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Continuum of violence against women from the home to the transnational sphere: the challenges of effective redress 2011, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Sexual harassment at school and at the workplace is acknowledged as a pervasive manifestation of violence. In El Salvador, the Special Rapporteur heard testimonies of the working conditions of young women working in the maquila plants, where they were subjected to verbal and physical abuse by supervisors, sexual harassment, and mandatory pregnancy tests. Sexual harassment in educational and training institutions in Algeria was pervasive and underreported at the time of the visit of the Special Rapporteur, despite commendable steps by the authorities to criminalize sexual harassment based on abuse of authority. The visit to the United States revealed the particular vulnerability of undocumented immigrant women to violence, including sexual harassment and abuse, in the workplace. Sexual and physical violence against girls in educational establishments perpetrated by male school staff and school boys remains problematic, as reported during the visit of the Special Rapporteur in Zambia. Long distances from home to school also increased risk of harassment, with girls reportedly having sexual relationships with minibus and taxi drivers as a way of coping with transportation costs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- In some South Asian countries, a widespread practice is that of dowry-related murders. This term covers the deaths of young brides who are murdered, or driven to suicide by continuous harassment and torture perpetrated by the groom's family in an effort to extort dowry payment or an increased dowry of cash or goods. The most common manifestation of this practice is the burning of the bride. These incidents are often presented as, and accepted to be, accidents, such as death as a result of an "exploding stove".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Continuum of violence against women from the home to the transnational sphere: the challenges of effective redress 2011, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur's visits to El Salvador, Kyrgyzstan and Zambia - all three source, transit and destination countries for human trafficking - indicated strong commonalities with regard to trafficking of women and children. In Kyrgyzstan, trafficking of women and children became increasingly common during the country's transition period and continues to be a problem. While there are no reliable statistical data with respect to the prevalence of trafficking, a Government report noted that 98 per cent of trafficking victims are women and girls between 15 and 30 years of age. Offers of false employment in urban areas lure young women and girls from rural areas to move to cities, or abroad, where they are forced into sexual exploitation. One young woman interviewed during the visit, who had come to Bishkek to seek employment, was lured to a house in the outskirts of the city where she was locked up for months and forced to have sex with clients. Due to fear of retaliation, she had not reported the case to the police and was even afraid to walk the streets. Similarly, in El Salvador the Special Rapporteur found that the majority of victims of trafficking were women and girls transferred from rural to urban areas in the country. Insufficient measures to ensure victim and witness protection, lack of support services and ineffective responses by law enforcement officials contributed to underreporting of the phenomenon.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Statistics for the period 2007 to 2009 show that there have been between 8,093 and 8,383 reported cases of dowry deaths in India. As noted by experts, the numbers of reported cases do not add up to conviction rates. The National Crime Records Bureau of India reports that for 2008 there were 1,948 convictions, as against 3,876 acquittals. Acid attacks are also becoming a growing phenomenon in India, with young women being targeted for spurning suitors and for rejecting proposals of marriage, as well as in connection with contestation over dowry.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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.
- 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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women as a barrier to the effective realization of all human rights 2014, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Preventable maternal mortality in turn leads to additional negative development outcomes as it fuels economic and social inequalities. Generally, preventing and combating illness among women and girls leads to a healthier and more productive population, whereas ill-health diminishes people's personal capacity and ability to contribute to their households, resulting in lost incomes and lower productivity. Furthermore, investing in the health of the largest generation ever of young people, particularly adolescent girls, means investing in the future and sustainable development. Gender-based violence, however, impoverishes women and their families, saps public resources and lowers economic productivity. Therefore, when women and girls experience violence, they are denied access to fundamental human rights, such as education and health, which significantly undercuts their capacity to participate meaningfully in the sustainable development of their communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women as a barrier to the effective realization of all human rights 2014, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The right to education is affected by violence, including family violence and abuse, sexual violence at school, early and forced marriage, human trafficking and harmful traditional practices - which all prevent women and girls from realizing their right to education. Sexual harassment at school has negative physical and emotional effects and also results in decreased productivity, absenteeism from school, difficulty concentrating, declining academic performance or dropping out from school, often after becoming pregnant. As recognized by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 24/23, child, early and forced marriage prevents individuals from living their lives free from all forms of violence and has adverse consequences on the enjoyment of human rights, such as the right to education (see also A/HRC/21/41, para. 74). Girls who enter into early marriage often leave school to assume the responsibilities of caring for their spouse and home and to raise a family. This, in turn, limits young women's economic opportunities and independence and places them at greater risk of domestic violence than married women who are older and more educated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
State responsibility for eliminating violence against women 2013, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- The campaign of the Secretary-General entitled "UNiTE to End Violence against Women" brings together a host of United Nations agencies and other partners to galvanize action across the United Nations system to respond to and prevent violence against women. UNiTE calls on governments, civil society, women's organizations, young people, the private sector, the media and the entire United Nations system to join forces in addressing the global pandemic of violence against women and girls. UNiTE aims to achieve, by 2015, the following five goals in all countries: adopt and enforce national laws to address and punish all forms of violence against women and girls; adopt and implement multisectoral national action plans; strengthen data collection on the prevalence of violence against women and girls; increase public awareness and social mobilization; and address sexual violence in conflict.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- A recent study uncovered cases of rape of female political prisoners in the Islamic Republic of Iran throughout the 1980s, including the rape of young virgin girls before execution, forced marriages and other forms of sexual violence, some of which continues today. In July 2011, a female prisoner committed suicide after violent beatings, including with electronic batons. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran states that a prisoner alleged that prison guards tortured her by subjecting her to sleep and toilet deprivation, keeping her in a standing position for hours, burning her with cigarettes, exposing her to extreme temperatures for extended periods of time and punching, kicking and striking her with batons (A/67/369, para. 27).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Victims come from a range of social and economic backgrounds, which vary from country to country, as do the circumstances in which they are killed. Many of the murdered women come from the most marginalized sectors of society: they are poor, from rural areas, of ethnic origin, sex workers or maquila workers. Young women between 16 and 24 years old are the most vulnerable group. Overall, 25 per cent of murders reveal evidence of sexual assault; 66 per cent of murders in Honduras and 44 per cent in El Salvador exhibit signs of brutality. Small firearms were used in 90 per cent of femicides in Guatemala and in 79 per cent of femicides in Honduras in 2010. Femicide is considered the second-highest cause of death of women of reproductive age in Honduras.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Until 1985 Canada had many discriminatory laws against aboriginal women and children; this has had an intergenerational impact, and has contributed to a legacy of violence, abuse and impunity. Today, a young aboriginal woman is five times more likely than other Canadian women of the same age to die of violence. According to a 2010 report, of 582 cases of violence against aboriginal women, 20 per cent involved missing women and girls, 67 per cent involved women or girls who died as a result of homicide or negligence, and 4 per cent fell under the category of suspicious death (usually declared natural or accidental by the police). Between 2000 and 2008, 153 cases of murders of women and girls were reported, and in 115 of these cases, the bodies are still missing. Aboriginal women and girls are more likely to be killed by a stranger than are non-aboriginal women. Approximately 50 per cent of such murders remain unsolved. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has expressed its concern that "hundreds of cases involving aboriginal women who have gone missing or been murdered in the past two decades have neither been fully investigated nor attracted priority attention, with the perpetrators remaining unpunished".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Honour killings take many forms, including direct murder; stoning; women and young girls being forced to commit suicide after public denunciations of their behaviour; and women being disfigured by acid burns, leading to death. Honour crimes are also linked to other forms of family violence, and are usually committed by male family members as a means of controlling women's sexual choices and limiting their freedom of movement. Punishment usually has a collective dimension, with the family as a whole believing it to be injured by a woman's actual or perceived behaviour, and is often public in character. The visibility of the issue and the punishment also serves a social objective, namely, influencing the conduct of other women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- In November 2009 the Inter-American Court ruled in what will undoubtedly become a landmark case in the field of reparations for women: Cotton Field v. Mexico. This case concerns the abduction, killing and sexual violence of two minors and a young woman by non-State actors in 2003, and the subsequent failure of the State to diligently investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators and to treat the relatives of the deceased in a dignified way. The Court found that the State of Mexico violated the rights to life, freedom, personal integrity, access to justice and legal remedies and the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds of sex under the American Convention. It also considered that Mexico had infringed its obligations by failing to apply due diligence to prevent, investigate and impose penalties for violence against women or its duty to provide adequate responses in the legal system to punish and eradicate violence against women, thereby infringing the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women. This decision is seminal in that it is the first time that the Court has embraced the concept of gender-sensitive reparations with a transformative aspiration. The State of Mexico has been mandated to provide a variety of reparation measures to the victims, including monetary compensation, symbolic redress, and a wide set of future looking guarantees of non-repetition. Family members and closely affiliated persons of the deceased who can be considered as having been harmed and hence deserving of reparations (who in this case included all those who had self-identified as injured parties including the mothers, sisters-in-laws and nieces of the deceased) received reparations.
- 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
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
13 shown of 13 entities