OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS
Elimination of violence against women
Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/42
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 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 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 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 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,
Concerned that violence against women in the family occurs within the context of de jure and de facto
discrimination against women and the lower status accorded to women in the family, the workplace, the
community and society, and is exacerbated by the obstacles women often face in seeking remedies from the
State,
Reaffirming that traditional or customary practices affecting the health of women and girls constitute a
definite form of violence against them and a serious violation of their human rights,
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,
Reiterating that acts of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict constitute grave breaches of
international humanitarian law,
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