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Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Studies suggest that up to 80 per cent of women in prison are mothers. Many female prisoners are single mothers or primary caregivers, and imprisonment can result in considerable hardship for their children. Contact between detained mothers and their children is often difficult due to the remote location of female prisons. Concern about their children is a primary factor leading to the high incidence of mental health problems and self-harm among female detainees. The Bangkok Rules require that parental and child-caring responsibilities be taken into account in the allocation and sentence-planning processes. The best interests of the child, including the need to maintain direct contact with the mother, must be carefully and independently considered by competent professionals and taken into account in all decisions pertaining to detention, including pretrial detention, sentencing and the placement of the child (CRC/C/THA/CO/2).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights noted in a 2001 report on prisons in Malawi that prisons were not safe place for pregnant women, babies and young children and that it was not advisable to separate babies and young children from their mothers. Even very short periods in detention settings can undermine a child's psychological and physical well-being, compromise cognitive development and result in higher rates of suicide, self-harm, mental disorders and developmental problems (A/HRC/28/68). Children living in prison with their mothers may be at heightened risk of suffering violence, abuse and conditions of confinement that amount to torture or ill-treatment. In this context, the imprisonment of pregnant women and women with young children must be reduced to a minimum.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Adequate and effective complaint and oversight mechanisms are critical sources of protection for at-risk groups that experience abuses in detention. All too often proper safeguards are absent or lacking in independence and impartiality, while fear of reprisals and the stigma associated with reporting sexual violence and other humiliating practices discourage women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons from reporting. In many cases, the vulnerability and isolation of women and girls is compounded by limited access to legal representation, inability to pay fees or bail as a result of poverty, dependence on male relatives for financial support and fewer family visits.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls tend to be at risk of honour violence or killing for engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage, choosing partners without their family's approval or behaving in other ways that are considered immoral; Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons are also targeted (A/HRC/29/23). Honour killings have been documented in South-East Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East and affect 5,000-12,000 women each year. States' failure to prevent honour-based violence contravenes their obligations to combat and prevent torture and ill-treatment. This includes failure to grant asylum to persons facing the risk of honour violence in their countries of origin.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
The death penalty and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment 2012, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- In addition, and especially relevant to the emergence of a customary norm to consider the death penalty as running afoul of the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, is evidence of a consistent global practice by States that reflects the view that the imposition and enforcement of the death penalty in breach of those standards is a violation per se of the prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This conclusion originates from the fact that international law does not attribute a different value to the right to life of different groups of human beings, such as juveniles, persons with mental disabilities, pregnant women or persons sentenced after an unfair trial, but considers the imposition and enforcement of the death penalty in such cases as particularly cruel, inhuman and degrading and in violation of article 7 of the Covenant and articles 1 and 16 of the Convention against Torture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Review of the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners 2013, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Incidents of abuse among prisoners, from subtle forms of harassment to intimidation and serious physical and sexual attacks, are a regular occurrence in all prisons. The Special Rapporteur observes that although Rule 28 (1) prohibits employing prisoners in a disciplinary capacity, in some States guards delegate the authority for maintaining discipline and protecting detainees from exploitation and violence to privileged detainees who, in turn, often use this power to their own benefit. In this context, special consideration should be given to the aggravated risk of violence that women and those from vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS, drug-dependant individuals, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons and sex workers might suffer.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- LGBTQI+
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Review of the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners 2013, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has received numerous allegations about searches performed arbitrarily in places of deprivation of liberty with a view to punish or humiliate inmates or destroy their belongings. In this respect, the Rules must integrate principles governing searches that meet the criteria of necessity, reasonableness and proportionality (see Human Rights Committee general comment No. 16, para. 8). The Rules should place an obligation on prison authorities to ensure that searches are conducted in private by trained personnel of the same sex as the inmate, that alternate screening methods, such as scans, are developed to replace strip searches and body cavity searches and that searches are conducted by suitably trained personnel, including, where appropriate, health professionals from outside the detention facility, following authorization from the competent authorities (see the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners, rule 20, and the World Medical Association Statement on Body Searches of Prisoners (1993, as revised in 2005)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Certain forms of abuses in health-care settings that may cross a threshold of mistreatment that is tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2013, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Many policies and practices that lead to abuse in health-care settings are due to discrimination targeted at persons who are marginalized. Discrimination plays a prominent role in an analysis of reproductive rights violations as forms of torture or ill-treatment because sex and gender bias commonly underlie such violations. The mandate has stated, with regard to a gender-sensitive definition of torture, that the purpose element is always fulfilled when it comes to gender-specific violence against women, in that such violence is inherently discriminatory and one of the possible purposes enumerated in the Convention is discrimination (A/HRC/7/3, para. 68).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Girls deprived of their liberty are at a heightened risk of sexual violence, sexual exploitation and underage pregnancies while in detention. The risk of sexual abuse is greater when male guards supervise girls in detention. Girls deprived of their liberty have different needs not only to those of adults but also of boys. Girls in detention are often not only children but also carers, either as mothers or as siblings, and have specific health, hygiene and sanitary needs. Across the globe, girls are rarely kept separately from women in pretrial and post-conviction settings (see A/HRC/16/52/Add.3, para. 54). Similarly, the Special Rapporteur notes that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children are at a heightened risk.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons are at particular risk of torture and ill-treatment when deprived of liberty, both within criminal justice systems and other, non-penal settings. Structural and systemic shortcomings within criminal justice systems have a particularly negative impact on marginalized groups. Measures to protect and promote the rights and address the specific needs of female and lesbian, gay, bisexual and, transgender prisoners are required and cannot not be regarded as discriminatory.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Other legal instruments applicable to children include the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules), the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (Riyadh Guidelines), the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (Havana Rules), the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (Bangkok Rules) and the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Body searches, in particular strip and invasive body searches, are common practices and can constitute ill-treatment when conducted in a disproportionate, humiliating or discriminatory manner. Inappropriate touching and handling amounting to sexual harassment during searches is common, as are routine vaginal examinations of women charged with drug offences. These practices have a disproportionate impact on women, particularly when conducted by male guards. The punishment of women who refuse to undergo strip and invasive searches, for instance by placing them in isolation or revoking visitation privileges, is also common. When conducted for a prohibited purpose or for any reason based on discrimination and leading to severe pain or suffering, strip and invasive body searches amount to torture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Most prison health policies and services are not designed to respond to women's specific health needs and fail to account for the prevalence of mental health and substance abuse problems among female prisoners, the high incidence of exposure to different forms of violence, and gender-specific sexual and reproductive health concerns. The provision of appropriate health-care services, including comprehensive, interdisciplinary and rehabilitation-oriented mental health-care programmes, as well as the provision of training and capacity-building to prison staff and health-care personnel to identify specific physical and mental-health needs of female detainees, are key to preventing mistreatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Of particular concern are a lack of specialist care, including access to gynaecologists and obstetric health-care professionals; discriminatory access to services like harm-reduction programmes; lack of private spaces for medical examinations and confidentiality; poor treatment by prison health staff; failures in diagnosis, medical neglect and denial of medicines, including for chronic and degenerative illnesses; and reportedly higher rates of transmission of diseases such as HIV among female detainees. The absence of gender-specific health care in detention can amount to ill-treatment or, when imposed intentionally and for a prohibited purpose, to torture. States' failure to ensure adequate hygiene and sanitation and to provide appropriate facilities and materials can also amount to ill-treatment or even torture. It is essential to engage in capacity-building and adequate training for detention centre staff and health-care personnel with a view to identifying and addressing women's specific health-care and hygiene needs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Women comprise between 2 and 9 per cent of the prison population in 80 per cent of the world's prison systems. Although their numbers are increasing, their needs in detention often go unnoticed and unmet, as prisons and prison regimes are typically designed for men. However, women's unique experiences of prison, as well as the motivations for women's criminal behaviour and their pathways into criminal justice systems are often distinct from those of men (A/68/340). Different incarceration and treatment policies, services and even infrastructure are required to address women's distinct needs and ensure their protection.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Solitary confinement can amount to torture or ill-treatment when used as a punishment, during pretrial detention, for prolonged periods or indefinitely and on juveniles. Solitary confinement of any duration must never be imposed on juveniles, or persons with mental or physical disabilities, or on pregnant and breastfeeding women, or mothers with young children. (A/66/268). Its use as a measure of retaliation against women who have complained of sexual abuse or other harmful treatment must also be prohibited. Female prisoners subjected to solitary confinement suffer particularly grave consequences as it tends to retraumatize victims of abuse and women suffering from mental health problems. It places women at greater risk of physical and sexual abuse by prison staff and severely limits family visits.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Adequate redress requires States to investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators and inform the public of results. States must ensure that judicial procedures and rules of evidence are gender responsive; that equal weight is afforded to the testimony of women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons; and that the introduction of discriminatory evidence and the harassment of victims and witnesses are strictly prohibited. The standards established by international courts should serve as an example for domestic courts to follow, for instance by implementing institutional gender-balance requirements and prohibiting the admission of evidence regarding the victims' prior sexual conduct in cases of sexual, domestic and other gender-based violence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Commissions of inquiry 2012, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Where human rights violations have had a distinct ethnic, racial, or religious dimension, it is important to include people who fully understand the plight of affected communities. Under all circumstances careful attention should be paid to the inclusion of women in the composition of the commission. Of additional value is the inclusion of individuals with a gender perspective to better understand the specific ways in which vulnerable persons, including, women, children, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, persons with disabilities and persons belonging to a minority or indigenous group suffer from gross violations, including torture and other forms of ill-treatment and how they affect their communities. Geographic and cross-cultural balance in a commission is also of the greatest importance, as long as the standards of expertise and professionalism are not diminished for the sake of political balance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Review of the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners 2013, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes that while the Rules recognize and address specific needs of different categories of prisoners (such as women, juveniles, persons with disabilities and foreign nationals), it fails to require the extension of special protection measures to other disadvantaged groups of detainees or prisoners. It is essential that the Rules adopt special measures aimed at protecting the rights of other disadvantaged groups of prisoners, in accordance with well-established international standards and norms (see UNODC/CCPCJ/EG.6/2012/2, p. 21). Special care must be taken to ensure that segregating members of these groups does not further marginalize them from the rest of the community or expose them to further risk of torture or ill-treatment (see, for example, the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, principle 9 (a)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Upon interception or rescue, migrants and refugees tend to be criminalized and detained in substandard and overcrowded conditions amounting to torture or ill-treatment. Unsanitary conditions and inadequate medical care, including lack of access to reproductive care, affect women in particular. Many facilities fail to separate female and male prisoners, leading to heightened risks of sexual violence from other detainees or guards (A/HRC/20/24). Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender migrants are also vulnerable to abuse on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- LGBTQI+
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Forced sterilization is an act of violence and a form of social control, and violates a person's right to be free from torture and ill-treatment. Full, free and informed consent of the patient herself is critical and can never be excused on the basis of medical necessity or emergency when obtaining consent is still possible (A/HRC/22/53). Gender often intersects with other characteristics such as race, nationality, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age and HIV status to render women and girls at risk of torture and other ill-treatment in the context of sterilization (CAT/C/CZE/CO/4-5, A/HRC/29/40/Add.2) The European Court of Human Rights found that the sterilization of a Roma woman who consented to the procedure only during delivery by caesarean section violated the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment. Documented practices that may violate the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment include Government-sponsored family planning initiatives targeting economically disadvantaged and uneducated women that shortcut the process of obtaining consent, sterilization certificates required by employers and coerced sterilization of HIV-positive women in some States. Despite the fundamental rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, women and girls with disabilities are also particularly vulnerable to forced sterilization and other procedures such as imposed forms of contraception and abortion, especially when they are labelled "incompetent" and placed under guardianship (A/67/227).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Gender-based violence, endemic even in peacetime and often amplified during conflict, can be committed against any persons because of their sex and socially constructed gender roles. While women, girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, sexual minorities and gender-non-conforming individuals are the predominant targets, men and boys can also be victims of gender-based violence, including sexual violence stemming from socially determined roles and expectations. As noted by the Committee against Torture in its general comment No. 2 (2007) on the implementation of article 2 of the Convention, gender-based crimes can take the form of sexual violence, other forms of physical violence or mental torment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The purpose and intent elements of the definition of torture (A/HRC/13/39/Add.5) are always fulfilled if an act is gender-specific or perpetrated against persons on the basis of their sex, gender identity, real or perceived sexual orientation or non-adherence to social norms around gender and sexuality (A/HRC/7/3). The definitional threshold between ill-treatment and torture is often not clear. A gender-sensitive lens guards against a tendency to regard violations against women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons as ill-treatment even where they would more appropriately be identified as torture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Gender-based discrimination includes violence directed against or disproportionately affecting women (A/47/38). Prohibited conduct is often accepted by communities due to entrenched discriminatory perceptions while victims' marginalized status tends to render them less able to seek accountability from perpetrators, thereby fostering impunity. Gender stereotypes play a role in downplaying the pain and suffering that certain practices inflict on women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. Furthermore, gender intersects with other factors and identities, including sexual orientation, disability and age, that may render a person more vulnerable to being subjected to torture and ill-treatment (general comment No. 2). Intersectional identities can result in experiencing torture and ill-treatment in distinct ways. The torture protection framework must be interpreted against the background of the human rights norms that have developed to combat discrimination and violence against women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- States' obligations to prevent torture are indivisible, interrelated, and interdependent with the obligation to prevent other forms of ill-treatment. States have an obligation to prevent torture and ill-treatment whenever they exercise custody or control over individuals and where failure to intervene encourages and enhances the danger of privately inflicted harm (general comment No. 2). States fail in their duty to prevent torture and ill-treatment whenever their laws, policies or practices perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes in a manner that enables or authorizes, explicitly or implicitly, prohibited acts to be performed with impunity. States are complicit in violence against women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons whenever they create and implement discriminatory laws that trap them in abusive circumstances (A/HRC/7/3).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- In many States women seeking maternal health care face a high risk of ill-treatment, particularly immediately before and after childbirth. Abuses range from extended delays in the provision of medical care, such as stitching after delivery to the absence of anaesthesia. Such mistreatment is often motivated by stereotypes regarding women's childbearing roles and inflicts physical and psychological suffering that can amount to ill-treatment. The detention of post-partum women in health-care facilities for failure to pay medical bills amounts to ill-treatment by separating new mothers from their children and exposing them to significant health risks.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- It is estimated that 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual intimate-partner or non-partner violence, with significantly higher figures reported in some States. Women and girls can be victims of specific forms of violence at the hands of their families, for instance in the form of widowhood rites or dowry-related violence, such as bride burnings or acid attacks (A/HRC/20/16). Victims of domestic violence tend to be intimidated by continual threats of physical, sexual or other violence and verbal abuse and may be "effectively manipulated by intermittent kindness" (see E/CN.4/1996/53, para. 47). Fear of further assaults can be sufficiently severe as to cause suffering and anxiety amounting to inhuman treatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Child and other forms of forced marriage increase during conflict and among displaced populations living in refugee or internally displaced persons camps. In 2015 the practice has been documented as being enforced by both State actors and non-State or rebel factions in Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, the Syrian Arab Republic and elsewhere, with victims being repeatedly raped, compelled to carry multiple pregnancies and subjected to other forms of physical and psychological violence over prolonged periods. While rape commonly occurs in the context of forced marriage, girls and women can also be forced into marriage as a consequence of rape or fear of sexual violence, as a form of "restitution" or "reparation". Like rape, forced marriage is used as a tactic of war and to fulfil strategic objectives such as domination, intimidation and degradation. It has been recognized as a crime against humanity by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
The death penalty and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment 2012, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The death penalty may also not be carried out on pregnant women and, according to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa and the safeguards approved by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 1984/50, recent mothers. Article 4, paragraph 5, of the American Convention on Human Rights prohibits the imposition of capital punishment on persons who, at the time the crime was committed, were over 70 years of age. In its resolution 1989/64, on the implementation of the aforementioned safeguards, the Economic and Social Council recommended that States strengthen further the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty by eliminating it for persons suffering from mental retardation or extremely limited mental competence, whether at the stage of sentence or execution. The Commission on Human Rights also adopted several resolutions urging all States not to impose the death penalty on, or to execute, any person suffering from any form of mental disorder (e.g., Commission resolution 2003/67). The Human Rights Committee has stated that the reading of a death warrant for the execution of a mentally incompetent person is a violation of article 7 of the Covenant. In Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the United States Supreme Court ruled that executing mentally disabled individuals violated the ban on cruel and unusual punishment and that the prohibition of such punishment should be interpreted in the light of the evolving standard of decency that marked the progress of a maturing society. The reasoning for the prohibition of the death penalty in these cases is the same as that for juveniles and children. It is inherently cruel to execute pregnant women, nursing mothers, elderly persons and persons with mental disabilities and it leads to a violation of the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Working methods, thematic priorities and vision for a meaningful anti-torture advocacy 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur feels compelled to recall that today, after a century marked by two world wars and some of the most outrageous atrocities in human history, thousands of prisoners, war victims, migrants and other vulnerable men, women and children are still being abused, exploited, murdered or simply left to die every day in a no man's land of indifference; that there are still States openly practising or advocating interrogation methods based on the infliction of excruciating pain and anguish and on the irreparable destruction of human beings; that there are still Governments finding no fault in sacrificing justice for political convenience by choosing not to prosecute officials suspected or known to have resorted to, ordered, justified or enabled the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and that a growing number of States are refusing to subject their citizens to international criminal jurisdiction even for the most barbarous of international crimes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph