by Nina Somera, Isis International

Feminist organisations and networks welcome the appointment of Rashida Manjoo as the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. Manjoo is a South African feminist lawyer who has been working on the area of VAW for many years in various countries such as Algeria, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as well as in the Middle East. In South Africa, she served as an Advocate of the High Court and the country's Commission on Gender Equality. She also founded the Gender Unit of a Law Clinic at the University of Natal and the Domestic Violence Assistance Programme at the Durban Magistrates Court.

Manjoo also helped develop the training manual, “Gender Aspects of the International Criminal Court,” among other research works. She was part of the Working Group on Optional Protocol to Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) from 1998 to 2001 and the International Criminal Court (ICC) processes including the Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice.

The Special Rapporteur investigates cases of VAW, especially those sanctioned by States and makes a resolution to the UN. According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a Special Rapporteur is expected to: “seek and receive information on [VAW], its causes and consequences from governments, treaty bodies, specialised agencies, other special rapporteurs responsible for various human rights questions and intergovernmental and ]NGOs], including women's organizations, and to respond effectively to such information.”

The Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) was among the women's groups that find Manjoo's appointment as a positive development. “As we welcome Rashida Manjoo to her new post, we are confident that the mandate will remain responsive to the women's movement. Women's human rights groups across Asia Pacific look forward to working in close collaboration with Rashida as we did with her predecessors,” APWLD said.

The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) likewise congratulated Manjoo, who happens to be a WLUML council member.

The post of the UN Special Rapporteur on VAW is the result of a long-standing campaign by the women's movements. Since its creation in 1994, the post was filled by Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka) and Dr. Yakin Eturk (Turkey).

Sources:
Society for International Development Forum (24 July 2009). “Rashida Manjoo is new UNSR VAW.”
Women Living Under Muslim Laws (July 2009). Communications in APWW-Meet
Women's Sphere. (3 July 2009). “UN Appoints New Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences."
UN (nd). “Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.”