Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 257 entities
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. 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
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- The submissions received from civil society organizations on the adequacy of the existing legal framework represent a great diversity of responses. These views, together with those of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and regional mechanisms, have been an extremely enriching contribution to the debate on the adequacy of the legal framework on violence against women. Almost all submissions emphasized the role of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as a dynamic, living instrument that encompasses violence against women as a form of discrimination against women and the progressive interpretation of the Convention through the adoption of successive general recommendations on violence against women by the Committee, as well as other related subjects, such as the core obligations on States to implement the Convention, access to justice (general recommendation No. 33 (2015) on women’s access to justice) and the rights of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations (general recommendation No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations), along with all the other general recommendations. A significant number of submissions pointed out that the lack of a specific global treaty on gender-based violence against women had important symbolic value and further indicated that a new treaty could have an important role in galvanizing implementation at the State level. That symbolic value and potential to act as a catalyst for change was particularly compelling in the broader Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, which were the only ones that did not have a specific regional treaty on violence against women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur highlights that, apart from the Committee, a variety of international and regional human rights bodies and independent experts are working on the issue of violence against women. These bodies have all developed a rich jurisprudence, general comments and recommendations relating to the right of women and girls not to be subjected to violence, which in certain circumstances may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, denial of the right to health and other human rights. There are regional treaties and treaty bodies looking specifically at gender-based violence in Africa, the Americas and Europe. There are also independent experts in Africa and the Americas. However, these instruments need more incorporation and implementation, including through sustained funding of expert monitoring mechanisms to carry out their work, to facilitate coordination and to share best practices, information and insights. This urgency to support existing good work is even more compelling given the high priority dedicated to the eradication of violence against women in the Sustainable Development Goals.
- 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
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur supports the interpretation of violence against women as a form of discrimination against women and girls and a human rights violation. Therefore, the option of creating a separate treaty would expose the existing legal framework under the Convention on violence against women to the risk of isolating provisions aimed at addressing gender-based violence against women from the structural causes of discrimination against women.
- 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
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Under article 4 of the Convention, "States parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized" therein. In the context of the rights of adolescents to health and development, States parties need to ensure that specific legal provisions are guaranteed under domestic law, including with regard to setting a minimum age for sexual consent, marriage and the possibility of medical treatment without parental consent. These minimum ages should be the same for boys and girls (article 2 of the Convention) and closely reflect the recognition of the status of human beings under 18 years of age as rights holders, in accordance with their evolving capacity, age and maturity (arts. 5 and 12 to 17). Further, adolescents need to have easy access to individual complaint systems as well as judicial and appropriate non-judicial redress mechanisms that guarantee fair and due process, with special attention to the right to privacy (art. 16).
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 39d
- Paragraph text
- [In exercising their obligations in relation to the health and development of adolescents, States parties shall always take fully into account the four general principles of the Convention. It is the view of the Committee that States parties must take all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the realization and monitoring of the rights of adolescents to health and development as recognized in the Convention. To this end, States parties must notably fulfil the following obligations:] To ensure that adolescent girls and boys have the opportunity to participate actively in planning and programming for their own health and development;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Boys
- Girls
- Year
- 2003
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
Article 3: The equality of rights between men and women - replaces GC No. 4 2000, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The obligation of States parties to protect children (art. 24) should be carried out equally for boys and girls. States parties should report on measures taken to ensure that girls are treated equally to boys in education, in feeding and in health care, and provide the Committee with disaggregated data in this respect. States parties should eradicate, both through legislation and any other appropriate measures, all cultural or religious practices which jeopardize the freedom and well-being of female children.
- Body
- Human Rights Committee
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2000
Paragraph
Article 9: Liberty and security of person 2014, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- Liberty of person concerns freedom from confinement of the body, not a general freedom of action. Security of person concerns freedom from injury to the body and the mind, or bodily and mental integrity, as further discussed in paragraph 9 below. Article 9 guarantees those rights to everyone. "Everyone" includes, among others, girls and boys, soldiers, persons with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, aliens, refugees and asylum seekers, stateless persons, migrant workers, persons convicted of crime, and persons who have engaged in terrorist activity.
- Body
- Human Rights Committee
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Persons on the move
- 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
Child participation 2012, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- In Yemen, the Children's Parliament has democratically elected representatives from all governorates and includes orphans, children with disabilities and young people belonging to marginalized groups. It regularly meets Government departments and non-governmental organizations. In 2008, it produced a public report on the situation of children in Yemen. In 2010, it carried out a national campaign to illustrate the impact of early marriage on the lives and health of young girls, which has led to a review of Yemeni legislation.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
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. 76
- Paragraph text
- Children should be appropriately separated in detention, including but not limited to children in need of care and those in conflict with the law, children awaiting trial and convicted children, boys and girls, younger children and older children, and children with physical and mental disabilities and those without. Children detained under criminal legislation should never be detained together with adult detainees. The Special Rapporteur also notes that the permitted exception to the separation of children from adults provided for in article 37 (c) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child should be interpreted sensu stricto. The best interests of the child should not be defined in accordance to the convenience of the State. Children in conflict with the law should be held in detention centres specifically designed for persons under the age of 18 years, offering a non-prison-like environment and regimes tailored to their needs and run by specialized staff, trained in dealing with children. Such facilities should offer ready access to natural light and adequate ventilation, access to sanitary facilities that are hygienic and respect privacy and, in principle, accommodation in individual bedrooms. Large dormitories should be avoided.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
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
Children’s rights in juvenile justice 2007, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- States parties have to take all necessary measures to ensure that all children in conflict with the law are treated equally. Particular attention must be paid to de facto discrimination and disparities, which may be the result of a lack of a consistent policy and involve vulnerable groups of children, such as street children, children belonging to racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, indigenous children, girl children, children with disabilities and children who are repeatedly in conflict with the law (recidivists). In this regard, training of all professionals involved in the administration of juvenile justice is important (see paragraph 97 below), as well as the establishment of rules, regulations or protocols which enhance equal treatment of child offenders and provide redress, remedies and compensation.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Year
- 2007
Paragraph
Children’s rights in juvenile justice 2007, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- It is quite common that criminal codes contain provisions criminalizing behavioural problems of children, such as vagrancy, truancy, runaways and other acts, which often are the result of psychological or socio-economic problems. It is particularly a matter of concern that girls and street children are often victims of this criminalization. These acts, also known as Status Offences, are not considered to be such if committed by adults. The Committee recommends that the States parties abolish the provisions on status offences in order to establish an equal treatment under the law for children and adults. In this regard, the Committee also refers to article 56 of the Riyadh Guidelines which reads: "In order to prevent further stigmatization, victimization and criminalization of young persons, legislation should be enacted to ensure that any conduct not considered an offence or not penalized if committed by an adult is not considered an offence and not penalized if committed by a young person."
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2007
Paragraph
Children’s rights in juvenile justice 2007, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- It is essential for the quality of the administration of juvenile justice that all the professionals involved, inter alia, in law enforcement and the judiciary receive appropriate training on the content and meaning of the provisions of CRC in general, particularly those directly relevant to their daily practice. This training should be organized in a systematic and ongoing manner and should not be limited to information on the relevant national and international legal provisions. It should include information on, inter alia, the social and other causes of juvenile delinquency, psychological and other aspects of the development of children, with special attention to girls and children belonging to minorities or indigenous peoples, the culture and the trends in the world of young people, the dynamics of group activities, and the available measures dealing with children in conflict with the penal law, in particular measures without resorting to judicial proceedings (see chapter IV, section B, above).
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2007
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. 63
- Paragraph text
- The limitations of the international system, including the lack of a legally binding specific instrument on violence against women, serves to weaken the aspiration of the Human Rights Council that regional arrangements should reinforce universal human rights standards, as contained in international human rights instruments (see Council resolution 12/15). The current norms and standards within the United Nations system emanate from soft law developments and are of persuasive value, but are not legally binding. The normative gap under international human rights law raises crucial questions about the State responsibility to act with due diligence and the responsibility of the State as the ultimate duty bearer to protect women and girls from violence, its causes and consequences. In her 2014 reports to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/26/38) and to the General Assembly (A/69/368), the Special Rapporteur recommended that the international community examine the normative gaps within the existing international binding legal frameworks, and address more specifically the legal gaps in protection, prevention and accountability in respect of violence against women. Given the systemic, widespread and pervasive nature of this human rights violation, which is experienced largely by women because they are women, a different set of normative and practical measures to respond to, prevent and ultimately eliminate such violence is crucial.
- 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. 64
- Paragraph text
- The concerns raised more than 20 years ago, prior to the development and adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and highlighted by the mandate of the Special Rapporteur over the past 20 years, reinforce the view that it is time to consider the development and adoption of a United Nations binding international instrument on violence against women and girls, with its own dedicated monitoring body. Such an instrument should ensure that States are held accountable to standards that are legally binding, it should provide a clear normative framework for the protection of women and girls globally and should have a specific monitoring body to substantively provide in-depth analysis of both general and country-level developments. With a legally binding instrument, a protective, preventive and educative framework could be established to reaffirm the commitment of the international community to its articulation that women's rights are human rights, and that violence against women is a human rights violation, in and of itself.
- 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
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
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- The active involvement of internally displaced women and civil society organizations was essential throughout the process. Displaced women brought hundreds of tutelas before tribunals to demand their rights and participated in public hearings convened by the Constitutional Court or civil society organizations sharing their experiences and perspectives. The Court’s decisions were informed by formal submissions by such organizations, presenting experiences of women and girls forcibly displaced around the country.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Continuum of violence against women from the home to the transnational sphere: the challenges of effective redress 2011, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The 1993 World Conference on Human Rights adopted the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action that recognized that "the human rights of women and of the girl child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights". The World Conference called upon the General Assembly to adopt the draft declaration on violence against women and urged States to combat violence against women in accordance with its provisions. In 1993, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, which provides a more comprehensive framework on violence against women in terms of definition, scope, obligations of the State, and the role of the United Nations. Pursuant to a decision of the Commission on Human Rights the same year in which it considered the appointment of a special rapporteur on violence against women, the mandate was established by resolution 1994/45 on the integration of the rights of women into the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations and the elimination of violence against women.
- 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
- 2011
Paragraph
Continuum of violence against women from the home to the transnational sphere: the challenges of effective redress 2011, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The twenty-third special session of the General Assembly on the five-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action clearly demonstrated that violence against women had become a priority issue on the agenda of many Member States. The outcome document of the session went a step further in calling on States to "treat all forms of violence against women and girls of all ages as a criminal offence punishable by law, including violence based on all forms of discrimination". In 2010, at the Beijing + 15 review, Member States recognized that implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was mutually reinforcing in the quest to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and emphasized the interdependency between the implementation of these commitments and achieving the internationally agreed development goals.
- 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
- 2011
Paragraph