OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS
1995/85. The elimination of violence against women
The Commission on Human Rights,
Reaffirming that discrimination on the basis of sex is contrary to the Charter of the United Nation, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women and other international human rights instruments, and that its elimination is an integral part of
efforts towards the elimination of violence against women,
Recalling its resolution 1994/45 of 4 March 1994, in which it decided to appoint a special rapporteur on
violence against women, its causes and consequences,
Welcoming the adoption by the General Assembly, in its resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993, of the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, which recognizes that violence against women both
violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and
expresses concern about the long-standing failure to protect and promote these rights and freedoms in relation to
violence against women,
Deeply concerned at continuing and endemic violence against women, noting that the Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women sets out various forms of physical, sexual and psychological violence
against women, and noting that violence against women encompasses, but is not limited to 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, violence related to exploitation, rape, sexual
abuse, sexual harassment and intimation at work, in education institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women
and forced prostitution,
Mindful that the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (A/CONF.157/23), adopted by the World
Conference on Human Rights, affirmed that gender-based violence and all forms of sexual harassment and
exploitation, including those resulting from cultural prejudice and international trafficking, are incompatible with
the dignity and worth of the human person and must be eliminated,
Alarmed by the marked increase in acts of sexual violence directed notably against women and children,
as expressed in the Final Declaration of the International Conference for the Protection of War Victims, held at
Geneva from 30 August to 1 September 1993, and reiterating that such acts constitute grave breaches of
international humanitarian law,
Deeply concerned that women and girls constitute the majority of the world's refugees and internally
displaced persons, and recognizing the need to cooperate in eliminating all forms of discrimination, sexual
exploitation and violence against female refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons and in promoting their
active involvement in decisions affecting their lives and communities,
Stressing that the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women will contribute to the elimination of violence against women and that the implementation of the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women strengthens and complements this process, and
welcoming the Special Rapporteur's meeting with the members of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women at its fourteenth session in January 1995,
Bearing in mind that the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action calls for action to integrate the
equal status and human rights of women into the mainstream of United Nations system-wide activity, stresses
the importance of working towards the elimination of violence against women in public and private life and
urges the eradication of all forms of discrimination against women,
page 1