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Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Female genital mutilation, female circumcision or female genital cutting is the practice of partially or wholly removing the external female genitalia or otherwise injuring the female genital organs for non-medical or non-health reasons. In the context of the present joint general recommendation/general comment, it is referred to as female genital mutilation. Female genital mutilation is performed in every region and, within some cultures, is a requirement for marriage and believed to be an effective method of controlling the sexuality of women and girls. It may have various immediate and/or long-term health consequences, including severe pain, shock, infections and complications during childbirth (affecting both the mother and the child), long-term gynaecological problems such as fistula, psychological effects and death. The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund estimate that between 100 million and 140 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to a type of female genital mutilation.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Child marriage, also referred to as early marriage, is any marriage where at least one of the parties is under 18 years of age. The overwhelming majority of child marriages, both formal and informal, involve girls, although at times their spouses are also under 18 years of age. A child marriage is considered to be a form of forced marriage, given that one and/or both parties have not expressed full, free and informed consent. As a matter of respecting the child's evolving capacities and autonomy in making decisions that affect her or his life, a marriage of a mature, capable child below 18 years of age may be allowed in exceptional circumstances, provided that the child is at least 16 years of age and that such decisions are made by a judge based on legitimate exceptional grounds defined by law and on the evidence of maturity, without deference to culture and tradition.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- In some contexts, children are betrothed or married very young and, in many cases, young girls are forced to marry a man who may be decades older. In 2012, the United Nations Children's Fund reported that almost 400 million women between 20 and 49 years of age around the world had been married or had entered into a union before reaching 18 years of age. The Committees have therefore been paying particular attention to cases in which girls have been married against their full, free and informed consent, such as when they have been married too young to be physically and psychologically ready for adult life or to make conscious and informed decisions and thus not ready to consent to marriage. Other examples include cases in which guardians have the legal authority to consent to marriage of girls in accordance with customary or statutory law and in which girls are thus married contrary to the right to freely enter into marriage.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Child marriage is often accompanied by early and frequent pregnancy and childbirth, resulting in higher than average maternal morbidity and mortality rates. Pregnancy-related deaths are the leading cause of mortality for girls between 15 and 19 years of age, whether married or unmarried, around the world. Infant mortality among the children of very young mothers is higher (sometimes as much as two times higher) than among those of older mothers. In cases of child and/or forced marriage, in particular where the husband is significantly older than the wife, and where girls have limited education, the girls generally have limited decision-making power in relation to their own lives. Child marriage also contributes to higher rates of school dropout, especially among girls, forced exclusion from school and an increased risk of domestic violence, in addition to limiting the enjoyment of the right to freedom of movement.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- One of the first steps in combating harmful practices is through prevention. Both Committees have underlined that prevention can be best achieved through a rights-based approach to changing social and cultural norms, empowering women and girls, building the capacity of all relevant professionals who are in regular contact with victims, potential victims and perpetrators of harmful practices at all levels and raising awareness of the causes and consequences of harmful practices, including through dialogue with relevant stakeholders.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Many girls are exposed to a wide variety of practices which are harmful to their health and well-being, such as female genital mutilation, discrimination in food allocation resulting in malnutrition and discrimination in access to professional health care. Furthermore, early marriage and adolescent pregnancy have a long-lasting impact on girls' physical integrity and mental health. Pregnancy and childbirth are together the second leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-old girls globally, putting them at the highest risk of dying or suffering serious lifelong injuries as a result of pregnancy. For example, up to 65 per cent of women with obstetric fistula, which is a severely disabling condition and often results in social exclusion, develop this condition as adolescents.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls tend to be at risk of honour violence or killing for engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage, choosing partners without their family's approval or behaving in other ways that are considered immoral; Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons are also targeted (A/HRC/29/23). Honour killings have been documented in South-East Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East and affect 5,000-12,000 women each year. States' failure to prevent honour-based violence contravenes their obligations to combat and prevent torture and ill-treatment. This includes failure to grant asylum to persons facing the risk of honour violence in their countries of origin.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- 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
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
Servile marriage 2012, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The General Assembly also urged States to ensure that efforts to enact and implement legislation to end child and forced marriages engaged all stakeholders and agents of change and to ensure that the information on the legislation against the practice was well known and generated social support for the enforcement of such laws and legislation. States were urged to support community workshops and discussion sessions to enable communities to collectively explore ways to prevent and address child and forced marriages, provide information through stakeholders credible to the community, such as medical personnel and local, community and religious leaders, regarding the harm associated with those marriages, give greater voice to girls and ensure consistence of message throughout the entire community, and encourage the much-needed strong engagement of men and boys.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Honour killings take many forms, including direct murder; stoning; women and young girls being forced to commit suicide after public denunciations of their behaviour; and women being disfigured by acid burns, leading to death. Honour crimes are also linked to other forms of family violence, and are usually committed by male family members as a means of controlling women's sexual choices and limiting their freedom of movement. Punishment usually has a collective dimension, with the family as a whole believing it to be injured by a woman's actual or perceived behaviour, and is often public in character. The visibility of the issue and the punishment also serves a social objective, namely, influencing the conduct of other women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Violence against women as a barrier to the effective realization of all human rights 2014, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Violence against women impairs and nullifies the right of women and girls to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Gender-based violence, such as intimate partner violence, sexual violence, female genital mutilation or other harmful traditional practices, forced and child marriage or cohabitation, gender-related killings, trafficking, infanticide and deliberate neglect of girls, have a severe impact on women's and girls' physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health. As stated by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, violence against women puts women's health and lives at risk. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights notes that the right to health includes both freedoms and entitlements, including the right to control one's health and body, inclusive of sexual and reproductive freedom, and the right to be free from interference, such as the right to be free from non-consensual medical treatment and experimentation (E/C.12/2000/4, para. 8).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- The forced sterilization of girls and young women with disabilities represents a widespread human rights violation across the globe. Girls and young women with disabilities are disproportionately subjected to forced and involuntary sterilization for different reasons, including eugenics, menstrual management and pregnancy prevention. Women with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, as well as those placed in institutions, are particularly vulnerable to forced sterilization. Despite the limited data on current practices, studies show that the sterilization of women and girls with disabilities continues to be prevalent, and up to three times higher than the rate for the general population.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Girls and young women with disabilities are disproportionately affected by different forms of gender-based violence, including physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse; bullying; coercion; arbitrary deprivation of liberty; institutionalization; female infanticide; trafficking; neglect; domestic violence; and harmful practices such as child and forced marriage, female genital mutilation, forced sterilization and invasive and irreversible involuntary treatments (see A/HRC/20/5, paras. 12-27). Many of those forms of violence are a consequence of the intersection between disability and gender, and might happen while a girl or young woman with disabilities performs daily hygiene, receives treatment or is overmedicated. Gender-based violence occurs at home, in institutions, in schools, in health centres and in other public and private facilities, and perpetrators are frequently relatives, caregivers and professionals on whom the girl or young woman may depend.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The best interests of the child and the protection of the rights of girls and women should always be taken into consideration and the necessary conditions must be in place to enable them to express their point of view and ensure that their opinions are given due weight. Careful consideration should also be given to the potential short-term and long-term impact on children or women of the dissolution of child and/or forced marriages and the return of dowry payments and bride prices.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- The Committees acknowledge that harmful practices affect adult women, both directly and/or owing to the long-term impact of practices to which they were subjected as girls. The present joint general recommendation/general comment therefore further elaborates on the obligations of States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women with regard to the relevant provisions for the elimination of harmful practices that affect the rights of women.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- 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. 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
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
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- Another significant gap revealed by the survey is the dearth of data on laws, policies and advocacy on the gender dimensions of violence and the legal protection of girls: 40 per cent of the respondents provide no information on this question and less than 30 per cent mention positive initiatives. Legislation in the area remains a challenge, with less than half of Governments indicating the enactment of a legal ban on harmful practices, which may fully or only partially cover female genital mutilation/cutting, child or forced marriage, witchcraft rituals, honour killings and other practices.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Women with disabilities are subjected to the same harmful practices committed against women without disabilities such as forced marriage, female genital mutilation, crimes committed in the name of so called honour, dowry related violence, widowhood practices and accusations of witchcraft . The consequences of harmful practices goes far beyond social exclusion. It reinforces harmful gender stereotypes, perpetuates inequalities and contributes to discrimination against women and girls. They can result in physical, and psychological violence and economic exploitation. Harmful practice based on patriarchal interpretations of culture cannot be evoked to justify violence against women and girls with disabilities. In addition, women and girls with disabilities are particularly at risk of 'virgin testing' and, regarding HIV/AIDS misbeliefs, "virgin rapes" .
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The efforts to combat harmful practices notwithstanding, the overall number of women and girls affected remains extremely high and may be increasing, including, for example, in conflict situations and as a result of technological developments such as the widespread use of social media. Through the examination of State parties' reports, the Committees have noted that there is often continued adherence to harmful practices by members of practising communities who have moved to destination countries through migration or to seek asylum. Social norms and cultural beliefs supporting such harmful practices persist and are at times emphasized by a community in an attempt to preserve its cultural identity in a new environment, in particular in destination countries where gender roles provide women and girls with greater personal freedom.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The causes of harmful practices are multidimensional and include stereotyped sex- and gender-based roles, the presumed superiority or inferiority of either of the sexes, attempts to exert control over the bodies and sexuality of women and girls, social inequalities and the prevalence of male-dominated power structures. Efforts to change the practices must address those underlying systemic and structural causes of traditional, re-emerging and emerging harmful practices, empower girls and women and boys and men to contribute to the transformation of traditional cultural attitudes that condone harmful practices, act as agents of such change and strengthen the capacity of communities to support such processes.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- The most effective efforts are inclusive and engage relevant stakeholders at all levels, especially girls and women from affected communities and boys and men. Moreover, those efforts require the active participation and support of local leaders, including through the allocation of adequate resources. Establishing or strengthening existing partnerships with relevant stakeholders, institutions, organizations and social networks (religious and traditional leaders, practitioners and civil society) can help to build bridges between constituencies.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Article 21 (2) of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child states that child marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys are to be prohibited and effective action, including legislation, is to be taken to specify the minimum age of marriage to be 18 years. Article 6 of the 2003 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa states that no marriage is to take place without the free and full consent of both parties, and requires States to enact appropriate national legislative measures to guarantee that the minimum age of marriage for women is to be 18 years.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- In some communities, honour is connected with virtue, good works, righteous behaviour and obligations to one's parents, older persons and the community. Honour-related killings have often been associated with religious beliefs. These, however, are traditional or cultural practices. Among some Asian tribes, honour (or izzat) is associated with the female body and therefore women and girls must be guarded, protected and passed on to another member of the tribe. A girl or woman dishonours her family and tribe if her body is violated, even by force, and the shame can be cleansed only through her death.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Family status depends on honour. In patriarchal and patrilineal societies, maintaining the honour of the family is a woman's responsibility. The concept of women as commodities and not as human beings endowed with dignity and rights equal to those of men is deeply embedded in these societies. Women are seen as the property of men and must be obedient and passive, rather than assertive and active. Any assertive behaviour is considered to be an element that would result in an imbalance of power relations within the parameters of the family unit (E/CN.4/2002/83, para. 27). UNICEF reports that in some countries, early marriages are regarded by families as a means of protecting girls from premarital sex that would undermine their honour and that of their families.
- 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
- Families
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- Girls and women who seek to leave servile marriage may be victims of acid attacks or honour-related killings. Acid attacks, which involve the use of sulphuric acid to disfigure or kill, have been reported in Asia, Europe and North and Latin America.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
Violence against women: Twenty years of developments to combat violence against women 2014, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- One strategy associated with the engagement of men and boys is to appeal to the idea that women deserve respect as mothers, sisters, wives and so on. Emphasizing personal relationships is said to make it easier to understand the consequences of violence against women. This is also seen as an effective strategy in overtly patriarchal societies, in which calls to consider women as rights-bearing individuals, irrespective of their marital status, are considered too radical to attract support, even among women themselves. This implicit suggestion thus distorts the issue of women as autonomous individuals deserving of respect, and renders regard for the rights of women contingent on their status in the private sphere, which further reinforces the public/private dichotomy.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2016, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- The First African Girls' Summit on Ending Child Marriage in Africa was held in Lusaka in November 2015. Hosted by the African Union and the Government of Zambia, the Summit gathered Heads of State and Government, ministers responsible for gender and children, United Nations entities, development partners, civil society organizations and religious and traditional leaders, as well as young people who have experienced child marriage. The participants took stock of the progress made to end child marriage across the continent, shared evidence and good practices and renewed their commitment to bringing an end to this and other harmful practices in Africa.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph