Women's Rights Network

Policy Director: Monica Ghosh Driggers, J.D.

As of October 1, 2003, the Women's Rights Network (WRN) is no longer running

active projects. However, aspects of the work pioneered by WRN continue in exciting
ways. Monica Ghosh Driggers, WRN's Policy Director, is developing a new initiative,
the Gender and Justice Project, that will investigate the problems that arise when
issues of gender clash with the justice system. She will also follow the developments
that grow out of WRN's most recent initiative, the Battered Mother's Testimony
Project.

In addition, the following publications and resources developed by WRN continue to

be available through the Wellesley Centers for Women's publications office (781-283-
2510):

 Human Rights Report: Battered Mothers Speak Out: A Human Rights

Report on Domestic Violence and Child Custody in the Massachusetts Family
Courts (Nov 2002)
 Tribunal Video: A Human Rights Tribunal on Domestic Violence & Child
Custody in the Massachusetts Family Courts (May 2002)

The Battered Mothers' Testimony Project: A Human Rights Report on Child

Custody & Domestic Violence in Massachusetts. Begun in 1999, the Battered
Mothers' Testimony Project is the current focus of WRN's work. This statewide
project combines human rights fact-finding, qualitative research, advocacy, and
community organizing to document and address the injustices inflicted on battered
mothers and their children during family court child custody and visitation litigation.
To our knowledge, the Battered Mothers' Testimony Project is the first human rights
initiative to address child custody and domestic violence issues. Read More

"Gender-based violence, which impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by

women of human rights and fundamental freedoms under general
international law or under human rights conventions, is discrimination"
(Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women, General Recommendation)

" Violence against women shall be understood to encompass physical,

sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including
battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-
related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other
traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and
violence related to exploitation" (U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of
Violence against Women, Article 2)

" States should condemn violence against women and should not
invoke any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their
obligations with respect to its elimination. States should pursue by all
appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating violence
against women." (UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
against Women, Article 4)
 “ [Governments] shall take all appropriate [steps] to protect the child
all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or
negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual
abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other
person who has the care of the child. (U.N. Convention on the Rights
of the Child, Article 19)

Publications

Please note: As of October 1, 2003, the Women's Rights Network is no

longer running active projects.

Battered Mothers Speak Out: A Human Rights Report on Domestic Violence and Child
Custody in the Massachusetts Family Courts (2002).

Battered Mothers Speak Out documents and analyzes instances in which the
Massachusetts family courts have violated internationally accepted human rights
laws and standards in selected child custody cases where there is a history of partner
abuse. We found that there are state actors who have committed one or more of the
following human rights violations:

I. Failure to project battered women and children from abuse;

II. Discrimination against battered women;
III. Degrading treatment of battered women;
IV. Allowing the batterer to continue the abuse through the family courts;
V. Allowing the batterer to continue the abuse through the family courts; and
VI. Failure to respect the economic rights of battered women and children.

The report also covers the history of and need for the Battered Mothers’ Testimony
Project, our research methodology, and a discussion of relevant human rights
principles, standards and laws. The report concludes with a series of detailed,
practical recommendations for change that are based on our findings. 106 pp. US
$25 +shipping & handling. Tribunal Video: US $15 + shipping and handling. Special
rate for both: US $35 + shipping and handling. To purchase a printed version of the
full report, the video, or both, visit Our Publications.
The executive summary of Battered Mothers Speak Out is available at no charge
through the publications office, or your can download this PDF version (1.98 MB).
International Resource Guide: Meeting the Needs of Children Exposed to the Abuse
of their Mothers (1997; updated 1999). 84 pp. #WCW1. US$12.00 + shipping &
handling. This Resource Guide is intended for use by battered women, teachers,
service providers, activists, lawyers, child protection agencies, clinicians,
researchers, policy-makers, and others. It contains detailed descriptions of and
ordering information for manuals, curricula, guidebooks, reports, papers,
evaluations, audio-visual materials, storybooks, coloring books, newsletters, fact
sheets, and brochures related to the issue of children who witness domestic violence.
The Resource Guide also provides four extensive bibliographical lists on this topic:
1. Books specifically for use by children of battered women
2. Books for professionals
3. Journal and newspaper articles
4. Unpublished papers, manuscripts and theses
Available through the Wellesley Centers for Women. Click here to order online, or
call: +781-283-2510.
International Strategy Session Project Report (1997). This report is a
summary and analysis of WRN's International Strategy Session, "Meeting the Needs
of Children Exposed to the Abuse of their Mothers," held in Boston, Massachusetts,
USA from March 15-17, 1997. For this Strategy Session, WRN brought together a
total of 11 women's and children's advocates from the United States and Canada for
a weekend of intensive participatory workshops, exercises and discussions on this
topic. This Project Report is designed to:
1. Provide readers with a detailed description of the International Strategy
Session
2. Promote networking among a broader group of advocates
3. Serve as a practical guide to running small-scale workshops that foster a
human rights culture of respect and support among participants, and
generate concrete outcomes on both individual and organizational levels

(Click here for full text of Report.)

Final Report: International Working Session to End Family and Partner
Violence (1997). During the summer of 1997, WRN led a team of local women's
rights activists in organizing an International Working Session on family and partner
violence in Massachusetts. Our goal was to provide participants with opportunities to
share strategies and resources, to generate new and innovative ideas, and to provide
support and inspiration to one another across both cultural and national borders.
From August 16-24, 1997, 17 leading battered women's and children's advocates
from 12 different countries around the world joined together with representatives of
over 60 Massachusetts-based domestic violence, sexual assault and human rights
organizations for intensive, collaborative work on family and partner violence. The
week consisted of:
1. Presentations and mutual trainings
2. Site visits to organizations throughout Massachusetts
3. Workshops and discussions on a variety of themes related to family and
partner violence, culminating in a Global Strategic Planning Meeting and
Community Reception

The success of the International Working Session underscored how incredibly

valuable, and rare, it is for women's and children's advocates to have a global forum
in which to support, challenge and strategize with one another around issues of
domestic violence and sexual abuse. This report provides a description and
discussion of the International Working Session. (Click here for full text of Report)
Intimate Partner Sexual Abuse: Report on an International Survey and Literature
Review (December 1999). #WCW2. US$12.00 + shipping & handling. This report
provides a global analysis of and statistics on intimate partner sexual abuse (IPSA),
as well as detailed findings from WRN's international survey on this topic. The survey
findings reveal:
1. The range of definitions being used by women's organizations around the
world to describe IPSA
2. The spectrum of legal protections against and remedies for IPSA in different
countries
3. The reasons why a woman might not disclose having experienced IPSA
4. The ways in which women's organizations are or are not addressing IPSA in
their work
5. The extent to which IPSA is mentioned in organizations' literature
6. The degree to which organizations ask clients about IPSA
 7. The level of staff and volunteer training on IPSA
8. The degree to which organizations feel that they are or are not responding
effectively to IPSA survivors' needs
9. The most pressing issues that organizations want to discuss and learn more
about related to IPSA

In summary, this report offers a window into why IPSA is such an important and
neglected issue, and explores what we can do to address it in a more productive and
meaningful way. Available through the Wellesley Centers for Women. Click here to
order online, or call: +781-283-2510.
Other Publications by WRN:
“Out of the Frying Pan: Battered Mothers and Their Children Take a Beating in
Massachusetts Family Courts”, July 2002, Sojourner: The Women's Forum.
"Advocate/Activist Note," Violence Against Women: An International and
Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, February 1997, Sage Periodicals Press.
"Innovative Overseas Strategies To End Domestic Violence," Tex. J. Women & Law,
Spring 1997.