Mulieris Dignitatem, Ephesians 5, and domestic violence: grounding international women's human rights.

• Author: Isanga, Joseph

[Young women] have been trained to accept that to be equal to men, they must be the same in every respect; and they, and the men, are worse off for it. It is for the next generation of young women that I am writing this book. Perhaps ... I will only end up making a fool of myself, but I think the stakes are now high enough to justify the risk. (1)

~Wendy Shalit

INTRODUCTION

This Article considers the contribution of Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter On the Dignity and Vocation of Women to the deeper understanding of women's dignity as it relates to the process of articulating and rearticulating international women's rights, with particular attention on domestic violence. (2) This letter, Mulieris Dignitatem, brings together some of the Catholic Church's most important teachings on gender equality. This Article delineates norms articulated in Mulieris Dignitatem that can inform international standards regarding the protection of women from domestic violence.

To date there are no legally binding global human rights instruments that explicitly recognize the right to be free from domestic violence, and remarkably, domestic violence is not robustly emphasized in several feminist legal theories. The objective of this Article is to contribute recommendations for a more truly pro-women global community and Catholic Church. (3)

This Article is structured as follows: Part I discusses the global problem of domestic violence and the lack of response from states; Part II focuses on the contribution of the Catholic Church regarding international human rights and the dignity of women as expressed in Mulieris Dignitatem; Part III discusses the norms and enforcement of women's rights with particular emphasis on the United Nations' Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women ("CEDAW") and the international instruments and precedents complimenting it; Part IV sets forth the Catholic Church's teaching on the dignity of the family and the general principles applicable to the issue of domestic violence; and Part V evaluates the international effort against domestic violence and how reservations to certain articles in CEDAW have inhibited the enforcement of women's rights. This Article concludes by calling for stronger domestic laws to protect women as well as increased efforts to educate the public on the inherent dignity of women.

1. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: A GLOBAL AND PERSISTENT PROBLEM

   Many countries have taken social and structural steps to tackle domestic violence, but legal progress has been limited. (4) Domestic violence is a global problem. (5) Every day, throughout the world, women are commonly subjected to humiliating and debilitating acts of physical and other violence. (6) In 2005, the World Health Organization released the most comprehensive and scientific international study on the issue of domestic violence to date. (7) It confirmed that "[v]iolence against women by their live-in spouses or partners is a widespread phenomenon, both in the developed and developing world, as well as in rural and urban areas." (8) An article in the New York Times summarizes similar studies:

   The rate of abuse by [domestic] partners is estimated to be around 20 percent to 25 percent in the European Union, smaller studies have found, although the problem is reported to the police in only a tiny fraction of cases. In the United States, national surveys by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found that about 25 percent of women said they had been physically or sexually assaulted by a spouse, partner or date. (9) Likewise, in justifying its focus on domestic violence against women, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops notes that eighty-five percent of the victims in reported cases of nonlethal domestic violence are women. (10)

   Despite this prevalence, at the global level there is no international treaty that specifically addresses violence against women as a human rights issue. (11) Although there has been recognition of gender-based international crimes, such as rape being both a war crime and a crime against humanity, states have been painfully slow in recognizing gender-based violence in the domestic setting to be a matter of their concern. (12) The failure to recognize the responsibility of states with regard to domestic violence bespeaks a narrow understanding of women's dignity and signifies the persistence of unacceptable attitudes toward women.

   Sexism is still a problem in both liberal and conservative circles, although it has metamorphosed into more complex forms than in previous generations. Domestic violence, for example, need not take brutal forms. It could be more subtle but still have an equally negative impact on the dignity and welfare of women. None of the dominant outlooks--liberal or conservative are absolutely blameless in regard to domestic violence. In liberal environments, "women often risk being viewed as objects, while in more conservative environments, women are sometimes shunned or avoided." (13) The Church's teachings are of particular relevance when discerning what needs to be done to improve recognition of the fundamental dignity of women and to protect the rights that derive from that dignity.

2. MULIERIS DIGNITATEM AND OTHER CHURCH TEACHINGS

   International women's rights can best be articulated and anchored on the basis of a rational understanding of the true meaning of the dignity of women and their role in society. In July 2008, while speaking at the twenty-third World Youth Day, Pope Benedict XVI questioned:

   Do we recognize that the innate dignity of every individual rests on his or her deepest identity ... and therefore that human rights are universal, based on the natural law, and not something dependent upon negotiation or patronage, let alone compromise? ... ... How can it be that domestic violence torments so many mothers and children? (14) From the standpoint of international law, the plethora of reservations filed on the most important provisions of CEDAW (some of which could indirectly protect women from domestic violence) indicates that cultural acceptance of domestic violence sadly carries on many years after the adoption of CEDAW and the publication of Pope John Paul II's Mulieris Dignitatem. (15)

   The Catholic Church and the international community, represented by the United Nations, have much in common with regard to women's dignity. In Mulieris Dignitatem, Pope John Paul II addressed precisely the essential challenge of a proper understanding of the true nature of women's dignity and rights from the perspective of the teachings of the Catholic Church.

   It is important, in the first instance, to appreciate that with respect to understanding the true nature of women's dignity and rights, both the State and the Church could benefit from further growth in consciousness and clarity. Pope Benedict XVI articulated the need for collaboration in succinct fashion during his visit to the United Nations:

   [T]he Holy See has always had a place at the assemblies of the Nations, thereby manifesting its specific character as a subject in the international domain. As the United Nations recently confirmed, the Holy See thereby makes its contribution according to the dispositions of international law, helps to define that law, and makes appeal to it. The United Nations remains a privileged setting in which the Church is committed to contributing her experience "of humanity", developed over the centuries among peoples of every race and culture, and placing it at the disposal of all members of the international community. This experience and activity, directed towards attaining freedom for every believer, seeks also to increase the protection given to the rights of the person. (16) International human rights instruments stand to be supplemented, even corrected, in light of what Pope John XXIII calls "law which is revealed in the order of nature ... [and whose] principles are beacon lights to guide the policies of men and nations." (17) Catholic social teaching is a very important source of norms, and as Pope Benedict XVI has noted, it "argues on the basis of reason and natural law, namely, on the basis of what is in accord with the nature of every human being." (18) Pope Benedict notes well that "[a]s history proceeds, new situations arise, and the attempt is made to link them to new rights. Discernment, that is, the capacity to distinguish good from evil, becomes even more essential in the context of demands that concern the very lives and conduct of persons, communities and peoples." (19)

   Some may object to the proposition that the Church can legitimately provide a sound anthropological and reasoned basis for laws that the international community adopts in regard to women's rights. One of the reasons advanced for this objection is that some of the scriptural passages that are the basis of the Church's teachings seem to be opposed to women's welfare. Ephesians 5 in particular has been blamed for being used by men to justify their violent behavior toward women. In Ephesians 5:22-24, St. Paul states, "Wives, be subject to your husbands," and again, "As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands." (20) These few verses must be understood in their proper context within the entire letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians--the context of marital love and obligations. The letter analogizes the family relationship to the love Christ has for the Church, and love excludes all forms of submission and violence. (21)

   As Pope John Paul II points out in Mulieris Dignitatem, it is significant that in another passage St. Paul, in referring to the mother of Jesus, states that "God sent forth his son, born of woman," without mentioning Mary's name. (22) He simply calls her "woman," as if to associate Jesus with all women, recognizing women's dignity. (23) In addition, Pope John Paul II notes while reflecting on the...