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Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 29c (i)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following legislative measures:] Repeal, including in customary, religious and indigenous laws, all legal provisions that are discriminatory against women and thereby enshrine, encourage, facilitate, justify or tolerate any form of gender-based violence. In particular, repeal the following: Provisions that allow, tolerate or condone forms of gender-based violence against women, including child or forced marriage and other harmful practices, provisions allowing medical procedures to be performed on women with disabilities without their informed consent and provisions that criminalize abortion, being lesbian, bisexual or transgender, women in prostitution and adultery, or any other criminal provisions that affect women disproportionally, including those resulting in the discriminatory application of the death penalty to women;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- LGBTQI+
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 29c (iii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following legislative measures:] Repeal, including in customary, religious and indigenous laws, all legal provisions that are discriminatory against women and thereby enshrine, encourage, facilitate, justify or tolerate any form of gender-based violence. In particular, repeal the following: All laws that prevent or deter women from reporting gender-based violence, such as guardianship laws that deprive women of legal capacity or restrict the ability of women with disabilities to testify in court, the practice of so-called “protective custody”, restrictive immigration laws that discourage women, including migrant domestic workers, from reporting such violence, and laws allowing for dual arrests in cases of domestic violence or for the prosecution of women when the perpetrator is acquitted;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 31a (ii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following protective measures:] Adopt and implement effective measures to protect and assist women complainants of and witnesses to gender-based violence before, during and after legal proceedings, including by: Providing appropriate and accessible protective mechanisms to prevent further or potential violence, without the precondition that victims/survivors initiate legal action, including through removal of communication barriers for victims with disabilities. Mechanisms should include immediate risk assessment and protection comprising a wide range of effective measures and, where appropriate, the issuance and monitoring of eviction, protection, restraining or emergency barring orders against alleged perpetrators, including adequate sanctions for non-compliance. Protective measures should avoid imposing an undue financial, bureaucratic or personal burden on women who are victims/survivors. The rights or claims of perpetrators or alleged perpetrators during and after judicial proceedings, including with respect to property, privacy, child custody, access, contact and visitation, should be determined in the light of women’s and children’s human rights to life and physical, sexual and psychological integrity and guided by the principle of the best interests of the child;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 31d
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following protective measures:] Develop and disseminate accessible information, through diverse and accessible media and community dialogue, aimed at women, in particular those affected by intersecting forms of discrimination, such as those with disabilities, those who are illiterate or those who have no or limited knowledge of the official languages of a country, on the legal and social resources available to victims/survivors, including reparations.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 43a
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should protect the right of rural girls and women to education, and ensure that:] High-quality education is accessible to and affordable for all rural women and girls, including those with disabilities, by improving educational infrastructures in rural areas, increasing the number of qualified teachers, including women, and ensuring that primary education is compulsory and provided free of charge and that education is provided in local languages and in a culturally appropriate manner;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 43h
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should protect the right of rural girls and women to education, and ensure that:] Schools in rural areas have adequate water facilities and separate, safe, sheltered latrines for girls and offer hygiene education and resources for menstrual hygiene, with special focus on girls with disabilities;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39a
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] That high-quality health-care services and facilities are physically accessible to and affordable for rural women, including older women, heads of household and women with disabilities (provided free of charge when necessary), culturally acceptable to them and staffed with trained medical personnel. Services should provide: primary health care, including family planning; access to contraception, including emergency contraception, and to safe abortion and high-quality post-abortion care, regardless of whether abortion is legal; prenatal, perinatal, postnatal and obstetric services; HIV prevention and treatment services, including emergency intervention following rape; mental health services; counselling on nutrition, the feeding of infants and young children; mammography and other gynaecological examinations services; the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases, such as cancer; access to essential medicines, including pain relief; and palliative care;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Access to health care, including sexual and reproductive health care, is often extremely limited for rural women, including older women and women with disabilities, owing to prevailing social norms and patriarchal attitudes, insufficient budget allocations to rural health services, the lack of infrastructure and trained personnel, the lack of information on modern methods of contraception, remoteness and the lack of transport. The lack of access to adequate food and nutrition, safe drinking water, sanitation and waste management facilities results in increased health risks. Some conditions, such as obstetric fistula, are also more prevalent among rural women and result directly from the lack of access to emergency health services capable of performing caesarean sections, and indirectly from early pregnancy and malnutrition.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- In line with general recommendation No. 28, States parties should recognize that rural women are not a homogenous group and often face intersecting discrimination. Many indigenous and Afro-descendent women live in rural settings and experience discrimination based on their ethnicity, language and traditional way of life. Rural women who belong to other ethnic minorities or to religious minorities, as well as female heads of household, may also experience higher rates of poverty and other forms of social exclusion. Women working in rural areas, including peasants, pastoralists, migrants, fisherfolk and landless women, also suffer disproportionately from intersecting forms of discrimination. As recognized in general recommendation No. 18 (1991) on disabled women, while women with disabilities face unique challenges in all areas of life, this is particularly the case of those living in rural areas. Discrimination may be compounded in rural areas by a lack of appropriate access to, inter alia, water, sanitation, electricity, health care, child and older person care, and inclusive and culturally appropriate education. As recognized in general recommendation No. 27 (2010) on older women and protection of their human rights, older women and widows may also suffer stigmatization and isolation in rural areas, which expose them to greater risks of ill treatment. In addition, rural women, including heads of household, living in conflict-affected areas face security concerns and further obstacles in enjoying their rights.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women’s access to justice 2015, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The Committee has observed that the concentration of courts and quasi-judicial bodies in the main cities, their non-availability in rural and remote regions, the time and money needed to gain access to them, the complexity of proceedings, the physical barriers for women with disabilities, the lack of access to high-quality, gender-competent legal advice, including legal aid, as well as the often-noted deficiencies in the quality of justice systems (e.g., gender-insensitive judgements or decisions owing to a lack of training, delays and excessive length of proceedings, corruption) all prevent women from gaining access to justice.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Women’s access to justice 2015, para. 17g
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to accessibility of justice systems, the Committee recommends that States parties:] Pay special attention to access to justice systems for women with disabilities.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- States parties should establish adequate screening mechanisms for the early identification of women asylum seekers with specific protection and assistance needs, including women with disabilities, unaccompanied girls, victims of trauma, victims of trafficking and/or forced prostitution, victims of sexual violence and victims of torture and/or ill-treatment.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- States parties should widely disseminate the present joint general recommendation/general comment to parliaments, Governments and the judiciary, nationally and locally. It should also be made known to children and women and all relevant professionals and stakeholders, including those working for and with children (i.e. judges, lawyers, police officers and other law enforcement officials, teachers, guardians, social workers, staff of public or private welfare institutions and shelters and health-care providers) and civil society at large. It should be translated into relevant languages and child-friendly/appropriate versions and formats accessible to persons with disabilities should be made available. Conferences, seminars, workshops and other events should be held to share good practice on how best to implement it. It should also be incorporated into the formal pre-service and in-service training of all relevant professionals and technical staff and should be made available to all national human rights institutions, women's organizations and other human rights non-governmental organizations.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 57b
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties:] Address the specific risks and particular needs of different groups of internally displaced and refugee women who are subjected to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including women with disabilities, older women, girls, widows, women who head households, pregnant women, women living with HIV/AIDS, rural women, indigenous women, women belonging to ethnic, national, sexual or religious minorities, and women human rights defenders;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Women in rural areas are often disproportionately affected by the lack of adequate health and social services and inequitable access to land and natural resources. Similarly, their situation in conflict settings presents particular challenges with regard to their employment and reintegration, given that it is often exacerbated by the breakdown of services, resulting in food insecurity, inadequate shelter, deprivation of property and lack of access to water. Widows, women with disabilities, older women, single women without family support and female-headed households are especially vulnerable to increased economic hardship owing to their disadvantaged situation, and often lack employment and means and opportunities for economic survival.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Gender-based violence also leads to multiple additional human rights violations, such as State or non-State attacks on women's rights defenders, which undermine women's equal and meaningful participation in political and public life. Conflict-related gender-based violence results in a vast range of physical and psychological consequences for women, such as injuries and disabilities, increased risk of HIV infection and risk of unwanted pregnancy resulting from sexual violence. There is a strong association between gender-based violence and HIV, including the deliberate transmission of HIV, used as a weapon of war, through rape.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- There may be cases in which States parties also have extraterritorial obligations of international cooperation, as set out in international law, such as treaty law on women with disabilities (art. 32 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), girls in armed conflict (art. 24 (4) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the first two optional protocols thereto) and the non-discriminatory enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights (arts. 2 (1), 11 (1), 22 and 23 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights). In such cases, the extraterritorial application of the Convention requires States to comply with the Convention in implementing those obligations.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Employers often regard older women as non-profitable investments for education and vocational training. Older women also do not have equal opportunities to learn modern information technology, nor the resources to obtain them. Many poor older women, especially those with disabilities and those living in rural areas, are denied the right to education and receive little or no formal or informal education. Illiteracy and innumeracy can severely restrict older women's full participation in public and political life, the economy, and access to a range of services, entitlements and recreational activities.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- States parties should adopt special programmes tailored to the physical, mental, emotional and health needs of older women, with special focus on women belonging to minorities and women with disabilities, as well as women tasked with caring for grandchildren and other young family dependants due to the migration of young adults, and women caring for family members living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- In order to support legal reform and policy formulation, States parties are urged to collect, analyse and disseminate data disaggregated by age and sex, so as to have information on the situation of older women, including those living in rural areas, areas of conflict, belonging to minority groups, and with disabilities. Such data should especially focus, among other issues, on poverty, illiteracy, violence, unpaid work, including care- giving to those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, migration, access to health care, housing, social and economic benefits and employment.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- States parties have an obligation to eliminate negative stereotyping and modify social and cultural patterns of conduct that are prejudicial and harmful to older women, so as to reduce the physical, sexual, psychological, verbal and economic abuse that older women, including those with disabilities, experience based on negative stereotyping and cultural practices.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Gender stereotyping, traditional and customary practices can have harmful impacts on all areas of the lives of older women, in particular those with disabilities, including family relationships, community roles, portrayal in the media, employers' attitudes, health care and other service providers, and can result in physical violence as well as psychological, verbal and financial abuse.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- States parties should adopt a comprehensive health-care policy aimed at protecting the health needs of older women in line with the Committee's general recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health. Such policy should ensure affordable and accessible health care to all older women through, where appropriate, the elimination of user fees, training of health workers in geriatric illnesses, provision of medicine to treat age-related chronic and non-communicable diseases, long-term health and social care, including care that allows for independent living and palliative care. Long-term care provisions should include interventions promoting behavioural and lifestyle changes to delay the onset of health problems, such as healthy nutritional practices and an active lifestyle, and affordable access to health-care services, including screening for and treatment of diseases, in particular those most prevalent among older women. Health policies must also ensure that health care provided to older women, including those with disabilities, is based on the free and informed consent of the person concerned.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- States parties should provide older women with information on their rights and how to access legal services. They should train the police, judiciary as well as legal aid and paralegal services on the rights of older women, and sensitize and train public authorities and institutions on age- and gender-related issues that affect older women. Information, legal services, effective remedies and reparation must be made equally available and accessible to older women with disabilities.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Women are fewer in the formal employment sector. Women also tend to be paid less than men for the same work or work of equal value. Moreover, gender-based discrimination in employment throughout their life has a cumulative impact in old age, forcing older women to face disproportionately lower incomes and pensions, or even no pension, compared with men. In general comment No. 19, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes that non-contributory pensions will be required in most States since it is unlikely that everyone will be covered by contributory schemes (para. 4 (b)), while article 28, paragraph 2 (b) of the Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities provides for social protection for older women, particularly those with disabilities. Since the old-age pension payable is usually closely linked to earnings during active life, older women often end up with lower pensions compared with men. Furthermore, older women are particularly affected by discrimination on the basis of age and sex, which results in a different mandatory retirement age than that for men. Women should be subject to an optional retirement age so as to protect older women's right to continue working if they wish to and to accumulate pension benefits, where applicable, at par with men. It is a known fact that many older women care for, and are sometimes the sole caregivers of, dependent young children, spouses/partners or elderly parents or relatives. The financial and emotional cost of this unpaid care is rarely recognized.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Older women and protection of their human rights 2010, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- States parties have an obligation to draft legislation recognizing and prohibiting violence, including domestic, sexual violence and violence in institutional settings, against older women, including those with disabilities. States parties have an obligation to investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of violence against older women, including those committed as a result of traditional practices and beliefs.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Women and health 1999, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Women with disabilities, of all ages, often have difficulty with physical access to health services. Women with mental disabilities are particularly vulnerable, while there is limited understanding, in general, of the broad range of risks to mental health to which women are disproportionately susceptible as a result of gender discrimination, violence, poverty, armed conflict, dislocation and other forms of social deprivation. States parties should take appropriate measures to ensure that health services are sensitive to the needs of women with disabilities and are respectful of their human rights and dignity.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 1999
Paragraph
Women and health 1999, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The Committee is concerned about the conditions of health-care services for older women, not only because women often live longer than men and are more likely than men to suffer from disabling and degenerative chronic diseases, such as osteoporosis and dementia, but because they often have the responsibility for their ageing spouses. Therefore, States parties should take appropriate measures to ensure the access of older women to health services that address the handicaps and disabilities associated with ageing.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 1999
Paragraph
Women and health 1999, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- The Committee refers also to its earlier general recommendations on female circumcision, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), disabled women, violence against women and equality in family relations, all of which refer to issues that are integral to full compliance with article 12 of the Convention.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 1999
Paragraph
Disabled Women 1991, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Affirming its support for the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons (1982),
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 1991
Paragraph