OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Elimination of violence against women Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000/45 The Commission on Human Rights, Reaffirming that discrimination on the basis of sex is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations, 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 resolutions 1994/45 of 4 March 1994, in which it decided to appoint a special rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and 1997/44 of 11 April 1997, in which that mandate was renewed, 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, Stressing that the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the entry into force of its Optional Protocol 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, Welcoming the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted in September 1995 by the Fourth World Conference on Women (A/CONF.177/20, chap. I) and follow-up action such as the agreed conclusions adopted by the Commission on the Status of Women on violence against women and on the other critical areas of concern identified in the Platform for Action, Recalling that the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted in June 1993 by the World Conference on Human Rights (A/CONF.157/23) 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, and called for action to integrate the equal status and human rights of women into the mainstream of United Nations system-wide activity, stressed the importance of working towards the elimination of violence against women in public and private life, and urged the eradication of all forms of discrimination against women, Deeply concerned that some groups of women, such as women belonging to minority groups, indigenous women, refugee women, migrant women, women living in rural or remote communities, destitute women, women in institutions or in detention, the girl child, women with disabilities, elderly women and women in situations of armed conflict, are especially targeted and vulnerable to violence, Recalling the inclusion of gender-related crimes and crimes of sexual violence in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (A/CONF.183/9), which affirms that rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization and other forms of sexual violence constitute, in defined circumstances, a crime against humanity and a war crime, and reiterating that acts of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict can constitute serious violations or grave breaches of international humanitarian law, 1. Welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (E/CN.4/2000/68 and Add.1-5), and encourages her in her future work; page 1

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