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Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- In that regard, civil society organizations stressed the importance of having a document that was legally binding and that clearly delineated the responsibilities of the sovereign bodies with regard to providing reparation for and preventing gender-based violence. In particular, prevention of gender-based violence must be promoted to a jus cogens principle in order to build momentum around efforts related to protecting women and girls from violence. Such a document needed to address gender stereotypes and stigma attached to victims, and violence against women ought to be addressed by challenging its root causes, such as poverty, disability and vulnerability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- As previously highlighted, many civil society organizations stated that particular importance should also be given to improving implementation strategies and monitoring regimes: there should be a monitoring of State practice in implementing the principles on violence against women as a human rights issue (prevention, prosecution, protection and policy). This monitoring could be carried out by independent organizations engaging with an international treaty body. A treaty could also require States parties to create or nominate a national independent monitoring body on violence against women, which would include frameworks for respective responsibilities in federal States with sufficient resources and the ability to adjudicate cases of violence against women and girls. The treaty could establish a new global gender observatory or international watch centre. It should include a requirement for States to accept more country visits as part of monitoring, as well as ensure consultation with survivors as part of the reporting process and monitoring. Furthermore, more importance should be given to ensuring improved data collection and including a requirement for States to disseminate reports. According to some civil society organizations, any new treaty body should have the power to make general recommendations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Another key aspect was secondary protection for women and girls after violence had taken place to avoid further violence and secondary victimization. In that regard, there should be accessible shelters and durable housing solutions, especially for indigenous women and women in rural areas. In addition, the reception of refugee and migrant women needed to be in facilities which were safe (where they would not be mixed with men and therefore in danger).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- The Secretary-General could be asked to convene a high-level panel on intensifying efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence, especially violence and discrimination against indigenous women and girls. States could increase regional monitoring and interregional cooperation; the Great Lakes treaty processes have been praised in that regard.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- The universal and overall acceptance, incorporation and implementation by States of international and regional instruments are vital steps to consolidate national legal frameworks addressing the elimination of violence against women. This includes not only the ratification of the main international and regional conventions on gender-based violence against women, but also the elimination of all those discriminatory laws and harmful practices which prevent the full enjoyment by women and girls of their human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Trafficking is a feature of armed conflict as well as of post-conflict situations and usually has a strong gender dimension. For instance, men and boys are trafficked for the purpose of supplying combatants to supplement fighting forces. Armed conflicts also increase the risk of women and girls being sexually exploited, which includes being abducted and forced into sexual slavery and/or forced prostitution. Those victims may be transported across international borders before being sold and trafficked to other regions or countries. They can also be trafficked for the purposes of forced labour for armies and armed groups. In addition, arranged marriages or false promises of domestic work abroad that are expected to provide children with a better life often render them vulnerable to trafficking for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour, including domestic servitude. Furthermore, paramilitary groups can wreak havoc on communities during armed conflicts, often forcing children to become soldiers and workers, including in the illegal drug trade.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Trafficking of children is on the increase globally, with girls being affected the most. The recently released Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2014 also notes significant regional differences concerning child trafficking, with children comprising a majority of detected victims of trafficking in Africa and the Middle East.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The mandate's work has confirmed that girls and boys are trafficked for a variety of reasons, including for purposes of sexual exploitation, such as in prostitution and in the production of child pornography. Furthermore, they are trafficked for forced and exploitative labour in farms and factories and on fishing boats, for forced criminal activities, for forced and organized begging, and for domestic servitude in private households. While much trafficking of children involves movement across international borders, many countries experience the phenomenon of internal child trafficking.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Women are significantly involved in trafficking in persons, both as victims and offenders. Data regarding women are among the most interesting findings in the UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2014, which confirms that women and girls are disproportionately exploited not only for the purposes of sexual but also labour exploitation. In some regions, such as in South and East Asia, in Africa and the Middle East, women are even the majority of people exploited as forced labour.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- With regard to perpetrators, while the majority of traffickers are men, women constitute 28 per cent of convicted trafficking offenders. It is not uncommon for women victims of trafficking to be convicted for offences connected with, or arising out of, their trafficking situation, as a result of coercion by their perpetrators to undertake criminal activities. In those situations, they often come to the attention of the authorities primarily as offenders, whilst they should rather be identified as victims of trafficking. On the other hand, in some cases women start out as victims of trafficking and, as a means of escaping their own victimization, turn into perpetrators, undertaking the most visible and dangerous criminal tasks. In that regard, the mandate has noted the involvement of women traffickers in areas such as the recruitment and controlling of children for forced labour and domestic servitude, and of women and girls for sexual exploitation (A/HRC/23/48/Add.2 and A/HRC/26/37/Add.4).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Some forms of trafficking mostly involve women and girls, who comprise the vast majority of people trafficked for sexual purposes and for labour exploitation in domestic servitude. Moreover, women are also trafficked for the purpose of forced and servile marriages (A/HRC/21/41).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Finally, the Special Rapporteur will be guided by the best interests of the child in all actions concerning trafficked girls and boys, whether undertaken by public or private institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies. She expects to look into existing identification, protection and assistance gaps in relation to children who have been trafficked for various purposes, with the aim of providing insights on issues such as the procedures for determining the best interests of the children, access to justice, provision of unconditional assistance and effective remedies including compensation for such children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- In continuation of the broad interpretation of trafficking in persons adopted by the mandate, the Special Rapporteur will embrace and further develop a comprehensive understanding of trafficking for any illicit purpose. This includes - but is not limited to - trafficking in adults and children for sexual purposes, for labour exploitation, for exploitative adoption and for participation in armed conflicts; trafficking in women, men and children for forced labour and other forms of exploitation, such as exploitation in criminal or illicit activities, or forced and organized begging; trafficking in women and girls for forced and servile marriages, sexual exploitation and forced labour, including domestic servitude; and trafficking in persons for the removal of organs (A/HRC/26/37, para. 36).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Approach, vision and work methods 2014, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur will integrate a gender perspective throughout her work, as mandated by resolution 7/13. She considers that sensitivity to the ways in which the phenomena of the sale and sexual exploitation of children affects boys and girls differently is essential for proposing effective recommendations. In this respect, she will take into consideration the gender dimension of sexual exploitation which, according to available data, disproportionately affects girls. The Special Rapporteur will take into account the different needs and opportunities of boys and girls through, among other things, the collection and analysis of disaggregated data and propose gender-specific recommendations for their care and recovery.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Certain forms of abuses in health-care settings that may cross a threshold of mistreatment that is tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2013, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Persons with disabilities are particularly affected by forced medical interventions, and continue to be exposed to non-consensual medical practices (A/63/175, para. 40). In the case of children in health-care settings, an actual or perceived disability may diminish the weight given to the child's views in determining their best interests, or may be taken as the basis of substitution of determination and decision-making by parents, guardians, carers or public authorities. Women living with disabilities, with psychiatric labels in particular, are at risk of multiple forms of discrimination and abuse in health-care settings. Forced sterilization of girls and women with disabilities has been widely documented. National law in Spain, among other countries, allows for the sterilization of minors who are found to have severe intellectual disabilities. The Egyptian Parliament failed to include a provision banning the use of sterilization as a "treatment" for mental illness in its patient protection law. In the United States, 15 states have laws that fail to protect women with disabilities from involuntary sterilization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- Servile marriage and domestic servitude are two forms of contemporary slavery that disproportionately affect women and girls. In a previous report, the Special Rapporteur defined servile marriage as an arrangement "in which a spouse is reduced to a commodity over whom any or all the powers of ownership are attached" (A/HRC/21/41, summary). Practices such as polygamy and "bride price", especially when coupled with the prevalence of domestic violence, are possible indicators of servile marriage. Women's bodies are directly tied to a family's honour in many cultures, and if a girl refuses to marry, "she can be subject to character assassination or kidnapping by the man or his family to force her into marriage or to rape her" (ibid., para. 71). There is little to no legal protection for women in these situations in many countries. Some countries have gone so far as to enact legislation that acquits perpetrators of rape if they marry their victim. If a woman enters into a servile marriage, she essentially becomes a slave to her husband and his family.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- A number of sources have reported that children are subjected to contemporary slavery in Ghanaian fisheries by "fisher-entrepreneurs" or middlemen who take them far from their homes to work in fisheries. Recruiters reportedly deceive families with promises of educational opportunities in exchange for a few hours of work each day. Children are also often promised cash or in-kind payments for their labour, such as a cow for boys or a sewing machine for girls. Parents may be offered an advance for their child's work, thus placing the child in a situation of debt bondage. Lake Volta is a popular destination for child slaves, as fishery resources have been depleted and children are considered cheap sources of labour. Tasks in the fishing sector are gendered: boys paddle canoes, pull in nets and carry fish; girls sort, pack and transport fish; and both boys and girls are often tasked with deep-water diving to clear entangled nets. Children usually work six to seven days a week, at least 12 hours a day, and fishing expeditions can last for many days. These children are exposed to dangerous working conditions, long hours, sexual and physical abuse, and even death due to drowning, snake bites or physical abuse at the hands of boat or equipment owners.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Child participation 2012, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Animated short films are an effective and attractive medium to convey difficult messages. One such example is Two Little Girls, which was made by the Poppy Project in the United Kingdom in consultation with a group of young Albanian women who were trafficked into the country. It is part of a trafficking prevention and public awareness-raising campaign, aimed at girls and young women in 13 countries in Eastern Europe who are at risk of being trafficked for sexual exploitation. It warns them of the dangers of being persuaded to travel abroad with false promises of employment, only to find themselves sold into commercial sexual exploitation. Other good examples have been produced using the "Animate it" method promoted by Save the Children Sweden, which allows children to design and produce animated films about issues that concern them.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Some parents take out loans against their children's labour. Other parents sell their children and, upon their arrival in the mines, the children are charged exorbitant prices for their transportation to the mines, food and tools by the employer or middleman. In both these instances, the children are often unable to leave the mines or quarries until they have paid off the debt owed to the middleman or employer. In majority of the cases, children become bonded as a result of their parents' debt. Bonded labour is prohibited under the 1956 Supplementary Convention. Many children report not being able to save or even earn enough money to send back home. This results in them being unable to leave their situation until their debt is paid. In 2010, the Special Rapporteur received information that Bangladeshi and Nepali children were being purchased by middlemen or abducted and sold by gangs to mining employers in India. The price of the child varied from 50-75 USD. According to the information received, the children are forced to work to pay off their debt. The middlemen bring both boys and girls to work in the mines. The girls living and working in the mines are often sexually abused by adult mine workers and employers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Children working in the mines and quarries are vulnerable to physical, sexual, moral and social harm. Artisanal mining and quarrying is inherently informal and illegal -as either it costs too much to get the legal permit to mine or there is no need to get a permit as the law is not enforced. These "frontier communities" are riddled with violence, crime, trafficking in young girls and women for sexual exploitation, prostitution, drug and alcohol use (ibid.). There have been reports that children are given drugs so that they are able to fearlessly extract minerals underground or underwater. Children also take drugs and alcohol in the belief that it makes them stronger and as a result of peer pressure. The drug abuse (particularly amphetamines and marijuana) and alcohol (commercial and/or local brew) destroy their health and keep them in the vicious circle of poverty. Children who arrive alone to work in this sector are even more vulnerable to abuses (see A/HRC/18/30/Add.2).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Poverty
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Girls, especially unaccompanied girls, working in and around the mines and quarries are vulnerable to rape and sexual exploitation. Sexual exploitation can start from the age of 9 but many of the girls involved are aged between 13 and 17 years. In some mining communities like those in Burkina Faso and Niger, it is believed that male child miners will have greater luck in the mining pits if they have sexual intercourse with a virgin or have unprotected sexual intercourse and do not wash before going underground (see E/C.12/MDG/CO/2). Child prostitution also occurs in the mining communities. For example, in Ghana, girls as young as 12 living in gold-mining communities are found in prostitution (ibid.). A United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) study on sexual exploitation of children around mines and quarries found four main types of exploitation: prostitution on a regular basis, occasional prostitution, companionship or temporary unions, and forced prostitution.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Girls deprived of their liberty are at a heightened risk of sexual violence, sexual exploitation and underage pregnancies while in detention. The risk of sexual abuse is greater when male guards supervise girls in detention. Girls deprived of their liberty have different needs not only to those of adults but also of boys. Girls in detention are often not only children but also carers, either as mothers or as siblings, and have specific health, hygiene and sanitary needs. Across the globe, girls are rarely kept separately from women in pretrial and post-conviction settings (see A/HRC/16/52/Add.3, para. 54). Similarly, the Special Rapporteur notes that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children are at a heightened risk.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Closing the gap in international human rights law: lessons from three regional human rights systems on legal standards and practices regarding violence against women 2015, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- In the present section the Special Rapporteur provides an overview of the norms and standards, implementing mechanisms and relevant jurisprudence regarding violence against women in the African, European and Inter-American regional human rights systems. She attempts to provide guidance that may be helpful for the international human rights system to consider when addressing the normative gap. She also reinforces the view, articulated in previous reports by the Special Rapporteur, that in order for the regional systems to reinforce universal human rights standards, as contained in international human rights instruments, it is essential that the United Nations system adopts a legally binding framework on violence against women and girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Closing the gap in international human rights law: lessons from three regional human rights systems on legal standards and practices regarding violence against women 2015, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The Protocol includes provisions on violence against women, based largely on the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, but with additions that are both context specific and progressive. Article 1 of the Protocol provides a broad definition of violence against women, which includes explicit reference to the deprivation of fundamental freedoms in private or public life, and defines harmful practices as all behaviour, attitudes and/or practices which negatively affect the fundamental rights of women and girls, such as their right to life, health, dignity, education and physical integrity. Article 4 is comprehensive with regard to the legal and non-legal measures to be taken by member States in addressing violence against women, including the enactment of specific legislation; the imposition of appropriate sanctions/punishment when violence occurs; the provision of adequate budgetary resources; the adoption of public education and awareness-raising measures, including to address negative elements in attitudes, traditions and culture in order to eliminate harmful cultural and traditional practices; and the provision of relevant services, including justice, health care and shelters.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Closing the gap in international human rights law: lessons from three regional human rights systems on legal standards and practices regarding violence against women 2015, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child makes reference to aspects of violence against girls, including early and forced marriages; child labour; abuse; torture; harmful social and cultural practices; the situation of children in armed conflict; sexual exploitation; and trafficking and abduction. While embracing African tradition and values, the Charter prohibits traditional practices and customs that are harmful to the child.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls are frequently subjected to unacceptable risks of violence, including sexual violence, in accessing water and sanitation facilities. Their right to personal security may be violated by failures to provide adequate protection from violence, including through appropriate design and placement of facilities with the participation of women. Many other groups and individuals such as Dalits and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals also face violence in accessing water and sanitation, often linked to deeply entrenched stigmatization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2014
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. 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. 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