Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 38 entities
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Gender-based violence affects women throughout their life cycle and, accordingly, references to women in the present document include girls. Such violence takes multiple forms, including acts or omissions intended or likely to cause or result in death or physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, threats of such acts, harassment, coercion and arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Gender-based violence against women is affected and often exacerbated by cultural, economic, ideological, technological, political, religious, social and environmental factors, as evidenced, among other things, in the contexts of displacement, migration, the increased globalization of economic activities, including global supply chains, the extractive and offshoring industry, militarization, foreign occupation, armed conflict, violent extremism and terrorism. Gender-based violence against women is also affected by political, economic and social crises, civil unrest, humanitarian emergencies, natural disasters and the destruction or degradation of natural resources. Harmful practices and crimes against women human rights defenders, politicians, activists or journalists are also forms of gender-based violence against women affected by such cultural, ideological and political factors.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Women with disabilities are not a homogenous group. They include: indigenous women; refugee, migrant, asylum seeker and internally displaced women; women in detention (hospitals, residential institutions, juvenile or correctional facilities and prisons); women living in poverty; women from different ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds; women with multiple disabilities and high levels of support; women with albinism; and lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender women, and intersex persons. The diversity of women with disabilities also includes all types of impairments which is understood as physical, psychosocial, intellectual or sensory conditions which may or may not come with functional limitations. Disability is understood as the social effect of the interaction between individual impairment and the social and material environment, as described in article 1.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- In situations of armed conflict, occupation of territories, natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies women with disabilities are at increased risk of sexual violence and are less likely to be able to have access to recovery and rehabilitation services or access to justice . Women refugees, migrants and asylum seekers with disabilities may also face an increased risk of violence because they are denied the right to access health and justice systems because of their citizenship status.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The right to inclusive education 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters disproportionately impact the right to inclusive education. States parties should adopt inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction strategies for comprehensive school safety and security in emergencies, which are sensitive to learners with disabilities. Temporary learning environments in such contexts must ensure the right of persons, and particularly children, with disabilities to education on the basis of equality with others. This includes accessible educational materials, school facilities, counselling, or access to training in local sign language for deaf learners. According to Article 11, and recognizing the heightened risk of sexual violence in such settings, measures must be taken to ensure that learning environments are safe and accessible for women and girls with disabilities. Learners with disabilities must not be denied access to educational establishments on the basis that their evacuation in emergency situations would be impossible, and reasonable accommodation must be provided.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence 2016, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- The Committee expresses deep concern about the fact that adolescent boys and girls are being recruited, including through the use of social media, by States' armed forces, armed groups and militias, and urges all States parties to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. It is also concerned about adolescents' vulnerability to being enticed by terrorist propaganda, extremist views and involvement in terrorist activities. Research with adolescents should be undertaken to explore the factors driving their engagement in such activities and States should take appropriate action in response to the findings, paying particular attention to measures promoting social integration.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Article 6 on the suppression of the traffic in women and of the exploitation of prostitution has special relevance for rural women and girls, including indigenous women and girls, who face specific risks because they live in remote areas. The economic hardships of rural life, alongside the lack of information on trafficking and how traffickers operate, can make them especially vulnerable, in particular in conflict-affected regions.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Harm perpetrated against women and girls is often at the hands of non-State actors, including family members, neighbours or society more generally. In such cases, article 2 (e) of the Convention requires that States parties assume their due diligence obligation and ensure that women are effectively protected from harm that may be inflicted by non-State actors. It does not suffice to strive for vertical gender equality of the individual woman vis-à-vis public authorities; States must also work to secure non-discrimination at the horizontal level, even within the family. Harm perpetrated by non-State actors is persecution where the State is unable or unwilling to prevent such harm or protect the claimant because of discriminatory governmental policies or practices.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- In addition, articles 2, 15 (1) and 16 require States parties to recognize that women may present independent claims to asylum. In this respect, their claims may also be based on fears relating to their children. For example, claims to refugee status may arise from a fear that their daughters will suffer female genital mutilation, be forced into marriage or be subjected to severe community ostracism and exclusion for being girls. The child's protection claim should also be considered on its own merits in a child-sensitive manner in the best interests of the child. Once the principal claimant is recognized as a refugee, other members of the family should normally also be recognized as refugees ("derivative status").
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Gender sensitivity should be reflected in reception arrangements, taking into account the specific needs of victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, of trauma and torture or ill-treatment and of other particularly vulnerable groups of women and girls. Reception arrangements should also allow for the unity of the family as present within the territory, in particular in the context of reception centres. As a general rule, pregnant women and nursing mothers, who both have special needs, should not be detained. Where detention of women asylum seekers is unavoidable, separate facilities and materials are required to meet the specific hygiene needs of women. The use of female guards and warders should be promoted. All staff assigned to work with women detainees should receive training relating to the gender-specific needs and human rights of women. Pursuant to articles 1, 2, 5 (a) and 12 of the Convention, failure to address the specific needs of women in immigration detention and ensure the respectful treatment of detained women asylum seekers could constitute discrimination within the meaning of the Convention. Not least for the purposes of avoiding violence against women, separate facilities for male and female detainees are required, unless in family units, and alternatives to detention are to be made available.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Forced marriages are marriages in which one and/or both parties have not personally expressed their full and free consent to the union. They may be manifested in various forms, including child marriage, as indicated above, exchange or trade-off marriages (i.e. baad and baadal), servile marriages and levirate marriages (coercing a widow to marry a relative of her deceased husband). In some contexts, a forced marriage may occur when a rapist is permitted to escape criminal sanctions by marrying the victim, usually with the consent of her family. Forced marriages may occur in the context of migration in order to ensure that a girl marries within the family's community of origin or to provide extended family members or others with documents to migrate to and/or live in a particular destination country. Forced marriages are also increasingly being used by armed groups during conflict or may be a means for a girl to escape post-conflict poverty. Forced marriage may also be defined as a marriage in which one of the parties is not permitted to end or leave it. Forced marriages often result in girls lacking personal and economic autonomy and attempting to flee or commit self-immolation or suicide to avoid or escape the marriage.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Forced marriages are marriages in which one and/or both parties have not personally expressed their full and free consent to the union. They may be manifested in various forms, including child marriage, as indicated above, exchange or trade-off marriages (i.e. baad and baadal), servile marriages and levirate marriages (coercing a widow to marry a relative of her deceased husband). In some contexts, a forced marriage may occur when a rapist is permitted to escape criminal sanctions by marrying the victim, usually with the consent of her family. Forced marriages may occur in the context of migration in order to ensure that a girl marries within the family's community of origin or to provide extended family members or others with documents to migrate to and/or live in a particular destination country. Forced marriages are also increasingly being used by armed groups during conflict or may be a means for a girl to escape post-conflict poverty. Forced marriage may also be defined as a marriage in which one of the parties is not permitted to end or leave it. Forced marriages often result in girls lacking personal and economic autonomy and attempting to flee or commit self-immolation or suicide to avoid or escape the marriage.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Under the Convention, States parties' obligations to prevent, investigate and punish trafficking and sexual and gender-based violence are reinforced by international criminal law, including jurisprudence of the international and mixed criminal tribunals and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, pursuant to which enslavement in the course of trafficking in women and girls, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity may constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity or an act of torture, or constitute an act of genocide. International criminal law, including the definitions of gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence, must also be interpreted consistently with the Convention and other internationally recognized human rights instruments without adverse distinction as to gender.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The Committee has previously noted that the Convention applies at every stage of the displacement cycle and that situations of forced displacement and statelessness often affect women differently from men and include gender-based discrimination and violence. Internal and external displacement have specific gender dimensions that occur at all stages in the displacement cycle; during flight, settlement and return within conflict-affected areas, women and girls are especially vulnerable to forced displacement. In addition, they are often subjected to gross human rights violations during flight and in the displacement phase, as well as within and outside camp settings, including risks relating to sexual violence, trafficking and the recruitment of girls into armed forces and rebel groups.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The total breakdown of State public and service provision infrastructure is one of the major and direct consequences of armed conflict, resulting in the lack of delivery of essential services to the population. In such situations, women and girls are at the front line of suffering, bearing the brunt of the socioeconomic dimensions of the conflict. In conflict-affected areas, schools are closed owing to insecurity, occupied by State and non-State armed groups or destroyed, all of which impede girls' access to school. Other factors preventing girls' access to education include targeted attacks and threats against them and their teachers by non-State actors, in addition to the additional caregiving and household responsibilities that they are obliged to assume.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- During and after conflict, specific groups of women and girls are at particular risk of violence, especially sexual violence, such as internally displaced and refugee women; women's human rights defenders; women of diverse caste, ethnic, national or religious identities, or other minorities, who are often attacked as symbolic representatives of their community; widows; and women with disabilities. Female combatants and women in the military are also vulnerable to sexual assault and harassment by State and non-State armed groups and resistance movements.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- In addition to the heightened risks faced by internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum seekers, conflict can also be both a cause and a consequence of statelessness, rendering women and girls particularly vulnerable to various forms of abuse in both the private and public domains. Statelessness can arise when a woman's experience of conflict intersects with discrimination with regard to nationality rights, such as laws that require women to change nationality upon marriage or its dissolution or that deny them the ability to pass on their nationality.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Stateless women and girls face heightened risks of abuse in times of conflict because they do not enjoy the protection that flows from citizenship, including consular assistance, and also because many are undocumented and/or belong to ethnic, religious or linguistic minority populations. Statelessness also results in the widespread denial of fundamental human rights and freedoms in post-conflict periods. For example, women may be denied access to health care, employment and other socioeconomic and cultural rights as Governments restrict services to nationals in times of increased resource constraints. Women deprived of a nationality are also often excluded from political processes and from participating in the new government and governance of their country, in violation of articles 7 and 8 of the Convention.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Inequalities in marriage and family relations affect women's experiences in conflict and post-conflict situations. In such situations, women and girls may be forced into marriage to placate armed groups or because their post-conflict poverty forces them to marry for financial security, affecting their rights to choose a spouse and enter freely into marriage, as guaranteed by article 16 (1)(a) and 16 (1)(b). During conflict, girls are particularly susceptible to forced marriage, a harmful practice that is increasingly used by armed groups. Families also force girls into marriage as a result of poverty and a misconception that it may protect them against rape.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination against women is also compounded by intersecting forms of discrimination, as noted in general recommendation No. 28. Given that the Convention reflects a life-cycle approach, States parties are also required to address the rights and distinct needs of conflict-affected girls that arise from gender-based discrimination.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The provisions of the Convention prohibiting discrimination against women reinforce and complement the international legal protection regime for refugees and displaced and stateless women and girls in many settings, especially because explicit gender equality provisions are absent from relevant international agreements, notably the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Trafficking in women and girls, which constitutes gender-based discrimination, is exacerbated during and after conflict owing to the breakdown of political, economic and social structures, high levels of violence and increased militarism. Conflict and post-conflict situations can create particular war-related demand structures for women's sexual, economic and military exploitation. Conflict-affected regions can be areas of origin, transit and destination with regard to trafficking in women and girls, with the forms of trafficking varying by region, specific economic and political context and State and non-State actors involved. Women and girls living in or returning from camps for internally displaced persons, refugees or those searching for livelihoods are particularly at risk of trafficking.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- There may be cases in which States parties also have extraterritorial obligations of international cooperation, as set out in international law, such as treaty law on women with disabilities (art. 32 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), girls in armed conflict (art. 24 (4) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the first two optional protocols thereto) and the non-discriminatory enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights (arts. 2 (1), 11 (1), 22 and 23 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights). In such cases, the extraterritorial application of the Convention requires States to comply with the Convention in implementing those obligations.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The right of the child to rest, leisure, play, recreational activities, cultural life and the arts 2013, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Article 2 (non-discrimination): The Committee emphasizes that States parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that all children have the opportunity to realize their rights under article 31 without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status. Particular attention should be given to addressing the rights of certain groups of children, including, inter alia, girls, children with disabilities, children living in poor or hazardous environments, children living in poverty, children in penal, health-care or residential institutions, children in situations of conflict or humanitarian disaster, children in rural communities, asylum-seeking and refugee children, children in street situations, nomadic groups, migrant or internally displaced children, children of indigenous origin and from minority groups, working children, children without parents and children subjected to significant pressure for academic attainment.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The Committee recommends that State parties, when implementing their obligations under the Convention, give due consideration to the complementary protections for women and girls stemming from international humanitarian, refugee and criminal law.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- In conflict-affected areas, access to essential services such as health care, including sexual and reproductive health services, is disrupted owing to inadequate infrastructure and a lack of professional medical care workers, basic medicines and health-care supplies. Consequently, women and girls are at a greater risk of unplanned pregnancy, severe sexual and reproductive injuries and contracting sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS, as a result of conflict-related sexual violence. The breakdown or destruction of health services, combined with restrictions on women's mobility and freedom of movement, further undermines women's equal access to health care, as guaranteed by article 12 (1). Power imbalances and harmful gender norms make girls and women disproportionately more vulnerable to HIV infection and these factors become more pronounced in conflict and post-conflict settings. HIV-related stigma and discrimination is also pervasive and has profound implications for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, especially when combined with the stigma associated with gender-based violence.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration are part of the broader security sector reform framework and among the first security initiatives put in place in post-conflict and transition periods. This notwithstanding, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes are rarely developed or implemented in coordination with security sector reform initiatives. This lack of coordination often undermines women's rights, such as when amnesties are granted in order to facilitate the reintegration into security sector positions of ex-combatants who have committed gender-based violations. Women are also excluded from positions within newly formed security sector institutions owing to a lack of planning and coordination in security sector reform and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration initiatives. Inadequate vetting processes further impede gender-sensitive security sector reform, which is key to developing non-discriminatory, gender-responsive security sector institutions that address the security needs of women and girls, including disadvantaged groups.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Violence against women and girls is a form of discrimination prohibited by the Convention and is a violation of human rights. Conflicts exacerbate existing gender inequalities, placing women at a heightened risk of various forms of gender-based violence by both State and non-State actors. Conflict-related violence happens everywhere, such as in homes, detention facilities and camps for internally displaced women and refugees; it happens at any time, for instance, while performing daily activities such as collecting water and firewood or going to school or work. There are multiple perpetrators of conflict-related gender-based violence. These may include members of government armed forces, paramilitary groups, non-State armed groups, peacekeeping personnel and civilians. Irrespective of the character of the armed conflict, its duration or the actors involved, women and girls are increasingly deliberately targeted for and subjected to various forms of violence and abuse, ranging from arbitrary killings, torture and mutilation, sexual violence, forced marriage, forced prostitution and forced impregnation to forced termination of pregnancy and sterilization.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- It is indisputable that, while all civilians are adversely affected by armed conflict, women and girls are primarily and increasingly targeted by the use of sexual violence, "including as a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instil fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group", and that this form of sexual violence persists even after the cessation of hostilities (see Security Council resolution 1820 (2008)). For most women in post-conflict environments, the violence does not stop with the official ceasefire or the signing of the peace agreement and often increases in the post-conflict setting. The Committee acknowledges the many reports confirming that, while the forms and sites of violence change, which means that there may no longer be State-sponsored violence, all forms of gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence, escalate in the post-conflict setting. The failure to prevent, investigate and punish all forms of gender-based violence, in addition to other factors such as ineffective disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes, can also lead to further violence against women in post-conflict periods.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- Although international tribunals have contributed to recognizing and prosecuting gender-based crimes, a number of challenges remain to ensuring women's access to justice and many procedural, institutional and social barriers continue to prevent them from participating in international justice processes. Passive acquiescence of past violence reinforces the culture of silence and stigmatization. Reconciliation processes such as truth and reconciliation commissions often provide women survivors with an opportunity to deal with their past in a safe setting and constitute official historical records. They should, however, never be used as a substitute for investigations into and prosecutions of perpetrators for human rights violations committed against women and girls.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Even when women and girls are included in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes, the support is inadequate, gender stereotyped and limits their economic empowerment by providing skills development only in traditionally female fields. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes also fail to deal with the psychosocial trauma that women and girls experience in conflict and post-conflict situations. That in turn can cause further rights violations, given that women's social stigma, isolation and economic disempowerment can force some women to remain in exploitative situations (such as with their captors) or force them into new ones if they have to turn to illicit activities to provide for themselves and their dependants.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph