Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 141 entities
Core obligations of States parties under article 2 2010, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- The Convention is part of a comprehensive international human rights legal framework directed at ensuring the enjoyment by all of all human rights and at eliminating all forms of discrimination against women on the basis of sex and gender. The Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities contain explicit provisions guaranteeing women equality with men in the enjoyment of the rights they enshrine, while other international human rights treaties, such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, are implicitly grounded in the concept of non-discrimination on the basis of sex and gender. The International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions No. 100 (1951) concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value, No. 111 (1958) concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation and No. 156 (1981) concerning Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment for Men and Women Workers: Workers with Family Responsibilities, the Convention against Discrimination in Education, the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the Cairo Programme of Action and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action also contribute to an international legal regime of equality for women with men and non-discrimination. Likewise, the obligations of States entered into under regional human rights systems are complementary to the universal human rights framework.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- In general recommendation No. 28 (2010) on the core obligations of States parties under article 2 of the Convention, it is indicated that the obligations of States are to respect, protect and fulfil women’s rights to non-discrimination and the enjoyment of de jure and de facto equality. The scope of those obligations in relation to gender-based violence against women occurring in particular contexts is addressed in general recommendation No. 28 and other general recommendations, including general recommendation No. 26 (2008) on women migrant workers; general recommendation No. 27 (2010) on older women and the protection of their human rights; general recommendation No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations; joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2014) on harmful practices; general recommendation No. 32 (2014) on the gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women; general recommendation No. 33 (2015) on women’s access to justice; and general recommendation No. 34 (2016) on the rights of rural women. Further details on the relevant elements of the general recommendations referred to herein may be found in those recommendations.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- In general recommendation No. 28 and general recommendation No. 33, the Committee confirmed that discrimination against women was inextricably linked to other factors that affected their lives. The Committee, in its jurisprudence, has highlighted the fact that such factors include women’s ethnicity/race, indigenous or minority status, colour, socioeconomic status and/or caste, language, religion or belief, political opinion, national origin, marital status, maternity, parental status, age, urban or rural location, health status, disability, property ownership, being lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex, illiteracy, seeking asylum, being a refugee, internally displaced or stateless, widowhood, migration status, heading households, living with HIV/AIDS, being deprived of liberty, and being in prostitution, as well as trafficking in women, situations of armed conflict, geographical remoteness and the stigmatization of women who fight for their rights, including human rights defenders. Accordingly, because women experience varying and intersecting forms of discrimination, which have an aggravating negative impact, the Committee acknowledges that gender-based violence may affect some women to different degrees, or in different ways, meaning that appropriate legal and policy responses are needed.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 29c (iii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following legislative measures:] Repeal, including in customary, religious and indigenous laws, all legal provisions that are discriminatory against women and thereby enshrine, encourage, facilitate, justify or tolerate any form of gender-based violence. In particular, repeal the following: All laws that prevent or deter women from reporting gender-based violence, such as guardianship laws that deprive women of legal capacity or restrict the ability of women with disabilities to testify in court, the practice of so-called “protective custody”, restrictive immigration laws that discourage women, including migrant domestic workers, from reporting such violence, and laws allowing for dual arrests in cases of domestic violence or for the prosecution of women when the perpetrator is acquitted;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 30e (i)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following preventive measures:] Provide mandatory, recurrent and effective capacity-building, education and training for members of the judiciary, lawyers and law enforcement officers, including forensic medical personnel, legislators and health-care professionals, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health, in particular sexually transmitted infections and HIV prevention and treatment services, and all education, social and welfare personnel, including those working with women in institutions, such as residential care homes, asylum centres and prisons, to equip them to adequately prevent and address gender-based violence against women. Such education and training should promote understanding of the following: How gender stereotypes and bias lead to gender-based violence against women and inadequate responses to it;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 31a (iv)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following protective measures:] Adopt and implement effective measures to protect and assist women complainants of and witnesses to gender-based violence before, during and after legal proceedings, including by: Providing women in institutions, including residential care homes, asylum centres and places of deprivation of liberty, with protective and support measures in relation to gender-based violence;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- The Convention is a dynamic instrument that contributes and adapts itself to the development of international law. The present general recommendation builds on the Committee's earlier general recommendations, including No. 19 on violence against women, No. 26 on women migrant workers, No. 28 on the core obligations of States parties under article 2 of the Convention and No. 30 on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations, as well as on reports of States parties under the Convention and the Committee's concluding observations thereon. It also builds on the Committee's consideration of individual communications and its conduct of inquiries under the Optional Protocol.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- In section III, the Committee seeks to ensure that gender equality and non- discrimination obligations are upheld by States parties to the Convention in respect of women asylum seekers and refugees throughout the displacement cycle, with a focus on asylum processes. In section IV, the Committee seeks to ensure that gender equality and non-discrimination principles are upheld by States parties in relation to women's right to nationality, including the right to acquire, change or retain their nationality and to confer their nationality on their children and spouses.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- The scope and purpose of the present general recommendation must be determined in the context of the overall scope and purpose of the Convention, which is to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field, irrespective of their marital status. Within this overall scope, the objective of the present general recommendation is to guide States parties on how to address all aspects of their obligations under the Convention and assume their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of refugee, asylum-seeking and stateless women to non-discrimination and substantive equality, in times of peace, in situations of international and non-international armed conflict and in situations of occupation.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- The Convention, as a gender-specific human rights instrument, covers other rights that are not explicitly mentioned therein, but that have an impact on the achievement of equality of women and men. As such, the Convention provides a gender-sensitive interpretation of human rights law and protects women from sex- and gender-based discrimination with regard to all the human rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights instruments. Such application of the Convention was elaborated by the Committee in relation to the prohibition of violence against women as a form of discrimination against women in its general recommendation No. 19, in which it enumerated some of those protected rights, including the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The present general recommendation specifically addresses the application of the Convention to the right to asylum contained in article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the principle of non-refoulement of refugees and asylum seekers in accordance with existing obligations under international refugee and human rights instruments and the right to nationality contained in article 9 of the Convention and the protection against statelessness.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- The Committee has, in previous general recommendations, clarified that articles 1, 2 (f) and 5 (a) of the Convention read together indicate that the Convention covers sex- and gender-based discrimination against women. The Committee has explained that application of the Convention to gender-based discrimination falls under the definition of discrimination contained in article 1, which points out that any distinction, exclusion or restriction which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women of human rights and fundamental freedoms is discrimination. Discrimination against women based on sex and/or gender is often inextricably linked with and compounded by other factors that affect women, such as race, ethnicity, religion or belief, health, age, class, caste, being lesbian, bisexual or transgender and other status. Discrimination on the basis of sex or gender may affect women belonging to such groups to a different degree or in different ways to men. States parties must legally recognize such intersecting forms of discrimination and their compounded negative impact on the women concerned and prohibit them.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- LGBTQI+
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The Committee notes that the experiences of women during displacement, from asylum to integration, return or settlement in a third country, in addition to those of stateless women, are shaped by the action or inaction of various actors. States parties bear the primary responsibility for ensuring that asylum-seeking women, refugee women, women nationality applicants and stateless women within their territory or under their effective control or jurisdiction, even if not situated within their territory, are not exposed to violations of their rights under the Convention, including when such violations are committed by private persons and non-State actors.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- The Convention is part of a comprehensive international human rights legal framework that operates simultaneously with international refugee law and the laws relating to the status of stateless persons and the reduction of statelessness. There is an important overlapping interrelationship between international human rights law, including the Convention, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereto, and the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The shared objective of the two protection regimes should ensure the complementary and cumulative protection of refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The provisions of the Convention reinforce and complement the international legal protection regime for refugees and stateless women and girls, especially because explicit gender equality provisions are absent from relevant international agreements, notably the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereto, the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Given that the Convention applies at every stage of the displacement cycle, it serves to prohibit sex- and gender-based discrimination at every stage: during the refugee status determination procedure, throughout the return or resettlement process and throughout the integration process for women who have been granted asylum. It also applies to processes of statelessness determination and to processes relating to women acquiring, retaining or changing their nationality or conferring their nationality on their children and spouses.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- While noting that the definition of a refugee under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees provides criteria for the determination of refugee status in relation to persons who are explicitly covered under the Convention, the Committee notes that the present general recommendation covers all women in need of international protection under the Convention and seeks to apply the protection of the Convention to all women in the context of refugee status and asylum. However, the criteria provided by the definition of the word "refugee" in the 1951 Convention are important for the identification of women in need of international protection. At the same time, the Committee notes that regional refugee instruments and national laws have accepted and also expanded upon the definition given in the 1951 Convention to cover a range of persons in need of international protection for reasons of, variously, international or internal/non-international armed conflict and occupation, events seriously disturbing public order, serious human rights violations or generalized violence.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The Committee notes that asylum seekers seek international protection on the basis that they cannot return to their country of origin because they have a well- founded fear of persecution or are at risk of being ill-treated or subjected to other serious harm. It also notes that under article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees the reasons for persecution must be linked to one of the five grounds listed therein: race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Gender-related persecution is absent from the text. The present general recommendation is intended to ensure that States parties apply a gender perspective when interpreting all five grounds, use gender as a factor in recognizing membership of a particular social group for purposes of granting refugee status under the 1951 Convention and further introduce other grounds of persecution, namely sex and/or gender, into national legislation and policies relating to refugees and asylum seekers. It should be noted that, in other international, national and regional contexts, asylum is also provided to persons who cannot be returned to their countries of origin owing to, among other things, threats to their lives or torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. Those forms of complementary protection are also covered herein.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Gender-related forms of persecution are forms of persecution that are directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affect women disproportionately. The Committee observes that understanding the way in which women's rights are violated is critical to the identification of those forms of persecution. The Committee notes that violence against women that is a prohibited form of discrimination against women is one of the major forms of persecution experienced by women in the context of refugee status and asylum. Such violence, just as other gender-related forms of persecution, may breach specific provisions of the Convention. Such forms are recognized as legitimate grounds for international protection in law and in practice. They may include the threat of female genital mutilation, forced/early marriage, threat of violence and/or so-called "honour crimes", trafficking in women, acid attacks, rape and other forms of sexual assault, serious forms of domestic violence, the imposition of the death penalty or other physical punishments existing in discriminatory justice systems, forced sterilization, political or religious persecution for holding feminist or other views and the persecutory consequences of failing to conform to gender-prescribed social norms and mores or for claiming their rights under the Convention.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Gender-related claims to asylum may intersect with other proscribed grounds of discrimination, including age, race, ethnicity/nationality, religion, health, class, caste, being lesbian, bisexual or transgender and other status. The Committee is concerned that many asylum systems continue to treat the claims of women through the lens of male experiences, which can result in their claims to refugee status not being properly assessed or being rejected. Even though gender is not specifically referenced in the definition of a refugee given in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, it can influence or dictate the type of persecution or harm suffered by women and the reasons for such treatment. The definition in the 1951 Convention, properly interpreted, covers gender-related claims to refugee status. It must be emphasized that asylum procedures that do not take into account the special situation or needs of women can impede a comprehensive determination of their claims. For example, asylum authorities may interview only the male "head of household", may not provide same-sex interviewers and interpreters to allow women to present their claims in a safe and gender-sensitive environment or may interview women asylum seekers in the presence of their husbands or male family members who may in fact be the source or sources of their complaints.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- LGBTQI+
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The principle of non-refoulement of refugees is the cornerstone of refugee protection and is a norm of customary international law. Since its formal codification in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, it has been developing and has been integrated into international human rights instruments, namely the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (art. 3) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 7). In addition, the prohibition of refoulement to a risk of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is codified in a number of regional human rights treaties and international non-binding documents.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Bearing in mind that the vast majority of States have become parties to international instruments prohibiting the refoulement of asylum seekers and refugees, in addition to State practice and, among others, the practice whereby non-signatory States to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees host large numbers of refugees, often in mass-influx situations, the prohibition of refoulement of refugees, as enshrined in article 33 of the Convention and complemented by non-refoulement obligations under international human rights law, constitutes a rule of customary international law.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Article 3 of the Convention against Torture prohibits removal of a person to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture. The Committee against Torture, in its general comment No. 2, has explicitly situated gender-based violence and abuse within the scope of the Convention against Torture. Articles 6 and 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also encompass the obligation on States not to extradite, deport, expel or otherwise remove a person from their territory where there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk of irreparable harm in the country to which the person will, or may subsequently, be removed. The Human Rights Committee has further noted that the absolute prohibition of torture that is part of customary international law includes, as an essential corollary component, the prohibition of refoulement to a risk of torture, which entails the prohibition of any return of an individual where he or she would be exposed to a risk of torture, ill-treatment or arbitrary deprivation of life.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- According to those human rights provisions, no asylum seeker or refugee is to be expelled or returned (refoulé) in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his or her life or freedom or the right to be free from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment would be threatened.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- The Committee notes that the Convention, as an instrument to prevent discrimination against women, contains no explicit provision on non-refoulement. In the framework of its work on individual communications under the Optional Protocol, the Committee has had to address States parties' objections to the effect that the Committee has no competence to deal with cases submitted on behalf of asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected at the national level but who claim that they would be exposed to the risk of sexual and/or gender-based violence and persecution if forcibly returned to their country of origin. In reply, the Committee has noted, among other things, that, under international human rights law, the non-refoulement principle imposes a duty on States to refrain from returning a person to a jurisdiction in which he or she may face serious violations of human rights, notably arbitrary deprivation of life or torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In addition, the Committee recalls that civil and political rights and freedoms, including the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture or ill-treatment, are implicitly covered by the Convention, and thus States parties are under the obligation not to extradite, deport, expel or otherwise remove a person from their territory to the territory of another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk of irreparable harm.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The Committee further considers that, under article 2 (d) of the Convention, States parties undertake to refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and to ensure that public authorities and institutions act in conformity with that obligation. That duty encompasses the obligation of States parties to protect women from being exposed to a real, personal and foreseeable risk of serious forms of discrimination against women, including gender-based violence, irrespective of whether such consequences would take place outside the territorial boundaries of the sending State party: if a State party takes a decision relating to a person within its jurisdiction, and the necessary and foreseeable consequence is that the person's basic rights under the Convention will be seriously at risk in another jurisdiction, the State party itself may be in violation of the Convention. The foreseeability of the consequence would mean that there was a present violation by the State party, even though the consequence would not occur until later.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- The Committee is therefore of the view that States parties have an obligation to ensure that no woman will be expelled or returned to another State where her life, physical integrity, liberty and security of person would be threatened, or where she would risk suffering serious forms of discrimination, including serious forms of gender-based persecution or gender-based violence. What amounts to serious forms of discrimination against women, including gender-based violence, will depend on the circumstances of each case.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Article 2 (c) of the Convention requires that State asylum procedures allow women's claims to asylum to be presented and assessed on the basis of equality in a fair, impartial and timely manner. A gender-sensitive approach should be applied at every stage of the asylum process. This means that women's claims to asylum should be determined by an asylum system that is informed, in all aspects of its policy and operations, by a thorough understanding of the particular forms of discrimination or persecution and human rights abuses that women experience on grounds of gender or sex. Owing to shame, stigma or trauma, some women may be reluctant to disclose or identify the true extent of the persecution that they have suffered or fear. Account needs to be taken of the fact that they may continue to fear persons in authority or rejection and/or reprisals from their family and/or community. In any event, they should be entitled to appeal against first-instance asylum decisions.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- 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. 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. 28
- Paragraph text
- The Committee is aware that, in cases in which persecution is perpetrated by non-State actors, receiving States have advanced the option of internal flight alternative, according to which a person is not at risk of persecution by non-State actors if he or she is relocated to a safe place within the State of origin. The Committee recalls that articles 2 (d) and (e) of the Convention require that States parties ensure that women are protected against discrimination generated by non-State actors and, in the context of a refugee woman, it observes that the essence of refugee status is to provide effective protection to the refugee woman. It also notes that, should the internal flight alternative be considered by receiving States, the option should be subject to strict requirements, such as the woman's ability to travel to the area concerned and gain admittance and settle there. States should also take into account gender-related aspects and risks in the assessment as to whether internal relocation is permissible. Difficulties faced by women in relocating to other parts of their countries of origin can include legal, cultural and/or social restrictions or prohibitions on women travelling or living alone, practical realities such as problems of securing accommodation, childcare and economic survival without family or community support, and risk of harassment and exploitation, including sexual exploitation and violence.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph