UN Committee Reviews US on Police Brutality and Gender-Based Violence

UN Committee Reviews US on Police Brutality and Gender-Based Violence




Police brutality, military sexual assault, and gender-based violence in the US came under scrutiny this week as the United Nations Committee Against Torture conducted its periodic review of the United States’ compliance with the international Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).
In preparation for the review, the UN asked the United States to provide the Committee with specific information on what steps the US has taken to “prevent and punish violence and abuse of women,” in particular women of color. The Committee also requested information on “brutality and use of excessive force by law enforcement officials and ill-treatment of vulnerable groups, in particular racial minorities, migrants and persons of different sexual orientation.”

To assist the Committee with its review, US-based advocates, organized by the US Human Rights Network, provided information, reports, and testimony earlier this week.
The Black Women’s Blueprint, which will be honored by Ms. magazine with a Wonder Award next week, provided the Committee with its report, “Invisible Betrayal: Police Violence and the Rapes of Black Women in the United States.” The report highlights how Black women’s experience of rape and sexual assault constitute a form of torture. The group also focused on the continued minimization of sexual violence as it relates to Black Women. As an example, the group cited the recent arrest of white Oklahoma City, Oklahoma police officer Daniel Ken Holtzclaw. Despite facing 16 felony counts of sexual assault and misconduct – including the sexual assault, rape, stalking, fondling, and indecent exposure of himself to at least eight black women while on duty – Holtzclaw was released on $500,000 bond, after having an initial $5 million.

The report goes on to note: “Despite the facts that 22 percent of Black women and 50 percent of racially mixed Black women experience rape in higher amounts when compared to white women, the long-standing legacy and continued devaluing of Black women as legitimate victims of rape and assault generally compound Black women’s continued victimization and likelihood to get a conviction against a police officer no less.”

Women’s All Points Bulletin (WAPB) provided the Committee with information on the hyper-policing of transgender women of color. “Transgender women are four times more likely to experience police violence compared to all victims of police violence,” according to WAPB, and 22 percent of all who’ve had an interaction with law enforcement reported they were harassed, physically assaulted, or sexually assaulted by an officer. More than one-third reported “they were harassed by correctional staff while a sizeable portion had reported being physically (16 percent) and sexually (15 percent) assaulted” with rates increasing for people of low-income or racial minority backgrounds.

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http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2014/11/14/us-delegation-to-un-demands-action-on-use-of-force-and-sexual-violence-against-citizens/