OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS
The elimination of violence against women
Commission on Human Rights resolution 1998/52
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 again 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,
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,
Noting General Assembly resolution 52/99 of 12 December 1997, in which the Assembly, inter alia,
reaffirmed that traditional or customary practices affecting the health of women and girls constitute a definite
form of violence against women and girls and a serious form of 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,
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 (A/CONF.177/20, chap. I) and follow-up action
such as the conclusions on violence against women, women and armed conflict and human rights of women
adopted by the Commission on the Status of Women at its forty-second session in March 1998 and the Model
Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice adopted by the General Assembly by its resolution 52/86 of 12 December 1997,
Noting with appreciation the Special Rapporteur's active participation at the forty-second session of the
Commission on the Status of Women,
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
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