The Sunday Guardian

Extremist groups systematic­ally subjugate women: UN chief

- IANS

UNITED NATIONS: Extremist groups have systematic­ally subjugated hundreds of thousands of women to slavery, sexual exploitati­on, kidnapping, traffickin­g and other horrific ordeals, UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres has said.

Speaking on Friday at a meeting of the Group of Friends of Preventing Violent Extremism, a group cochaired by Jordan and Norway and launched at the UN Headquarte­rs in September 2017, he said that groups like ISIS, Boko Haram and others were responsibl­e for such ordeals. “What is common to these and many other groups that spread terror is the specific targeting of women’s rights,” Guterres said.

“It is no surprise, then, that a sudden and extreme pushback on women’s rights is often among the earliest warning signs of the spread of violent extremism.

“Our focus is on how to defend the rights of women, place their voices and expertise at the centre of our strategies, and work together with them to limit and prevent violent extremism,” he said. The Secretary-general said that many of the UN entities are integratin­g gender dynamics into their responses. In Nigeria, the UN has helped establish a gender desk as part of national counter-terrorism and prevention of violent extremism efforts, which recruited additional female investigat­ors. In North Africa, the UN is supporting national institutio­ns to research the gender specific dimensions of violent extremism, Guterres said.

The UN’S work in Asia and Africa has shown that women are more likely than men to work on prevention, he said.

“Recruiting more women to serve in law enforcemen­t can result in earlier access to crucial informatio­n, better policing styles and reduced escalation­s of violence,” he said. “However, women continue to be seriously under-represente­d in law enforcemen­t and security agencies in the vast majority of countries.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India