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Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- Women also have the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. International law has recognized a woman and girl child's right to benefit from artistic and literary endeavours, and to pursue interests in science or other forms of creative expression. Additionally, all women have a right to fully participate in the cultural life of their communities and States. Any group or individual that denies a woman or girl child the right to cultural expression is denying her right to participate fully in a meaningful cultural life. Similarly, if any act of abuse is perpetrated against a woman or girl child in the name of culture, this individual or group is perverting the basic fundamental right to culture as found in international law, and is perpetuating a static and narrow conception of culture.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Violence against women as a barrier to the effective realization of all human rights 2014, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Violence against women impairs and nullifies the right of women and girls to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Gender-based violence, such as intimate partner violence, sexual violence, female genital mutilation or other harmful traditional practices, forced and child marriage or cohabitation, gender-related killings, trafficking, infanticide and deliberate neglect of girls, have a severe impact on women's and girls' physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health. As stated by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, violence against women puts women's health and lives at risk. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights notes that the right to health includes both freedoms and entitlements, including the right to control one's health and body, inclusive of sexual and reproductive freedom, and the right to be free from interference, such as the right to be free from non-consensual medical treatment and experimentation (E/C.12/2000/4, para. 8).
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Violence against women: Twenty years of developments to combat violence against women 2014, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- The engagement of the Security Council with regard to violence against women is reflected in the seven resolutions on women that it adopted between 2000 and 2013. Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) focuses on the incorporation of a gender perspective in conflict resolution by addressing the special needs of women, ensuring that humanitarian law is used to address women's rights and highlighting the critical role of women in peacebuilding. In this resolution, the Security Council recognized that women and children account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict; called for specialized training for all peacekeeping personnel on the protection, special needs and human rights of women and children in conflict situations; and urged the Secretary-General to increase women's representation in conflict-resolution efforts. The Council also emphasized the responsibility of States to prosecute those responsible for sexual violence and highlighted the need for data collection.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Violence against women: Twenty years of developments to combat violence against women 2014, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In subsequent resolutions, the Security Council focused on protecting civilians in general, particularly those who have been displaced; stressed the importance of education for preventing sexual exploitation and trafficking in humans; condemned all acts of sexual exploitation, abuse and trafficking of women and children by military, police and civilian personnel involved in United Nations operations; and recommended a policy of zero-tolerance for such violations. The Council also raised concerns about the obstacles to women's participation in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, including violence, intimidation, and discrimination. It requested the Secretary-General to publish a report on situations of armed conflict in which sexual violence has been widely or systematically employed against civilians, including an analysis of trends in sexual violence and benchmarks for measuring progress towards its elimination.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Modalities for the establishment of femicides/gender-related killings watch 2016, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Goal 11, to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, and target 11.2, to provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons, and target 11.7, to provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities, are also directly relevant.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights considered that there was no need for a separate legally binding treaty on eliminating violence against women. The ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children believed that it was not necessary to have a separate legally binding treaty focused on violence against women with its own monitoring body because of the existence of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and general recommendation No. 19, as such a treaty would compete for attention and resources. The ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children indicated that reporting to another monitoring body would constitute an additional burden on Governments in terms of resources. It noted that the consolidation and institutionalization of the Convention would be the best strategy, instead of imposing another treaty that might undermine the power and authority of the Committee.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes that, while the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the group of experts of the Council of Europe on action against violence against women and domestic violence, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children did not endorse the proposal for a new stand-alone instrument on violence against women, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of women in Africa encouraged the creation of a new treaty. At the same time, the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women and the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice would support a supplementary protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as a long-term solution.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Civil society organizations also claimed that the current framework failed to address violence against women in specific contexts such as violence against women in conflict; situations of “invisible violence”, namely economic violence and psychological violence against, for instance, women belonging to minority groups; and the specific experiences of children exposed to violence against women. They also pointed out that, among the substantive issues that were missing in the current legal framework, there was the need to create an intersectionality of approach, including the initiatives by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Human Rights Council and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- In 1993, the Vienna Conference on Human Rights adopted a declaration and a programme of action, which took into account both discrimination and violence against women. The Conference addressed specific human rights violations suffered by identifiable groups of individuals, including persons belonging to national, racial, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, indigenous peoples, women, children and persons with disabilities. It also recognized violence against women as a particular human rights violation which required the attention and resources of the United Nations.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Since women and girls who are subjected to gender violence, including sexual violence and forced unions, are often re-victimized in their families and communities, restitution of identity, family life and citizenship for them may require measures that target their wider communities - including attempts to subvert cultural understandings around the value of women's purity and sexuality. Although some of the intangible assets that are often taken from victims of sexual violence, such as virginity or social standing, cannot be returned, all the tangible assets of which victims of sexual violence are commonly stripped should be borne in mind. Communal and family ostracism, abandonment by spouses and partners and becoming unmarriageable or sick are all too commonly synonyms of material destitution, and the costs of ongoing medical treatment, pregnancy, abortions, and raising children resulting from rape, are all too real to deny. To date, no reparations programme has succeeded in fully reflecting the economic impact of raising children born of rape.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
State responsibility for eliminating violence against women 2013, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has also received information on how these social-work authorities sometimes facilitate family visits or even care of children by perpetrators, in cases in which no child abuse was reported. Thus, if a perpetrator is violent towards a woman, but not towards her children, he may still be deemed capable of caring for them and authorities will actually promote and facilitate continued contact between the perpetrator and the children. This practice has devastating consequences, as it minimizes not only the experiences of the battered victim, but also the negative consequences in respect of a child who may have been a witness to the abuse of the mother by the father.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Violence against women as a barrier to the effective realization of all human rights 2014, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Gender-based violence impedes sustainable development by obstructing women's participation and undermining many of the goals of development. Millennium Development Goal 5 on improving maternal health is one example. When violence against women is manifested in the form of early or forced marriage and childbearing, women are likely to suffer from medical conditions such as haemorrhage, obstructed labour, sepsis and eclampsia, as well as unsafe abortions. Coupled with inadequate access to health services, these conditions may lead to the death of the mother, thus depriving women of their development right to maternal health. Numerous manifestations of violence against women, including forced sterilizations, forced abortions, lack of effective access to safe abortions, lack of informed consent and choice over contraceptive methods, harmful practices such as honour killings, female genital mutilation, early and forced marriage, and sexual violence, contribute to the violation of a number of rights, including the right to participate in and contribute to sustainable development.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Existing legal standards and practices regarding violence against women in three regional human rights systems and activities being undertaken by civil society regarding the normative gap in international human rights law 2015, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- As regards prevention, States are required to put in place policies that are necessary to change attitudes and challenge gender roles and stereotypes that make violence against women acceptable; train professionals working with victims; raise awareness of the different forms of violence and their traumatizing nature; cooperate with non-governmental organizations, the media and the private sector; and reach out to the public. Regarding protection and support, States must ensure that the needs and safety of victims are placed at the centre of all measures and establish specialized support services to provide medical assistance as well as psychological and legal counselling for victims and their children; shelters in sufficient numbers; free telephone helplines; specialized support for victims of sexual violence; and reporting structures for professionals.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Existing legal standards and practices regarding violence against women in three regional human rights systems and activities being undertaken by civil society regarding the normative gap in international human rights law 2015, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child makes reference to aspects of violence against girls, including early and forced marriages, child labour, abuse, torture, harmful social and cultural practices, the situation of children in armed conflict, sexual exploitation, and trafficking and abduction. While embracing African tradition and values, the Charter prohibits traditional practices and customs that are harmful to the child.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Vision-setting report 2016, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women explained in the case of A.T. v. Hungary that a victim of domestic violence was unable to flee to a shelter, because none was equipped to accept her together with her children, in particular one of whom who was fully disabled. According to the Committee, the State should ensure that a safe home was given to the victim, in which she could live with her children, and that the victim should receive proportional reparation to the physical and mental harm endured.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- A form of collective harm that deserves particular attention is group-based harm as a result of group-based affiliation. Collective measures of redress may be thought of as particularly apposite to address the legacy of violence on the identity or status of groups such as indigenous peoples. Women or children, however, are rarely thought of in collective terms, even though gender-specific and age-specific forms of violence happen to women and children precisely because they are women and children. Women and girls should not be rendered invisible under the notion of the collective and should be consulted at all stages of discussions.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- In some cases, families choose not to visit relatives in prison. This is especially true in cultures that regard imprisonment of women as shameful. In other instances, the caregiver may be unwilling or unable to permit children to visit their incarcerated mothers. A caregiver may be angry or resentful at the imprisoned mother because of being burdened with having to take care of her children. Also, a prisoner who has dependent children may face termination of her parental rights. Children who have a parent incarcerated are at risk of poor academic performance, alcohol and drug abuse and low self-esteem. Additionally, such children are approximately six times more likely to be incarcerated in their lifetime.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Closing the gap in international human rights law: lessons from three regional human rights systems on legal standards and practices regarding violence against women 2015, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- As regards prevention, States are required: to put in place policies that are necessary to change attitudes and challenge gender roles and stereotypes that make violence against women acceptable; to train professionals working with victims; to raise awareness of the different forms of violence and their traumatizing nature; to cooperate with NGOs, the media and the private sector; and to reach out to the public. Regarding protection and support, States must ensure that the needs and safety of victims are placed at the centre of all measures, and establish: specialized support services to provide medical assistance as well as psychological and legal counselling for victims and their children; shelters in sufficient numbers; free telephone helplines; specialized support for victims of sexual violence; and reporting structures for professionals.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Closing the gap in international human rights law: lessons from three regional human rights systems on legal standards and practices regarding violence against women 2015, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The Inter-American human rights system was created in 1948 and functions within the framework of the Organization of American States, with primary areas of focus including democracy, human rights, security and development. Normative developments include the adoption in 1948 of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and the Charter of the Organization of American States. The Declaration recognizes a range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to life (art. I); the right of women, during pregnancy and the nursing period, and children to special protection, care and aid (art. VII); the right to the preservation of one's health and well?being (art. XI); the right to education (art. XII); the right to take part in cultural life and benefit from intellectual progress (art. XIII); the right to work and to fair remuneration (art. XIV); and the right to social security (art. XVI). The Charter refers to human rights in several of its provisions, including article 3 (l) on the fundamental rights of the individual without distinction as to race, nationality, creed or sex. Article 17 provides: "Each State has the right to develop its cultural, political, and economic life freely and naturally. In this free development, the State shall respect the rights of the individual and the principles of universal morality." Article 106 provided for the creation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights as a consultative mechanism for the promotion and protection of human rights.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Violence against women: Twenty years of developments to combat violence against women 2014, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The CSW has focused on the issue of violence against women and/or girls as a priority theme on three occasions: the theme of gender-based persecution was the focus of its forty-second session, in 1998; the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child was addressed at its fifty-first session, in 2007; and the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls was considered at its fifty-seventh session, in 2013.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
State responsibility for eliminating violence against women 2013, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- In its resolution 1325 (2000), the Security Council emphasized the responsibility of States to end impunity and hold accountable those responsible for war crimes concerning sexual and other types of violence against women. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, also places emphasis on due diligence.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls are victimized under authoritarian regimes and during violent conflict in multiple ways. They suffer from operations randomly or strategically targeting and terrorizing the civilian population, but also from summary and extrajudicial executions, imprisonment, torture, rape and sexual mutilations for fighting in resistance movements, engaging in the search for and defence of their loved ones or for coming from communities suspected of collaboration. Women and children represent the majority of the forcefully displaced in internal and international armed conflicts. Women can suffer the consequences of violent actions that target "their" men (husbands, sons, brothers, etc.), for example, when they become the sole breadwinners and protectors of their families. Some forms of violence that women are subject to are similar to those suffered by men; others are more specific to women and girls, subjecting them to systematic patterns of sexual or reproductive violence or to different forms of domestic enslavement. In some settings, certain crimes tend to be perpetrated mostly by State forces while others are used mostly by non-State armed groups or self-defence groups as tools to recruit and instrumentalize women. More importantly, even when women are subjected to the same violations as men, their pre-existing socio-economic and legal status and the cultural meanings surrounding the construction of the male and the female in patriarchal societies may cause different ensuing harms for men and women.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- Another instance of discriminatory practices, resulting in historical injustices, is that of assimilation policies instituted in countries, which led to many aboriginal or indigenous children being taken away from their families, communities and cultures and placed in foster care or residential schools. There have been some initiatives to provide compensation to survivors, including monetary compensation, truth-telling, therapeutic services and acts of commemoration and reconciliation. However, gender differences have generally not been taken into account and, as a consequence, there has not been special recognition of or compensation for girls for consequences of sexual abuse, such as pregnancy resulting from rape or forced abortion.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The forced sterilization of women with disabilities remains a global problem. Women with disabilities who elect to have a child are often criticized for their decision and face barriers in accessing adequate health care and other services for themselves and their children. Although society's fear that women with disabilities will produce so-called "defective" children is for the most part groundless, such erroneous concerns have resulted in discrimination against women with disabilities from having children. There is a dichotomy between the notions, on the one hand, that motherhood is expected of all women and, on the other, that women with disabilities are often discouraged, if not forced, to reject motherhood roles, despite their personal desires. Research shows that no group has ever been as severely restricted, or negatively treated, in respect of their reproductive rights, as women with disabilities.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- Many women in prison have little meaningful contact with their family members, more especially their children. There are several reasons for limited contact, including the mother's incarceration in a prison located a distance from the family and the logistical and financial costs involved in arranging visits, a prison's restrictions on contact or communications with family members and the greater likelihood that the family of a female prisoner will shun or reject her, compared to families of male prisoners. Also, prison regulations and institutional barriers may be partially at fault for limited family contact. For example, most detainees in Latvia are not allowed to telephone their families or receive visits.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- There are no universally agreed upon standards for determining which circumstances warrant a child living in prison, and there is considerable variation between countries. On the whole, most countries have instituted policies that base this decision on the age of the child. The inherent paradox is articulated as "Prisons are not a safe place for pregnant women, babies and young children, and [but] it is not advisable to separate babies and young children from their mother." Support services, such as nurseries, schooling and social therapy, are offered to children in some prisons.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Existing legal standards and practices regarding violence against women in three regional human rights systems and activities being undertaken by civil society regarding the normative gap in international human rights law 2015, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The inter-American human rights system was created in 1948 and functions within the framework of the Organization of American States (OAS), with primary areas of focus including democracy, human rights, security and development. Normative developments include the adoption in 1948 of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and the Charter of the Organization of American States. The Declaration recognizes a range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to life (art. I); the right of women, during pregnancy and the nursing period, and children to special protection, care and aid (art. VII); the right to the preservation of one's health and well?being (art. XI); the right to education (art. XII); the right to take part in cultural life and benefit from intellectual progress (art. XIII); the right to work and to fair remuneration (art. XIV); and the right to social security (art. XVI). The Charter refers to human rights in several of its provisions, including article 3 (l) on the fundamental rights of the individual without distinction as to race, nationality, creed or sex. Article 17 provides: "Each State has the right to develop its cultural, political, and economic life freely and naturally. In this free development, the State shall respect the rights of the individual and the principles of universal morality." Article 106 provided for the creation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights as a consultative mechanism for the promotion and protection of human rights.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Continuum of violence against women from the home to the transnational sphere: the challenges of effective redress 2011, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- The principles discussed above were articulated by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in its 2009 ruling of Gonzalez et al. ("Cotton Field") v. México. In this case, concerning the abduction, killing and sexual violence of two children and a young woman by non-State actors in 2003, the Court broadly interpreted the State's obligations to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and impose penalties for violence against women. The decision is seminal in that the Inter American Court for the first time embraced the concept of gender-sensitive reparations with a transformative approach. It held that in a situation of structural discrimination, reparations should aim at transforming such situation, thus aspiring not only to restitution but also to correction. It spelled out the criteria to be applied for the assessment of reparations, which include the following: (i) reparations should have a direct connection with the violations found by the Court; (ii) they should repair in a proportional manner pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages; (iii) they cannot be a source of enrichment or impoverishment; (iv) restitution is an aim but without breaching the principle of non-discrimination; (v) reparations should be "oriented to identify and eliminate the structural factors of discrimination"; (vi) they should take into account a gender perspective; and (vii) take into account all the measures alleged by the State to have been taken to repair the harm.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 79
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- In recent decades, sex-ratio imbalances in favour of boy children have grown in a number of Asian countries, and there is broad agreement concerning the problem of gender-biased sex selection. In a context of son preference, the recent availability of technologies that can be used for sex selection has compounded the problem. The rise in sex-ratio imbalances and the normalization of the use of sex selection is caused by deeply embedded discrimination against women within marriage systems, family formation and inheritance laws.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- In contexts of mass atrocity and multiple gross violations, the real challenge of reparations programmes is how to select the rights whose violation will trigger access to benefits and how to confine the circle of those who will qualify as beneficiaries. No programme to date has articulated the reasons to consider some violations worse than others, thus very rarely rendering reparations benefits to predominantly marginalized groups. The fairly limited but also traditionally conceived catalogue of violations of civil and political rights on which reparations programmes in the past have concentrated covers mostly those violations which are taken as paradigmatic expressions of political violence. Not surprisingly, these are the violations that in many scenarios target men disproportionately. Women have thus been excluded from reparations programmes, despite the terrible impact of violence on women, leaving them in a precarious position, with the responsibility for children and other dependants, without income-generating skills and subjected to stigma and poverty.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2010
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