[DRAFT #1d] [#OrangeTheWorld] Femicide Prevention Compact

[Tinhampton]

Character count: 3,493
Word count: 548

OOC: Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which commences the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. This is why Assistant Venkman's name is in orange and not the traditional green.

Bianca Venkman, Assistant to the Delegate-Ambassador: Who, you may be wondering, is Christine Williams? I will tell you who she is: the eighteen-year-old Young Tinhamptonian Activist of the Year, last year, for fighting for civil liberties, gender equality, stuff like that - for all intents and purposes, a human... sapient rights defender. When I was back home in Tinhampton recently, she came to me with an idea: the city, at least, has its own independently-run "femicide watch" by which it pretty much researches the prosecution of these sort of crimes, find out how and where the community, the judges, our legislation, and stuff like that has failed and provide advice on how to bolster our response to femicides in the future. What if - she asked - similar schemes were to be carried out by, say, an office of the World Health Authority in each member state?
I have expanded on her proposal to produce the draft you see here - which concerns itself not only with this, but also with the release of data surrounding femicides and other unlawful killings, the criminalisation thereof, and educational programs that we hope will have the effect of reducing their frequency. As I speak... now... as you can see here, live, the Tinhamptonian Assembly is being lit up in orange to commemorate all female victims of gender-based violence, everywhere. Tinhampton has taken steps towards gender equality and the reduction of domestic violence and violence against women as a result of relentless spurts of public pressure as well as decades of a moderating Free Democratic presence in coalition governments - but unfortunately, this cannot be said of the rest of the world, let alone the rest of the World Assembly.
While she cannot be here today, Ms Williams will undoubtedly be pleased to see this proposal being drafted in the General Assembly; I am hopeful that you, too, ambassadors, will take a similar liking to this proposal. In regards to concerns that this Compact does nothing except task a few committees with handling paperwork, I further believe that Articles e and f will allay these concerns.

Femicide Prevention Compact
A resolution to promote funding and the development of education and the arts.

Category: Education and Creativity

Area of Effect: Educational

Proposed by: Tinhampton

---

Affirming that violence against women (fatal or otherwise) is not only treated as a hate crime in some nations, but has a sufficiently well-documented and sadly near-ubiquitous impact on sapient dignity and the achievement of comprehensive gender equality that it is a public health crisis in every nation where it is found, and

Recognising that violence against women, in particular their sex- or gender-motivated killing, can only be effectively combatted or eradicated through a multifaceted approach including the promotion of relevant legislation, the disaggregation of relevant data, and the fostering of a whole-of-society culture of accountability - rather than one of avoidance, buck-passing, and generally ignoring vital statistics...

The General Assembly hereby:

1. defines "femicide" as the unlawful killing of a person solely or primarily because that person is (or identifies as) female,
2. requires member governments to compile and submit to their national office of the World Health Authority (a "WHA office"), on an annual basis, an accurate count of the number of unlawful killings of all people known to have been committed within their jurisdiction; and further requires that this data be disaggregated by:
   
   1. what familial relationship, if any, the perpetrator had with their victim,
   2. the age, sex, gender identity, and ethnicity of both the perpetrator and (if their next of kin consent to the compilation of such) the victim,
   3. any reasoning provided by the perpetrator for killing their victim, and
   4. the length and nature of any punishments handed down to the perpetrator as a result of their unlawful killing,
3. tasks each WHA office with:
   
   1. reviewing, and then publishing on an anonymised basis, the data provided by the member state they have responsibility for under Article b,
   2. investigating the local and judicial responses to as many reported femicides as possible in that member state, and
   3. publishing analyses of significant omissions in any of that member's recent responses to femicides and guidance on how it could deliver an improved response to femicide in future,
4. further tasks the WHA itself with:
   
   1. providing support to those members that are able to meet, but cannot immediately fulfil, their obligations under Article b, for the sole purpose of ensuring that such obligations can be met as soon as possible, and
   2. assisting willing member states in implementing recommendations which their local WHA office has made to them under Article c(iii),
5. requires member states to:
   
   1. declare femicide to be a specific criminal offence in law,
   2. ensure that those convicted of femicide are sentenced to imprisonment of a term at least as long as would be the case if they had unlawfully killed their victim for any other reason (or if they had murdered a non-female person solely or primarily because of their sex or gender identity), and
   3. inform their inhabitants about the nature and unacceptability of violence against women (including femicide), how it can be reported to the authorities, and the necessity of achieving comprehensive gender equality (including the rejection of gender stereotypes that have been widely adopted in the community), and
6. strongly urges members and WHA offices to treat other unlawful killings of any person solely or primarily due to their possession of an arbitrary, reductive characteristic as they would treat femicides.

[Boston Castle]

“I have one question, Ambassador. Would this legislation cover the murder of transgender women (women whose legal sex has changed from male to female, I should also note that this all predicated on the same grounds you spell out in the resolution) as well? Or would this resolution only cover the murder of cisgender females on the grounds of their gender?”


OOC: this is a great idea, but I’d either expand your idea to cover gender identity or else change references to gender to “sex”.

[WayNeacTia]

First of all there is no way this falls under Education and Creativity. Second of all this, in particular.

MANDATES that every member nation must grant exactly the same rights, powers, permissions and services to individuals of all sexualities and genders, subject to exactly the same qualifying conditions. Such conditions may not include the sexuality or gender of the individual(s) concerned.

and this:

ORDERS all member nations to impose exactly the same sanctions or punishments on all organisations which deny any right, power, permission or service to an individual based on their sexuality or gender, as the sanctions or punishments imposed on organisations discriminating on the basis of other arbitrary, reductive criteria (such as, but not limited to, ethnicity, age and religion).

So no. This is already adequately covered. Further to that, since you had to meddle in shit that didn't concern you, why would you waste your time, knowing that anything you propose will be crushed?

[Wallenburg]

"The nature of this proposal is largely obscured by standing legislation. In particular I refer to Resolution #35 'The Charter of Civil Rights' and Resolution #457 'Defending The Rights Of Sexual And Gender Minorities'. Regardless of the faults of each these acts, they together constitute an irrefutable prohibition of the very crime this proposal seeks to address. The greater part of this proposal's power therefore extends no further than the words on this page."

Ogenbond lifts up his copy of the proposal text and strikes it with his free hand. "This creation therefore does nothing more than establish more paperwork for the World Assembly and its member states to manage. Of equal concern to me is its prejudice against the murder of men, who are no more and no less deserving of their lives than women. If it so pleases the authoring delegation, I shall entertain a proposal in which the data collected under the World Health Authority is analyzed and published in the advancement of understanding the nature of all sex-motivated homicides."

The tone of his voice shifts, steadily rising almost to a shout, "But do not tell me, no, do not tell me that you pursue 'full and substantiative gender equality' nor 'the rejection of gender stereotypes' when it is clear as the Crystal Hall that this entire proposal is motivated by a deeply entrenched gendered perspective on violence against women. Your entire premise rests on there being some innate difference between a murder and the murder of a woman, just as so many may look to the leadership of the sovereign I represent and see not a Majority Leader but a female Majority Leader. No, do not tell me these things. Do not lecture me on gendered society when you paint women as victims in need of protection by male-dominated societies."

Ogenbond's voice quavers, then he stops. With a cough into his fist he seats himself and smooths the draft across his writing area.

"It must be apparent then that I reject your gendered outlook on homicide, and shall only consider support should the collected data be used in the interest of all people, against all gender-motivated killing. I shall also reject a call for the criminalization of femicide which does not simultaneously call for the criminalization of all gender-motivated killing. It is true that on this second issue the existing body of law which I have so recently referenced would require member states which take up such a call to implement laws prohibiting the murder of men on the basis of their male nature. In this way, your request for such measures would have identical effects on those members who take up the request, but the principles of gender equality would not suffer for the appearance of gender inequality in the considerations of this chamber.

"Finally, I would stress the thin line against which this proposal remains legal. But for this mere recommendation offered in your penultimate clause and the mediocre requirements of the final clause, all the effects of this proposal are exercised in a committee which demands nothing more of member states but the communication of documents. Should the proposal change substantially, I can easily imagine this falling afoul of the chamber's rules on committees."

[Bananaistan]

Addressing the representative from Wallenburg, Ted says, "eh, Ogenbond, section b requires the reporting all homicide statistics and the apparent reasons regardless of whether it was a gender based murder or not."

Turning to the chamber generally, "this is a fine proposal and we are pleased to support it."

"I have one nitpick. There is no such thing as a Bananamen subject."

[Wallenburg]

Addressing the representative from Wallenburg, Ted says, "eh, Ogenbond, section b requires the reporting all homicide statistics and the apparent reasons regardless of whether it was a gender based murder or not."

Turning to the chamber generally, "this is a fine proposal and we are pleased to support it."

"I have one nitpick. There is no such thing as a Bananamen subject."

"Yes, Comrade Hornwood, you correctly identify the requirement that member states submit all homicide statistics regardless of any gender-related information. You will note, however, that the next subclause specifically singles out femicides for special considerations, rather than all gender-motivated homicides."

[Tinfect]

Bianca Venkman, Assistant to the Delegate-Ambassador: Who, you may be wondering, is Christine Williams? I will tell you who she is: the eighteen-year-old Young Tinhamptonian Activist of the Year, last year, for fighting for civil liberties, gender equality, stuff like that - for all intents and purposes, a human... sapient rights defender. When I was back home in Tinhampton recently, she came to me with an idea: the city, at least, has its own independently-run "femicide watch" by which it pretty much researches the prosecution of these sort of crimes, find out how and where the community, the judges, our legislation, and stuff like that has failed and provide advice on how to bolster our response to femicides in the future. What if - she asked - similar schemes were to be carried out by, say, an office of the World Health Authority in each member state?
I have expanded on her proposal to produce the draft you see here - which concerns itself not only with this, but also with the release of data surrounding femicides and other unlawful killings, the criminalisation thereof, and educational programs that we hope will have the effect of reducing their frequency. As I speak... now... as you can see here, live, the Tinhamptonian Assembly is being lit up in orange to commemorate all female victims of gender-based violence, everywhere. Tinhampton has taken steps towards gender equality and the reduction of domestic violence and violence against women as a result of relentless spurts of public pressure as well as decades of a moderating Free Democratic presence in coalition governments - but unfortunately, this cannot be said of the rest of the world, let alone the rest of the World Assembly.

"Forgive me, Ambassador," said Feren, as he stepped out from under a recently-refitted tangerine spotlight, "But, I fail to see how the color orange commemorates... anything, with the possible exception of poor choices in lighting. And, I'm sure whatever-her-name-is is doing quite well in your borders, but, her social work means very little to the Imperium, and indeed, any other Member-State; I can't imagine what you expected to achieve by frontloading this debate with self-congratulations."

He sidestepped the spotlight again as it moved over him. "But, with regards to the draft itself..."

Affirming that violence against women [...]
Recognising that violence against women

"Not to imply that I don't understand the specific meaning of 'violence against women' as used here, but perhaps it would be more effective to use more specific language."

requires member governments to compile and submit to their national office of the World Health Authority (a "WHA office"), on an annual basis, an accurate count of the number of unlawful killings of sapients known to have been committed within their jurisdiction; and further requires that this data be disaggregated by:

1. what familial relationship - if any - the perpetrator had with their victim,
2. the age, sex, gender identity, and ethnicity of both the perpetrator and (if their next of kin consent to the compilation of such) the victim,
3. any reasoning provided by the perpetrator for killing their victim, and
4. the length and nature of any punishments handed down to the perpetrator as a result of their unlawful killing,

"Entirely unacceptable; criminal acts by Imperial citizens committed entirely within Imperial jurisdiction are exclusively between the criminal, any victims, and the Imperium itself. We will not provide criminal information to a foreign entity, especially not where it includes identifying and personal information of either the criminal or victim. The Imperium has a duty to its citizens, criminal or otherwise."

tasks each WHA office with:
[list=i][*]reviewing, and then publishing on an anonymised basis, the data provided by the member state they have responsibility for under Article b,

"Again, unacceptable. It is not the place of the World Assembly to release information regarding Imperial law enforcement, anonymized or otherwise."

investigating the local and judicial responses to as many reported femicides as possible in that member state, and
publishing analyses of significant omissions in any of that member's recent responses to femicides and guidance on how it could deliver an improved response to femicide in future,

"Entirely unacceptable; The only body authorized to 'investigate' Imperial judicial bodies, is the Imperium. Matters of corruption or improper judgement are purely internal matters, and involve a wide range of information both confidential and public. For a foreign entity, one without any jurisdiction or even simple right, to interfere in these investigations, and quite possibly result in the destruction or otherwise removal of evidence that may be useful in such a case, would be not merely harmful to the Imperium and its citizenry, but ludicrous on principle alone. And that is before we even touch on the consequences of a foreign body publishing 'analysis' of Imperial records which are not available to foreigners."

urges member states to specifically criminalise femicide, and to ensure that perpetrators thereof are sentenced to imprisonment of a term at least as long as would be the case if they had unlawfully killed their victim for any other reason, and

"I don't believe there is any possible interpretation of standing International anti-discrimination law that would result in 'femicide' being a defense against murder charges, or, even considered a lesser form thereof. This clause seems utterly extraneous.

In short, Ambassador," he stepped out from under the spotlight a third time, neatly dodging it as it fell from the ceiling, along with a half-dozen somewhat aggravated gnomes, "This legislation is wildly overreaching, entirely unnecessary, and appears to serve primarily as a vehicle to demonstrate the 'progressive' bent of your own government. We see absolutely no reason to support it; the Imperium is opposed."

[Tinhampton]

Assistant Bianca Venkman: Now that I'm watching that recording in the Tinhamptonian dormitory again... thank you. I thought we just had standard lighting in this particular room, not a fully-blown spotlight, but that's always good to hear. In response to Ambassador Rosenberg, our delegation is committed to the principle that trans women are women and this has been reflected in the latest mild rewrite of our first draft; I'd also like to thank Comrade Ted---the Bananamen for his comment. We are also considering changes that can be made to this draft in light of a few... very strongly-worded criticisms.

[Tinhampton]

Venkman: When I said we were considering our options, we really meant it... and we're still doing it! If you have any more ideas, do toss them into this pot over here.

[Tinhampton]

Venkman: This will be submitted very soon if nobody has anything else to say about this. In response to Ambassador Ogenbond, nothing is stopping the Wallenburgians or anybody else from reporting on institutional failures in regard to non-femicide gender-motivated killings. And to Representative Feren, need I remind you of the old saw about membership again?

[Honeydewistania]

"Why is

urges member states to specifically criminalise femicide, and to ensure that perpetrators thereof are sentenced to imprisonment of a term at least as long as would be the case if they had unlawfully killed their victim for any other reason (or if they had murdered a non-female sapient being solely or primarily because of their sex or gender identity), and

Not a mandate?"

[Tinhampton]

"Why is

[snip Article e]

Not a mandate?"

Venkman: Ambassador Sch...Hepperle, we would have imagined that some nations would rather continue to consider femicide as a subset of gender-motivated hate crimes rather than as a distinct criminal offence in itself... actually, no, thank you for the suggestion.

5. urges member states to specifically criminalise femicide, and to ensure that perpetrators thereof are sentenced to imprisonment of a term at least as long as would be the case if they had unlawfully killed their victim for any other reason (or if they had murdered a non-female sapient being solely or primarily because of their sex or gender identity), and

6. requires members to inform their inhabitants about the nature and unacceptability of violence against women (including femicide), how it can be brought up with the authorities, and the necessity of achieving full and substantiative gender equality (including the rejection of gender stereotypes that have been widely adopted in the community).

[Wallenburg]

Venkman: This will be submitted very soon if nobody has anything else to say about this. In response to Ambassador Ogenbond, nothing is stopping the Wallenburgians or anybody else from reporting on institutional failures in regard to non-femicide gender-motivated killings. And to Representative Feren, need I remind you of the old saw about membership again?

"And absolutely nothing is stopping you from making use of prejudiced, sexist language. Whether you are merely spiteful of genuine criticism or are too entrenched in your society's gender roles is unclear to me. On the other hand, you have clarified well my opposition to your proposal. I cannot recall a draft author so stubbornly opposed to such slight, such simple, and such obviously just changes to their proposal."

[Tinfect]

And to Representative Feren, need I remind you of the old saw about membership again?

"Perhaps you should tend to the myriad flaws of your draft, rather than resorting to character-assassination, Ambassador.
Not a single one of the Imperium's concerns has been addressed; the draft requires dramatic violation of the privacy and safety of Imperial citizens; the draft requires that said violation be dramatically expanded via the publishing of such information publicly; the draft requires that a foreign entity be granted unilateral access to Imperial judicial records to 'investigate' Imperial judgements, regardless of the sensitivity of the information in question or the possibility of ongoing Imperial investigations which may be threatened by such interference.

Your draft directly puts Imperial Citizens at risk, and could very well result in matters of improper judgement being impossible to effectively investigate or prosecute. It is a disaster, Ambassador."

[Kenmoria]

Venkman: This will be submitted very soon if nobody has anything else to say about this. In response to Ambassador Ogenbond, nothing is stopping the Wallenburgians or anybody else from reporting on institutional failures in regard to non-femicide gender-motivated killings. And to Representative Feren, need I remind you of the old saw about membership again?

"And absolutely nothing is stopping you from making use of prejudiced, sexist language. Whether you are merely spiteful of genuine criticism or are too entrenched in your society's gender roles is unclear to me. On the other hand, you have clarified well my opposition to your proposal. I cannot recall a draft author so stubbornly opposed to such slight, such simple, and such obviously just changes to their proposal."

“Apart from being able to recall authors more opposed to simple changes,’ Ambassador Lewitt shudders in recollection, “I fully agree with the thoughts of Ambassador Ogenbond. That women are more likely to be victims of gender-motivated crime in many nations is deeply unfortunate, but does not prevent the converse from being true.”

[Tinhampton]

Venkman: A new Article f has been added regarding other forms of violent hate crime.

OOC: Bump.

[Wallenburg]

"I remain firmly opposed. I encourage the author to reconsider their dismissal of my concerns."

[Barfleur]

"I fully understand the purpose of this proposal, but I fail to see how the symbolic value translates to legal value. It seems far better to require member nations to treat murder caused, in one way or another, by the sex or sexual orientation of the victim as an aggravated offense than to require them to declare 'femicide' in particular a separate offense. In Barfleur, my own country, any violent crime is treated as aggravated if it is committed in whole or in part because of certain categories, which include sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation. There is no need for 'unlawful killing of a person' to be distinct from 'unlawful killing of a woman.' But once again, I applaud my colleagues from Tinhampton for their forward-thinking and commitment to equality."

[Junitaki-cho]

Quick aside: the language in section a, which draws a distinction between being and identifying as female, is needlessly exclusionary and needs to be changed.

Why is this not generalized? There are a number of very real problems with hate crimes which could be bundled together and, in turn, treated with true equity in the eyes of this potential law rather than singling out femicide. I understand that violence against women is a disproportionate issue, but I'm skeptical of an approach which goes out of its way not to legislate on other functionally identical matters.

The identification of femicide is perhaps a more pertinent issue. The only mechanism in this entire proposal is direct testimony collected by the government from the killer, and I think it's naive to expect meaningful answers and statistics from self reporting. Beyond that, the next of kin have to consent in order to collect basic pertinent data on the victim, further obfuscating the results. It's a lot of data collection and processing to undermine by a lack of proper procedure.

Also: this proposal legislates on criminal justice; why is it in the education category?

[Araraukar]

OOC: What does WHA of all committees have to do with court records?