A/HRC/47/26 I. Introduction 1. The present report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Dubravka Šimonović, is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to its resolution 41/17. In the report, the Special Rapporteur addresses rape as a grave, systematic and widespread human rights violation, a crime and a manifestation of genderbased violence against women, and presents recommendations for its prevention through the harmonization of national criminal laws with international standards and jurisprudence on rape, both in peacetime and during conflict. This report is accompanied by a framework for model legislation on rape, envisaged as a harmonization tool.1 A. Activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur 2. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has continued to affect the Special Rapporteur’s activities, which continued mainly online. 3. On 14 May 2020, the Special Rapporteur hosted the eighth meeting of the Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms on Discrimination and Violence against Women, which was held online.2 The Platform later issued a joint statement on COVID-19 and the increase in gender-based violence and discrimination against women.3 4. On 1 October 2020, the Special Rapporteur participated in person in the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, and delivered a statement calling for violence against women to be included as a standing item on the agenda of the Commission on the Status of Women, in order to accelerate its eradication.4 5. On 9 October 2020, the Special Rapporteur addressed the General Assembly by videoconference to present her thematic report on the intersection between the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic of gender-based violence against women, with a focus on domestic violence and the “peace in the home” initiative.5 Following her presentation of the report, she engaged in a constructive dialogue with 22 Member States. 6. On 30 October 2020, the Special Rapporteur issued a call for information and data under her “Femicide Watch” initiative, while on 23 November, in a press statement supported by 50 other independent human rights mandate holders, she reiterated her yearly call for the establishment of femicide watch bodies or observatories.6 7. On 24 November 2020, the Special Rapporteur met with the working group on genderbased violence against women of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to discuss their joint work to develop a guide on the implementation of the Committee’s general recommendation No. 35 (2017), which would serve as background for preparing an optional protocol on gender-based violence, as recommended by the Special Rapporteur, should Member States decide to do so. 1 2 3 4 5 6 2 A/HRC/47/26/Add.1. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/SR/14May2020_EDVAW_Platform_ meeting_report.docx. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), “Joint statement by the Special Rapporteur and the EDVAW Platform of women’s rights mechanisms on COVID-19 and the increase in violence and discrimination against women”, 14 July 2020. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/SR/High_Level_Meeting_Statement.docx. A/75/144. OHCHR, “Urgent action needed to end pandemic of femicide and violence against women, says UN expert”, 23 November 2020.