Promotion of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and
Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms: protecting women human rights defenders
A/RES/68/181
Action of the International Conference on Population and Development 8 and the
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 9 and their review outcomes, as well as
the agreed conclusions and resolutions of the Commission on the Status of Women,
Acknowledging the attention given by the Human Rights Council to the
importance of women human rights defenders and of ensuring their protection and
enabling their work in recent resolutions, and noting the panel discussion on women
human rights defenders convened on 26 June 2012,
Acknowledging also that women of all ages who engage in the promotion and
protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and all people who engage
in the defence of the rights of women and gender equality, individually and in
association with others, play an important role, at the local, national, regional and
international levels, in the promotion and protection of human rights, in accordance
with the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and
Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms, 10
Noting with deep concern that in many countries persons and organizations
engaged in promoting and defending human rights and fundamental freedoms,
including women human rights defenders, frequently face threats and harassment
and suffer insecurity as a result of those activities, including through the curtailment
of freedom of association or expression or the right to peaceful assembly or the
abuse of civil or criminal proceedings,
Gravely concerned that women human rights defenders are at risk of and
suffer from violations and abuses, including systematic violations and abuses of
their fundamental rights to life, liberty and security of person, to psychological and
physical integrity, to privacy and respect for private and family life and to freedom
of opinion and expression, association and peaceful assembly, and in addition can
experience gender-based violence, rape and other forms of sexual violence,
harassment and verbal abuse and attacks on reputation, online and offline, by State
actors, including law enforcement personnel and security forces, and non-State
actors, such as those related to family and community, in both public and private
spheres,
Deeply concerned that historical and structural inequalities in power relations
and discrimination against women, as well as various forms of extremism, have
direct implications for the status and treatment of women and that the rights of some
women human rights defenders are violated or abused and their work stigmatized
owing to discriminatory practices and those social norms or patterns that serve to
condone violence against women or perpetuate practices involving such violence,
Gravely concerned that impunity for violations and abuses against women
human rights defenders persists owing to factors including a lack of reporting,
documentation, investigation and access to justice, social barriers and constraints
with regard to addressing gender-based violence, including sexual violence and the
stigmatization that may result from such violations and abuses, and a lack of
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8
Report of the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 5–13 September 1994
(United Nations publication, Sales No. E.95.XIII.18), chap. I, resolution 1, annex.
9
Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II.
10
Resolution 53/144, annex.
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