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Title | Date added | Template | Original document | Paragraph text | Body | Document type | Thematics | Topic(s) | Person(s) affected | Year |
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Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 91 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The work at the expert and regional levels has only led to limited recognition of the problems by intergovernmental United Nations bodies with a human rights or human rights-related mandate. The Commission on the Status of Women has called on member States to develop measures to prevent the labour and economic exploitation and sexual abuse of girls employed as domestic workers and ensure that they have access to education and vocational training, health services, food, shelter and recreation. The Programme of Action of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance urges States to pay special attention to protecting people engaged in domestic work (contained in A/CONF.189/12, para. 67). As part of the universal periodic review, a number of States have made recommendations to their peers to improve the protection of domestic workers. Such references to a serious, widespread and global human rights concern are far and between. There is nothing similar to the General Assembly's Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (resolution 48/104), which opened another socially constructed "private sphere" filled with human rights violations to the persistent scrutiny of the international community. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2010 | ||
Servile marriage 2012, para. 58 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | South Africa has given individuals and couples the right to choose the law that should govern their marriage, enabling them to opt out of traditional systems (that they may feel are oppressive or discriminatory) in favour of a law based on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Such an approach should be further explored to ensure that all laws are brought into conformity with international standards (E/CN.4/2002/83, para. 9). | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Servile marriage 2012, para. 37 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In its general recommendation No. 21, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women considers that the minimum age for marriage should be 18 years for both men and women. This age limit, which is in line with the definition of the child provided in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is also reflected in article 21 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 89 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Independent experts mandated by the Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council have also addressed the issue. The Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery had drawn the attention of the Commission on Human Rights to the problem of domestic servitude. Special procedures mandates, in particular the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, have focused their fact-finding on the situation of domestic workers and thereby advanced the debate. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2010 | ||
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 29 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Supplementary Convention also addresses the practice of servile marriage as a form of slavery, although it does not label it as such. The Convention outlaws practices in which: a woman is "promised or given in marriage on payment"; "the husband of a woman, his family, or his clan, has the right to transfer her to another person"; and "a woman on the death of her husband is liable to be inherited" (art. 1 (c)). States Parties to the Convention are asked to establish suitable minimum ages of marriage. Servile marriage was also alluded to in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 16 establishes that "marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses". | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 27 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Article 1 of the 1926 Slavery Convention defines slavery as the "the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised". The Convention calls for the "complete abolition of slavery in all its forms", including the "capture, acquisition, sale or exchange, and disposal" of persons (art. 2, in conjunction with art. 1). Since the drafting of the Convention, most international legal frameworks have included articles concerning the prohibition of slavery, including article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), article 8, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and, more recently, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Protocol). | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
Servile marriage 2012, para. 92 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In some cases, although laws may be in place to protect women and girls from servile marriage, the authorities fail to prosecute the perpetrators. Consequently, victims do not seek help from the police or judiciary as they fear further abuse from Government authorities or being forcibly returned to their husbands. According to a 2008 report by the United Nations Development Fund for Women, between 70 and 80 per cent of Afghan marriages are forced, and 57 per cent are child marriages where one of the spouses is under the age of 16 years. In 2009, Afghanistan enacted legislation on the elimination of violence against women, in order to criminalize servile marriage and ensure that perpetrators were brought to justice. The law does not, however, address how authorities should treat a woman who runs away to escape the offences criminalized under the law. Consequently, girls and women who flee servile marriage are arrested and often convicted of intent to have sex outside marriage. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Servile marriage 2012, para. 68 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Upon the recommendation of the Commission on Human Rights, a report on abolishing slavery and its contemporary forms was published in 2002 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In the report, it is stated that women who leave their families to marry a man in a foreign country that they have not previously visited are vulnerable to a wide range of forms of exploitation prohibited by existing international standards. The involvement of commercial agents in organizing marriages does not in itself appear to be unacceptable, but if the agent makes payments to the bride's parents or others, the arrangement would come close to infringing the prohibition on the sale of women for marriage in the Supplementary Slavery Convention. As brides in a foreign country, the women's vulnerability is increased by the fact that they have no family or friends to support them if they require assistance. In addition, in some countries obtaining the right to residency as a spouse is a long, drawn-out process that may take years. A wife who leaves her husband is unable to seek assistance for fear of deportation or imprisonment. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Servile marriage 2012, para. 59 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In many countries, there is a widespread belief, which also finds expression in law, that a husband is entitled to sexual intercourse and may insist on this entitlement by force. There is a growing trend by countries to repeal such laws, however. For example, Ghana, after much public debate and consultation with stakeholders, amended its legislation in order to protect women from marital rape and enacted new legislation criminalizing physical, sexual and physiological abuse, intimidation, threats and harassment between spouses, other intimate partners and former partners, among others (A/HRC/7/6/Add. 3, paras. 37 and 74). | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Servile marriage 2012, para. 31 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Article 21 (2) of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child states that child marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys are to be prohibited and effective action, including legislation, is to be taken to specify the minimum age of marriage to be 18 years. Article 6 of the 2003 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa states that no marriage is to take place without the free and full consent of both parties, and requires States to enact appropriate national legislative measures to guarantee that the minimum age of marriage for women is to be 18 years. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Servile marriage 2012, para. 30 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Article 17 (2) of the American Convention on Human Rights guarantees the right of men and women of marriageable age to marry and to raise a family, and requires that no marriage is to be entered into without the free and full consent of the intending spouses. Under article 17 (3), the States parties are to take appropriate steps to ensure the equality of rights and the adequate balancing of responsibilities of the spouses as to marriage, during marriage, and in the event of its dissolution. Article 3 of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women safeguards a woman's right to be free from violence in both the public and private spheres. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 90 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Special Rapporteur recommends that States ratify fully and implement all relevant international legal instruments to prevent child slavery such as the 1926 Slavery Convention, the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 90 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | At the regional level, the Council of Europe has shown leadership in taking up the issue. In its recommendation 1663 (2004) on domestic slavery, servitude, au pairs and "mail-order brides", the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe expressed dismay that slavery still exists in Europe, while highlighting that "today's slaves are predominantly female and usually work in private households". Human rights bodies of the African Union and the Organization of American States have addressed concerns relating to domestic workers. From 17 to 18 June 2010, the Special Rapporteur participated in a major conference on trafficking for the purpose of domestic servitude organized by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2010 | ||
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 87 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | International human rights law outlaws domestic and other forms of servitude. Apart from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1956 Supplementary Convention on Slavery, relevant norms can be found in the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 8), the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (art. 11), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (art. 27), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 7 on just and favourable conditions of work) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (arts. 19 and 32), and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (art. 11 on women's right not to be discriminated in the field of employment). | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2010 | ||
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 52 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In a number of countries, the authorities become involuntary accomplices to exploitation and servitude by allowing, or even requiring, employers to restrict the freedom of movement and residence of migrant domestic workers or systematically failing to enforce relevant prohibitions. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, noted that, contrary to an official Government decision, migrants systematically had their passports and residency permits taken away from them, causing some to end up in slave-like conditions. Jordanian legislation on domestic workers, despite being very progressive in other respects, still requires migrant domestic workers to live with their employer and seek his permission to leave the home - even during their time off. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2010 | ||
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 28 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Domestic slavery, alongside other forms of slavery, still exists in parts of the world, notably in certain countries of the Sahel region of Western Africa. The 1926 Slavery Convention (art. 1) defines slavery as "the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised". Slavery still exists in certain sectors of society in Mauritania, even though the Government has outlawed and criminalized the practice (see A/HRC/15/20/Add.2). Women and children in particular end up in domestic slavery. They must work from before sunrise to after sunset, caring for the master's children, fetching water, gathering firewood, pounding millet, moving heavy tents and performing other domestic tasks. Besides exploitative living and working conditions and frequent physical and sexual abuse, the specific nature of slavery manifests itself by the fact that the victim and her children are considered to be their master's property and can be rented out, loaned or given as gifts to others. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2010 | ||
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 18 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | At the regional level, States' obligation to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery is enshrined in a number of human rights instruments. Under article 4 of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, slavery, forced labour and servitude are prohibited. In article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, it is stated that, inter alia, slavery and slave trade shall be prohibited. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, in its article 15, enshrines the protection of children from all forms of economic exploitation and from performing any hazardous work. Slavery, involuntary servitude, slave trade and traffic in women, as well as forced labour, are prohibited under the American Convention on Human Rights (art. 6). In article 10 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights all forms of slavery, servitude and forced labour are prohibited. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 28 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Another key area of focus of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, is child and forced marriage. The Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery obligates Member States to take all "practicable and necessary legislative and other measures to bring about progressively and as soon as possible the complete abolition or abandonment" of, inter alia, any institution or practice which amounts to forced marriage, such as when a woman, without the right to refuse, is promised or given in marriage on payment to her parents, guardians, family or another person or group; when a husband, his family or his clan transfers his wife to another person for value received or for any other reason; or the inheriting by another person of a woman on the death of her husband (see art. 1). Early and forced marriage can, under certain circumstances, constitute servile marriage or result in domestic servitude or other forms of slavery. The previous mandate holder drew links between child marriage and slavery, and pointed out that Member States were obliged to prohibit and eliminate slavery as a non-derogable and fundamental principle of international law. Child marriage is linked to the thematic issues of trafficking for forced labour, commercial sexual exploitation, migration and contemporary forms of slavery, which reinforces the need for cooperation among the respective mandate holders as part of a comprehensive multi-agency and multi-stakeholder effort to eradicate those practices from society, as women and girls in child and forced marriages may experience conditions within the marriage that meet "international legal definitions of slavery and slavery-like practices", including forced labour. Furthermore, "a potentially high proportion of child marriage cases appear to constitute the worst forms of child labour under the 1999 ILO Convention No. 182." | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2014 | ||
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 21 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In that regard, the Special Rapporteur will follow up on the key recommendations made by her predecessor for the elimination of all forms of domestic servitude. In her report to the Human Rights Council at its fifteenth session (A/HRC/15/20), the previous Special Rapporteur addressed the root causes of domestic servitude and its impact on women and children and made concrete recommendations for the monitoring and enforcement of labour standards. Besides the implementation of existing recommendations, which remains a key challenge, more research, notably qualitative reporting and situational analysis, is required on the often invisible workers in domestic servitude, including their existence in developed economies, which is often obscured. | Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2014 |
19 shown of 19 entities