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Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73a (iii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Establish a national legal framework recognizing gender equality in cultural and family life, in accordance with regional and international standards: (iii) Develop national strategies to eradicate cultural practices that discriminate against women and girls, as well as gender stereotypes, through awareness-raising campaigns, educational and informational programmes and stakeholder mobilization. Engage men, as appropriate, in prevention and protection efforts in respect of gender-based discrimination and violence;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- The State must act as an agent of change as regards women's place in cultural and family life, by fostering and creating a culture free of all forms of discrimination against women. A transformative approach to women and girls' status in the family is crucial. There needs to be awareness that, in the past, a patriarchal concept of family pervaded all secular, religious, customary and indigenous laws and institutions and that some States and groups are now trying, in a retrograde manner, to subject women to the most oppressive forms of patriarchy, particularly in the context of religious fanaticism. It should also be understood that the transition towards equality between women and men, and girls and boys, in the culture and in the family is a prerequisite for a decent society.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- States should ensure that housing includes water points and sanitation facilities available for and accessible to women, ensuring women their rights to water and sanitation, as well as to health. States should also ensure that housing is adequately located in order to provide women with access to employment options, health-care services, schools, childcare centres and other social facilities, such that they are non-discriminatory, adequate, available and fully accessible to women and girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
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. 81
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur recommends that States adopt child-friendly administrative and criminal court procedures and train police officers, border guards, detention staff, judges and others who may encounter children deprived of their liberty in child protection principles and a better understanding of the vulnerabilities of children to human rights violations, such as torture and other forms of ill-treatment. Special mention should be made of girls, who are particularly vulnerable, and to special groups of children, such as minorities, disabled children and migrants.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 74c
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to harmful practices, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Implement and enforce uniform laws that prohibit child marriage before the age of 18, with no exceptions on the basis of parental consent or personal status laws; extend the prohibition to cover traditional and religious marriages; provide appropriate assistance to women and girls living in forced marriages, including by helping women leave the marriage with a share of matrimonial assets, custody of children and the right to remarry; and provide support to victims' dependents and members of immediate families;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- States should eliminate discrimination against women and girls in all matters related to inheritance, so they benefit from inheritance on an equal footing with men and boys. States should ensure that the application of customary law and practice does not interfere with the basic right of women and girls to gender equality, including in matters related to housing and land, such inheritance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- The cultural construction of gender makes women's subjection to gender-based discrimination and violence appear to be inherent and immutable. The patriarchal family is the product of this construction and the most important social mechanism for its perpetuation. Women and girls' human potential is restricted in families. The recognition that women's rights are human rights and that they are universal and indivisible has laid bare the adverse impact of this gender construction on women and girls in families and communities. The need for a paradigm shift has been clearly set out in international human rights law, which, since 1948, has established women's right to equality in all spheres of life, in culture and in the family. As Eleanor Roosevelt said as far back as 1958: "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. […] Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere."
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Indigenous women and girls experience complex, multidimensional and mutually reinforcing human rights violations. Abuses of indigenous women's collective; economic, social and cultural; and civil and political rights are varied and severe. Those violations are alarming infractions on their own, but constitute a form of structural violence against indigenous women whereby they are victimized by the realities of the circumstances of their everyday life and routinely excluded from enjoying the rights and resources otherwise guaranteed to citizens. Indigenous women also suffer from other forms of violence, including traditional practices, sexual violence, trafficking, domestic violence and gender-based killings.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 132
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to caste discrimination, as they suffer from multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination owing to both their gender and unprivileged caste status. They are disproportionately subjected to dire human rights violations, including violence and, particularly, sexual violence, trafficking, early and/or forced marriage and harmful traditional practices. They face obstacles in accessing justice and redress and are excluded or relegated to a secondary or subordinate role in decision-making processes. Caste-affected States should urgently take robust action to eradicate such violations through, inter alia, the enactment and effective implementation of specific legislation and the adoption of special measures, policies and programmes to address the entrenched situation of marginalization and exclusion experienced by women and girls owing to their caste status.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Safe, adequate and affordable access to water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as the promotion of women's empowerment, can serve as an entry point to ensure that women and girls can enjoy their right to have and make choices, their right to have access to opportunities and resources, and their right to control their own lives, both inside and outside the home. Gender equality in respect of the human rights to water and sanitation will not only empower women individually but will also help women overcome poverty and empower their children, families and communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 70l
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in detention, the Special Rapporteur calls on all States to:] Ensure adequate sanitation standards and provide for facilities and materials that meet women's specific hygiene needs, such as sanitary towels at no cost, and clean water, including during transport;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- When examining the rights of indigenous women and girls, it is vital to consider the unique historical experiences of indigenous communities. Many forms of violence and abuse against indigenous women and girls have a strong intergenerational element. Violations of the broad right to self-determination of indigenous peoples are historically and currently endemic. Those have included gross and sustained assaults on the cultural integrity of indigenous peoples; denigration and non-recognition of customary laws and governance systems; failure to develop frameworks that allow indigenous peoples appropriate levels of self-governance; and practices that strip indigenous peoples of autonomy over land and natural resources. Those patterns of violations are vividly exemplified by colonization, but have also been perpetuated by post-colonial power structures and State practices. Those violations of the right to self-determination have been highly detrimental to the advancement of the rights of indigenous women and girls in a number of ways.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- As discussed by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences in her 2007 thematic report, culture-based identity politics can be used to justify violence against women in the name of traditional practices and/or values. Practices commonly carried out in the name of tradition, such as female gender mutilation and child marriage, impact some but not all indigenous communities. The fact that those traditional practices cut across religious, geographical and ethnic characteristics demonstrate that there are multidimensional causal factors and that no one factor attributed to the identity of women makes them vulnerable. Violations suffered by indigenous women and girls must be viewed within the context of the broad spectrum of violations experienced and their specific vulnerabilities as members of indigenous communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Priorities for the work of the Independent Expert and the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities 2012, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Sex- and minority-based discrimination in hiring, promotion and pay also create significant barriers for minority women. Increasingly informal labour markets - a result of globalization - have brought more women into paid work, but often with low pay, excluded from basic labour protection and employed under poor working conditions. This renders the conditions under which minority women - and all too often young girls - earn incomes that may be insecure, difficult, harmful or even dangerous. Their workload can be made heavier by the lack of such basic amenities as clean water and sanitation, the availability of child-care support and protection against domestic and social violence. Minority girls and women in difficult circumstances are often forced to find survival opportunities outside their communities and home, and can easily fall victim to trafficking, exploitation and illegal migration within or outside their own country, which makes them even more vulnerable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Comprehensive, rights-based and child-centred care, recovery and reintegration programmes 2015, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Gender-based discrimination and inequalities also play a large role in the propagation of sexual exploitation of children, in particular girls and children who identify as transgender. Sexual exploitation of girls is often rooted in patriarchal structures that promote male sexual domination and do not condemn the commercialization of girls and women. Culturally imposed feminine gender stereotypes also contribute to sexual exploitation of women and girls by placing them in the role of serving males, negating their ability to make decisions regarding their own sexual and reproductive life and making them prime targets for sexual violence.
- 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)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- In its resolution 66/140, the General Assembly reiterated its call for an end to harmful traditional or customary practices, such as early and forced marriage, and called upon States to take appropriate measures to address the root factors of child and forced marriages, including by undertaking educational activities to raise awareness regarding the negative aspects of such practices. It urged all States to enact and strictly enforce laws to ensure that marriage was entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses, and, in addition, to enact and strictly enforce laws concerning the minimum legal age of consent and the minimum age for marriage and raise the minimum age for marriage where necessary, and to develop and implement comprehensive policies, plans of action and programmes for the survival, protection, development and advancement of the girl child in order to promote and protect the full enjoyment of her human rights and to ensure equal opportunities for girls, including by making such plans an integral part of her total development process.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- Women also have the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. International law has recognized a woman and girl child's right to benefit from artistic and literary endeavours, and to pursue interests in science or other forms of creative expression. Additionally, all women have a right to fully participate in the cultural life of their communities and States. Any group or individual that denies a woman or girl child the right to cultural expression is denying her right to participate fully in a meaningful cultural life. Similarly, if any act of abuse is perpetrated against a woman or girl child in the name of culture, this individual or group is perverting the basic fundamental right to culture as found in international law, and is perpetuating a static and narrow conception of culture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- The intersection of different layers of discrimination based on race, ethnic identity, sex, class, education and political views further disenfranchises indigenous and aboriginal women, reproducing a multi-level oppression that culminates in violence. In cases of killings of aboriginal and indigenous women, the main failings by the authorities are the failure of police to protect aboriginal women and girls from violence and to investigate promptly and thoroughly when they are missing or murdered, and the disadvantaged social and economic conditions in which aboriginal women and girls live, which make them vulnerable to such violence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- In her country missions, the Special Rapporteur has noted that specific groups are excluded from access to water and sanitation, often reflecting patterns of discrimination, marginalization and limited political will to ensure substantive equality. These groups can be identified along ethnicity and socioeconomic divides. In some countries, indigenous peoples living on reserves do not have access to water or sanitation services. Dalits often suffer discrimination in accessing water and sanitation, while Roma are most disadvantaged in many European countries. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur's attention has repeatedly been drawn to vast gender inequalities and multiple discrimination, or the compounded impact of various grounds of discrimination on the same individual or group. For instance, women and girls are overwhelmingly tasked with collecting water and are physically and sexually threatened when they fetch water. Persons with disabilities are also disproportionately represented among those who lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Hygiene facilities and services must be culturally acceptable. Personal hygiene is a highly sensitive issue across regions and cultures. Differing perspectives on the acceptability of hygiene practices must be taken into account regarding the design, positioning and conditions of use for sanitation, hand-washing and menstrual hygiene facilities. Facilities should accommodate hygiene practices in specific cultures, such as anal and genital cleansing, and women's toilets must accommodate menstruation hygiene management needs, particularly with respect to privacy. Menstruation is taboo in many countries, which makes menstrual hygiene a major concern for the health and well-being of women, and particularly of girls, who may not have sufficient knowledge about managing menstruation to be able to develop good practices. Education is necessary at schools, for boys as well as girls, to start to address the social taboos associated with menstruation and menstrual hygiene.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Achieving equality does not mean that everyone should be treated identically. With respect to water, sanitation and hygiene, human rights requires that everyone has equal access to services; but this does not mean that everyone must enjoy the same type of service, such as flush toilets, as these are not appropriate in all circumstances and contexts. Also some individuals or groups have specific needs such as menstrual hygiene for women and girls. However, States may need to adopt affirmative measures, giving preference to certain groups and individuals in order to redress past discrimination. Social, cultural, economic and political inequalities perpetuate social exclusion, and this needs to be carefully considered in the development of water, sanitation and hygiene service delivery options (see E/C.12/2002/11, para. 17).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Many cultures have certain prescriptions for women's and girls' behaviour during menstruation which may amount to harmful traditional and cultural practices, violating not only the right to sanitation but, more broadly, women's and girls' human rights and gender equality. In Nepal, the Supreme Court issued an order to eliminate the practice of chaupadi, which forces menstruating women and girls to sleep in isolation from the rest of the family, in a hut or shed, with risks to their health and security. The Court declared that the practice was discriminatory and violated women's rights. It ordered the Government to conduct a study on the impact of the practice, to create awareness and to take measures to eliminate the tradition.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Culture and religion are often invoked to justify discrimination and violent practices against women and girls. Women have often been viewed as objects rather than as equal participants with men in the creation and manifestation of cultural principles. Indeed, when culture and religion are invoked to justify different forms of discrimination against women, women are seen not as victims or survivors of such discrimination, but as persons who "violate" cultural rules and norms.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have noted that harmful practices affecting women and girls are deeply rooted in social attitudes according to which women and girls are regarded as inferior to men and boys based on stereotyped roles. They highlight the gender dimension to violence and indicate that sex- and gender-based attitudes and stereotypes, power imbalances, inequalities and discrimination perpetuate the widespread existence of practices that often involve violence or coercion. They maintain that the nature and prevalence of these practices vary according to region and culture. These practices cause serious harm to every aspect of the lives of the women and girls who fall victim to them and include incest, female genital mutilation, early and/or forced marriage, so-called "honour crimes", dowry-related violence, neglect of girls, extreme dietary restrictions, virginity tests, servitude, stoning, violent initiation rites, widowhood practices and female infanticide. The obligations set out in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child form the basis for the elaboration of a global strategy to eliminate harmful practices, which should be well defined, rights-based, have local relevance and comprise legal, economic and social support measures combined with proportional political engagement and State responsibility at all levels.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 98
- Paragraph text
- Women's poverty and quality of life in older age derives from the culmination of the earlier phases in their life cycle and bears their imprint: stereotyping in education and girlhood; precarious jobs; informal labour; the costs of caring; interrupted career patterns; and the motherhood penalty in labour force participation. Hence women's situation in retirement can be regarded as a litmus test for the quality of women's economic and social life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- In its general recommendation No. 24, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women specifically recommends that States parties enact and effectively enforce laws that prohibit the marriage of girls. In its general recommendation No. 21, the Committee recognizes that forced marriage may exist as a result of cultural or religious beliefs, but maintains that a woman's right to choose a spouse and enter freely into marriage is central to her life and to her dignity and equality as a human being and that this must be protected and enforced by law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The term femicide has been used in the context of killings of women in the private and public spheres. In some European contexts, such killings are described as "crimes of passion". In South Asia the term femicide has been adopted to encompass cultural practices in the region such as female infanticide, preadolescent mortality of girls and dowry-related deaths. The phenomena of so-called "honour killings" in the Middle East are rarely specifically labelled as acts of femicide, but some scholars have highlighted the femicidal nature of such acts and the impunity that accompanies such killings.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Women's right to adequate housing is often denied or ignored within the broader context of family and marriage law. Equality in matters of inheritance is often denied for women and girls on the basis of custom and tradition, whether within the context of the death of a spouse, parent or other relative. This has important ramifications, as inheritance is a primary means by which wealth and resources are transferred within societies, as well as within families. To be excluded from the process of inheritance reinforces women's lack of autonomy and equality, and jeopardizes in a very direct way their right to adequate housing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Women's right to equality in matters of inheritance is also relevant within the context of Sharia law, the application of which particularly affects women in the Middle East and North Africa. While Sharia law generally supports women's rights to acquire, hold, use, administer and dispose of property, women and girls receive a lesser share than their male counterparts when it comes to matters of inheritance (generally half of what a male in the same position would be entitled to receive). Customary practices and traditional structures can also contribute to further aggravating the situation. A prime example is that women are often forced, due to social pressures, to renounce their already reduced share of the inheritance in favour of male members of the family. In order to discourage this practice, in the occupied Palestinian territory, the Deputy Supreme Judge of Palestine of the Head of the Upper Council of Sharia Jurisdictions issued a notice in 2011 in which he instructed relevant authorities to apply certain conditions before legalizing a woman's renunciation of her inheritance share, including that at least four months pass after a person's death before a renunciation of inheritance can be registered. The notice also instructs the relevant authorities to verify the real value of the inheritance share, relying on an official report by three experts authorized by the municipality or local council. This new protocol is aimed at helping women to retain their inheritance shares and protecting women from losses as a result of reduced valuations of those shares.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The issue of violence against women is indivisibly linked to the categories of rights discussed above. In fact, the endemic violations of collective, civil and political, and economic, social and cultural rights can be seen as constituting a form of structural violence against indigenous women and girls. Structural violence results in women being victimized by the realities of the circumstances of their everyday life and routinely excluded from the rights and resources otherwise guaranteed to citizens. Structural violence is interlinked and mutually reinforcing with other forms of violence, as discussed below.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph