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Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106h
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Prevent instrumentalization of women in the birthing process and ensure that penalties are incurred for gynaecological or obstetrical violence, including performing abusive caesarean sections, refusing to give women pain relief during birth or surgical termination of pregnancy and performing unnecessary episiotomies;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106g
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Regulate birthing facilities to ensure respect for women's autonomy and privacy and human dignity, including respect for women's choice regarding home deliveries provided there are no specific medical contraindications;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Patterns of allocation are often not the result of choice, but rather of stereotyping and discrimination. There is evidence, in most countries, of discrimination in hiring, firing and workplace treatment of pregnant women; imposition of a disproportionate share of unpaid care responsibilities on women; and negative stereotyping of mothers and also fathers who are taking care of children. Cultural assumptions of the motherhood role appear to exist in tension with the conception of the ideal worker. Nevertheless, in a cross-regional comparison of selected countries, it was found that motherhood does not uniformly reduce labour force participation or occupational success and, indeed, it increases these in some countries as compared to women without children. However, it does reduce the number of hours worked and, even more, it increases, disproportionately and beyond any difference that might be explained by the reduction of work hours, the gap between mothers' wages and fathers' wages.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination is sometimes manifested in humiliating treatment women that may face in facilities that are dedicated exclusively to them, such as birthing facilities where, as repeatedly stressed by United Nations human rights mechanisms and WHO, they are too often subjected to degrading and sometimes violent treatment.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2014, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- Young victims are often the target of these practices. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, between 2011 and 2012 there was a 70 per cent increase in child sexual abuse material focused on girls under the age of 10 years, and abuse material involving toddlers or babies is not uncommon. Once online, child abuse images can circulate indefinitely, alongside the risk of perpetuating victims' harm. The circulation of such images contributes to the hypersexualization of children and in turn fuels the demand for sexual abuse material.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Infants
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- SICA and the Special Representative agreed to enhance collaboration on the promotion of the rule of law, restorative justice programmes, and public policies for violence prevention; and to enhance cooperation on early childhood initiatives, including in the framework of the Regional Conference for the Prevention of Violence Starting in Early Childhood (Panama, August 2013).
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2012, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- [Development, dissemination and enforcement of the law]: At the national level, effective investigations and prosecutions are potentially powerful prevention tools but continue to be weak. The failure to investigate grave violations against children or to sanction those responsible is often linked to broader accountability issues. Short of systematic prosecution, a system for deterrence should be built through the prosecution of the most persistent violators. Furthermore, practical measures can be implemented by Governments to prevent under-age recruitment, such as free birth registration or alternative mechanisms for age verification, in addition to conscription policies and mandatory vetting procedures to monitor child recruitment by national armies.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- In the case of India, international attention has been drawn to the vast divergence in the country's natural gender ratio, with estimates that in 2003 100 million women were "missing" from its population. It is estimated that one million selective female foetal abortions occur annually in India. There is no official statistical data available on female infanticide, but in the state of Kerala, it is estimated that about 25,000 female newborns are killed every year. The preadolescent mortality rate of girls under 5 years old was 21 per cent higher than for boys of the same age in India. Violence, as well as nutritional and deliberate medical neglect by girls' parents, was cited as the main causes of death.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- There are no universally agreed upon standards for determining which circumstances warrant a child living in prison, and there is considerable variation between countries. On the whole, most countries have instituted policies that base this decision on the age of the child. The inherent paradox is articulated as "Prisons are not a safe place for pregnant women, babies and young children, and [but] it is not advisable to separate babies and young children from their mother." Support services, such as nurseries, schooling and social therapy, are offered to children in some prisons.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Allowing infants and young children to live with their incarcerated parents reduces some risks associated with separation, if implemented with adequate safeguards, proper infrastructure and necessary resources. Co-residence in prisons and community-based programmes provide two alternatives to separation in the early years of a child's life. Italy and Argentina allow for house arrest if certain conditions are met, and Italy further offers an alternative work programme for mothers with children under the age of 10. In Canada, one prison allows some women to stay with their children in on-site trailers for two nights a week. In one Sierra Leone prison that lacked dedicated infrastructure for co-residence, infants frequently became ill due to the conditions in prison and the spread of contagious diseases. In Finland, mothers at two prisons complained that the childcare services were insufficient, and sometimes their requests for health services for their children were denied for "arbitrary reasons".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- Female infanticide has been practiced throughout history, on all continents, and by persons from all backgrounds. It remains a critical concern in a number of countries today. It is closely linked to the phenomenon of sex-selective abortion, which targets female foetuses. Female infanticide has been known to take such forms as the induced death of infants by suffocation, drowning, neglect and exposure to danger or other means.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Infants
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Inadequate quantities and poor nutritional value of foods is an issue in many countries. It can result in starvation and malnourishment, including for pregnant or nursing women; it can become a commodity traded for sex; denial of food can be used as a form of punishment; because of limited quantities, it can lead to fights; and the poor quality and nutritional value may endanger the health of inmates, including impacting the ability of mothers to breastfeed babies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights noted in a 2001 report on prisons in Malawi that prisons were not safe place for pregnant women, babies and young children and that it was not advisable to separate babies and young children from their mothers. Even very short periods in detention settings can undermine a child's psychological and physical well-being, compromise cognitive development and result in higher rates of suicide, self-harm, mental disorders and developmental problems (A/HRC/28/68). Children living in prison with their mothers may be at heightened risk of suffering violence, abuse and conditions of confinement that amount to torture or ill-treatment. In this context, the imprisonment of pregnant women and women with young children must be reduced to a minimum.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- In many States, children born with atypical sex characteristics are often subject to irreversible sex assignment, involuntary sterilization and genital normalizing surgery, which are performed without their informed consent or that of their parents, leaving them with permanent, irreversible infertility, causing severe mental suffering and contributing to stigmatization. In some cases, taboo and stigma lead to the killing of intersex infants.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 72b
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to abuses in health-care settings, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Decriminalize abortion and ensure access to legal and safe abortions, at a minimum in cases of rape, incest and severe or fatal fetal impairment and where the life or physical or mental health of the mother is at risk;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
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. 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
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Gender discrimination and violence based on moral and religious constructs regarding the social or marital status of the mother have been a key driver of illegal adoptions in several countries. In Ireland, the so-called mother and baby homes, which were managed by Catholic organizations, and other maternity institutions, were established in the 1920s to deal with unmarried pregnant women and girls and operated until the 1990s. Conditions in those institutions were deplorable and cases of violence against the women were common (e.g. abuse of expectant mothers, forced labour, neglect and detention). Before the 1952 Adoption Act, most children born out of wedlock were placed in foster care, "boarded out" or informally adopted. After passage of the Act, children were put up for formal adoption. Consent was improperly induced or forcibly obtained and documents, including illegal birth registrations, were falsified on a large scale. Furthermore, there were cases of intercountry adoptions, in particular to the United States of America, which often resulted from the same illegal practices.
- 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)
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Comprehensive, rights-based and child-centred care, recovery and reintegration programmes 2015, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- Additional elements include a national legislative framework that is compliant with international norms and standards, strong referral and coordination mechanisms, independent monitoring mechanisms and needs assessments to inform and guide the recovery process. Birth registration and recognition of the legal status of the child are basic premises, since a child who is not recognized under the law will not be able to access care and recovery services in some countries.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Comprehensive prevention strategies against sale and sexual exploitation of children 2013, para. 122c
- Paragraph text
- [To that end, the Special Rapporteur recommends the following actions:] Ensure that children's births are registered; and ensure that vulnerable children are identified early and that they have an adequate standard of living and free access to health care and health services, education and social security;
- 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
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Birth registration provides an official record of a child's existence and nationality and is considered a fundamental right under article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Birth registration should be free and universal.
- 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)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- [Poverty takes an especially heavy toll on children, as evidenced by the following figures cited by UNICEF:] 4 million newborns worldwide are dying in the first month of life;
- 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)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- [Poverty takes an especially heavy toll on children, as evidenced by the following figures cited by UNICEF:] 22 million infants are not protected from diseases by routine immunization;
- 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)
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Comprehensive prevention strategies against sale and sexual exploitation of children 2013, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Lack of birth registration is another significant risk factor since it makes a child officially invisible. It also constitutes a barrier to accessing the social services that are critical for prevention, including health and education.
- 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)
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Many countries do not have birth registration systems that robustly provide certification of the births of all indigenous children, which exacerbates the lack of monitoring and disaggregated data. Such lack of birth registration systems places indigenous children and people in a situation of increased vulnerability because they are invisible within the State system. Other consequences include no or limited access to social, health and educational services and increased vulnerability to statelessness or trafficking.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Infants
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Like undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency or "hidden hunger" is a violation of a child's right to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical and mental development, and to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, recognized under article 6, paragraph 2, and article 24, paragraph 2 (c), of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The environment, not genetics, explains differences in child development between regions. The WHO Child Growth Standards demonstrate that infants and children from geographically diverse regions of the world experience very similar growth patterns when their health and nutrition needs are met, so that all children have in principle the same development potential. States, therefore, have a duty to support exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued breastfeeding, combined with adequate complementary foods, until the second birthday of the child; and to establish food systems that can ensure each individual's access not only to sufficient caloric intake, but also to sufficiently diverse diets, providing the full range of micronutrients required.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- First, it is troubling that the 1981 International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions remain under-enforced, despite the wide recognition that exclusive breastfeeding for the six first months and continued breastfeeding, combined with safe and adequate complementary foods, up to 2 years old or beyond is the optimal way of feeding infants, and reduces the risk of obesity and NCDs later in life. Countries committed to scaling up nutrition should begin by regulating the marketing of commercial infant formula and other breast-milk substitutes, in accordance with WHA resolution 63.23, and by implementing the full set of WHO recommendations on the marketing of breast-milk substitutes and of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children, in accordance with WHA resolution 63.14.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Second, the focus on pregnant and lactating women and infants in some recent nutrition initiatives, while understandable, should not lessen the need to address the nutritional needs of others, including children, women who are not pregnant or lactating, adolescents and older persons. The right to adequate food, which includes adequate nutrition, is a universal right guaranteed to all. This pleads in favour of broad-based national strategies for the realization of the right to food that address the full range of factors causing malnutrition, rather than narrowly focused initiatives that address the specific needs of a child's development between conception and the second birthday.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- The first five years of life are the most important period of human development, with the first 1,000 days requiring special attention. Ensuring that a child receives adequate nutrition during that window of 1,000 days can have a profound impact on his or her ability to grow. It can also shape the long-term health, stability and prosperity of a society. Stunting, caused by chronic undernutrition early in a child's life, affects some 165 million children around the world. It was estimated that in 2011 more than one in every four children under five years of age in the developing world was stunted. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are the two regions where stunting continues to be highly prevalent, with low-income countries experiencing the highest levels. Undernutrition magnifies the effects of every disease, including measles and malaria, while malnutrition can also be caused by certain illnesses which reduce the ability of the body to convert food into usable nutrients.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Although issues of undernutrition are often framed in terms of disability prevention, good nutrition is also vital for those who already live with a disability. Infants and children with disabilities suffer the same ill-effects of undernutrition as those without: poorer health outcomes; missing or delayed developmental milestones; avoidable secondary impairments; and, in extreme circumstances, premature death. The exclusion of children and adults with disabilities from nutritional outreach efforts on the basis of the incorrect belief that preserving the life of a child or adult with a disability is of lower priority than preserving the life of someone who is not disabled must be addressed by tackling such discriminatory social and cultural norms which advocate this.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph