Women Refugees And Sexual Violence

EDM number 1247 in 1992-93, proposed by Helen Jackson on 26/01/1993.

That this House calls on the Government to reassess its policy on refugee assistance with regard to women refugees, in the light of the particularly widespread torture and sexual violence they have suffered in the Bosnian conflict; and urges the Government to press for the UN Convention relating to the status of refugees to be amended to define women as a social group facing persecution resulting from gender-based discrimination, violence, sexual exploitation and traditional practices harmful to women, to involve women in the planning of repatriation, to offer sensitive counselling for victims of sexual torture, to offer access to this country for women refugees who want to have abortions, and to provide leadership positions for women with regard to food distribution and daily living decisions within the refugee camps.

This motion has been signed by a total of 118 MPs, 1 of these signatures have been withdrawn.