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Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- While assessment of the impact of such measures was not uniform, and questions remained about whether the gendered analysis and approach to the crisis had deep impacts on the reconstruction of the economy, it can be said that the gender-sensitive response of the Government pre-empted a regression in welfare and women’s rights that had usually accompanied austerity measures. In addition, knowledge of the gendered and intersectional dimensions of crises and the effectiveness of the responses was enhanced through monitoring and data collection. The policies undertaken in response to the crisis demonstrated not only an uncompromising commitment to gender equality but also an acknowledgment of its centrality to a healthy, robust and resilient society.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- Community education programmes are a key component of the implementation strategy. In this case, a robust pilot project on public legal education included community training on the decision and the related girls’ rights and police obligations; awareness-raising events including drama/theatre and panel discussions; rights-training for children; a smartphone application giving details on the steps to take in rape investigations; and public awareness materials, including billboards, radio and television programmes, social media outreach and short videos on the Internet. These measures have been replicated in other parts of the country.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- While the ongoing efforts of project partners have ensured sustained impacts, the context of endemic sexualized violence against girls and women continues to be an issue. Those regions of the country that face heightened security issues present challenges, and it remains to be demonstrated whether there can be shifts in public sentiment regarding rape of women. A highly active civil society ensures that courts continue to be used to push for progress on the implementation of girls’ rights and on State responsibility for protecting children against sexual violence. However, it is unclear whether civil society organizations bear a disproportionate burden vis-à-vis the State, and whether the enabling context for such organizations will be maintained. Challenges include ensuring ongoing sources of funding for the project and decreasing reliance on overseas funding.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Women’s participation and self-determination in the development and application of the laws that shape the parameters of their lives is a human right. Supporting the existence of and collaborative engagement with autonomous women’s movements is a core component of State obligation to end discrimination against women. The case studies investigated for the present report demonstrate the centrality of an active citizenry, autonomous women’s movements and civil society organizations with progressive frameworks that align with women’s human rights standards as key factors in achieving positive changes in the development and application of the law.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Health is defined by the World Health Organization as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being”. Women’s rights to equality and to the highest attainable standards of health, including those related to reproductive and sexual health, and the interconnected right to a life free of violence are enshrined in international and regional human rights instruments and reaffirmed in international consensus agreements, yet remain among the most contested and violated women’s human rights standards. Gender-based violence and the instrumentalization and politicization of women’s bodies and women’s health agenda continue to undermine the fulfilment of women’s human rights throughout the world. These violations, fed by patriarchal ideologies and stereotypes that reduce women to means of reproduction or sexual objects, undermine women’s autonomy and self-determination, affecting the fulfilment of their human rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 108
- Paragraph text
- Resource allocation to support the progressive implementation of women’s human rights is part of State obligation. States must undertake a process of gender budgeting to ensure that their legal and policy commitments bear results. Key limiting factors of the good practices identified were insufficient funds, disproportionate burden of implementation on non-government actors and dependence on large-scale or single donor international funding resources. While involvement of autonomous women’s organizations has been seen as essential in the implementation of rights, the relationship between State and non-State actors should involve complementary efforts. Even States with limited resources make key decisions that support the implementation of rights when political will is present to do so. Budget allocation, whether originating from the State or a donor, must take into account the longitudinal nature of change to ensure that promising practices are not arrested before they can fully come into fruition.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Women’s rights advocates pointed to some areas of concern in the constitutional framework that were illustrative of the ongoing political and cultural struggle between the protection and contestation of conservative gender roles. While a single State religion was recognized and protected in the Constitution, it also includes provisions reiterating that the country was a civil State based on the primacy of law that promoted moderation and tolerance. How those potentially conflicting interests would work out in practice remained to be seen, particularly given that the constitutional courts were not yet in place.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 111b
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Ensure the active participation of women of all sectors of society in monitoring and implementing human rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- Project reviews and research have showed a profound impact on police-community relations, with open dialogue and collaboration promoting enhanced understanding and cooperation on issues of concern. The civil society organization has reported attitudinal and behavioural shifts that have exceeded their expectations. The police have developed a better understanding of the physical security issues that women in the community face, and have helped to increase access to relevant domestic violence and sexual assault resources, including shelters.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The case studies offer both practical and conceptual insights into good practices and have the potential to serve as road maps. Some are promising practices that have not fully come into fruition or that have been derailed but are nevertheless illustrative and important for understanding what is required to develop and sustain good practices in the elimination of discrimination. Although contexts vary, core principles that create ameliorating environments for women’s human rights are transferable, even when a practice is not directly replicable.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- As the law had been enacted quickly and without supportive measures, many challenges arose. This included the placing of women as proxy candidates for male politicians; patriarchal and ethnic divisions that led to active exclusion of elected women representatives; a lack of appropriate support and skills development to address widespread illiteracy among rural women; a democratic deficit due to the history of exclusion from public life; women’s lack of self-perception as leaders; and a backlash in the form of harassment, social exclusion and gender-based violence. It was also found that many elected women representatives were unlikely to contest elections more than once.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Consideration of good practices in a global context requires an expansive approach to looking at the law and its implementation, to allow for inclusion of diverse practices reflective of varied political and legal systems and to support the identification of creative methods of supporting rights-fulfilment. Therefore, the present report includes not only all those constitutional, legislative and other rules and norms that are considered law in different legal systems, but also judicial review, legislative reform, litigation and case law, policy but also institutional reform, human rights monitoring, religious or cultural hermeneutic projects, partnership agreements between State and non-State actors, local, national and regional legal frameworks.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Significant progress in legal and policy frameworks for women’s rights has been made in the past decades. Nevertheless, while many countries have undertaken to repeal discriminatory laws, such laws persist in many parts of the world. Severely discriminatory laws and practices remain in particular areas of women’s human rights that continue to be contested, such as sexual and reproductive rights and equal rights in the family. Discriminatory laws also exist where the law is used punitively against women to maintain patriarchal values or to criminalize women’s struggles for their rights. In all contexts, there are ongoing challenges to the inclusion of an intersectoral approach to women’s full equality. Even in areas where the legal framework has advanced, or in societies with extensive and robust gender equality laws and policies, the test lies in the ability to implement progressive laws in practice. Innumerable barriers remain on many levels, not least of which is the male-controlled and discriminatory environment within which laws are operationalized. A good law requires a fully ameliorating environment in which it can be meaningfully implemented. No matter how strongly the law is drafted, it is filtered through the biases and limitations of the individuals and institutions, public and private, responsible for grounding it in reality, compounded by a social environment that disadvantages women through the perpetuation of historical discrimination, the patriarchal construction of gender and the perpetuation of stereotypes and prejudices. These factors must be considered closely when identifying which laws have become good practices.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 102
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group’s assessment of good practices in eliminating discrimination against women reaffirms the imperative that international human rights standards must be incorporated into national law and laws that contradict those principles must be repealed or modified, without exceptions based on cultural grounds, including cultural and customary grounds. Constitutional provisions that support gender equality create the foundation from which women’s rights can most comprehensively be supported throughout the legal system. States must also take measures to ensure that international and constitutional standards for women’s equality are infused at all levels of the legal framework, especially in federated and pluralistic legal systems.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Women’s right to equality in economic and social life as enshrined in multiple human rights treaties is substantive, immediate and enforceable. States are obliged to act with due diligence to prevent discrimination of those rights by any actors and to ensure their fulfilment. Yet women continue to experience discrimination in all areas of economic and social life. The feminization of poverty, particularly in contexts of crisis and austerity, is a well-documented phenomenon. Gender stereotypes perpetuate women’s economic and social marginalization, exclude them from the labour market and place a disproportionate burden on them for unpaid, low paid or informal work. Intersectional discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, age, disability, sexual identity or orientation, among others, disproportionately marginalizes particular groups of women.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- The Constitutional Court used its power to assess implementation of its own judgment, issuing two further orders on the rights of displaced women. In 2008, the Court handed down a decision that was considered a global pioneer in the treatment of sexual violence during internal armed conflict. It identified 10 risks that forcibly displaced women faced, including extreme risk of sexual violence, and 18 gender facets of displacement, including patterns of discrimination and violence. Accordingly, the Court ordered the Government to create and implement 13 programmes with a gender-sensitive approach, including violence prevention, the right to health and education and access to land, justice and reparations. The Court also took an intersectoral approach, highlighting heightened risks faced by girls, indigenous, black and community women leaders, and women with disabilities. The Court ordered the allocation of sufficient resources to guarantee implementation of the programmes, refusing to recognize lack of budget as valid justification for non-compliance.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- In 2015, the Court issued an order declaring the persistence of failures in the assistance, protection and access to justice for women victims of sexual violence. That decision consolidated the constitutional framework to address the gendered impact of armed conflict on the forced displacement of women in the country. That protection framework — effectively transforming a government response to forced displacement using a gender perspective — is a pioneering example globally. That extraordinary achievement was partly due to the longstanding efforts by Latin American women’s movements to strengthen the capacities of the constitutional courts in the field of women’s rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- The new Constitution, adopted in 2014, enshrined the equality of the sexes before the law without discrimination and committed the State to protecting and strengthening gains in women’s rights, guaranteeing the equality of opportunities in all domains and protecting against legal regression. Another progressive measure was the inclusion of the principle of parity in elected assemblies and a clear statement that men and women alike could run for president. The progressive framework of the constitution was protected in article 49, which affirmed that no amendment could undermine the human rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- The bottom-up approach of the practice, which was developed at the impetus of women’s organizations — while demonstrative of the innovative means used by the community to address the structural reality of the situation of violence and discrimination in which they live — has raised the question as to why grave and well-documented human rights violations have not been addressed on a systematic or institutional level within the federal police and Government. Political will to support, expand and institutionalize this good practice is required for its replication and sustainability. In all post- and ongoing colonial contexts, the disproportionate and intersectional discrimination faced by indigenous women, often aided and abetted by legal systems, must be systematically addressed by State duty holders.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- Financial and institutional support for promising and good practices must be maintained to ensure ongoing impact of results.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 101
- Paragraph text
- Good practices in the eradication of discrimination against women in law and practice comprise a complex, multifaceted endeavour involving a wide range of interconnected rights. A good practice cannot be understood in isolation from its context and other complementary measures undertaken to promote substantive equality. The living-law approach renders visible the wide range of factors and actors involved in the process of good practice development. Each good practice case study explored in the present report has contributed to key lessons learned that are both specific to the case and that contain transferable principles that inform the present conclusions. These lessons learned also reinforce the conclusions reached by the Working Group on the basis of regional and global research in its thematic reports and various country visits.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Good practices in this area require a differentiated approach in order to meet women’s particular needs, influenced by biological functions and social constructions of gender alike. The instrumentalization of women’s bodies, particularly as regarding sexual and reproductive health, and the ongoing normalization of violence against women must be combatted through rights-based measures that put women’s right to dignity, autonomy and self-determination at the core of legal and policy undertakings.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Naming a “good practice” is a complex process. The purpose of investigating and sharing good practices is to help build collective knowledge and public recognition of the steps and processes States must undertake to fulfil their obligations under international human rights law. States’ duty to respect, protect and fulfil women’s human rights are requirements of human rights law. Good practices illustrate the ways and means to implement human rights most effectively in diverse contexts. When good practices are viewed in isolation from the breadth of actions and actors involved in processes of social change, they can lose their power as a source of learning and fail to enhance collective knowledge of what it takes to bring human rights principles into reality.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group stresses that human rights are universal while recognizing that good practices must reflect the multiple contexts of diverse stakeholders. Frameworks of analysis thus require flexibility and creativity to capture the full complexity of any practice, including both its successes and shortcomings. This emphasis on context also requires a robust consideration of current challenges to human rights implementation on a global, regional, national and local scale. This contextualized consideration of challenges and search for good practices in no way derogates from the assertion in the Vienna Declaration that women’s rights are human rights and “all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated”.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which has been ratified almost universally and is considered by many jurists to be part of customary international law, determines that States have the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil women’s right to non-discrimination and to the enjoyment of equality in all fields. Those rights are also enshrined in other international and regional human rights conventions. The scope of the Convention includes and goes beyond de jure discrimination, requiring nothing less than substantive equality, or women’s full de facto enjoyment of their rights. National legal frameworks must be developed, adopted and implemented from a holistic rights-based approach that addresses the fullness of State obligation, including: (a) respecting rights by repealing and eliminating laws or any other State action that directly or indirectly discriminate against women; (b) protecting rights by acting with due diligence to ensure that neither State or non-State actors violate women’s rights and ensuring redress for violations; and (c) fulfilling rights by ensuring that laws and attendant policies contain comprehensive measures to guarantee their meaningful implementation and impact on women’s empowerment. The scope of State obligation under the Convention requires active measures to combat patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes that shape an environment in which discrimination against women is tolerated and normalized, both in the law and in the application of the law. The Convention demands multi-pronged strategies to promote social change, not only isolated actions to improve women’s access to existing systems. States are obliged to establish a strong legal infrastructure to support women’s de jure and de facto equality as an important step in the cultivation of good practices.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- The following case study was from the Asia region. Despite strong constitutional guarantees for “equal status of opportunity” and non-discrimination on multiple grounds, discrimination against women remained deeply entrenched. This resulted in women’s exclusion from political and public life, particularly in rural areas and among ethnic minorities and marginalized groups of women. In 1993, in an effort to address structural barriers to women’s participation in political and public life, the State had adopted a constitutional amendment mandating one-third reservations for women — including women from historically disenfranchised groups — in village and district councils throughout the country. Consequently, the 1994 elections had brought nearly 1 million elected women representatives into local governance bodies.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Cultural rights are central to the realization of women’s human rights. Culture is neither homogenous nor immutable but is often presented as being so, and hence as creating an irrevocable barrier to equality rights for women. States have obligations to recognize and actively combat the deep entrenchment of patriarchal culture based on gender stereotypes in legal, political, religious, social and cultural institutions. While this obligation applies to all aspects of life, patriarchal gender stereotypes are often firmly entrenched in laws and social norms governing family, and often reinforced by religious authorities.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Good practices in cultural and family life require a guarantee of women’s right to equality in autonomy and self-determination and the legal and social recognition of women as agents of cultural change. Legal and cultural norms that subjugate women to male control must be actively challenged and eradicated. States must endeavour to repeal all discriminatory provisions in the law, particularly those governing marriage and divorce, child-rearing, inheritance, freedom of movement, access to capital, credit and income-generating activities. In addition to the elimination of direct discrimination, good practices in this area require that States take active measures to support substantive equality through the law and long-term awareness-raising initiatives directed towards the eradication of patriarchal stereotypes and attitudes.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The following case study originated in Eastern Europe, in a State that had undertaken a lengthy legislative and institutional reform process since gaining independence in 1991. In a predominantly patriarchal context, attempts to introduce and support legal and policy frameworks for gender equality had faced significant opposition. Subsequent to a review in 2009 by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Government adopted a gender policy concept paper and strategic action plan for the period 2011-2015, including provisions for gender sensitization of teachers and educational curriculum.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- According to evaluations, despite its short duration, the project’s focus on education is a promising practice for a number of reasons. First, what started as a civil society organization initiative attracted the institutional support of the National Institute of Education and the Ministry of Education and Science in the dissemination of the educational guidebook in schools, the development of the teacher training module and the roll-out of training sessions. In addition, the undertaking created a political space for civil society organizations and public authorities to take action in a challenging context, allowing meaningful steps towards fulfilling the objectives of the strategic action plan.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- The following case study, originating in a country of the Middle East and North Africa Region, highlights the central role of women’s autonomous organizing in promoting political and legal changes to eradicate discrimination against women and to promote substantive equality. The country had a long history of Government-led reform promoting gender equality in the law. This included broad legal reforms granting women autonomy and self-determination in public and family life, with progressive provisions in terms of sexual and reproductive rights. Women’s organizations had previously existed, but the political climate did not support autonomy. Growing authoritarianism in the regime and the prevalence of discriminatory attitudes had diminished the transformation of women’s traditional roles and the attainment of substantive equality. In 2011, a political revolution led by social movements brought about the downfall of the Government and led to the democratization of the State.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 104
- Paragraph text
- Changing the law to meet the State obligation to respect and protect women’s human rights are key steps, but investigations show that fulfilling rights remains the most challenging facet of this triad. The fulfilment of women’s human rights requires substantive shifts in deeply entrenched social and cultural norms that reinforce gender stereotypes and perpetuate women’s subordination. As the Working Group has emphasized, the State must act as an agent of change as regards to women’s place in cultural and family life. The fulfilment of progressive legal frameworks requires strong political will, supported by appropriate resources, and attendant measures focused on attitudinal and behavioural change that cultivate an environment in which good practices can thrive. Change must be transferred from the normative level into all sectors of society so that duty and rights holders alike are able to internalize the shifts required to support human rights implementation.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 112b
- Paragraph text
- [It is essential to ensure that a robust constitutional and legal framework is in place to support long-term rights implementation and to weather challenges that may come from regressive political or ideological forces that threaten to undermine progress. The Working Group recommends that States:] Apply the good practices framework for the creation and maintenance of a safe and enabling environment for civil society developed in the report of the High Commissioner (A/HRC/32/20), with a gender-sensitive lens that takes into account the unique position and challenges faced by women’s human rights defenders;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- The cases are organized under the themes of the Working Group’s reports to date, with a fifth section highlighting a salient theme that emerged from the research process: the role of autonomous women’s organizing. Owing to space limitations, each case is offered in summary format; more detailed renderings are included in an appendix to the report available on the Group’s website.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- A strong human rights-based constitutional framework for equality, a progressive judiciary, an active autonomous civil society and an environment conducive to public interest litigation are important complementary factors in the development of good practices.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- While these measures alone will not achieve substantive equality, intervention in the education system is projected to bear fruit in terms of creating a positive environment for social discussion of and support for gender equality issues. Preliminary outcome studies of training programmes in two regions of the country demonstrated shifts in attitudes towards gender equality and violence against women, but the curriculum and training policies have not yet been applied uniformly across the country, limiting systemic impact.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group wishes to express gratitude for the information submitted by diverse stakeholders in response to its questionnaire. In order to ensure diverse inputs, the Group also benefitted from the support of a team of researchers based in all regions of the world, coordinated by the Women’s Human Rights Education Institute. It also held consultations with States, civil society organizations and United Nations entities when support was available. The enormous amount of data received goes well beyond the bounds of the present report and is available on the Group’s website.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- In its decision, the Court recognized that the girls’ constitutional rights had been violated and that the police had failed to act with due diligence as agents of the State. The police force was ordered to implement article 244 of the Constitution, requiring them to train staff to the highest possible standards of competence and integrity and to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and dignity. Police officers were ordered to investigate the perpetrators of the 11 applicants and to ensure effective investigations in all child rape claims. As at early 2016, 80 per cent of such cases had resulted in convictions, while others were pending before courts and additional investigations had been initiated. The judgment has been referenced in other cases, including an important class action suit by victims of post-election violence, and the high courts have issued further progressive decisions on related grounds.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- What makes this case study a uniquely good practice is that, rather than ending with a court decision, the coalition of organizations involved continued to work together to expand that decision into a comprehensive movement for change. The 160 Girls Project developed as a result of the case centres on training and education programmes involving police, shelters, social workers and community members to ensure a multi-level long-term impact. A rape investigation training programme for police was developed that included a peer-to-peer train-the-trainers element with international police officers and ongoing training from equality lawyers and the national human rights commission. Research has shown positive impacts, including documented attitudinal changes and increased professionalism in the handling of child rape cases. Furthermore, training programmes have been developed for shelter workers on documenting sexual violence cases and the rights of victims.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 109a
- Paragraph text
- [There are multiple entry points to change the law and ensure effective implementation of laws guaranteeing women’s right to equality, including through the initiative of women rights holders and autonomous women’s organizations in civil society. The Working Group recommends that States:] Take every measure to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its Optional Protocol, withdraw reservations thereto, incorporate its provisions into national constitutions and all hierarchies of domestic law, and actively seek to implement recommendations made by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Working Group and other relevant human rights mechanisms in view of improving the realization of women’s human rights;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 112a
- Paragraph text
- [It is essential to ensure that a robust constitutional and legal framework is in place to support long-term rights implementation and to weather challenges that may come from regressive political or ideological forces that threaten to undermine progress. The Working Group recommends that States:] Recognize the crucial role of autonomous women’s organizing in the development of good practices, and endeavour to create a legal, policy and budgetary framework to support autonomous civil society organizations, women’s movements, and citizen participation in legal development, reform and implementation;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 109c
- Paragraph text
- [There are multiple entry points to change the law and ensure effective implementation of laws guaranteeing women’s right to equality, including through the initiative of women rights holders and autonomous women’s organizations in civil society. The Working Group recommends that States:] Improve the knowledge-base on good practices by providing the ways and means to support initiatives that apply a living-law approach to evaluating outcomes and impact of laws, and record detailed results for the sharing of promising and good practices.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 110
- Paragraph text
- The cultivation of a culture of human rights is needed for social change and requires specific measures that draw from the richness and complexity of particular contexts and histories, and that involve all sectors of society, including autonomous women’s movements. As exemplified by the cases in the present report, good practices result from sustained processes that benefit from the dynamic interaction brought by a diverse range of actors and involve responsivity to changing situations in order to ensure ongoing fulfilment of equal rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group found that many examples cited as good practices in law did not show the process by which they were established, or the many factors and diverse actors that enabled the practice to come into being. In the present report, the Group undertakes to focus on the process of developing the ways and means to implement women’s right to equality. To understand what is required to support gender equality from a holistic approach, both quantitative and qualitative data are equally necessary, and, given the long-term process of social change, an historical perspective is important.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Given these complexities, the Working Group proposes a methodology for identifying good practices by investigating partial and substantial victories in the realization of women’s human rights with a view to decoding the full breadth of actors, initiatives and milestones required to fully implement State obligations under international human rights law. Rather than making generalizations about indicators of good practice, the Group’s research process focused on investigating and documenting promising and good practices in all regions of the world by applying a living-law approach.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The following case study originated in a country in the Western region with a strong commitment to gender equality, owing in large part to a history of organization by women’s that contributed to a wide acceptance of feminism in society and shaped progressive government policies. Nevertheless, inequality included a persistent gender wage gap; high gender segregation of the labour market, including women’s low leadership levels in the private sector; and prevalent gender-based violence.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- Despite this extraordinary protection framework, implementation has faced challenges. Women victims of sexual violence still faced barriers to filing reports and receiving adequate care and protection, particularly in remote areas. There was still heightened violence against displaced women linked to the illegal exploitation of mining resources or on the basis of their sexual orientation. Continued efforts were needed to ensure ongoing progress in a complex and dynamic context.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- The question of how to identify good practices in ending discrimination against women is particularly poignant at this historical juncture, where a profound backlash against hard-won progress is occurring in all spheres. The continuing rise of fundamentalisms of all kinds and openly misogynistic, racist, xenophobic and populist voices, including Governments, is of grave concern to the Working Group. Efforts to re-entrench patriarchal understandings of sex, gender and family into the law point to important questions about sustaining progress and ensuring that good practices continue to be possible in fraught contexts. Ongoing attacks on autonomous women’s movements, civil society organizations, independent academia, public interest lawyers and women’s human rights defenders by State and non-State actors alike underscore the importance of not only protecting and supporting the crucial role of women human rights defenders, but also identifying those good practices which uphold human rights gains.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Good practice in promoting women’s equality and empowerment in economic and social life requires measures that support equal opportunity, accommodation for gender-specific needs and equal enjoyment of benefits. In accordance with international standards, equal opportunities, equal pay for work of equal value, paid maternity leave in accordance with international standards and parental leave for both men and women must be legally mandated in both formal and informal employment sectors. Women must be fully integrated into economic policymaking both at the State level and in financial institutions that determine economic policy in practice.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Nonetheless, social awareness of women’s issues in the country was uniquely strong, creating an ameliorating environment for mobilization around feminist analyses of social, political and economic issues. This was evidenced in 2008 when the complete collapse of the country’s banking system led to a major financial crisis. Widespread protests precipitated a change in Government and led to the election of a feminist Government headed by a woman, who appointed women to most cabinet roles, including the Ministries of the Economy and Finance. The new administration commissioned an analysis of the banking crisis to build upon existing feminist critiques of the masculinist financial culture of unfettered risk and neoliberal policies as major causative factors. The research confirmed those critiques and highlighted the effects of increasing privatization of political power among predominantly male, private-sector elites, whose actions had precipitated the crisis.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Between 2009 and 2013, the Government introduced temporary measures to counter the shifting effects of the crisis on women and men. As a result of pressure to cover the foreign debt that had been accumulated by national banks, the Government made cuts in infrastructure such as health care and primary education, as well as in family benefits such as parental leave. However, the resulting funds were strategically used to provide nominal increases in basic unemployment benefits, social protection allowances and disability pensions to shelter individuals most affected by the resource cuts. Elderly women and women with disabilities were the major beneficiaries, and women made up almost two-thirds of unemployment benefits claimants. In addition, measures to tackle household debt by sheltering low-income and single-parent households from losing their disposable earnings benefitted women, as they were likely to feature more prominently in both categories.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Concurrently, the Government maintained a focus on long-term measures to promote gender equality, including the introduction of gender-responsive budgeting, the appointment of gender equality experts within different ministries, the adoption of quotas on the boards of corporations and plans of action for gender equality and violence prevention. The Government also established monitoring mechanisms, such as a gender equality watch and a welfare watch. The welfare watch — which initially operated from 2009 to 2013 under the Ministry of Welfare and a steering committee of experts from Government, labour groups, academia, the financial sector, teachers’ unions, civil society organizations and stakeholders — was in charge of assessing the most pressing welfare issues to be addressed and proposing gender-responsive measures. The model was recognized as innovative and effective.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group appreciates that significant work has been done by other human rights mechanisms and United Nations agencies to gather good practices in the context of their work. It notes that there is no harmonized understanding of how to identify and investigate good practices, particularly in the context of the elimination of discrimination against women. Building on existing work in this area, the Group seeks to articulate its experience and expertise to further the conversation on methodological understandings of “good practices” and/or “promising practices” in the context of ending discrimination against women, to identify and share examples of good practices that serve as creative inspiration for the implementation of women’s human rights in multiple contexts, and to open an ongoing engagement process of collective knowledge-building in this area.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- While insufficient time has elapsed since adoption of the 2014 Constitution to fully assess its impacts, the crucial importance of this broad legal umbrella for women’s equality cannot be overstated. Translating constitutional protections into reality will require the ongoing harmonized efforts of the Government and civil society. Some constitutional provisions have yet to be entrenched in the law, such as the stalled adoption of a law on violence against women, which was being discussed in Parliament at the time of writing. In the area of political participation, a 2016 amendment to the electoral law implanted the constitutional principle of political parity into law. Applying to municipal and regional elections, the law included “vertical and horizontal gender parity”, guaranteeing a 50/50 split and alternation to ensure leadership positions for women. Elections scheduled to be held in 2017 thus open the way for a massive entry of women into local politics, creating huge potential for social transformation if well supported and sustained.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Women were also mobilized through the establishment of an ongoing meeting platform for elected female representatives at the village level designed to support them in preparation for making policy recommendations at the main village council meetings. Given their success, these meeting platforms have been legally mandated since 2012, requiring all local governments to hold such meetings in advance of general village meetings. Additionally, the legal framework was further fortified through State-level laws entrenching or boosting the quota from one-third to 50 per cent, including leadership positions. A draft constitutional amendment in 2009 sought to raise the requirement to parity within all elected positions nationwide, but the bill lapsed.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Research overwhelmingly indicated that the presence of women in rural governance has had positive impacts on key gendered concerns, including the improvement of health services, water and sanitation facilities, and microcredit schemes for women. Issues related to discrimination and violence against women were also being addressed by women representatives. Additional research showed significant impacts on attitudinal changes and in the elimination of gender stereotypes, demonstrated in shifts in the organization of labour in households, women’s self-perception and increased societal support for girls’ education and future aspirations. These correlations increased in villages where women chairs had been elected a second time.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 103
- Paragraph text
- To ensure that laws facilitate good practices in the elimination of discrimination and women’s empowerment, a systematic gender analysis of the law and its potential impacts, as well as outcomes, is imperative. Gender analysis of existing and draft laws through the input of diverse stakeholders and the sharing of good practices must be undertaken comprehensively and regularly. This requires capacity-building on a rights-based gender analysis for duty holders in all spheres and meaningful collaboration with an autonomous civil society that includes women’s organizations and legal experts on women’s rights. In addition, it requires ongoing independent monitoring and research by national human rights institutions, treaty bodies, special procedure mandate holders, scholars and other experts.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- Women’s organizations played an important role in achieving the goals of the revolution and continued to play an active role in the emergence of a new vision for gender equality. The post-revolution period generated significant public debate during the drafting of a new constitution. Women’s movements worked to keep women on the agenda, introducing a draft feminist constitution early in 2012 that they were invited to present to the National Constituent Assembly. They continued to advocate and mobilize society to oppose regressive elements, maintaining pressure for strong gender equality provisions. In 2012, women successfully organized against article 2.28 of the draft constitution, which had established the complementarity of men and women, rather than the right to equality. The women’s movements, with the assistance of the Working Group through its communications and a country visit, brought about a revision of the draft constitution. That victory was a key factor in the development of a rights-based constitutional framework for gender equality.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- Women and civil society organizations responded to the Constitutional Court’s request to participate in the design and implementation of the decisions. This resulted in the collective development of indicators to monitor the 2004 order and the establishment of a working group to monitor compliance with the orders, which was essential in assessing the implementation of the decisions and in providing technical assistance for the implementation of government programmes. Civil society organizations also operated numerous programmes that provided humanitarian, legal and psychosocial support to displaced women and their families. Those organizations also used international human rights mechanisms to keep a spotlight on displaced women, and carried the topic into recent peace negotiation processes. The 2016 peace agreement addressed many of the demands in the three decisions, contributing to their sustainability.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- In one State in the Western Europe and others group, indigenous women and girls continued to be the target of racially motivated sexual and gender-based violence that began with colonization, as affirmed in a 2015 inquiry report by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in which the Committee noted grave and systemic violations of indigenous women’s rights, exacerbated by entrenched discrimination that impeded access to justice. In a rural, predominantly indigenous region of the State, a series of high-profile cases, including the acquittal of federal police officers for sexual assault and the death of an indigenous man in police custody, had led to the mobilization of civil society organizations and public outcry, precipitating a government review of the police force in 2010. Local women’s organizations lobbied for inclusion in order to push for an improved response by the justice system to violence against women.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- A somewhat unconventional approach to the economic crisis was thus grounded in a gender analysis that focused on maintaining gains in equality as part of the economic recovery process. It combined temporary policy and executive decisions aimed at preventing disproportionate effects on women and vulnerable sectors of the population with mechanisms and measures for ongoing monitoring and data collection to ascertain impact. Simultaneously, the Government prioritized the implementation of long-term legal and policy measures to strengthen gender equality.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- In 2013, Parliament passed a law on the equal rights and equal opportunities of women and men. The law reiterated the constitutional guarantee of gender equality, defined gender discrimination and contained provisions against direct and indirect discrimination. However, the law generated a great deal of social controversy and backlash because of the perception that it represented an attack on “family values”. Women’s civil society organizations became targets of harassment and protests erupted, with demonstrators calling the law “national treason”.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- That civil society organization navigated the challenging context by building strategic partnerships with experts and Government. Together with educational experts, they developed a theoretical and practical educational guidebook entitled “Women and Men: Different but Equal”, which was subsequently approved for use by the Ministry of Education and Science. It supported the incorporation of gender curricula into mandatory courses, such as social studies, and included discussion of gender, reproductive rights and violence prevention.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Good practice requires: (a) the removal of barriers, whether cultural, economic, institutional or religious, preventing women from having an equal opportunity to gain access to positions of power at all levels; (b) the elimination of disempowering stereotypes, misogyny and violence against women in public and private spheres; (c) parity for women in decision-making forums; (d) and gender-sensitive mainstreaming of policymaking processes, including budgeting.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- The introduction of quotas provided a strong and unassailable legal prerogative for women’s inclusion in local-level political bodies. However, the legal framework on its own was insufficient to ensure the meaningful political participation of women until the introduction of complementary measures, integrally involving civil society organizations, that addressed the patriarchal context and women’s historical disenfranchisement and ongoing discrimination.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- While this good practice has enabled the participation of more than 10 million rural women in local politics, it has not led to greater political participation of women at higher levels of governance. Indeed, the Government has yet to be successful in adopting quotas or parity laws for women at higher levels of government, raising questions regarding the limits and sustainability of continued growth in women’s political participation and access to power.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Policies must be implemented in tandem with quotas to mitigate the effects of historical discrimination and to support women’s success and impact in politics, including capacity-building performed in tandem with autonomous women’s organizations as well as regional or international partners.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 98
- Paragraph text
- Legal frameworks and partnership protocols that formalize the collaboration and participation of citizen or civil society organizations or autonomous women’s rights organizations in developing, monitoring and implementing the law, can help to address power imbalances on the basis of historical discrimination and can lead to meaningful change.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The adoption of parity laws or quotas for women is a good practice to combat the manifold barriers to women’s political participation and to ensure immediate representation of women in political bodies.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The integration of gender responsive measures and protection of social welfare systems during economic crises can protect women’s human rights gains and, at the same time, support healthy recovery.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group considers that laws may at times constitute good practices in and of themselves, but that more often they function as a component in the development of good practices. Constitutional amendments, laws or legal reforms, court decisions and the full range of ways in which laws are crafted and codified in diverse societies form an important piece of the “good practices” puzzle, and can have an immediate impact on de facto equality. A law can be “promising” or “good” in its crafting and articulation, and a court decision can be good, but for it to be considered a good practice, a wider context must be considered than can be found simply through analysis of a legal text. The Group is of the view that a good law usually becomes a good practice in conjunction with ancillary factors, such as the process by which it comes into being and is disseminated, operationalized and implemented. This is not to understate the importance of the law itself, but rather to emphasize that considerations of good practices cannot be based wholly on the legal texts themselves, but must be analysed in context, including tangible outcomes in lived reality.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The present report builds on the Working Group’s first six years of work, of which investigating good practices was a core undertaking. It is the fruit of a long-term process of inquiry and consultation undertaken with States, United Nations agencies and civil society. It is informed by the Group’s 4 thematic reports and 12 country visits, as well as data gathered through research and consultations held specifically for the present report.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The purpose of the compendium, an exercise that extends beyond merely compiling a series of good laws or legal amendments, is to explore good practices that promote the elimination of discrimination against women, supporting both de jure and de facto realization of rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- The presence of a solid constitutional court and an effective judicial remedy that enables citizens to demand their constitutional rights without undue cost or burden creates an enabling legal environment for addressing women’s human rights violations.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- The protocol is reviewed and adjusted annually by both parties to take into account challenges and shifting needs, ensuring ongoing responsivity to community concerns. Successes of the project have been shared with other women’s organizations, and a similar protocol has been subsequently adopted with the federal police force in the largest city in the region. Discussions are under way in other indigenous communities to press for similar protocols.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 111a
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Invest in long-term and multi-dimensional strategies to promote social change, including extensive training, educational and awareness-raising measures to promote a culture of human rights among right and duty holders alike;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group considers that the study of the ways and means by which those movements engage with processes of change involving the law merits in-depth consideration. Such investigation will reveal specific ways that States can create an ameliorating environment for and work collaboratively with autonomous women’s movements towards eliminating discrimination against women in law and in practice.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- The active participation of citizens and women’s organizations in the process of democratization and constitution drafting are key to the adoption of a progressive, rights-based constitutional framework that creates an enabling legal environment for women’s human rights implementation.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- Robust and detailed constitutional gender equality protections based on international human rights standards are essential for a strong and enforceable domestic legal framework, and the active intervention of human rights organizations at the request of civil society can contribute to achieving the gender equality goal.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The law is an essential mechanism for women’s enjoyment of human rights. Law is both informed by and the creator of norms in society. Laws determine the values and operating principles by which actions and behaviours are deemed acceptable, or criminalized and stigmatized, and can have an enabling or chilling effect on women’s human rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The right to participate in all areas of political and public life is an essential prerequisite for the fulfilment of many other rights. Despite progress in many States, women’s representation in elected office — especially at the senior level, the judiciary, civil service or in entities such as unions, national human rights institutions or international agencies, including the United Nations — falls short of the good practice standard of equal representation.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Efforts to sensitize society to women’s human rights issues and feminist analysis, and their inclusion in Government research and policy, create an ameliorating environment for progressive legal and policy development and implementation, in contrast to a masculinist financial culture of unfettered risk and neoliberal policies.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- The Government had achieved little progress in implementing the gender policy strategic action plan, owing in part to the public backlash and lack of resource allocation. A civil society organization from the women’s rights movement secured funds to launch a three-year project on gender sensitive education to address a social and cultural environment characterized by profound resistance to the concept of gender equality.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Project evaluation shows a need for further focus on planning, as well as measurable objectives and outcomes for the training. Resource allocation is also an issue. Currently, the teacher training has been institutionalized only as a one-hour module, despite calls for more comprehensive training. A greater investment of time is warranted to support attitudinal and behavioural changes.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Impact is attained through follow-up measures and sustained action, by both State and non-State actors. Progressive court decisions must be widely disseminated and popularized among duty holders and rights holders alike to have broader structural impact.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- Active participation of women rights holders and autonomous women’s organizations in the development, monitoring, assessment and implementation of judicial decisions and public policies is essential to ensuring responsivity and impact.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 107
- Paragraph text
- A key area of concern to the Working Group is the profound level of backlash against women’s human rights gains, which is on the rise both within States and in international spheres. In a climate of rising populism, xenophobia and fundamentalisms, long-established women’s human rights norms are being undermined, heightening the fragility of good practices in this context. In addition, a concurrent attack on women’s organizations, women’s human rights defenders and civil society movements — including feminist, environmental and human rights movements — creates an atmosphere in which these key actors are criminalized, de-funded and even killed, making the question of good practices moot. The Working Group emphasizes the importance of maintaining the autonomy of local and national movements and other civil society actors — including national human rights institutions, public interest lawyers and scholars — as an essential means of protecting and sustaining good practices. Backlashes within intergovernmental forums, as well as at the national level, must be challenged head-on by the international community.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- The partnership of autonomous women’s organizations and independent experts with expertise in women’s rights with public authorities is a key element of progressive policy implementation.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Public education and teacher training are a crucial entry point for addressing systemic discrimination and promoting a culture of human rights, undertaken in tandem with complementary measures for systemic change.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group, in establishing its conceptual framework and working methods (A/HRC/20/28), decided to use the term of “good” or “promising” practices rather than “best” practices, taking into account the complex contextual framework of the wide spectrum of good to bad practices.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- The gender-sensitive education initiative is a promising practice in a fraught context, but is not a stand-alone measure. The case study demonstrates that gender equality cannot be fully achieved through sectorial approaches, but instead requires the creation of an enabling environment animated by comprehensive long-term measures emphasizing the interconnectedness of women’s rights in order to yield both legal and social change.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- Measures involving groups of women who experience intersectional discrimination, such as indigenous women, must be developed in accordance with an intersectional, gender-sensitive human rights perspective and engage with women as stakeholders.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 106
- Paragraph text
- The developmental process of a good practice over longer periods of time means that political shifts in national or international governance can adversely affect sustainability.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- The following case study from the African region elucidates the myriad factors required to develop and maintain a good practice in addressing violence against girls, as well as the attendant impacts on the right to health, safety and access to justice, among others. The background to the case begins with a constitutional reform process undertaken with high levels of public engagement, resulting in 2010 in a robust new constitution that included strong equality provisions, the incorporation of international and regional human rights treaties and the creation of an ameliorating environment for public interest litigation.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- In response, civil society organizations, government and international agencies introduced initiatives to support women’s participation. Pre-election voter awareness campaigns were undertaken to counteract the perception that the one-third reservation signified the maximum number of seats available for women. A range of programmes were also undertaken in ensuing years, including longer-term capacity-building efforts led by civil society organizations with elected women representatives, in which women representatives received both ongoing training to strengthen their leadership and advocacy skills and education on gender issues of concern in the community.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Longstanding internal armed conflict in one country in the Latin America Region has displaced more than 6 million people internally. Half of those are women, who have suffered a traumatic change in gender roles, family structure and socioeconomic and cultural standing, deepening gender and social inequalities and increasing risk of violence and gender-based discrimination. While many challenges persist, the situation faced by displaced women has improved over the past decade, largely owing to three ground-breaking decisions of the Constitutional Court, shaped by widespread citizen and civil society organization mobilization and implementation efforts.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- For many years, internally displaced people and civil society organizations had demanded protection measures from the Government without receiving an appropriate response. This had prompted hundreds of displaced persons to invoke the protection of the judiciary through the judicial remedy known as a tutela: a constitutionally established judicial action that citizens can bring before any judge to ensure the effective exercise of their human rights. By 2004, tribunals had received tutelas submitted by 1,150 displaced families, accumulated in a dossier by the Constitutional Court that led to a judgment declaring that the humanitarian emergency caused by forced displacement had created an unconstitutional state of affairs characterized by massive human rights violations associated with systemic failures in State assistance to displaced persons. Accordingly, the Court ordered the Government to adopt structural measures, a measure that has spawned a lengthy implementation process.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 112c
- Paragraph text
- [It is essential to ensure that a robust constitutional and legal framework is in place to support long-term rights implementation and to weather challenges that may come from regressive political or ideological forces that threaten to undermine progress. The Working Group recommends that States:] Prioritize the allocation of funds, both internationally and domestically, to support active and sustained measures to promote good practices in the eradication of discrimination and the promotion of women’s empowerment.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- In order to institutionalize gender-sensitive teacher training, advocates from civil society organizations convened meetings with government ministries, other such organizations, educators and experts to develop a training module on gender equality and gender violence in partnership with the National Institute of Education, the authority in charge of teacher training. Despite some school directors’ resistance, thousands of social science teachers were trained and the Institute is committed to institutionalizing the training.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- The active involvement of internally displaced women and civil society organizations was essential throughout the process. Displaced women brought hundreds of tutelas before tribunals to demand their rights and participated in public hearings convened by the Constitutional Court or civil society organizations sharing their experiences and perspectives. The Court’s decisions were informed by formal submissions by such organizations, presenting experiences of women and girls forcibly displaced around the country.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- In that context, an indigenous women’s organization in a small community initiated a protocol with the local federal police force that mandated: ongoing engagement, including police training and capacity-building, to address the interrelated phenomena of violence directed towards indigenous women and lack of due diligence in investigating crimes; open dialogue sessions to promote cultural awareness; and community-police feedback and knowledge-sharing sessions, during which information on the justice system and community rights would be offered.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 109b
- Paragraph text
- [There are multiple entry points to change the law and ensure effective implementation of laws guaranteeing women’s right to equality, including through the initiative of women rights holders and autonomous women’s organizations in civil society. The Working Group recommends that States:] Repeal all laws that directly discriminate against women, and review all new and existing legislation through a rights-based, gender-sensitive lens, involving independent experts, including autonomous women’s organizations;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The present report focuses on good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women in law and practice and women’s empowerment pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 15/23, in which the Council established the mandate of the Working Group, including the collection of best practices in the area of the mandate and the development of a compendium of best practices.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- The living-law approach looks at laws beyond the text of a legislation or judicial decision, including the dynamic processes by which that law comes into being, is implemented meaningfully and contributes to real and sustainable outcomes for women’s de facto enjoyment of human rights. Thus, a living-law approach involves understanding laws in the context of dynamic and sustained processes situated in local social, political, historical and legal realities and in relation to the acts of a diversity of duty and rights holders alike. As such, the living-law approach is inherently grounded in particular contexts and moments in time. This methodology thus requires examining a multitude of ways and means States have used to achieve successful outcomes in terms of fulfilling their obligations regarding women’s human rights, along with a robust consideration of processes and actors in play, including those that overcome and perpetuate barriers to substantive achievement. This exploration process has not focused on identifying or ranking “best practices”, but rather has examined the ways and means through which States can promote substantive equality, recognizing that progress is not always linear and that de facto change requires multiple strategies; effective responses to lessons learned from mistakes made; context-specific interventions; and sustained time and resources.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- In 2011, a social worker who founded a local shelter for girl survivors of sexual violence and an international human rights lawyer initiated a coalition with local, regional and international civil society organizations, feminist lawyers and the national human rights commission to file a case seeking to hold the police accountable for failure to address rampant sexual violence against girls. The 160 Girls case was brought to the High Court in 2012. With the support of the shelter, 11 applicants were chosen from more than 160 victims of child rape who had been denied access to justice. The remaining victims were represented by the twelfth applicant, which was the rape shelter itself. It was the first case brought to the High Court under the equality provisions laid out in the 2010 Constitution. The decision was instrumental in establishing the failure of the police to meet national and international standards to conduct prompt, effective, proper and professional investigations into complaints, thereby preventing access to justice. With the use of relevant international human rights instruments and progressive interpretation of constitutional rights and State obligation, the jurisprudence was precedent-setting. The seminal contribution of the decision lay in establishing the rights of the child and the delineation of the scope of State obligation in protecting children from violence, and the duty to investigate and apply existing rape laws.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 105
- Paragraph text
- Among the key challenges in eliminating discrimination against women in law and practice is the question of sustainability in the efforts and impacts of changing laws. Local and global political and ideological landscapes are ever-shifting and resources are limited and insecure.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- The three case studies below exemplify the crucial role of women’s autonomous organizing in the interrelated developmental processes of good practices as articulated in the living-law approach of the present report.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Women prisoners show high rates of mental health problems owing to violence and trauma to which they had been exposed and which are exacerbated by imprisonment. Concerns about their children also have a significant impact on the mental health of women prisoners, especially when they are breastfeeding; separation from their children creates anxiety and guilt, resulting in great suffering. Women are more likely to harm themselves or attempt suicide while in detention than men. Extensive reliance on preventive use of psychotropic medication for "safety" reasons in such situations is an example of overmedicalization.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- Unaffordability of medicines is also closely linked to intellectual property laws, many of which provide exclusive patents for new medicines for long periods. However, intellectual property laws that fail to address the medical needs of women obstruct access to medicines by pushing up the price and by impeding the production and distribution of low-cost generic drugs. The right to health requires States to ensure that the pharmaceutical companies that hold a patent on essential medicines and medical devices make use of all the arrangements at their disposal to render the medicines accessible to all.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- A number of countries have legal guarantees that protect women in the case of conscience-based refusal of care. They include the requirement of referral to non-objecting providers, registration/written notice to the employer and/or a government body, disclosure of information to patients about the provider's status as a conscientious objector, provision of services in cases of emergency, and restriction of the right to conscientious objection to the individuals directly involved in the medical intervention and not institutions or those indirectly involved, such as pharmacists. The Working Group reiterates that the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief cannot be used to justify gender discrimination and therefore should not be regarded as a justification for hindering the realization of women's right to the highest attainable standard of health.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- The discriminatory use of criminal law, punitive sanctions and legal restrictions to regulate women's control over their own bodies is a severe and unjustified form of State control. This can include punitive provisions in criminal, civil and administrative laws and regulations governing extramarital consensual sex, same-sex consensual adult relations, gender non-conforming expressions, provision of reproductive and sexual education and information, termination of pregnancy and prostitution/sex work. The enforcement of such provisions generates stigma and discrimination and violates women's human rights. It infringes women's dignity and bodily integrity by restricting their autonomy to make decisions about their own lives and health.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Criminalization of termination of pregnancy is one of the most damaging ways of instrumentalizing and politicizing women's bodies and lives, subjecting them to risks to their lives or health in order to preserve their function as reproductive agents and depriving them of autonomy in decision-making about their own bodies. Restrictive laws apply to 40 per cent of women worldwide. In some countries, as a result of retrogressive anti-abortion laws, women are imprisoned for having had a miscarriage, imposing an intolerable cost on the women, their families and their societies.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- A growing number of States worldwide have confirmed their commitment to comprehensive sexuality education as an essential priority for achieving national development, health and education goals. In its resolution 70/137, the General Assembly called upon all States to develop and implement educational programmes and teaching materials, as well as teacher education and training programmes for both formal and non-formal education, including comprehensive evidence-based education on human sexuality, based on full and accurate information, for all adolescents and youth; to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women of all ages; to eliminate prejudices; and to promote and build decision-making, communication and risk reduction skills for the development of respectful relationships based on gender equality and human rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Men
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 98
- Paragraph text
- In the context of women's and girls' health and safety, equality means the provision of differential services, treatment and medicines in accordance with their specific biological needs, throughout their life cycle. In many countries there is discriminatory exclusion and neglect of women in providing the highest attainable standard of health for women. Discrimination is particularly evident regarding women's right to reproductive and sexual health. It is exacerbated in the case of women members of marginalized groups. Discrimination against women and girls leading to the violation of their right to health and safety denies their right to human dignity.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- International organizations and human rights bodies have called on States to ensure, at a minimum, that women in prostitution/sex workers have the right to access sexual health services; are free from violence or discrimination, whether committed by State agents or private persons; and have access to equal protection of the law. In particular, States should also ensure that law enforcement officials serve a protective function, as opposed to engaging in or perpetuating violence against women in prostitution/sex workers. A number of States have introduced regulations that cover health and safety issues, including access to health services, medical insurance and social security benefits that have had a positive impact on women engaged in prostitution/sex work.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- Women's access to health services in many countries is not autonomous, affordable and effective, elements which are essential for States to respect, protect and fulfil women's and girls' rights to life, health, privacy, equality and human dignity. A major barrier is lack of affordability as a result of exclusion from insurance for treatments specifically needed by women and girls or exclusion of groups of women such as migrants. Non-affordability severely discriminates against women living in poverty. Barriers also include restrictive legislative requirements, biased and stigmatized provision of services and conscientious objection to providing services.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105e (i)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Provide special protection and support services to women facing multiple forms of discrimination, and in this regard: Ensure that health services, including reproductive and sexual health, for women with disabilities are available and accessible on an equal basis with others and that their autonomy and decision-making, including in relation to their sexuality and reproduction, are guaranteed in accordance with the principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 107b
- Paragraph text
- [In relation to reproductive and sexual health care, the Working Group recommends that States:] Repeal restrictive laws and policies in relation to termination of pregnancy, especially in cases of risk to the life or health, including the mental health, of the pregnant woman, rape, incest and fatal impairment of the fetus, recognizing that such laws and policies in any case primarily affect women living in poverty in a highly discriminatory way;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 107c
- Paragraph text
- [In relation to reproductive and sexual health care, the Working Group recommends that States:] Recognize women's right to be free from unwanted pregnancies and ensure access to affordable and effective family planning measures. Noting that many countries where women have the right to abortion on request supported by affordable and effective family planning measures have the lowest abortion rates in the world, States should allow women to terminate a pregnancy on request during the first trimester or later in the specific cases listed above;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Many girls are exposed to a wide variety of practices which are harmful to their health and well-being, such as female genital mutilation, discrimination in food allocation resulting in malnutrition and discrimination in access to professional health care. Furthermore, early marriage and adolescent pregnancy have a long-lasting impact on girls' physical integrity and mental health. Pregnancy and childbirth are together the second leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-old girls globally, putting them at the highest risk of dying or suffering serious lifelong injuries as a result of pregnancy. For example, up to 65 per cent of women with obstetric fistula, which is a severely disabling condition and often results in social exclusion, develop this condition as adolescents.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- A number of other factors and developments which have serious implications for women's health and safety are not tackled in the present report owing to space restrictions. These include climate change and other environmental catastrophes and degradation and gender-based violence in armed conflicts.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- Good practices include listing as essential medicines all those recommended as necessary for women's health in the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, public subsidization of the cost of women's health-related services for everyone and subsidies to women of a given age or income.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105e (iv)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Provide special protection and support services to women facing multiple forms of discrimination, and in this regard: Provide access to preventive and remedial health services for women in prison, including in relation to cervical and breast cancer, contraception, antiretroviral therapy and gender transition, and take all necessary measures to protect them from violence;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105d (viii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Adopt a holistic approach towards women's health and safety by looking at their full life cycle from childhood to old age as interconnected phases with distinct considerations and needs, and in this regard: Provide gender- and age-sensitive health-care services for older women, taking cognizance of their heightened health and safety vulnerability;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 108f
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Include contraception of choice, preventive care and treatment for cervical and breast cancer, termination of pregnancy and maternity care in universal health care or subsidize provision of these treatments and medicines to ensure that they are affordable;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105b
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Be guided by an understanding of women's right to equality, which requires differential treatment in health, including and beyond their sexual and reproductive health, in designing policy measures and resource allocations;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- It is important to recall that the use of effective contraception can result in lowering the incidence of unintended pregnancy. However, contraception cannot eliminate women's need for access to termination of pregnancy, for example in the case of rape. In addition, no method of contraception is 100 per cent effective in preventing pregnancy.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- Economically disadvantaged women who do not have the means to access private health care and services are disparately affected by barriers created by unaffordability. It is therefore important for States to ensure that all health care is affordable and to remove legal restrictions that in effect discriminate against women who are economically disadvantaged.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- Criminalization of behaviour that is attributed only to women is discriminatory per se and generates and perpetuates stigma. The threat of criminal punishment restricts women's access to sexual and reproductive health-care services and information and acts as a deterrent to health-care professionals, thus barring women's and girls' access to health-care services.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Stigma is a deeply entrenched social and cultural phenomenon which lies at the root of many human rights violations and results in entire population groups being disadvantaged and excluded, as the Special Rapporteur on the right to water and sanitation has noted (A/HRC/30/39). Women are exposed to harmful gender stereotypes or taboos regarding natural and biological functions such as menstruation, breastfeeding and menopause. Diagnosis of mental illnesses in women is biased so as to stigmatize them and has been used as a justification for institutionalizing women unnecessarily against their will.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Menstruation is surrounded by stigma, resulting in the ostracism of and discrimination against women and girls. In some cultures menstruating women and girls are considered to be contaminated and impure and restrictions and interdictions during menstruation are imposed on them. Women and girls may continue to harbour internalized stigma and are embarrassed to discuss menstruation even where there are no restrictions. They live with a lack of privacy for cleaning and washing, a fear of staining and smelling and a lack of hygiene in school toilets or separate sanitation facilities.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Women's mental health during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period requires both stability in their environment and emotional support. Reports of disrespect and ill treatment during childbirth in health facilities in many countries provide a deeply distressing picture of the extent of women's exposure to degrading treatment, lack of privacy, and even verbal and physical violence. Pregnant women are sometimes refused pain relief during labour or anaesthesia during a termination of pregnancy by curettage. The use in some countries of custodial or punitive rather than educative measures to prevent injury to the fetus as result of drug or alcohol consumption by addicted pregnant women is another manifestation of gender discrimination.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Women have a longer life expectancy and are particularly exposed to neglect and abuse in older age, including in health-care settings, and higher risks of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. A gender- and age-sensitive approach needs to take into account the specific needs for care and protection of older women, including those widowed, living alone or displaced, those with dementia or other disability, those in need of palliative and geriatric care and those in emergency situations; these women are most at risk of multiple forms of discrimination, violence and poverty.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- In addition, problems associated with ageing affect women disproportionally as a result of the cumulative effect of discriminatory practices women face over the course of their lives, as the Working Group described in its report on discrimination against women in economic and social life (A/HRC/26/39). Women are more likely to take care of men and to be left without spousal support. At the same time, they are more likely to suffer economic disadvantages, exacerbated by discriminatory pension systems that fail to produce equal outcomes for women, and to be excluded from social security and health insurance schemes. They are thus at greater risk of living in poverty. The mere recognition of equal rights for all, without distinction, is thus insufficient to ensure in practice the enjoyment by older women of all human rights, including the right to health.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Women with disabilities face particular barriers in accessing health care for reasons of cost, distance, discriminatory attitudes, and lack of physical access or information. This seriously limits their access to immunization, reproductive health care and cancer screening. In some settings women with disabilities, particularly intellectual disabilities, are subjected to forced sterilization or termination of pregnancy or to long-term contraception, with relatives or doctors taking decisions on their behalf without their informed consent, in violation of their right to exercise legal capacity guaranteed under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Women are disproportionately vulnerable to HIV/AIDS owing to various factors, including gender-based violence and lack of autonomy to negotiate safe and responsible sexual practices and make informed health-related decisions. Even when women living with HIV/AIDS are able to access health services, they often face stigma and discrimination on the part of health-care professionals, ranging from abuse to denial of services. Laws, policies and practices that prevent women living with HIV from bearing children through, for example, forced termination of pregnancy and forced sterilization constitute an extreme form of discrimination.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105d (v)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Adopt a holistic approach towards women's health and safety by looking at their full life cycle from childhood to old age as interconnected phases with distinct considerations and needs, and in this regard: Reduce the high incidence of maternal mortality among women with HIV/AIDS, both by preventing infection, particularly of women in prostitution/sex workers, and by free and secure provision of condoms and of antiretroviral treatment for pregnant women;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105d (i)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Adopt a holistic approach towards women's health and safety by looking at their full life cycle from childhood to old age as interconnected phases with distinct considerations and needs, and in this regard: Take effective measures to prevent child marriage and adolescent pregnancies and provide girls with comprehensive education based on scientific evidence on matters of health, including sexuality;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group notes with concern that issues relating to women's health are not addressed in a holistic manner on political and health agendas at the national and international levels. Policies regarding women's health services are often limited to questions of "maternal health". Despite the importance of prioritizing this issue, such a restrictive focus fails to recognize the full spectrum of women's rights to sexual and reproductive health at all stages of their life cycle and contributes to the instrumentalization of women's bodies, viewing them mainly as a means of reproduction.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 107e
- Paragraph text
- [In relation to reproductive and sexual health care, the Working Group recommends that States:] Eliminate discriminatory barriers to access to legal termination of pregnancy that not based on medical needs, such as waiting periods for implementation of the decision to terminate a pregnancy, authorization requirements for reproductive health clinics and staff, and unduly restrictive interpretations of legal grounds for termination of pregnancy.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 108i
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Provide age-appropriate, comprehensive and inclusive sexuality education based on scientific evidence and human rights, for girls and boys, as part of the mandatory school programmes. Sexuality education should give particular attention to gender equality, sexuality, relationships, gender identity, including non-conforming gender identities, and responsible parenthood and sexual behaviour to prevent early pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- A wide range of actors, both public and private, play a role that affects women's health and access to health care and each of the actors bears responsibility for its actions or inactions. In particular, the significant role of the principles enshrined in the deontological codes of different medical professionals and in the rules governing the corporate social responsibility of the pharmaceutical industry are an essential locus for establishing gender-sensitive research, medicines and treatments.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- In the area of health, the distinctly different biological and reproductive functions of women and men necessitate differential treatment and proper algorithms are required to make sure that women have equal access to and enjoy the highest achievable level of health treatment. An identical approach to treatment, medication, budgeting and accessibility would in fact constitute discrimination.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- Inadequately regulated conscientious objection may constitute a barrier for women when exercising their right to have access to reproductive and sexual health services. The jurisprudence of human rights treaty bodies states that where conscientious objection is permitted, States still have an obligation to ensure that women's access to reproductive health services is not limited and that conscientious objection is a personal, not an institutional, practice.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Throughout their life cycle, women's bodies are instrumentalized and their biological functions and needs are stigmatized and subjected to a politicized patriarchal agenda. States have also often treated women instrumentally as tools with which to implement population programmes and policies. This is sometimes carried out through the use of criminal sanctions and often under the guise of protecting women's health and safety and with cultural or religious justifications.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 103
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group calls upon the Human Rights Council to urge States to take all necessary measures to respect, protect and fulfil women's right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standards of health worldwide, including regarding their reproductive and sexual health, and to dedicate priority attention to a thorough stocktaking, including by convening an appropriate forum to tackle this crucial issue.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105e (v)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Provide special protection and support services to women facing multiple forms of discrimination, and in this regard: Allow non-custodial sentences for pregnant women and women with dependent children in accordance with the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules).
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106h
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Prevent instrumentalization of women in the birthing process and ensure that penalties are incurred for gynaecological or obstetrical violence, including performing abusive caesarean sections, refusing to give women pain relief during birth or surgical termination of pregnancy and performing unnecessary episiotomies;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105c
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Take into account the impact of women's safety on their physical and mental health and protect women and girls from violence at home, on their way to or at school and in other public spaces and in health facilities;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106f
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Combat stereotyping and empower girls to take care of their own health and safety from a young age, both at school and at home, and inform and empower women regarding their own bodies at all stages of their lives;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106g
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Regulate birthing facilities to ensure respect for women's autonomy and privacy and human dignity, including respect for women's choice regarding home deliveries provided there are no specific medical contraindications;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The instrumentalization of women's bodies may result in conditioning women's access to medical assistance on the consent of a spouse or male guardian, causing withholding or delay of treatment, curtailment of women's autonomy and denial of respect for privacy and obstructing their access to health care, particularly reproductive and sexual health care. Patriarchal negation of women's autonomy in decision-making leads to violation of women's rights to health, privacy, reproductive and sexual self-determination, physical integrity and even to life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Central among women's and girls' health needs are those relating to their reproductive and sexual health. Substantive equality requires that States attend to the risk factors that predominantly affect women. For instance, since only women can become pregnant, a lack of access to contraceptives is bound to affect their health disproportionately. Equality in reproductive health requires access, without discrimination, to affordable, quality contraception; maternal health care, including during childbirth and the post-partum period; access to safe termination of pregnancy; access to effective screening and early treatment for breast and cervical cancer; and special attention to the high rate of HIV infections among young women and treatment to prevent mother-to-infant transmission.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Equality also requires health policy to be based solely on women's health needs and not to be influenced by instrumentalization and politicization. Political contestation around rights to reproductive and sexual health remains a global challenge, resulting in women paying a high price in terms of their health and lives. In adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, States committed to ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes. A strong commitment to women's sexual and reproductive rights in international and national law, policies and programmes is crucial for achieving gender equality and ensuring women's and girl's right to health and well-being.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Women in detention have specific health needs, particularly in terms of mental and reproductive health care, that are often neglected. Preventive services related to cervical and breast cancer are often unavailable and antiretroviral therapy, even for pregnant women living with HIV/AIDS, is completely absent in some facilities. The lack of adequate access to hygiene facilities and products for women prisoners is a typical and crucial concern in all regions of the world, jeopardizing the dignity and health of women prisoners. Practices such as shackling pregnant inmates during labour still occur in some countries. Detained women also face violence, including sexual violence from other prisoners or by staff.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, instrumentalization and stigmatization are at work regarding breastfeeding in public spaces and at workplaces. Aside from the fact that breastfeeding is often promoted or discouraged for economic reasons, it may be viewed as inappropriate even in countries where the practice is legally protected, exposing women to unnecessary stress and pressure from intimidation and harassment. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the majority of the approximately 830 million women workers worldwide do not enjoy workplace policies that support nursing mothers.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Viewing women's behaviour and biological physiology, in particular their reproductive functions and sexuality, as symptomatic of medical problems reflects a history of gendered pathologization. Historically, pathologization, unnecessary medicalization and institutionalization in mental care facilities have functioned as forms of social control exercised by patriarchal establishments to preserve the gender roles of women. Pathologization of women's behaviour has been evidenced in psychiatric diagnoses, which often directly target perceived immoral activity such as unconventional sexual activity or intellectual independence as a source of mental illness or disorder.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105d (iii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Adopt a holistic approach towards women's health and safety by looking at their full life cycle from childhood to old age as interconnected phases with distinct considerations and needs, and in this regard: Allow pregnant girls and adolescents to terminate unwanted pregnancies, as a measure of equality and health, so that they can complete their school education and protect them from the high risk to life and health, including from obstetric fistula, in continuing to bring a pregnancy to term;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Women migrant workers, especially those in irregular situations, have greater difficulty in accessing almost all forms of health care, including maternal care, emergency care and treatment for chronic diseases and mental health problems, because they are often denied these rights legally and/or they fear arrest and deportation. In some countries, while legal access to health care for migrant women has been expanded, they still do not receive needed medical services because health-care providers often refuse treat them.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Migrant women may be subject to mandatory pregnancy tests upon arrival in some countries; if the test is positive, they are dismissed and/or deported. Furthermore, pregnancy tests can be imposed on migrant domestic workers during the course of their employment, leading to pregnant women losing their jobs and/or seeking termination of the pregnancy, sometimes by means of unsafe practices, especially in countries that criminalize induced termination. Migrant women have been charged with "illegal sexual relationships" when they become pregnant, including following rape. They are held in detention centres in deplorable conditions pending their deportation, or face severe punishment, including the death penalty in countries where sexual relationships outside marriage are criminalized.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Indigenous women experience a complex spectrum of mutually reinforcing human rights abuses which is influenced by intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalization, reinforced by patriarchal power structures and past and present forms of violations of the right to self-determination and control of resources. These intersecting forms of discrimination have profound health consequences for indigenous women, especially for their reproductive and sexual health. The Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples has reported (see A/HRC/30/41) about the barriers to reproductive and sexual health services encountered by indigenous women as well as past and recurrent human rights violations in relation to their sexual and reproductive rights. For example, indigenous women experience disproportionately higher levels of maternal mortality, indigenous girls are overrepresented among pregnant teenagers and indigenous women have lower rates of contraceptive use and higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Historically, there have also been instances of serious violations of indigenous women's rights to reproductive health in the context of the denial of the rights of indigenous peoples to self-determination and cultural autonomy. Those violations include forced sterilization of indigenous women and attempts to force them to have children with non-indigenous men as part of policies of cultural assimilation. Indigenous women may also face barriers to preventive care services that support their right to health, such as screening for ovarian and breast cancer.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Adolescent girls are particularly exposed to gender-based violence in the family and on their way to or at school, with extremely harmful impacts on their physical and mental health. In its resolution 70/137 the General Assembly called upon all States to improve the safety of girls on the way to and from school, taking steps to ensure that all schools are accessible, safe, secure and free from violence and providing separate and adequate sanitation facilities that provide privacy and dignity.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Recognizing and addressing the nature and consequences of multiple and intersectional discrimination against women in national laws and practices is essential for protecting women's health and safety. Factors such as socioeconomic, minority and ethnic status, religion, race, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability and bodily diversity exacerbate the discrimination that women face and infringe upon their ability to protect their health and safety.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- There is growing concern about the feminization of poverty and the disparate impact of global economic crises, austerity measures and climate change on women's health and safety. Gender inequality persists in all regions, and women and girls continue to be overrepresented among the world's population living in poverty. Women and girls, particularly those living in the global South, are disproportionately burdened by the costs of these rapid changes, to the detriment of their personal health and well-being.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities has called on States to guarantee women with disabilities safe participation in matters affecting their lives, especially in relation to sexual and reproductive rights and gender-based violence, including sexual violence, matters which are cited in a recent study as high-priority concerns for women and girls with disabilities.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105d (ii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Adopt a holistic approach towards women's health and safety by looking at their full life cycle from childhood to old age as interconnected phases with distinct considerations and needs, and in this regard: Address the gender discrimination that exists in some cultures in the provision of food to the girl child, including through the empowerment of women and girls;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105d (iv)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Adopt a holistic approach towards women's health and safety by looking at their full life cycle from childhood to old age as interconnected phases with distinct considerations and needs, and in this regard: Reduce maternal mortality and morbidity by ensuring proper prenatal, birthing and post-natal care, including, where necessary, safe termination of pregnancy.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105d (vii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Adopt a holistic approach towards women's health and safety by looking at their full life cycle from childhood to old age as interconnected phases with distinct considerations and needs, and in this regard: Ensure that laws, policies and practices mandate respect for women's autonomy in their decision-making, especially regarding pregnancy, birthing and postnatal care;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group is concerned that many national laws and policies provide for overmedicalization of certain services that women need to preserve their health without a justified medical reason. These include requirements that only doctors can perform certain services, such as pharmaceutical termination of pregnancy or obstetric care. In many countries, women are not given a free choice between different ways of giving birth. Caesarian sections, when medically justified, can be crucial in preventing maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. However, studies conducted by WHO demonstrated that performing caesarian sections on more than 10 per cent of women does not lead to improvement in mortality rates. Caesarean section rates of 30 per cent in some countries demonstrate overmedicalization of childbirth, with the risks of obstetrical complications and health problems.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Overmedicalization may result in reduced access to or affordability of services needed by women and a barrier to developing adequate alternative services which can be competently provided by nurses, midwives or auxiliary nurses, either at clinics or at home. Such "task shifting", particularly in places where there are few qualified doctors, would make services more accessible. Similarly, restricting authorization for the use of contraceptives to a medical practitioner is a barrier to access. Allowing pharmacists to provide contraceptives, including emergency contraceptives, over the counter is essential for effective availability, especially for economically disadvantaged women or adolescent girls.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- Restrictions in many countries on girls' and women's access to unbiased, quality education, including evidence-based comprehensive sexuality education, and information about where and how to obtain essential health services prevent women from making free and informed decisions about their health and safety and hence obstruct proper, informed access to health care. This is particularly true for adolescents and marginalized women facing multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination. Such restrictions are manifestations of censorship that limit women's and girls' choices.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- States have an obligation to provide education, one of whose aims is to facilitate access to scientific and technical knowledge. This is of crucial importance with respect to questions of sexuality, reproduction and health education. States have an obligation to allow information about health matters to flow freely, without State interference on moral or other grounds. It also encompasses the possibility for non-State actors to disseminate information, including in relation to sexuality and sexual and reproductive health services. However, States also have an obligation to address and eliminate harmful and wrongful gender stereotypes that contribute to the violation of women's right to health and safety.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- In addition, restrictions on access to information on termination of pregnancy and services can deter women from seeking professional medical attention, with detrimental consequences for their health and safety. Examples of restrictions include criminalization of medical practitioners who provide these services; prohibiting access to information on legal termination of pregnancy; requiring third-party authorization from one or more medical professionals, a hospital committee, a parent, guardian or spouse; conscientious objection by health practitioners without provision of an alternative; requiring compulsory waiting periods; and excluding coverage for termination of pregnancy services under health insurance. None of these requirements is justified on health grounds.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- International and regional human rights bodies have called on States to decriminalize access to termination of pregnancy and to liberalize laws and policies in order to guarantee women's access to safe services. Treaty bodies, including the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, have requested States, through their jurisprudence, their general comments/recommendations and their concluding observations, to review national legislation with a view to decriminalizing termination of pregnancy and to ensure a woman's right to termination of pregnancy where there is a threat to her life or health, or where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. The Committee against Torture and the Human Rights Committee have determined that, in some cases, being forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term amounts to cruel and inhuman treatment.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group found that instrumentalization and politicization of women's biological functions in many countries subjects legislation and policies regarding women's and girls' health and safety to patriarchal agendas, especially regarding reproductive and sexual health and mental health. The Working Group found manifestations in all regions of instrumentalization, taboos regarding menstruation and breastfeeding and stereotypes which result in harmful practices such as female genital mutilation or which have a negative impact on women's body image, leading to their seeking invasive cosmetic procedures.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- The deplorable health outcomes for indigenous women are linked to decades of oppression and human rights violations against indigenous peoples, and against indigenous women in particular. Furthermore, non-indigenous health systems generally do not take into account the indigenous concept of health and health care, thereby creating barriers to access by indigenous women. Data usually fail to capture information on indigenous communities, rendering them "invisible". Even when such information exists, it is generally not disaggregated by sex. Additionally, indigenous women are disproportionately affected by illness owing to reduced coping capacity caused by the denial of other human rights and by extreme poverty.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- As highlighted by the Special Rapporteur on minority issues (A/HRC/31/56), minority women, including women affected by discrimination based on caste, are particularly vulnerable to violations of their right to health, including reproductive and sexual health. Women members of "lower caste" groups present the worst health outcomes, especially in terms of life expectancy, access to maternal care, nutrition and incidence of infections. Roma women are the subjects of degrading stereotypes, depicted as "fertile" and "promiscuous"; this increases their vulnerability to gender-based violence and forced sterilization.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 104
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group calls upon all Member States to reaffirm and respect the commitments they made in Beijing and in Cairo and in the Sustainable Development Goals to implement the comprehensive provisions concerning women's health in the agreements they adopted and to develop national laws, policies and programmes within the framework of international human rights standards.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- The pattern of physical, sexual and psychological abuse of migrant domestic workers is widespread. These women are often exposed to health and safety risks without being provided with proper information or adequate protection. Furthermore, the working and living conditions of many undocumented domestic workers, which are tantamount to slavery, and the separation from family members cause serious health, particularly mental health, problems.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Rural women are particularly affected by patriarchal gender stereotypes and roles and are extremely vulnerable to harmful practices such as early or forced marriage and female genital mutilation, as well as to violence and poverty. These practices have a negative impact on their right to health. Rural women are usually particularly disadvantaged in accessing health-care services, including reproductive and sexual health services.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105e (ii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Provide special protection and support services to women facing multiple forms of discrimination, and in this regard: Provide health-care coverage for migrant women and domestic workers, whose sexual and reproductive health, preventive health care and protection against gender-based violence are otherwise prejudiced;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 108h
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Exercise due diligence to ensure that the diverse actors and corporate and individual health providers who provide health services or produce medications do so in a non-discriminatory way and establish guidelines for the equal treatment of women patients under their codes of conduct;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The State is accountable for fulfilling its international human rights obligation to ensure that women are provided with gender-responsive scientific research, medicines and health interventions and for providing appropriate and adequate gender-based resources and a system of effective monitoring, budgeting, remedies and redress. It is also obligated to provide women with autonomous, effective and affordable access to health care. The State has a responsibility to ensure that barriers to women's enjoyment of the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health are dismantled, including by exercising due diligence.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Many drug therapy protocols and other medical treatments and interventions administered to women are based on research conducted on the male of the species without any investigation and adjustment for biological and gender differences. Equality requires the conduct of medical research on the basis of women's experience and biological differences. It also requires adequate attention to be paid to the particular health risks to which women are disproportionately exposed, such as depression and suicide, and proper gender-sensitive treatment of diseases which tend to be considered, inaccurately, as typically masculine, such as cardiovascular diseases.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Discriminatory practices in the area of health and safety occur at all stages of women's life cycle. Multiple discrimination merits particular consideration and remedies. Denying women access to services which only they require and failing to address their specific health and safety, including their reproductive and sexual health needs, are inherently discriminatory and prevent women from exercising control over their own bodies and lives. Gender-based discrimination in the administration of medical services also violates women's human rights and dignity.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Denial of access to essential health services with respect to termination of pregnancy, contraception, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and infertility treatment has particularly serious consequences for women's health and lives. Women may be denied such services through criminalization, reduction of availability, stigmatization, deterrence or derogatory attitudes of health-care professionals. In reality, denial of access drives service provision underground into the hands of unqualified practitioners. This exacerbates the risks to the health and safety of the affected women. Persistently high maternal mortality rates often reflect a lack of investment in and underprioritization of services required only by women
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- Even where significant resources are being put in place to provide universal health care, women continue to have unequal access to good-quality health-care services in many countries. This is often because the health services that only women need are excluded from insurance coverage and are not affordable.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 102
- Paragraph text
- The result of the various forms of discrimination against women in the provision of health services is the costly and tragic phenomenon of women's preventable ill health.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 101
- Paragraph text
- Health services are provided by various actors, State and non-State. All actors have some form of responsibility for providing equal access for women to the highest attainable standard of health, including with regard to their reproductive and sexual health. The State has a due diligence obligation to ensure that private actors do not discriminate against women.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- In patriarchal cultures, the preference for sons leads to the prioritization of boys' and men's health before that of women and girls, resulting in discriminatory practices such as female infanticide. This is evident in cultural customs relating to food which cause girls and women, including pregnant and nursing women, to suffer disproportionately from malnutrition.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Prejudices surrounding menopause may affect women's confidence in professional and public life, owing to age-based discrimination in the workplace. In some societies, this question is poorly addressed and understood, if at all. Medicalization through hormone replacement therapy, and pressure on active women to use it, even where there are health contraindications, can have a detrimental effect on women's mental health.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- States also violate women's right to health and safety where women are penalized for sexual or reproductive conduct that should not be criminally prohibited, such as adultery, prostitution or termination of pregnancy; States also violate the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment where they impose penalties such as stoning and lashing.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 108g
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Restrict conscientious objection to the direct provider of the medical intervention and allow conscientious objection only where an alternative can be found for the patient to access treatment within the time needed for performance of the procedure;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 108j
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Ensure that the standards contained in the present recommendations are observed and enforced by all health-care providers, public or private, and engage both women and men, as appropriate, in efforts to prevent discrimination, stereotyping and instrumentalization of women's bodies and biological functions.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, many girls do not receive sexuality education, including knowledge about the functioning of their bodies, and hygienic materials for menstruation are either unavailable or too costly. They are forced to use improvised, unhygienic materials that may lead to leaking and infections.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- The social, religious and cultural factors that disregard the dignity of girls and women must be tackled to achieve women's right to equality in health and safety.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Much of the discrimination in access to health services and the resulting preventable ill health of women, including maternal mortality and morbidity and infertility, can be attributed to the instrumentalization of women's bodies for political, cultural, religious and economic purposes.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Even where they are entitled to emergency health care, women migrant domestic workers are often excluded from preventive reproductive and sexual health services, as well as gynaecological and obstetric care, because of their status and lack of access to insurance or national health schemes.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 108d
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Provide training to health providers, including on gender equality and non-discrimination, respect for women's rights and dignity and recognition of alternative medicine;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106d
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Take and implement strong and efficient measures to prevent female genital mutilation and other harmful practices;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Women's specific health and safety needs require protection against gender-based violence that affects their physical integrity and mental health, including in health-care settings.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106j
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Monitor and prevent the use of mental health to institutionalize women unnecessarily as a social control mechanism.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 107a
- Paragraph text
- [In relation to reproductive and sexual health care, the Working Group recommends that States:] Abolish bans on contraception, including emergency contraceptives, and provide access to affordable modern contraceptives;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 108a
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Ensure that access to health care is autonomous, affordable and effective;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 108c
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Invalidate conditioning of women's and girls' access to health care on third-party authorization;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106a
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Take measures to combat and eliminate, in legislation and policies, cultural practices and social stereotypes, all forms of instrumentalization of women's bodies and biological functions;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106b
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Eliminate harmful gender stereotypes, which could lead to anorexia and bulimia and invasive cosmetic procedures;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- The instrumentalization of women's bodies as objects to serve sexual and other purposes leads to practices such as invasive cosmetic procedures. Unhealthy dieting, particularly among adolescent girls, can have disastrous health consequences, including eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106e
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Decriminalize sexual and reproductive behaviours that are attributed exclusively or mainly to women, including adultery and prostitution, and termination of pregnancy;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106i
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Use educational and social work alternatives instead of custodial or punitive measures to prevent injury to the fetus as a result of drug or alcohol consumption by addicted pregnant women;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- As demonstrated by WHO data, criminalizing termination of pregnancy does not reduce the need for it. Rather, it is likely to increase the number of women seeking clandestine and unsafe solutions. Countries in Northern Europe, where women gained the right to termination of pregnancy in the 1970s or 1980s and are provided with access to information and to all methods of contraception, have the lowest rates of termination of pregnancy. Ultimately, criminalization does grave harm to women's health and human rights by stigmatizing a safe and needed medical procedure. In countries where induced termination of pregnancy is restricted by law and/or otherwise unavailable, safe termination of pregnancy is a privilege of the rich, while women with limited resources have little choice but to resort to unsafe providers and practices. This results in severe discrimination against economically disadvantaged women, which the Working Group has highlighted during its country visits.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106c
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Prevent exclusion from the public space during menstruation or breastfeeding and prevent discrimination in relation to menopause in the workplace;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- In many settings, especially where same-sex consensual sexual behaviour is prohibited, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons are deterred from seeking health services out of fear of being arrested and prosecuted. Even in countries where same-sex sexual orientation is not criminalized, lesbians are often discriminated against and mistreated by medical providers, which deters them from seeking health services. In some settings, they are subjected to coercive, inhumane and degrading practices such as "corrective" or punitive rape. Transgender persons are often subjected in law and practice to compulsory medical interventions without being given an opportunity for informed decision-making and choice. Their gender identity is pathologized in many countries and they are often subjected to mental and physical examinations and treatments and forced to undergo "conversion therapies". Transgender persons' biological needs, such as transition-related medical services, screening for cervical cancer, termination of pregnancy and contraception, are often refused by service providers.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Criminal laws and other punitive regulations have imposed custodial sentences on women involved in prostitution/sex work in a manner that has been shown to harm rather than protect them. The Working Group considers that the criminalization of women in prostitution/sex work places them in a situation of injustice, vulnerability and stigma and is contrary to international human rights law. It notes that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women calls for prohibition of the exploitation of prostitution and not for punishment of the women in prostitution/sex work themselves; the well-established position of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women that women should not be criminalized for prostitution; and the stipulation in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Protocol) that efforts should be made to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of women, including trafficking for sexual exploitation.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination against women is also manifest in the unequal provision of health services required by both women and men. This has been especially severe in countries where women have been excluded from receiving medical treatment by male doctors on the grounds of "modesty".
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- In some countries, adolescent girls are deterred from accessing information and services for family planning and termination of pregnancy that are needed to protect their health and safety and prevent unwanted high-risk pregnancies, including the requirement of third party authorization.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group is particularly concerned about the discrimination experienced by women because of their economic status. It has witnessed first-hand during its country visits that women living in poverty are disparately affected in their access to health services, particularly reproductive and sexual health and preventive health care.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Women with disabilities are disproportionately subject to intimate-partner violence, owing to the mutually reinforcing dynamics of gender and disability.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Women migrants are often at great risk of being subjected by public authorities or private individuals to all manner of violence, exploitation, trafficking and slavery while in transit or in detention. These practices can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or torture.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 108e
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Provide non-discriminatory health insurance coverage for women, without surcharges for coverage of their reproductive and sexual health;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Women's rights to equality and to the highest attainable standards of health, to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and to health-care services, including those related to reproductive and sexual health, are enshrined in international and regional human rights instruments, reaffirmed in consensus agreements, including the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women and the outcome documents of the review and appraisal conferences, and recognized by international, regional and national mechanisms and jurisprudence. The International Conference on Population and Development, held in 1994, recognized women's rights to reproductive and sexual health as being key to women's health. Discrimination against women in the area of health and safety and denial of their right to control their own bodies severely violate their human dignity, which, along with equality, is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- The stigma and shame generated by stereotypes around menstruation have severe impacts on all aspects of women's and girls' lives, on their dignity and well-being as well as on their right to education and to employment, as they may feel obliged to stay home from school or work every month because of appropriate facilities and hygienic items are not available. Characterizing women's menstrual pain as "neurotic" tends to make women reluctant to seek help, which can delay diagnosis of, for example, the severely disabling disease of endometriosis, in which tissue that normally grows inside the uterus grows in an abnormal anatomical location.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The present report aims to clarify the meaning of equality in the area of health and safety, identify discriminatory practices, expose the instrumentalization of women's bodies in violation of their human dignity and reveal the barriers to women's autonomous, effective and affordable access to health care. Instrumentalization is defined as the subjection of women's natural biological functions to a politicized patriarchal agenda, which aims at maintaining and perpetrating certain ideas of femininity versus masculinity or of women's subordinate role in society.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- States are obliged to secure women's rights to the highest attainable standard of health and safety, including their underlying determinants, and women's equal access to health-care services, including those related to family planning, as well as their rights to privacy, information and bodily integrity. The obligation to respect, protect and fulfil women's right to equal access to health-care services and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women with regard to their health and safety is violated by neglecting women's health needs, failing to make gender-sensitive health interventions, depriving women of autonomous decision-making capacity and criminalizing or denying them access to health services that only women require. In some situations, failure to protect women's rights to health and safety may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or torture, or even a violation of their right to life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Substantive equality in the area of health and safety requires differential treatment. Throughout their life cycle from childhood to old age, women have health needs and vulnerabilities that are distinctively different from those of men. Women have specific biological functions, are exposed to health problems that affect only women, are victims of pervasive gender-based violence and, statistically speaking, live longer than men, resulting in their greater need to access health services frequently and into older age. Hence, women and girls experience the negative effects of insufficiencies in health-care services more intensively than men.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Women face a disproportionate risk of being subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment in health-care facilities, especially during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period. Furthermore, they are especially vulnerable to degrading treatment in situations where they are deprived of liberty, including in migrant detention facilities or mental institutions. They are subjected to humiliating treatment within the health-care system because of their gender identity and sexual orientation, sometimes expressly in the name of morality or religion, as a way of punishing what is considered "immoral" behaviour.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Women's bodies are instrumentalized for cultural, political and economic purposes rooted in patriarchal traditions. Instrumentalization occurs within and beyond the health sector and is deeply embedded in multiple forms of social and political control over women. It aims at perpetuating taboos and stigmas concerning women's bodies and their traditional roles in society, especially in relation to their sexuality and to reproduction. As a result, women face continuous challenges in accessing health care and in maintaining autonomous control in decision-making about their own bodies. Understanding and eliminating the instrumentalization of women's bodies, which is based on harmful cultural norms and stereotypes, and its detrimental impact on women's health, is critical for change to occur.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- Health care is often unaffordable owing to discriminatory health insurance coverage. Some health insurance policies and programmes exclude various aspects of reproductive health care, including modern forms of contraception, termination of pregnancy and maternal care. Alternatively, some private health insurance schemes insure women's reproductive health needs but add a surcharge to the premiums paid by women. Good practice includes measures that discourage insurance companies from charging women more for health insurance than men because of perceived higher costs associated with women's reproductive health needs.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105d (vi)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Adopt a holistic approach towards women's health and safety by looking at their full life cycle from childhood to old age as interconnected phases with distinct considerations and needs, and in this regard: Provide adequate nutrition and free services for pregnant and lactating women, as required by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- During pregnancy, many women are vulnerable to malnutrition owing to discrimination in the allocation of food. This can result in a serious and irreversible deterioration of women's general health and increase the risk of premature delivery, low birth weight and birth defects. After childbirth, such discrimination can continue to affect women's health, including in connection with breastfeeding. Furthermore, as stated by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, structural violence is an underexamined barrier to women's right to adequate food and nutrition. Gender-based violence, which is a primary form of discrimination, can impede women from accessing adequate food and nutrition.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Delays in seeking appropriate medical care, in reaching an appropriate health facility and in receiving appropriate care once at a facility, along with the lack of accessible maternal health care, are the main reasons behind high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity. A human rights-based approach that provides a functioning health system with adequate supplies, equipment and infrastructure as well as an efficient system of communication, referral and transport are therefore essential to eliminate these preventable deaths and to ensure women's rights to health and life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- Public funding is necessary to subsidize primary health-care services, including medications, contraceptives, legal termination of pregnancy and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. Such services should be affordable and, in the case of economically disadvantaged women, provided free of charge. User or "informal" fees for health-care services increase the risk that these women will either forgo services or resort to substandard services, perhaps from unqualified providers.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105e (iii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Provide special protection and support services to women facing multiple forms of discrimination, and in this regard: Ensure social and health-care benefits, entitlements and protection to lesbians and bisexual and transgender persons without discrimination;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- According to WHO, a body mass index under 16 represents severe thinness. Setting minimum standards of weight for fashion models in line with health guidance via national legislation and policies and/or regulations by modelling agencies as well as advertising campaigns embracing the diversity of female forms are good practices. The development of new models of dolls with body proportions corresponding to those of healthy women is another.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- WHO defines health as not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, but as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. In the present report the Working Group addresses women's safety as an integral aspect of their health. Women's exposure to gender-based violence in both the public and private spheres, including in conflict situations, is a major component of women's physical and mental ill health and the destruction of their well-being, and constitutes a violation of their human rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 107d
- Paragraph text
- [In relation to reproductive and sexual health care, the Working Group recommends that States:] Discontinue the use of criminal law to punish woman for ending a pregnancy and provide women and girls with medical treatment for miscarriage and complications of unsafe termination of pregnancy;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 108b
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Address underlying factors which negate women's autonomy in decision-making regarding their own lives, health or bodies, through education, provision of information and monitoring mechanisms to ensure that their autonomy is respected at all levels of the health-care system;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- Autonomous access to health care means ensuring a woman's right to make decisions concerning her health, fertility and sexuality free of coercion and violence. Key to this is the notion of choice. The rights to informed consent and confidentiality are crucial to ensuring that women can make decisions freely. These rights impose corresponding duties upon health-care providers, who are bound to disclose information about proposed treatments and alternatives in order to aid informed consent and to respect the right to refuse treatment; likewise, they are bound to maintain confidentiality to allow women to make private decisions without the interference of others whom they have not chosen to consult and who might not have their best interests at heart. Autonomy means that a woman seeking services in relation to her health, fertility or sexuality is entitled to be treated as an individual in her own right, the sole beneficiary of the service provided by the health-care practitioner and fully competent to make decisions concerning her own health. This is a matter of, among other things, a woman's right to equality before the law.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105a
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Apply human rights standards and principles of equality, non-discrimination and empowerment of women as the framework for all interventions regarding women's health and safety;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination is sometimes manifested in humiliating treatment women that may face in facilities that are dedicated exclusively to them, such as birthing facilities where, as repeatedly stressed by United Nations human rights mechanisms and WHO, they are too often subjected to degrading and sometimes violent treatment.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Discriminatory laws and practices have contributed to a deplorable global situation with respect to women's health and safety which calls for urgent, immediate and effective actions. According to WHO, an estimated 225 million women are deprived of access to essential modern contraception. Pregnancy and childbirth-related complications resulted in the deaths of almost 300,000 women worldwide in 2013. About 22 million unsafe abortions take place annually and an estimated 47,000 women die from complications resulting from unsafe abortion each year. Breast and cervical cancer remain the leading cancers among women aged 20-59 years, resulting in 1 million deaths, the majority in low- and middle-income countries where screening, prevention and treatment are almost non-existent. Young women bear the brunt of new HIV infections. One in three women under 50 has experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or family member. At least 200 million women and girls have been subjected to female genital mutilation.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Plural legal systems are systems in which various laws coexist. They may include various combinations of codified civil law, religious law systems, indigenous or customary legal codes, community arbitration or other dispute settlement procedures. Plural legal systems may be formal or informal. They most often affect personal status law and family law. In States with plural legal systems, the State legal system, which is generally civil and codified, and the State courts address matters relating to the public sphere.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Several States have adopted this type of legal system as a way of acknowledging cultural diversity. However, legal pluralism is also used by some actors to promote political and ideological interests. Approximately 80 per cent of claims or disputes are resolved by parallel justice systems, signifying that most women in developing countries access justice in a plural legal environment. The existence of social, economic, institutional and cultural barriers and the lack of confidence in formal systems may explain the widespread use of these parallel systems. Poverty and a lack of information on accessing formal justice and education are the main factors that lead women to use parallel justice systems.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Parallel justice systems apply religious, customary or indigenous laws, which, as shown above, are patriarchal. These systems are mostly dominated by men and therefore tend to perpetuate inequalities and patriarchal interpretations of culture, resulting in discrimination against women. Regardless of whether the law is religious or customary, its provisions are often interpreted differently for men and women. The rulings and procedures of these legal mechanisms generally discriminate against women. Moreover, gender-based violence is seldom punished and is sometimes downplayed by religious or customary law courts.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group notes the vital importance of article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which requires States to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary practices that are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women. This provision establishes a legal basis for the primacy of women's right to equality over discriminatory cultural patterns of conduct, including those stemming from religious edicts.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73a (iii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Establish a national legal framework recognizing gender equality in cultural and family life, in accordance with regional and international standards: (iii) Develop national strategies to eradicate cultural practices that discriminate against women and girls, as well as gender stereotypes, through awareness-raising campaigns, educational and informational programmes and stakeholder mobilization. Engage men, as appropriate, in prevention and protection efforts in respect of gender-based discrimination and violence;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73a (iv)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Establish a national legal framework recognizing gender equality in cultural and family life, in accordance with regional and international standards: (iv) Develop effective mechanisms to combat the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination suffered by all marginalized women, including minority women, women living in poverty, women with disabilities, refugee and displaced women, migrant and immigrant women, rural women, indigenous women, older women and single women;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73d (i)
- Paragraph text
- [According to general recommendation No. 29 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the family is a social and legal construct and, in various countries, a religious construct. It also is an economic construct. The Working Group recommends that States:] Take measures to ensure that families allow girls to access education on an equal basis with boys, by raising awareness in the community and providing families with financial incentives to allow girls to finish their studies;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73d (iii)
- Paragraph text
- [According to general recommendation No. 29 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the family is a social and legal construct and, in various countries, a religious construct. It also is an economic construct. The Working Group recommends that States:] Ensure that women, on an equal footing with men, and girls, on an equal footing with boys, have the right to at least half the family property and inheritance in the event of divorce or widowhood. Facilitate the invalidation of any waiver of these rights obtained from a woman as a result of pressure from her family or community;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73b (iii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Promote a culture free of discrimination: (iii) Punish institutions, State officials and non-State actors whose actions threaten women's rights, even where the grounds for such actions are the preservation of culture and religion;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- In order to prepare this report, the Working Group used responses to a questionnaire received from 32 Member States, as well as studies and research by United Nations programmes and bodies, international human rights mechanisms and other stakeholders that were transmitted to it directly or have been carried out recently on the subject. The Working Group also identified good practices in respect of equality in the family and in cultural life, as required by Human Rights Council resolution 15/23.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Culture and religion are often invoked to justify discrimination and violent practices against women and girls. Women have often been viewed as objects rather than as equal participants with men in the creation and manifestation of cultural principles. Indeed, when culture and religion are invoked to justify different forms of discrimination against women, women are seen not as victims or survivors of such discrimination, but as persons who "violate" cultural rules and norms.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have noted that harmful practices affecting women and girls are deeply rooted in social attitudes according to which women and girls are regarded as inferior to men and boys based on stereotyped roles. They highlight the gender dimension to violence and indicate that sex- and gender-based attitudes and stereotypes, power imbalances, inequalities and discrimination perpetuate the widespread existence of practices that often involve violence or coercion. They maintain that the nature and prevalence of these practices vary according to region and culture. These practices cause serious harm to every aspect of the lives of the women and girls who fall victim to them and include incest, female genital mutilation, early and/or forced marriage, so-called "honour crimes", dowry-related violence, neglect of girls, extreme dietary restrictions, virginity tests, servitude, stoning, violent initiation rites, widowhood practices and female infanticide. The obligations set out in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child form the basis for the elaboration of a global strategy to eliminate harmful practices, which should be well defined, rights-based, have local relevance and comprise legal, economic and social support measures combined with proportional political engagement and State responsibility at all levels.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- It is the opinion of the Working Group that the understanding and legal definition of the family in national legislation should be extended to recognize different forms of family. The recognition of same-sex couples, for both women and men, and other forms of family is an example of good practice that a number of States have already implemented. In this regard, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has confirmed that mothers who are lesbians should not be deprived of custodial rights over their children.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- LGBTQI+
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 74c
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that international and regional human rights mechanisms:] Explore the establishment of an essential framework of minimum legal protection for all types of family, including self-created or self-defined families, that would guarantee women's fundamental rights in the family, in accordance with international law.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- The State has an obligation to punish and to put an end to impunity and excuses or justification that perpetuate gender-based discrimination in cultural and family life. The State also has an obligation to afford redress for the harm suffered by women, including by providing for compensation, restitution, guarantees of non-repetition and even preventive measures.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- Culture is a broad concept encompassing all forms of conduct, organization and human behaviour within society, including family, language, religion, philosophy, law, government, art and sport. Cultural diversity occurs when culture is expressed and develops in different contexts in society. Culture is not a static or unchanging concept, although some States tend to present it as such in order to justify inequality between men and women. This living, dynamic and evolving process permeates all human activities and institutions, including legal systems, in all societies across the world. Viewing culture and beliefs as immutable hinders the realization and development of all human rights, including those of women.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group has taken as its basis the legal framework established by the human rights community regarding the right of women to participate, on an equal footing with men, in creating, contesting and recreating their cultures and in all aspects of cultural life. The equal right of all persons to participate in, access and contribute to cultural life is guaranteed by international human rights law, particularly articles 5 and 13, subparagraph (c), of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, article 27, paragraph 1, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The construction of gender is deeply embedded in culture. In its general recommendation No. 28, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women indicates that "the term 'gender' refers to socially constructed identities, attributes and roles for women and men and society's social and cultural meaning for these biological differences resulting in hierarchical relationships between women and men and in the distribution of power and rights favouring men and disadvantaging women. This social positioning of women and men is affected by political, economic, cultural, social, religious, ideological and environmental factors and can be changed by culture, society and community."
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- In the event of violations and discrimination against women, the State has an obligation to investigate and prosecute. The State must take measures to guarantee privacy, confidentiality and safety of victims, and to address women's needs and fears, while ensuring that they are not subject to stigmatization, social ostracism or reprisals. The State must be able to foster confidence in the police and the judicial process, including within plural legal systems. To this end, it must ensure that State bodies and courts systematically apply the principle of equality when interpreting and enforcing the law and that they do so in conformity with international standards. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has pointed out that, where this is not possible, the State is still liable and must take appropriate action.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- The State must act as an agent of change as regards women's place in cultural and family life, by fostering and creating a culture free of all forms of discrimination against women. A transformative approach to women and girls' status in the family is crucial. There needs to be awareness that, in the past, a patriarchal concept of family pervaded all secular, religious, customary and indigenous laws and institutions and that some States and groups are now trying, in a retrograde manner, to subject women to the most oppressive forms of patriarchy, particularly in the context of religious fanaticism. It should also be understood that the transition towards equality between women and men, and girls and boys, in the culture and in the family is a prerequisite for a decent society.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73c (x)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Guarantee women's de jure and de facto right to equality in family diversity: Set up gender-awareness training for all State civil servants involved in education, health, social services, law enforcement and judicial decision-making. Include women, on an equal basis, in all bodies that interpret and apply family law;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73d (ii)
- Paragraph text
- [According to general recommendation No. 29 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the family is a social and legal construct and, in various countries, a religious construct. It also is an economic construct. The Working Group recommends that States:] Ensure that women are free to participate in economic activities outside the house or village, without the supervision of male relatives;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73d (v)
- Paragraph text
- [According to general recommendation No. 29 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the family is a social and legal construct and, in various countries, a religious construct. It also is an economic construct. The Working Group recommends that States:] Recognize women as heads of family on an equal basis with men so that they may enjoy the same financial or social benefits;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The legal rights of women and girls to equality and non-discrimination in cultural and family life, established in 1948 by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by international human rights law, are often restricted in national laws and in practice, including in cultural practice. The Working Group emphasizes that, in accordance with international human rights law, States have an obligation to adopt appropriate measures with a view to eliminating all forms of discrimination against women and girls in laws, cultural practices and the family, whether perpetrated by State agents or private actors.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Several United Nations human rights experts, special procedures mandate holders, treaty bodies and the Secretary-General of the United Nations have established that neither cultural diversity nor freedom of religion may justify discrimination against women. Discriminatory, repressive and violent practices against women should be eliminated, whatever their origins, including those founded in culture or religion. The Working Group is convinced that this opinion is crucial to securing women's enjoyment of their right to equality in all aspects of life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- In many contexts, States fail to establish and enforce a clear legal hierarchy based on the guarantees of equality and non-discrimination set forth in international human rights law and national legislation, thus helping to maintain patriarchal modes of organization and behaviours. Even when the law is independent of any religious source, it may be strongly influenced by culture, deriving from dominant ideologies linked to religion, traditional attitudes and social norms. Some States adopt national laws and regulations that restrict the rights, power and mobility of women on the basis of essentialist points of view belonging to a particular culture or religion. Conservative religious extremist movements impose strict modesty codes in order to subjugate women and girls in the name of religion, particularly in situations of political transition or conflict. For example, some branches of Islam have reintroduced forced and/or early marriage and some branches of Christianity prevent women from having access to therapeutic abortion. Religious extremism limits women's rights, including their right to health and economic activity, and they are generally subject to harsh sanctions for crimes committed against the patriarchy, such as adultery. At the international level, many States justify their reservations to articles of several human rights conventions, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in the name of preserving their cultures and religions. Human Rights Council resolutions 16/3 on promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind and 26/11 on the protection of the family threaten to undermine international achievements in the field of human rights in the name of cultural and religious diversity.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73a (i)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Establish a national legal framework recognizing gender equality in cultural and family life, in accordance with regional and international standards: (i) Recognize and enshrine, in their constitutions and laws, the right to equality, which should apply in all areas of life and have primacy over all religious, customary and indigenous laws, norms, codes and rules, with no possibility of exemption, waiver or circumvention;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73d (iv)
- Paragraph text
- [According to general recommendation No. 29 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the family is a social and legal construct and, in various countries, a religious construct. It also is an economic construct. The Working Group recommends that States:] Recognize the right of women living in polygamous marriages to end their marriage when their husband takes another wife and grant them a share of the family property, including the value of the house or land;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- In many cultures and religions, wives have a duty of obedience, and husbands have the right to punish their wives, including physically. The provision of sexual services by wives is deemed part of their duty to obey their husbands, and marital rape is not prohibited. The Working Group welcomes the introduction of laws criminalizing domestic violence in around 130 countries but finds it regrettable that only 52 countries explicitly criminalize marital rape. Domestic violence has a considerable impact on women, causing more deaths than civil wars and entailing much higher economic costs than those linked to homicides or civil wars.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- In some countries, legislative provisions strengthen patriarchal family structures, as well as the concomitant discrimination and violence against women. This is particularly true of provisions allowing rapists to marry their victims in order to escape legal proceedings and laws that exclude marital rape from the prohibition of rape under criminal law. In some contexts, only men are able to transmit their nationality to their foreign spouses and their children. This de jure inequality has considerable effects on women and their children because the State protection granted by citizenship is refused them de facto.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- All legal definitions of the family should include the right to equality, de jure and de facto, of women and girls within the family. Full equality between women and men, and girls and boys, is a requirement of international human rights law and constitutes a right of women that is vital for the well-being of the family and for society as a whole.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Families
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73c (vii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Guarantee women's de jure and de facto right to equality in family diversity: Respect, protect, fulfil and promote the right to gender equality in the family in the various types of legal system - secular family law systems, State-enforced religious family law systems and plural legal systems. The adoption of a family code or personal status laws free of any reference to culture or religion is encouraged;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73c (ix)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Guarantee women's de jure and de facto right to equality in family diversity: Make the formal State legal system accessible to all women, regardless of their social status, and address the shortcomings of the formal system. Formal justice should be preferred to informal justice for the settlement of all family matters, including those relating to sexual violence and domestic violence;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- The obligation of the State to protect women and girls' right to equality in the family compels the authorities to prevent discrimination by private actors. Due diligence as a principle of State action should result in a global model of prevention, protection, prosecution, punishment and redress for acts of discrimination and violence against women in cultural and family life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- National constitutions are generally the supreme law in most States and form the foundation of the State's institutional and legal structures. They also provide the framework for the elimination of discrimination against women. An explicit constitutional guarantee of gender equality is fundamental to combating discrimination against women and girls in law and in practice. Many countries have already recognized and enshrined this principle of equality in their constitutional laws, and it is essential that it apply in all areas of law, including family law.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The State has a direct obligation to protect and respect women's right to equality in all the forms of family law considered above. It is held responsible for any breach of its obligations, including in cases where it has, through its constitution, laws or judicial decisions, assigned jurisdiction over family law matters to a religious, indigenous or customary court, tribunal or authority. Moreover, the State has an obligation to exercise due diligence to guarantee and protect women's right to equality in informal plural legal systems.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The cultural construction of gender is conducive to generalized discrimination against women in all cultures. Discrimination against women and girls cannot, therefore, be considered an essentialist element, present in certain cultures and not in others. Since cultures are neither homogeneous nor unchanging, there are very significant differences between them concerning their stages of development and the extent to which the patriarchy, misogyny and practices that are harmful to women and girls exist within them.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Culture, when understood as a macro concept, also includes religion. Religion constitutes an institutionalized aspect of culture, with its own sources of authority that regulate social behaviour. It is often based on the concept of transcendental authority, and most religions have codified normative systems. Change must be wrought within the religious hierarchy of the community and must conform to the religious dogma of the written sources. As a consequence, religions are often a haven against social and cultural change. In all religions, there are movements that resist any change to the patriarchy and the status of women and girls in the family. Conversely, non-gender-based discriminatory practices, including some previously defended in the name of culture and religion, such as slavery, have been delegitimized or abandoned as values and ethics have evolved.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Good practice in protecting women's right to equality in formal plural legal systems takes several forms. The adoption of constitutional laws that require autonomous courts, tribunals or arbitrators to respect women's right to equality in terms of both women's representation in justice systems and the formulation and application of procedural and substantive rules is a good practice implemented in several States. Since the 1980s, 11 Latin American States have formally recognized indigenous laws and courts in their constitutional laws, requiring the legal systems of indigenous communities to respect and enforce women's rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has recommended the prohibition and annulment of these marriages, which violate the dignity of women, and calls for safeguards and guarantees to protect the rights of women and girls living in such families. Invalidating an early marriage protects the minor spouses by restoring their single status so that they are deemed never to have been married, rather than divorced, and by cancelling all financial or property transactions linked to the marriage.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- The role of women in the family has generally been under patriarchal control in cultures and religions that subject women and girls to forced and/or early marriage and discrimination in a number of areas of family life, such as consent to enter into marriage, dowry obligations, the right to possess and manage property, sexual relations, requirements regarding modesty and freedom of movement, guardianship and custody of children, divorce and division of matrimonial assets, the punishment of adultery, the right to remarry following dissolution of the marriage or death of the husband, the status of widows and inheritance. In addition, women and girls are generally not treated equally in families with regard to the division of rights and responsibilities. Discrimination against women and girls in the family and in marriage affects all aspects of their lives.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- When the rules governing family relations discriminate against women, they violate international human rights law. Furthermore, considerations linked to protecting and strengthening the family may not be invoked to justify forms of family that do not meet the requirement for equality between men and women and girls and boys. The lack of equality in these forms of marriage leads women and girls to experience discrimination, making them vulnerable to domestic violence.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Families
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73a (ii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Establish a national legal framework recognizing gender equality in cultural and family life, in accordance with regional and international standards: (ii) Promote access to, participation in and contributions by women to all aspects of cultural life, including the definition, creation and interpretation of cultural and religious norms and practices, by providing equal resources, adopting special measures and policies, and facilitating women's access to decision-making positions and policymaking processes, at all levels;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- The right to appeal, before the State courts, discriminatory decisions of indigenous courts, tribunals or arbitrators is another good practice. The commitment of indigenous women in some countries, such as Mexico and Ecuador, to securing State recognition of parallel systems has enabled them to challenge, in the State system, the discrimination they suffered in indigenous legal systems. Women's participation as legal arbitrators, and also as lawmakers, is needed to draw attention to discrimination and to sensitive subjects such as rape or domestic violence, most victims of which are women.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Jurisdiction is exercised informally when jurisdictional powers are not the result of an express grant of judicial authority by the State. Such jurisdiction is generally not recognized by the State. Such situations may arise when religious, indigenous or customary authority is exercised by judges, arbitrators or other alternative dispute settlement procedures that are not authorized or tolerated by the State and/or of which the State is unaware. These systems operate without oversight by the State, and, while some may have been recognized previously in law, often under former colonial systems, they are now beyond State control.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Plural legal systems create complex and confusing legal situations. Various United Nations treaty bodies have sought to show how these systems limit women's enjoyment of the right to equality in their private and public lives, while acknowledging the richness of cultural diversity. Even if there is no special recognition by the State of informal legal systems or formal delegation of functions by the State to traditional chiefs, the State should extend its protection, as referred to in article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- While gender stereotypes pervade all aspects of human existence, women's rights are at particular risk in the family, which is a locus for the perpetuation of traditional values. The family is a product of patriarchal culture and a vital institution for upholding the patriarchy. The Working Group emphasizes that women's equal rights in the family are closely linked to their rights in all areas of life, including public and political life and social, economic and cultural life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73d (vi)
- Paragraph text
- [According to general recommendation No. 29 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the family is a social and legal construct and, in various countries, a religious construct. It also is an economic construct. The Working Group recommends that States:] Assess, quantify and take account of the impact of women and girls' status in the family in all poverty-reduction policies.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73b (i)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Promote a culture free of discrimination: (i) Establish an executive body that applies the due diligence framework (prevention, protection, prosecution, punishment and redress), addressing all forms of discrimination against women in cultural and family life, including by non-State actors;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73c (vi)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Guarantee women's de jure and de facto right to equality in family diversity: Prohibit and punish domestic violence, including incest and marital rape, and provide measures to protect women and girls who are victims of such violence, such as protection orders and shelters;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The different forms of family and their recognition by the State are influenced by a multitude of normative factors, such as culture, religion and caste, and behavioural factors, such as livelihoods, sexuality and social status. Although several international forums recognize family diversity, including "in different cultural, political and social systems", many of the aforementioned non-traditional forms of family are not recognized by all States. The family is often defined by legal systems as a unit founded on marriage between a man and a woman, affecting rights relating to, for example, inheritance, property, child custody, pensions, tax relief and social service provision. Laws and public institutions in some States require a male family member or male guardian to initiate or conclude official transactions, thus placing families headed by women or consisting solely of women at a disadvantage. Families headed by women, like those headed by children, are more seriously affected by poverty because of the discrimination they suffer. Given that State recognition is often a condition for families to receive services and benefits, such as accommodation and protection provided by the State and/or non-State actors, lack of recognition leads to the marginalization of these families.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- The three main systems of family law are secular law systems, religious law systems and plural systems.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Reforming family codes is essential to establishing, in national legislation, women's equal status in marriage and the family structure. Two types of process can be observed with regard to the promotion of gender equality in family law.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- In some secular family law systems, elements of discrimination remain, for example a lower legal minimum age for marriage for girls and discriminatory provisions on inheritance rights, divorce and recognition of same-sex couples.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 74b
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that international and regional human rights mechanisms:] Conduct empirical studies on family diversity and the strategic implications of protecting human rights for the family and for all its members, on an equal basis;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- The State must refrain from adopting laws, policies, measures or regulations that discriminate directly or indirectly against women and girls and must ensure that its officials, and private actors, respect this obligation in all contexts, including those situations where women are most vulnerable (as refugees, migrants or stateless persons, for example).
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- The cultural construction of gender makes women's subjection to gender-based discrimination and violence appear to be inherent and immutable. The patriarchal family is the product of this construction and the most important social mechanism for its perpetuation. Women and girls' human potential is restricted in families. The recognition that women's rights are human rights and that they are universal and indivisible has laid bare the adverse impact of this gender construction on women and girls in families and communities. The need for a paradigm shift has been clearly set out in international human rights law, which, since 1948, has established women's right to equality in all spheres of life, in culture and in the family. As Eleanor Roosevelt said as far back as 1958: "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. […] Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere."
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 74a
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that international and regional human rights mechanisms:] Develop standards, principles and guidelines to combat all forms of gender stereotype, in accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, some secular family law systems allow family matters to be decided in parallel religious or customary law systems, whether formal or informal. The implications for women's right to equality of such systems are discussed in the sections on plural legal systems.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2015
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