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Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The above-mentioned motivations for carrying out illegal adoptions often overlapped, as was notably the case in Spain throughout the Franco regime and during the first decades of democracy. Indeed, the practice of illegally adopting children for ideological and religious reasons soon morphed into a profit-driven criminal activity. Thousands of newborn babies were reportedly abducted from their parents by criminal networks involved in large-scale illegal adoptions. Medical personnel and clergy members actively participated in the abduction of children. Newborn babies were abducted from hospitals and subsequently told that their parents had died. The children were then given to other parents following the falsification of documents and, in certain cases, payments.
- 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Guatemala presents one of the few examples of investigation and prosecution efforts having been made with the aim of dismantling criminal structures. In 2011, with the support of the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, the Public Prosecutor's Office proved the existence of a criminal structure involved in trafficking in children for the purpose of illegal intercountry adoptions operated by owners of residential facilities with the complicity of lawyers, registrars and judges. Despite the convictions, the case illustrated the difficulties in balancing the conflicting needs and desires of those involved in adoptions (adoptees, adoptive parents and biological parents) and the interests of justice.
- 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- Various countries emerging from conflict or an authoritarian regime have been confronted with allegations of systematic illegal adoptions as part of past large-scale abuses. Few countries have responded to victims' calls for truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, however, and none have done so in a comprehensive manner. Argentina has pioneered such responses, in particular in relation to enforced disappearances, through truth-seeking and accountability. Genetic tracing and the establishment of a national genetic database have played a key role in identifying disappeared children who were subjected to illegal adoption and in efforts to seek judicial accountability. Moreover, the "disappeared" children, now adults, are stepping forward to uncover their biological origins and some are playing a role in the prosecution of their adoptive parents.
- 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The lack of birth registration may have many negative impacts on the enjoyment of children’s rights, such as child marriage, trafficking, forced recruitment and child labour. Birth registrations may also help to achieve convictions against those who have abused a child. Unregistered children are at particular risk of becoming stateless when born to parents who are in an irregular migration situation, due to barriers to acquiring nationality in the country of origin of the parents as well as to accessing birth registration and nationality at the place of their birth.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Threats faced by boys and girls do not end when they leave their home countries. As they travel onward, often paying their way through dangerous routes by using exploitative smuggling and trafficking networks, children are subject to further violence, abuse and exploitation, including at borders owing to pushbacks and interceptions by border control officials. Unaccompanied children and those separated from their families face heightened risks, both along the route and upon arrival in transit countries.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Children may be compelled to work to sustain themselves or provide for their families’ basic needs, especially where parents cannot work legally or simply cannot find work, legally or illegally. Iraqi and Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, for example, work in textile factories, construction or the food service industry, or as agricultural labour or street vendors in conditions amounting to forced labour. According to UNICEF, in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, shopkeepers, farmers and manufacturers hire Syrian refugee children because they can pay them a lower wage. Children, especially girls, are seen as less likely to be targeted by the police or prosecuted for illegal work than adults, making families more likely to send them to work. These types of child labour, which often mask other forms of exploitation, such as trafficking for forced labour, have dire consequences on children.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Finally, the practice of “temporary” child or forced marriages is one of the dangerous coping mechanisms that girls face while in refugee camps in transit countries. Confronted with the economic burdens brought on by protracted displacement and limited or inexistent work opportunities, some refugee and migrant parents, and often children themselves, turn to those measures because they feel that they are the only option for safeguarding a child’s future or supporting a family’s immediate needs. For example, Syrian refugee girls are often forcibly married by their parents, who view such arrangements as a way of securing their daughters’ safety and ensuring the family’s livelihood through the dowry. Once married, those girls are likely to end up in a situation of sexual and domestic exploitation by a spouse whom they have followed abroad. The use of child and forced marriages to traffic girls into prostitution in another country is also common.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Chaos in the aftermath of a natural disaster can also exacerbate the vulnerability to exploitation of the affected communities by making children more prone to accepting, for example, bogus offers of employment or education from traffickers or criminal networks. In order to support the family’s dire economic situation or meet their own needs, children are sold or trafficked for the purpose of labour exploitation. They may be entrusted by family members to people who promise to find them work either within or outside the country, or they may directly offer their services to employers and middle persons. Once in the hands of traffickers who prey on their eagerness to work and send money to the family, those children are forced into the worst forms of child labour.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Women’s right to a life free from gender-based violence is indivisible from and interdependent on other human rights, including the rights to life, health, liberty and security of the person, equality and equal protection within the family, freedom from torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, and freedom of expression, movement, participation, assembly and association.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child highlights the States parties’ obligations to ensure the right of life, survival and development of the child, including the physical, mental, moral, spiritual and social dimensions of his or her development. At any point during the migratory process, a child’s right to life and survival may be at stake owing to, inter alia, violence as a result of organized crime, violence in camps, push-back or interception operations, excessive use of force of border authorities, refusal of vessels to rescue them, or extreme conditions of travel and limited access to basic services. Unaccompanied and separated children may face further vulnerabilities and can be more exposed to risks, such as gender-based, sexual and other forms of violence and trafficking for sexual or labour exploitation. Children travelling with their families often also witness and experience violence. While migration can provide opportunities to improve living conditions and escape from abuses, migration processes can pose risks, including physical harm, psychological trauma, marginalization, discrimination, xenophobia and sexual and economic exploitation, family separation, immigration raids and detention. At the same time, the obstacles children may face in gaining access to education, adequate housing, sufficient safe food and water or health services can negatively affect the physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development of migrant children and children of migrants.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- The various parties involved in illegal adoptions are reluctant to report or denounce suspected illegalities because of the possible implications. The birth parents are the notable exception, at least those whose children have been abducted or placed for adoption without their informed consent; unfortunately, they are the least likely to file a complaint, as many of them fear the consequences or lack the appropriate knowledge and access to remedies. Most adoptive parents do not know with certainty whether the adoption process involved illicit or criminal practices, although they may come to suspect as much during or after the adoption process. The responses of prospective or adoptive parents to such suspicions will depend on a number of factors, including the extent to which they feel they were directly implicated and their assessment of the likely consequences of notifying the competent authorities. Complaints filed and collaboration extended by adoptive parents increase the chances of success of criminal investigations and prosecutions.
- 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
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Children experience horrific scenes: the killing of their parents, the rape of their sisters, the forced disappearance of their friends. They are exposed to street crime and community violence, to systematic threats and extortion, and to the harassment of gang members who mobilize support within the school or in their neighbourhood. In some cases, children are manipulated by elements of organized crime and forced to take part in criminal activity, including acting as watchers in places where drugs or arms are trafficked or where smugglers congregate. If children refuse to cooperate, they may pay a heavy price, and may even risk losing their lives. Marginalized children in communities where such activities take place are locked into a vicious cycle of exclusion, stigmatization and violence, as they come to be perceived as criminals themselves, feared by members of their communities and at times criminalized by the authorities.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Strategies need to address multiple causes, ranging from structural inequalities to family violence. They also need to take into account measures for immediate implementation, such as stopping round-ups or the arbitrary removal of children from public spaces, and measures to be implemented progressively, such as comprehensive social protection. A combination of legal, policy and service provision changes is likely to be needed. States should commit to fulfilling human rights beyond childhood. Particularly, States should ensure follow-up mechanisms for children in alternative care settings and in street situations as they transition into adulthood at the age of 18, to avoid an abrupt termination of support and services.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- States have an obligation to respect the dignity of children in street situations and their right to life, survival and development by refraining from State-led violence and by decriminalizing survival behaviours and status offences; to protect children in street situations from harm caused by third parties; and to fulfil their right to life, survival and development by designing and implementing holistic long-term strategies, on the basis of a child rights approach, to secure their development to their fullest potential. States should assist trustworthy and supportive adults — such as family members or State or civil society social workers, psychologists, street workers or mentors — to help children in street situations. States should also put in place procedural and practical funeral arrangements to ensure dignity and respect for children who die on the streets.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, States should take the following actions to ensure the full and effective protection of migrant children from all forms of violence and abuse: - Take effective measures to ensure that they are protected from any form of slavery and commercial sexual exploitation and from being used for illicit activities or from any work that would jeopardize their health, safety or morals, including by becoming party to relevant conventions of the International Labour Organization - Take effective measures to protect them from all forms of violence and abuse, regardless of their migration status - Recognize and address the gender-specific vulnerable situations of girls and boys and children with disabilities as potential victims of trafficking for sexual, labour and all other forms of exploitation - Ensure comprehensive protection, support services and access to effective redress mechanisms, including psychosocial assistance and information about those remedies, for migrant children and their families reporting cases of violence, abuse or exploitation to police or other relevant authorities, regardless of their migration status; children and parents must be able to safely report to police or other authorities as victims or witnesses without any risk of immigration enforcement as a result - Recognize the important role that can be played by community services and civil society organizations in regard to the protection of migrant children - Develop comprehensive policies aimed at addressing the root causes of all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse against migrant children, including adequate resources for their proper implementation
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are concerned about cases where children are separated from parents and placed in alternative care by child protection systems when there are no concerns related to parental abuse and neglect. Financial and material poverty, or conditions directly and uniquely attributable to such poverty, should never be the sole justification for removing a child from parental care, for receiving a child into alternative care or for preventing a child’s social reintegration. In this regard, States should provide appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities, including by providing social benefits and child allowances and other social support services regardless of the migration status of the parents or the child.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- A durable solution is a long-term, sustainable solution that ensures that all children, including unaccompanied and separated children, can develop into adulthood in an environment that will meet their needs and rights, including recovery and (re)integration. Such solutions may encompass voluntary repatriation, resettlement, local integration and complementary pathways to protection and other durable solutions. However, the common practice has been the return of the child to their family or country of origin as a first option. States should only return or repatriate unaccompanied children as a measure of protection, for example, to ensure family reunification in cases in which it is in the child’s best interest and after due process of law. Unfortunately, in countries where reception networks are overwhelmed by the increasing number of children on the move, individual assessments of the best interests of the child are not taken into account and children are placed in inadequate facilities. These deficiencies in the protection system also increase children’s vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking. Confronted with the States’ failure to provide an adequate response, children see traffickers and smugglers as a preferable source of support. These reasons, together with the gaps identified in child protection systems and the lack of reliable data and coordination among services and across transit and destination countries, contribute to the rising figures of missing children. In addition, children may not wish to be identified in the first European Union country that they enter in order to escape the implications of the Dublin regulation (regulation (EU) No. 604/2013) establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 85b
- Paragraph text
- [In terms of prevention and the promotion of rights, States, in cooperation with United Nations agencies and programmes, international organizations, host countries and civil society organizations, should:] Prevent the sale of and trafficking in children, especially targeting unaccompanied children, such as orphans, children left behind by parents fleeing conflict and children moving alone to flee conflict and humanitarian crisis areas;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The human rights of migrants on a 2035 agenda for facilitating human mobility 2017, para. Indicator (d)
- Paragraph text
- [Protect all migrants from all forms of discrimination and violence, including racism, xenophobia, sexual and gender-based violence and hate speech] Significant investment is made in mechanisms for providing information and education on a culture of diversity, the focus of which is to create awareness of the cultural, social and economic contributions of migrants, support the reintegration of migrants and their families into their countries of origin, empower marginalized groups, including migrants, in the social, political and economic fields, and empower migrants to combat all forms of discrimination, labour exploitation, abuse, xenophobia, violence and related intolerance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- For those children in street situations without primary or proxy caregivers, the State is the de facto caregiver and is obliged, under article 20, to ensure alternative care to a child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment. Types of care include: practical and moral support to children on the streets, through a trustworthy adult street worker or peer support, without requiring or coercing children to renounce their street connections and/or move into alternative accommodation; drop-in and community/social centres; night shelters; day-care centres; temporary residential care in group homes; foster care; family reunification; and independent living or long-term care options including, but not exclusively, adoption. Deprivation of liberty, for example, in detention cells or closed centres, is never a form of protection.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are concerned about cases where children are separated from parents and placed in alternative care by child protection systems when there are no concerns related to parental abuse and neglect. Financial and material poverty, or conditions directly and uniquely attributable to such poverty, should never be the sole justification for removing a child from parental care, for receiving a child into alternative care or for preventing a child’s social reintegration. In this regard, States should provide appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities, including by providing social benefits and child allowances and other social support services regardless of the migration status of the parents or the child.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The aftermath of humanitarian disasters is also a fertile ground for the illegal international adoption of children, as it is facilitated by the breakdown of institutions and the lack of border control. For example, following the earthquakes in Haiti in 2010 and Nepal in 2015, there were concerns that separated and orphaned children were being trafficked for sexual or labour exploitation, sold or illegally adopted, sometimes by well-meaning families. In addition, the crossover between smuggling and trafficking represents a major risk for children, including those who go missing with the aim of reaching relatives or acquaintances in another country.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2017, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Children's rights are universal, inalienable and interrelated. The right to freedom from violence everywhere and at all times; the right to respect for family unity and to special protection when separated from their families; the right to have any request for family reunification considered in a positive, humane and expeditious manner; and the rights to a legal identity, to liberty and security and to effective alternatives to deprivation of liberty are inherent in the human dignity of every child. Children on the move are entitled to nothing less.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Children in the context of international migration, in particular those who are undocumented, stateless, unaccompanied or separated from their families, are particularly vulnerable, throughout the migratory process, to different forms of violence, including neglect, abuse, kidnapping, abduction and extortion, trafficking, sexual exploitation, economic exploitation, child labour, begging or involvement in criminal and illegal activities, in countries of origin, transit, destination and return. Such children are at risk of experiencing violence by State or non-State actors or witnessing violence against their parents or others, particularly when travelling or residing in an irregular manner. The Committees draw the attention of States to article 6 of the Hague Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Cooperation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children under which the judicial or administrative authorities of the Contracting State have jurisdiction to take measures directed to the protection of the child’s person or property with regard to refugee children and children who, due to disturbances occurring in their country, are internationally displaced and are present on the territory as a result of their displacement.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- 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
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- In the report of her mission to Papua New Guinea (A/HRC/23/49/Add.2), the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences stated that she had witnessed brutal assaults perpetrated against suspected sorcerers, which in many cases included torture, rape, mutilation and murder. Similarly, in the report of her mission to India (A/HRC/26/38/Add.1), she explained that the stigma attached to women who were labelled "witches" and the rejection they experienced within their communities led not only to various human rights violations but constituted an obstacle to gaining access to justice. She also noted that such labelling affected family members across generations. Further, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in the report of his mission to Ghana (A/HRC/25/60/Add.1), invited special procedure mandate holders to follow up on practices in "witch camps" where, it was reported, women - particularly elderly women - were banished once they had been labelled as witches.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Work in progress, challenges and the way forward 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has also initiated a series of regional consultations on the impunity enjoyed by those who attack defenders. All too often, the perpetrators of such attacks are not convicted. The distress of victims and families who seek justice and reparation meets with indifference and even hostility on the part of law enforcement and judicial officers. It is therefore important to have a sharper understanding of the situation and to better identify the factors behind impunity so that specific recommendations can be made to States and other actors involved.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The abduction of babies (e.g. through kidnappings or by falsely informing parents that their baby was stillborn or died shortly after birth), the improper inducement of consent (e.g. through misrepresentation, bribery or coercion) and improper financial gain (e.g. through payment for the child or the payment of bribes to intermediaries involved in the adoption process) are among the most common methods used in the sale of children and illegal adoptions. Inherent to the methods is the falsification of documents (e.g. birth and medical certificates, the identification documents of the biological mother, DNA test results and relinquishment or abandonment declarations) and the bypassing of regulations.
- 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)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Diversity in humanity, humanity in diversity 2017, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The present report endeavours to set the scene for more monitoring and advocacy to protect people from violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It is also important to comprehend the multi-layered nature of the violence and discrimination — it starts at home, extends into the educational spectrum, influences the community environment, and continues into the State setting and beyond. It has a longitudinal trajectory, with intergenerational implications. It is also concurrently personal/personalized, family-based, community-influenced and systemic, and at times is linked with institutional violence and discrimination. To overcome these impediments, it is necessary to “start young” with promoting mutual respect and tolerance.
- Body
- Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Roadmap for the next three years: thematic priorities of the new mandate-holder 2017, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Situations of generalized violence do not constitute conflict but may have a similar impact on those forced to leave their homes. Greater research is required to reveal the full extent of the problem and its impact on individuals, families and communities. As highlighted by the former Special Rapporteur, governments may not acknowledge violence-induced displacement as triggering their obligations to protect the affected persons as internally displaced persons under international law and standards, including the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. Equally, those affected may not know or claim their rights to protection as internally displaced persons and may in fact seek anonymity due to threats and the risk of violence, making them hard to identify and reach with assistance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
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