years, so my program with CEDAW is a part of my activism and my advocacy on women’s rights .CEDAW offers standards for women’s rights and they are international and universal standards .It is important that we have these universal standards for the promotion and protection of women’s rights. Otherwise you have different kinds of standard on women’s right from country to country which will not be a good thing .Moreover when governments ratify CEDAW, it obligates them to do something. There is accountability and scrutiny at the international level .Thus, it is much more effective. These are the reasons why I thought working on CEDAW was strategically a good area to be involved with.
In your view, what is the current situation of women's political participation and the violence they encounter from various layers of the society: family, workplace and the community of South Asia?
It is not easy in any country for women to get into political representation. Politics is an area of leadership that men do not want to give up .However in certain countries this kind of resistance takes the form of hostility and violence directed towards women. I know this kind of violence is prevalent all over South Asia but as I am not particularly involved in this area I cannot put in the exact picture with relevant data. Nevertheless in my view, if in any country you want to encourage women to get into politics then there has to be program of support and there has to be advocacy with the government to provide safety to women at every step of the way. Otherwise women having aspiration to enter politics can be targets of violence. Phenomenon of violence has to be monitored because hostility towards women in politics is at many levels. As politics involves leadership men feel that women who want to enter into politics are actually trying to compete with men. So for women in politics there is difficulty at personal level, at home from family members especially male family members and husbands in particular who may not want their wives to be engaged in the public role. Family members may have lot of suspicion towards women member in their families who want to enter politics as they need to interact with male members of the society as well. This type of interaction is not common especially in South Asia and is not seen as a good thing .Thus , at personal level if a woman does not have support from her immediate family then there is hostility and sometimes even violence against women in the home. This is at one level but there can also be violence at the more social and public level where the society itself is against women's leadership. Hence what I strongly believe is there has to be a lot of support and help for the women in politics and the government has to provide support and safety .This should be a part of the advocacy and the program to support women in politics.
Do you believe that the CEDAW includes provision for women's political participation and Violence Against Women in Politics? If not, what would be needed to include this important clause in CEDAW?
Article 7 of CEDAW says that the State places obligation on the government to ensure that women have the right to vote on an equal basis just as men. Women must have the same rights as men and it also says that women have an equal right to stand for office and to be elected and to take up public office and public position. So there is this particular article in the convention i.e., article 7a which gives equal opportunity to women as men. However, in order to grant women these rights on the basis of equality with men the government has to develop a plan of action as to how it will enable women to do this .There is also another temporary special measures in CEDAW which is article 4.1 which includes affirmative actions for women's political participation. So under the CEDAW the government has to implement affirmative actions in many areas is women’s political participation and put in place whatever is suitable for that particular country. It could be quotas, reservations etc .The government has to do this or they have to compel or change the law to compel the political parties to fill women candidates in the political parties. .Sometimes political parties do not give seats to fill women candidates for election .So the government has an obligation under the Convention under article 7 and article 4.1 to put in place various programs or measures or legal provisions to ensure that a woman can vote to choose their own representative or be an electorate to stand for election and be the representatives of the people in their country.
Though CEDAW doesn't specifically talk about violence against women in politics but CEDAW is a legal instrument and we have to interpret it. When the article in the Convention says that the government has an obligation to ensure that women can vote as well as be elected and hold public office then the government has to have a plan of action. So it has to find out what are the obstacles that prevent women from standing for election and if in their context there is violence or potential of existing violence then they have to develop their own ideas as to what to do. The government has to make sure that women can be representatives in their country. The government has to work it out and in most countries women groups and civil society talk to the government about what needs to be done . Women organizations very often do this advocacy with the government regarding the violence faced by women.
So the government has an obligation to find why there is low participation of women in politics and what the reasons behind this are. Thus the government needs to have a plan of action or program to enable women to overcome the problems that probably they are facing. This has to be done on its own. The women’s group normally challenges the government about it. So it's not only just about the government but it's also about having a capable and active civil society in the country that will force the government to do certain things.
