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Ariane Brunet

(http://www.urgentactionfund.org)
 * co-founded of the Urgent Action Fund (UAF), an international women's fund (1997).


 * created The Coalition for Women's Human Rights in Conflict Situations - to create precedents that recognise violence against women in conflict situations and help find ways to obtain justice for women survivors of sexual violence. (http://www.womensrightscoalition.org/)

(http://www.wraf.ca)
 * She also coordinates the Rights & Democracy Women's rights programme


 * has been active in ensuring that Canada took the lead on a resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission to appoint a Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences.


 * In 2004 she published "Where are the Girls?" on the situation of girl soldiers in Northern Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique.


 * At R&D since 1990, Ms. Brunet was responsible for the Canada Programme and the Middle East and North African Programme, in addition to representing the Centre at the United Nations Human Rights Commission.


 * is an activist who was the Co-Director of the Third International Feminist Bookfair held in Montreal in 1988


 * opened l'Essentielle, the first trilingual feminist bookshop (closed 1991) also in Montreal in 1986.


 * She presently sits on the international advisory board of the Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice at the International Criminal Court.


 * Ariane Brunet is the Women's Rights Coordinator at Rights & Democracy (R&D), which she represents at the UN Human Rights Commission.


 * She contributed to the creation of a coalition that monitors gender-related crimes in Rwanda and Sierra Leone, and has been instrumental in setting up the Women's Rights in Afghanistan Fund.


 * She is a co-founder of the Urgent Action Fund (UAF), which both grants and initiates programs to equip women's human rights activists with the resources necessary to respond to women and girls brutalized in conflict situations.


 * member of the International Advisory Committee for the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery.


 * Founder of the Coalition on Women’s Human Rights in Conflict Situations and is the Co-founder of the Urgent Action Fund.


 * Coordinator of the Women’s Rights Program at Rights and Democracy in Montreal.


 * Coordinator of a Coalition project to monitor the work of the International War Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda on gender-based crimes against women.

She is the author of numerous articles and has contributed to many edited books on women, war, rights, and citizenship. 

In the view of Ariane Brunet and Stephanie Rousseau since "rape gives rise to and is accompanied by all sorts of physical and mental injuries" Eriksson, Maja Kirilova. Reproductive Freedom: In the Context of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, 2000, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, ISBN:9041112499, p389

Montreal Principles
MONTRÉAL PRINCIPLES ON WOMEN’S ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS The Montréal Principles were adopted at a meeting of experts held December 7 – 10, 2002 in Montréal, Canada. These principles are offered to guide the interpretation and implementation of the guarantees of non-discrimination and equal exercise and enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, found, inter alia, in Articles 3 and 2(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, so that women can enjoy these rights fully and equally. The participants at the Montreal meeting were: Sneh Aurora, Fareda Banda, Reem Bahdi, Stephanie Berstein, Gwen Brodsky, Ariane Brunet, Christine Chinkin, Mary Shanthi Dairiam, Shelagh Day, Leilani Farha, Ruth Goba, Maria Soledad Garcia Muñoz, Sara Hossain, Lucie Lamarche, Marianne Mollmann, Dianne Otto, Karrisha Pillay, Inés Romero, and Alison Symington. They unanimously agreed on the following principles. A. A. I NTRODUCTION Sex or gender inequality is a problem experienced primarily by women. The systems and assumptions which cause women’s inequality in the enjoyment of economic social and cultural rights are often invisible because they are deeply embedded in social relations, both public and private, within all States. Acknowledging this systemic and entrenched discrimination is an essential step in implementing guarantees of non-discrimination and equality. The terms “gender” and “sex” should both be understood as referring to the range of economic, social, cultural, historical, political and biological constructions of norms of behaviour that are considered appropriate for women and men. Implicit in such an understanding of “gender” or “sex” relations is that male and female norms have been constructed so as to privilege men and disadvantage women. “Gender” and “sex” discrimination can be used interchangeably, and both “gender inequality” and “sex inequality” are used to refer to the disadvantaged position of women. In order to reflect this understanding of women’s disadvantage, the Montréal Principles use the terms “discrimination against women” and “women’s equality” wherever possible. Economic, social and cultural rights have a particular significance for women because as a group, women are disproportionately affected by poverty, and by social and cultural marginalization. Women’s poverty is a central manifestation, and a direct result of women’s lesser social, economic and political power. In turn, women’s poverty reinforces their subordination, and constrains their enjoyment of every other right. The UN Charter mandates universal respect for, and observance of all human rights, including the right of women to equal exercise and enjoyment of their economic social and cultural rights. 1 All regional and global instruments which set out economic social and cultural rights contain guarantees of non-discrimination and of equal enjoyment for women of these rights. 2 An expression of this global consensus is found in Articles 3 and 2(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In the political context of the early 21 st century, it is particularly important to underline this long- standing international consensus regarding human rights primacy. The lack of priority accorded to securing universal enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights hurts women disproportionately. Women’s particular vulnerability to social and economic deprivation is deepened further in conflict and post-conflict situations and when economic sanctions are imposed. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has stated that economic, social and cultural rights must be taken into account when imposing sanctions, and State Parties to the Covenant should take account of the suffering that such sanctions are likely to inflict on vulnerable groups, such as women. As the UN Security Council has recognized, peace and women’s equality are inextricably linked. 3 The inequality in the lives of women that is deeply embedded in history, tradition and culture 4 affects women’s access to and enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. To ensure women’s enjoyment of these rights, they must be implemented in a way that takes into account the context in which women live. For example, the traditional assignment to women and girls of the role of primary care-giver for children, older persons and the sick restricts women’s freedom of movement and consequently their access to paid employment and education. The economic and social devaluation of the work, paid and unpaid, that women traditionally do from a very young age, contributes further to fixing women in a position of economic and social inequality. These factors diminish women’s earning capacity and their economic autonomy, and contribute to the high rates of poverty among women worldwide. Traditional, historical, religious or cultural Montréal Principles on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 2 Page 3 attitudes are also used to justify and perpetuate discrimination against women in the delivery of economic, social and cultural rights, including health services and education, by public and private agencies. Inequality in women’s enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights contributes to their economic dependence, denial of personal autonomy and lack of empowerment. These in turn limit still further women’s ability to participate in public life, including fora for economic, social, political and legal policy and decision-making. As the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has noted: “‘Policies developed and decisions made by men alone reflect only part of human experience and potential.’” 5 Such policies and decisions are less likely to take account of gendered consequences, and the economic and social factors that affect women’s lives. Economic, social and cultural rights and civil and political rights are particularly indivisible and interconnected in the lives of women: inequality in economic, social and cultural rights undermines women’s ability to enjoy their civil and political rights, which then limits their capacity to influence decision and policy-making in public life. Since “‘[a]ll human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated’” 6 equality in civil and political rights 7 is undermined unless equality in the exercise and enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights is secured. It is especially important that women’s entitlement to equal enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights is acknowledged and re-emphasized in the current climate of neo-liberalism and economic globalization. Policies of privatization, economic austerity and structural adjustment have negative impacts for women. 8 For example, women are often the hardest hit by eFor example, women are often the hardest hit by economic transition, financial crises and rising unemployment. In part, this is because women are relied upon to provide services that are cut such as caring for children, older persons and the sick, because women are often in insecure, part-time employment, they are commonly the first to lose their jobs. Furthermore, poverty can lead to a decrease in food intake among women and girls; girls are the first to drop out of schools; greater numbers of women are forced to migrate; and women are vulnerable to trafficking, violence and ill health. Economic and political insecurity provoke private and public backlash against women’s rights that may be expressed through violence and articulated in the form of defending cultures and traditions. To fully implement the rights set out in Articles 3 and 2(2) of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, and similar guarantees in other human rights instruments, requires an understanding that focuses upon the subordination, stereotyping and structur disadvantage that women experience. It requires more than just formal legal recognition of Montréal Principles on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 3 Page 4 equality between the sexes. It requires commitment by all responsible parties to take all necessary steps to address the actual material and social disadvantage of women. B. D EFINITION OF W OMEN ’ S E CONOMIC S OCIAL AND C ULTURAL R IGHTS 1. Women’s economic, social and cultural rights include, but are not lim An adequate standard of living including:  food and freedom from hunger;  water;  clothing;  housing and freedom from forced eviction;  continuous improvement of living conditions;