A/HRC/23/49
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
14 May 2013
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Twenty-third session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence
against women, its causes and consequences,
Rashida Manjoo*
Summary
The present report addresses the topic of State responsibility for eliminating
violence against women. As a general rule, State responsibility is based on acts or
omissions committed either by State actors or by actors whose actions are attributable to
the State. A longstanding exception to this rule is that a State may incur responsibility
where there is a failure to exercise due diligence to prevent or respond to certain acts or
omissions of non-State actors. The due diligence standard serves as a tool for rights holders
to hold States accountable, by providing an assessment framework for ascertaining what
constitutes effective fulfilment of a State’s obligations, and for analysing its actions or
omissions. For due diligence to be satisfied, the formal framework established by the State
must also be effective in practice.
* Late submission.
GE.13-13639