GLOBAL: IN GEORGIA, WOMEN WITHOUT PEACE
By Bettina Corke
NewsBlaze
September 23,2008
CA
Will the women of Georgia go through the same stories of displacement,
eviction and separation from their loved ones and yet find ways
in which they can exist without their husbands and sons and,
in some cases, without their entire families after the conflict
is over? Because, this is what the women of the former Yugoslavia
have had to do after the war in the Balkans. Will the European Union
(EU) choose the same military NATO approach in trying to solve this
outbreak of civil and governmental violence in Georgia? During
the early discussions about the EU, civil society was told that
NATO’s continuation within Europe was to protect and to promote
"human security". We imagined that NATO would be reformed to act as a
"peace-keeping force". We did not imagine that it would bomb Belgrade,
that it would bomb civilians and that it would use its military
forces to impose the will of one country or a group of countries
against another country in Europe.
Is this attack by the Georgian government followed by the Russian
troops coming into the country going to be the beginning of a long
civil conflict in Georgia? One hopes not. If the conflict is not solved
peacefully and continues, does it have the potential of forcing the
women of Georgia lead the same lives of uncertainty and suffering
that women in situations of civil conflict and war, elsewhere in the
world, experience?
Helen J. Self, (the author of ‘Prostitution, Women and Misuse of the
Law’, Frank Cass, London) in a paper, ‘Women and War’ – presented in
Berlin in 2004, says, "As I am a historian I will begin by taking a
backwards glance at history and then concentrate upon more recent
conflicts. If we look backwards, we see that women have always
been disadvantaged by war. No surprise in that! One illustration
of this is Ruben’s great painting of "The Rape of the Sabine Women"
reminding us of the long history of women as the spoils of war. They
become trophies, gifts, slaves, concubines and sometimes a form of
currency. A commodity or possession to be bought or sold or given
away. Many of these features are still with us today."
She goes on to say, "…war does far more than just kill people… It
redefines borders, destroys economies, wastes resources, shatters
lives, leaves behind toxic wastes capable of injuring or deforming
future generations… people lose their homes and flee becoming
refugees or misplaced people, thus law abiding citizens are transformed
into illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in other countries." Most
certainly, this scenario sketched by Self is the reality in some of
the newly-established countries of the former Yugoslavia.
There are similarities between the population make-up of Georgia
and that of the former Yugoslavia. In the former Yugoslavia, one
in six marriages were mixed marriages – between Muslim, Christian
and Orthodox couples. In Georgia, there is a mix of religions and
cultures: Orthodox, Muslim, Christian, Georgian, Russian, Azeri and
Armenian. Until now (as in the former Yugoslavia) these communities
have lived side-by-side without conflict.
Georgia is a small country – its population is around five-and-half
million and its borders extend to Russia in the North and to Turkey
in the South. Its neighbours are Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran. It is a
fertile and rich land, full of natural resources, oil and gas. And it
is at the risk of being used as a testing ground for a long drawn out
war ("if this is what it takes" as some leaders in the oil industry
often say) to solve the oil, gas and transportation needs of the
transnational oil and energy consortiums and companies operating
throughout Europe.
For the women of Georgia and Central Asia, the world in which they
live is becoming a very dangerous place. They are at risk. During
the war in the Balkans this is what one observer, Robert Jay Lifton
had said about the war taking place in Bosnia, "We are particularly
shocked by the extent of the rape – little girls, young women, old
women – mixed in with the killing and with the arrangement for the
most extreme humiliation… He then went on to say that people viewing
these horror images, "tuned out", switched channels and in this way
they felt better, but then, by switching off the channel – and I
quote – "…we cannot quite free ourselves from some of those nagging
images. We are then likely to join a chorus of ostensibly well-meaning
voices insisting that, though things are indeed terrible in Bosnia,
it is all very complicated". (Source: ‘Continental Drifts – Travels in
the New Europe’; Colin Fraser; Vintage UK – Random House 1998; P.199).
It is interesting to note that throughout the 20th century – European
women worked hard and long on the need for peace, multi-ethnic
cooperation and, of course, for women’s emancipation and yet, once
again, the women of Europe and, more specifically, the women of
Georgia are on the brink of a serious conflict without the power
or the influence to change the situation, as were the women from
twenty-six countries, who came together to draft a Peace Manifesto,
one month before the outbreak of the First World War…
"We, women of twenty-six countries having banded ourselves together
in the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance, with the object
of obtaining the political means of sharing with men the power
which shapes the fate of nations, appeal to you to leave untried no
method of conciliation or arbitration for arranging international
differences…. We cannot stand passively by … whatever its result
… this conflict will set back civilisation and (it) will be a
powerful check to the gradual amelioration in the condition of the
masses of the people, on which so much of the welfare of nations
depends. The fate of Europe depends upon decisions which women have
no power to shape" (‘Peace Manifesto…’ presented to the British
Foreign Office, London, July 1914)
UNIFEM states in its Humanitarian Appeal for Women – "War has always
victimised non-combatants, but contemporary armed conflicts exploit,
maim and kill civilians more callously and more systematically than
ever before. Gender specific threats to women and girls compound the
challenge of ensuring their protection". UNIFEM’s and the international
women’s movement’ support for Security Council Resolution 1325
regarding for Women, Peace & Security – "Understanding the impact
of armed conflict on women and girls, effective institutional
arrangements to guarantee their protection and full participation
in the peace process can significantly contribute to the maintenance
and promotion of international peace and security". It is a step in
the right direction but is it too late for the women of Georgia and
for the women of Central Asia?
A great deal of persuasion will need to be done by our women
representatives at the European Parliament level to shape "the fate
of nations" and "the fate of women" in the new Europe.