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A human rights-based approach to the administration of criminal justice in cases of trafficking in persons 2012, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- It is important to emphasize that the relevant legislation must be clear, enforceable and comprehensive to ensure effective protection of the victim. States must criminalize trafficking as it has been defined by international law. This means that criminalization must cover a range of end purposes, including forced and exploitative labour; it must recognize the possibility of women, men and children being victims of trafficking; and that the trafficking in children must be defined differently to trafficking in adults. A trafficking law that covers only one of these aspects would fall short of this standard.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
A human rights-based approach to the administration of criminal justice in cases of trafficking in persons 2012, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is concerned, however, by practices where victims of trafficking are mandatorily detained in shelters. Although the Special Rapporteur recognizes that the motivation for this may be to protect victims, she notes that the routine detention of victims of trafficking violates, in some circumstances, the right to freedom of movement and, in most, if not all, circumstances, the prohibitions on unlawful deprivation of liberty and arbitrary detention. International law absolutely prohibits any discriminatory detention of victims, including detention that is linked to the sex of the victim. The routine detention of women and of children in shelter facilities, for example, is clearly discriminatory and therefore unlawful.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
A human rights-based approach to the administration of criminal justice in cases of trafficking in persons 2012, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- In Thailand, concerns persist that children and women identified as victims of trafficking are automatically placed in Government-run shelters, pursued if they "escape" and, in some cases, forced to spend years awaiting processing. Such detention not only impedes the rights of victims but also discourages and diminishes the quality of victim cooperation with authorities. Above and beyond the infringement of victims' human rights, the Special Rapporteur observes that such an approach can serve as a disincentive for victims to report cases to authorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
A human rights-based approach to the administration of criminal justice in cases of trafficking in persons 2012, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes that linking asset seizure to victim support is in line with a rights-based approach to human trafficking. Recovered assets can be a key source of funds when providing victims with compensation. The Special Rapporteur reminds States that trafficking victims have a right to compensation for the harm committed against them. Indeed, article 6, paragraph 6 of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children provides that States parties legal systems must take measures that offer the possibility of compensation to victims.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
A human rights-based approach to the administration of criminal justice in cases of trafficking in persons 2012, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- In addition to criminalizing trafficking in persons in conformity with the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, States must ensure the criminalization of other crimes relating to trafficking in persons, including - but not limited to - corruption, money-laundering, debt bondage, obstruction of justice and participation in organized criminal groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
A more systematized and equitable response to internally displaced persons outside camps 2012, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Improved and more systematized responses to IDPs outside camps, can also help address a number of other issues, including the precarious nature and protection problems raised by unmonitored and unassisted hosting arrangements such as those between IDPs and host families or friends. Highly or entirely dependent on the assistance and shelter provided by host families, certain groups of IDPs, such as vulnerable categories of women, children and the elderly, may be particularly at risk of a number of protection concerns, including abuse, exploitation, and sexual violence by their hosts. In this regard, this mandate has recommended the establishment of appropriate monitoring and ombuds-mechanisms, and other activities such as visits by social workers, working with local associations and counselling centres, and the establishment of a hotline, in order enhance the protection of IDPs living within host-family arrangements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Women living in poverty often face particularly strong social barriers to pursuing cases. In some contexts, there are strong cultural norms against women speaking on their own behalf in disputes. Social sanction is a particular obstacle for women who are victims of domestic or sexual violence. In the case of gender-based violence, for example, social constraints account partly for the disproportionately high underreporting and attrition rates.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Non-registration of complaints by the police is a practice common in overburdened and underresourced criminal justice systems. In such cases, it is usually the complaints of persons living in poverty that go unregistered, owing to bias and discrimination, and their disempowerment and lack of knowledge and information about their rights. Cases involving gender-based violence, notably rape allegations, often go unregistered, particularly when the victim is a woman living in poverty and lacks awareness or the means to pressure the police to investigate.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Poverty
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The rights and interests of women are thus especially compromised by badly resourced and trained judicial systems and police forces, State organs that traditionally reflect and prioritize the interests of men and are dominated by men. Not only do women living in poverty come up against stark power imbalances and discriminatory cultural norms and other social structures when instituting legal proceedings, they are also disadvantaged by the lack of training afforded to officials on the application of laws relating to gender-based violence and the proper treatment of victims and handling of complaints. Women living in poverty have even less power and capacity to challenge this state of affairs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Poverty
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The existence of administrative and other fees disproportionately disadvantages women, who often have less financial independence or access to financial resources. Women's access to the judicial system to determine civil claims with respect to divorce, child custody and land inheritance is impeded when excessive fees are imposed. Women living in poverty may also be prevented from filing criminal charges for domestic violence, rape or other forms of gender-based violence because they are unable to afford the fees incurred.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Poverty
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Women face compounded difficulties in accessing legal aid in criminal and civil matters. This has a particular impact on poor female victims of criminal offences such as domestic violence, or those pursuing divorce, child custody or land inheritance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Achieving durable solutions for internally displaced persons in urban settings 2014, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Internally displaced persons in informal urban settlements typically reside in makeshift shelters, where they are barely protected from intruders and are exposed to the risk of sexual and gender-based violence. Urban displacement leads to changes in gender relations, thereby increasing risks of domestic violence, sexual and gender-based violence, survival sex, exploitation and forced labour. Access to protection and assistance for internally displaced women is vital.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The mandate holder started her tenure on 1 August 2015 and acquired the work carried out by her predecessor on the adequacy of the legal framework on violence against women (A/HRC/26/38, A/69/368 and A/HRC/29/27), in particular, her proposal to “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”. The current Special Rapporteur presented the report of her predecessor to the General Assembly and decided to continue discussing this question by inviting all stakeholders to send their views and perspectives on the adequacy of the current legal framework 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
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- At her preliminary assessment to the Human Rights Council, the mandate holder presented her vision as set out in A/HRC/32/42, and highlighted that there was a lack of full acceptance and incorporation of those international and regional human rights standards on violence against women and that additional specific measures were needed to address that normative challenge and the implementation gap. She explained her view on fragmentation of the work of the United Nations and regional instruments on violence against women and called for stronger cooperation between mechanisms and the joint use of global and regional instruments to employ synergies between them. The Special Rapporteur also believed that a legally binding framework on women’s rights and violence against women was provided by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and general recommendation No. 19 and its update, general recommendation No. 35, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and regional instruments 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
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Given this premise, the Special Rapporteur invited global and regional human rights mechanisms that monitor the implementation of international and regional instruments on violence against women to send their views and inputs on the need for a new instrument on violence against women and the existing gaps and shortcomings in the implementation and incorporation of the current legal framework. Their responses were collected and summarized in the report to the General Assembly. In the preparation of the present report, the Special Rapporteur invited all other stakeholders, including States, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), other special procedures mandate holders and treaty bodies, as well as national human rights institutions and members of academia, to send their views and inputs in response to a call for submissions on this issue that was published on her official web page. The Rapporteur indicated that, after collection of their responses, a comprehensive assessment would be carried out on the adequacy of the international framework on violence against women and possible actions needed.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Within her call for submissions, the Special Rapporteur asked whether there was a normative gap in the policies or in the implementation of policies on violence against women and whether a separate legally binding treaty with its own monitoring body was needed.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women considers that, although the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women does not explicitly have a provision on gender-based violence against women, its general recommendation No. 19 became a source of and inspiration for various international and regional documents, including the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. As the Committee’s authoritative interpretative tool, general recommendation No. 19 reflects the Committee’s position that violence against women constitutes gender-based discrimination in the meaning of article 1 of the Convention. Since the adoption of the recommendation in 1992, States parties have not challenged its validity or competence. It should be noted that, under the recommendation, in conjunction with articles 1, 2 and 5 of the Convention, redress for alleged violations has been adequately addressed by the Committee. Therefore, it is the Committee’s view that the Convention has a provision on gender-based violence against women in its present form. The Committee further mentioned its work on the update of general recommendation No. 19 through the codification of positive developments that have happened since its adoption. The Committee notes that the creation of a new convention is contradictive from the viewpoint of States parties that have urged the Committee to streamline its activities.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The committee of experts on the follow-up mechanism to the implementation of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women considered that the creation of a protocol should be supported, as a supplementary instrument to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, because it would strengthen the work already done by the Committee and promote the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women, without weakening the implementation of either treaty. Approval of the protocol would strengthen the work done by international and regional women’s human rights mechanisms.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The Inter-American Court of Human Rights stressed the importance of dialogue with special procedures mechanisms in order to strengthen the development and effective implementation of human rights standards around the world. The Court noted that it had developed a significant body of case law on all forms of violence against women and relevant international standards on sexual violence, as well as on violence against women as a form of torture.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The group of experts of the Council of Europe on action against violence against women and domestic violence stressed that the current international political climate and economic situation were not conducive to the drafting of an additional instrument on women’s rights, and that creating such an instrument would pose a foreseeable risk of falling behind the existing standards established by the Committee and its general recommendation No. 19, let alone more advanced standards set out in the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. It believed that the introduction of another instrument at the current stage, albeit at the global level, would be premature and pose a challenge to the implementation of existing norms and standards. Priority should be accorded to ensuring the full implementation of the treaties and other instruments that already existed, rather than creating new standards.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur on the rights of women in Africa considered that, in theory, an international treaty on violence against women was needed, but that some counterarguments should be taken into account. Prime among them was that the real challenge in dealing with the issue of violence against women did not lie in legal inadequacies but rather in implementation. Another argument against a global treaty on violence against women was that some regions, including the Americas, Africa and Europe, could rightfully claim that there was no normative gap. In that regard, a campaign to develop, ratify and implement an additional treaty mechanism would divert efforts and resources that would be better spent on strengthening the existing regional systems of protection. Such an objection can be countered, however, by the fact that Asia and Oceania did not have the benefit of regional protection. She also considered that, if a global treaty on violence against women prescribed clear and legally binding enforcement mechanisms at both the international and national levels, it could create some useful harmony to address the fragmentation of policies and legislation to address gender-based violence.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice believed that it was neither necessary nor feasible at the present time to invest energy and resources in the development of a new stand-alone convention on violence against women. It would instead be advisable to invest the limited resources available in measures to strengthen existing mechanisms. The Working Group noted that the Committee addressed the issue of violence against women systematically in all its constructive dialogues with State parties, which were subsequently reflected in its concluding observations. In addition, general recommendation No. 19 had provided effective international substantive and normative guidance on the issue. Updating it would present a valuable opportunity to strengthen that guidance. The Working Group was of the view that transforming the recommendation into a legally binding protocol could be, at some point and resources permitting, a welcome development.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes that, while the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the group of experts of the Council of Europe on action against violence against women and domestic violence, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children did not endorse the proposal for a new stand-alone instrument on violence against women, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of women in Africa encouraged the creation of a new treaty. At the same time, the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women and the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice would support a supplementary protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as a long-term solution.
- 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
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Even though civil society organizations didn’t express a unitary perspective on the current debate on the adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women, the Special Rapporteur could identify some recurrent concerns, which have been grouped under the following categories: (a) support for a new stand-alone treaty with a new separate monitoring body; (b) opposition to such a treaty and proposals to strengthen existing instruments; (c) support for the strengthening of the current legal framework and mechanisms with the possible adoption of a new optional protocol under the Convention as a long-term solution; and (d) other innovative proposals.
- 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
- N.A.
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- In terms of general consideration of the submissions received from civil society organizations, the Special Rapporteur highlights that, primarily, such organizations showed that they were concerned about what some consider the “soft law” character of the current legal framework on violence against women, combined with the fragmentation of the current legal framework, several substantive gaps and inconsistencies present in the current instruments, and the fact that their implementation remains weak, particularly at the national level. Concerning the opportunity to create a new legal instrument, while the idea was endorsed by a majority of civil society organizations, several submissions highlighted that there were ways of addressing some issues and introducing new practical measures without the need for a new treaty. Others pointed out that there was a considerable political risk in seeking to negotiate a new treaty, which might encompass lower standards than those already widely accepted. Finally, among the main issues identified by civil society, there was a need for States to adequately resource measures for the prevention of, protection against and prosecution of perpetrators, as well as for reparations for victims and survivors.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Regarding the adequacy of the current legal framework, civil society organizations highlighted that there was a need for a total reconceptualization of human rights to include women’s rights and to transmit to the world a powerful message about the unacceptability of gender-based violence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Several organizations stressed that it was important to situate analysis on violence against women within a broader gender equality context across the range of gender-based discrimination, and that therefore the Convention was still framing the issue on the basis of the best interpretative approach. According to those sources, it was a priority to focus on the structural issues — personal status law, women’s economic marginalization and inequality — that permitted violence against women to persist, and it would be inconsistent to address them in isolation from gender discrimination more generally.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Civil society organizations also claimed that the current framework failed to address violence against women in specific contexts such as violence against women in conflict; situations of “invisible violence”, namely economic violence and psychological violence against, for instance, women belonging to minority groups; and the specific experiences of children exposed to violence against women. They also pointed out that, among the substantive issues that were missing in the current legal framework, there was the need to create an intersectionality of approach, including the initiatives by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Human Rights Council and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
- 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
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- In addition, several organizations highlighted that there was a normative gap at the international level and persistent obstacles to the protection of women subjected to gender-based violence, for example the normalization of sexual violence against women or an emphasis on preserving marriages and family rather than addressing men’s impunity for family violence. Concern was expressed about the spiral of fundamentalism and extremism that was currently contributing to exacerbating violence against women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Civil society organizations also stressed that there should be a better global standard of monitoring, as well as global indicators. Data gathering should include an assessment of the number of crimes reported to police and the number of women surveyed who reported that they had been victimized, arrested and sentenced, and that such indicators should be time bound.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph