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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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Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 45 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The inclusion of gross violations against women in the list of wrongdoings that will trigger reparations has to be underpinned by the notion that the same violations may entail different harms for men and women, but also for women and girls from cultural minorities. For instance, harms emanating from sexual violence - including the contraction of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, undesired pregnancies, complications due to often unsafe abortions, unwanted children, loss of reproductive capacity, fistulas and vaginal injuries, and multiple psychological disorders - are always compounded with social stigmatization and ostracism by the family and/or community, subsequent emotional distress, loss of status and the possibility to marry or have a male protector, and access communal resources. None of the reparations programmes in the post-conflict or post-authoritarian scenario has explicitly referred to forms of reproductive violence (such as forced impregnation, forced abortion or forced sterilization) as separate categories. Explicit recognition and visibility of various forms of violence and the ensuing harm is required for responsive reparation programmes. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2010 | ||
Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 56 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Rehabilitation measures need to be tailored to respond to women's specific needs. This may require an effort to overcome gender biases that might be entrenched in the existing national service system. One way to overcome such biases is to be as explicit and specific as possible in terms of the services to be provided. For instance, instead of recommending that victims of sexual violence have free or privileged access to medical and psychological assistance, reparations programmes should spell out which treatment victims of sexual violence need most. Rendering rehabilitation and reintegration meaningful to women to ensure that they can recover a sense of normalcy or functional life is both a gendered and a context-sensitive enterprise, as the notion of "psychosocial" rehabilitation suggests. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 68 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | One example relates to forced sterilization programmes and the emergence of judicial awards of compensation. Many such sterilization policies were instituted in countries around the world, usually as part of eugenics programmes to prevent the reproduction of members of the population considered to be carriers of "defective genetic or social traits". Women were sterilized without informed consent: several died from post-surgery complications, while others faced health problems, psychological complications, unemployment and family isolation. More recently in certain countries, abusive practices in the implementation of sexual and reproductive health programmes as part of population control policies have led to systemic violations. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2010 | ||
Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 69 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Despite a number of courts having ruled that such practices were a violation of both physical integrity and privacy of the women, judicial arenas for contesting forced sterilization and receiving compensation are fraught with difficulties. Women confronted with the traditional structural and administrative limitations in accessing justice, especially if they are poor or belong to minority or excluded groups, need to overcome specific obstacles when making claims to redress historical injustices. Often, financial compensation has been denied by ordinary courts because of such legal barriers as the statute of limitations. Furthermore, the focus has mostly been restricted to insufficient monetary compensation. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2010 | ||
Continuum of violence against women from the home to the transnational sphere: the challenges of effective redress 2011, para. 42 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In Kyrgyzstan, women faced highest risk of ill treatment immediately after arrest and during the investigation period when investigating authorities are seeking a confession. Organizations and several women victims provided accounts of extortion and bribery while in police custody, including being chained to a radiator, having a gun held to their head, beatings and burns. Many women in custodial facilities often face inadequate access to medical treatment and care. Female detainees in Zambia, whether in police custody or in prisons, received little medical attention for prenatal and post-natal care and treatment, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis testing, and little or no nutrition support. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 30 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Even in contexts where women are able to successfully acquire access to resources such as for example land, they continue to face the challenge of access to other resources for its care. For illustration purposes, we can look at the issue of access to water. Women and their families experience multiple challenges relating to security and health when they have to travel considerable distances and spend several hours a day collecting water, which is often polluted and dangerous to their health and well-being. At the same time they are also at risk of sexual and other forms of violence. Furthermore, with the privatization of water for profit, water has become a commodity for the global market. This is a form of structural violence in that water is being forcibly taken away as a public good, despite the recognition by the United Nations that water is a human right. Such a scenario illustrates both interpersonal and structural violence directly related to survival, bodily integrity and health, as women risk their lives daily for water, which is a basic need. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 33 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The psychological/individual perspective draws from biological, sociological, and psychological theories, and posits that violence occurs due to a male's higher level of testosterone (hormone theory), and also that men have evolved to have more violent tendencies than women (evolutionary theory). Additionally, an individual may be abused because the perpetrator perceives a benefit from the abuse, i.e. he is able to gain what he wants by maintaining a level of fear and disquiet in his partner (or members of the family) and this ultimately benefits his individual well-being. Another argument is based on the notion of resource competition, in which individual family members are in competition with one another for scarce resources, and thus the combination of hormone differences and sexual dimorphism allows males to dominate females in the private and public sphere. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 46 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The World Health Organization recognizes violence against women as a major public health problem which can result in "a wide range of physical, mental, sexual and reproductive, and maternal health problems." Health practitioners identify gender-based violence as having especially wide-ranging consequences on women's lives and "include the psychological impact of violence, loss of personal freedom, diminished capacity to participate in public life, and a dramatically increased risk of acquiring HIV and other STIs." Women who are already lacking health care and medical treatment due to economic, social, political and geographic barriers are at greater risk of chronic, and possibly fatal, effects of violence. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 47 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Women who are lacking social and cultural capital, due to their minority or immigration status, language barriers, religious or ethnic affiliation, sexual orientation and/or gender identity or educational attainment, are also at greater risk of long-term health consequences. They may be denied proper health or medical services, they may fear the consequences of asking for medical assistance, they may receive improper or low quality care, or they may live in places where no health services are available. Women who suffer from cognitive and/or physical disabilities are further negatively impacted since the stigma of disability is persistent in most countries, and they therefore may not be viewed as requiring care, or may live in places where no specialized care is available. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 48 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The economic costs of violence are difficult to estimate globally. However, there is agreement that violence against women severely impacts a woman's ability to participate fully and capably in reproductive and productive roles, and this negatively affects household, community, and national well-being. The cost of violence against women cuts across public and private sectors in all societies, including the legal, health, educational, social services, and labour sectors. The categories of costs include both direct and indirect tangible and intangible costs. Also, economic hierarchies often render women especially vulnerable to physical and economic violence. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 77 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Pregnancy and childbearing are part of the material reality of women and girls which requires a gendered analysis. This entails explicitly accounting for the fact that maternal mortality and morbidity are manifestations of rights violations for which there are no parallel violations directly experienced by men. The general risk of maternal mortality and morbidity faced by all women is significantly altered by factors such as quality, affordable and accessible maternal health care. The absence of this type of health care contributes to deaths that are preventable and that occur at disproportionately higher rates for pregnant women and adolescent girls who live in the poorest regions of the world. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 28 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The forced sterilization of women with disabilities remains a global problem. Women with disabilities who elect to have a child are often criticized for their decision and face barriers in accessing adequate health care and other services for themselves and their children. Although society's fear that women with disabilities will produce so-called "defective" children is for the most part groundless, such erroneous concerns have resulted in discrimination against women with disabilities from having children. There is a dichotomy between the notions, on the one hand, that motherhood is expected of all women and, on the other, that women with disabilities are often discouraged, if not forced, to reject motherhood roles, despite their personal desires. Research shows that no group has ever been as severely restricted, or negatively treated, in respect of their reproductive rights, as women with disabilities. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 29 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The 2009 World Health Organization (WHO) guidance note on promoting sexual and reproductive health for persons with disabilities highlighted the fact that women with disabilities are considered in some societies to be less eligible marriage partners and may therefore find themselves in unstable relationships. Additionally, if such unstable relationships become abusive, women with disabilities have fewer legal, social and economic options and may be further discriminated against. For example, in the event of child custody disputes, courts may use the discriminatory stereotype that the non-disabled partner must be a more competent parent, when awarding custody. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 33 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Women with disabilities may be subjected to situations of physical discomfort or embarrassment because their right to privacy is undervalued or not valued at all. Home assistants, family members or others who provide assistance may inflict violence through purposeful neglect (for example, leaving a woman who is in bed or who uses a wheelchair with no assistance for long periods in order to "punish" or manipulate her). Others may confine a woman with disabilities to her home or isolate her from other human contact. Mobility aids, communication equipment or medications may be withheld, causing physical injury or mental and emotional suffering. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 36 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Women with disabilities are often treated as if they have no control, or should have no control, over their sexual and reproductive choices. They may be forcibly sterilized or forced to terminate wanted pregnancies - under the paternalistic guise of "for their own good". This is done sometimes with the sanction of partners, parents, institutions or guardians. There is a long history of socially and even legally sanctioned forced and non-consensual sterilization of women with disabilities. Despite legal prohibitions in some countries, involuntary sterilization is used to restrict the fertility of some persons with disabilities, particularly those with intellectual disabilities. Sterilization also has been used as a technique for menstrual management. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 37 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Denying access to reproductive health care, or forcing women with disabilities to undergo procedures aimed at controlling their reproductive choices, is a form of violence against women. The Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development recognizes the basic right of all individuals to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence; to have the information and means to do so; and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. The Programme of Action also recognizes that these rights apply to persons with disabilities. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 39 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Women in institutions who need support services are usually more vulnerable. Vulnerability, both in institutions and in community settings, can range from the risk of isolation, boredom and lack of stimulation, to the risk of physical and sexual abuse. Evidence suggests that people with disabilities are at higher risk of abuse for various reasons, including dependence on a large number of caregivers and also because of barriers to communication. One study found that the majority (68 per cent) of psychiatric outpatients in a hospital had experienced major physical and/or sexual assaults therein, a higher frequency than in the general population. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 55 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | A compilation of British studies found that 20 to 30 per cent of offenders had learning disabilities or difficulties that interfered with their ability to cope within the criminal justice system and that the female prison population was five times more likely to have a mental health disability than the general population. Another study found that as many as 80 per cent of female detainees had at least one psychiatric disability. Furthermore, such individuals are increasingly housed in prisons rather than psychiatric facilities. Those with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities face threats of inadequate care and mistreatment, in addition to the risks of self-harm and the deterioration of psychological or emotional well-being owing to the nature of incarceration, according to the UNODC Handbook. Closure of psychiatric institutions in some countries has led to a marked increase in the criminalization of women with disabilities. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 84 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In general recommendation No. 24, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women also discusses issues of concern to women with disabilities. The Committee recognizes that societal factors may be determinative of health status and that special attention should be given to the health needs and rights of women with disabilities, among other vulnerable groups. General recommendation No. 27 pertains to the protection of the human rights of older women and addresses women with disabilities by discussing the double discrimination and gender stereotyping older women with disabilities face, especially in regard to their access to education, health-care services, legal services and their increased susceptibility to violence. General recommendation No. 28 focuses on the core obligations of States parties under article 2 and discusses the enhanced vulnerability for discrimination that women with disabilities face in civil and penal laws, regulations and customary laws and practice. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women 1993 (see General Assembly resolution 48/104) also makes reference to violence and women with disabilities. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 32 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | One study indicates that there are approximately 3,500 intimate partner violence-related deaths every year in Europe. Women account for more than 77 per cent of all victims of intimate partner/family-related homicide, with women between the ages of 35 and 44 at higher risk. More recently, research indicates there has been an increase in the rates of killings of women. For instance, in Spain there has been a 15.16 per cent increase in intimate partner femicides. In Italy, the total number of homicides (male and female murders) is decreasing; however, female homicides increased from 15.3 per cent during 1992-1994 to 23.8 per cent during 2007-2008. According to data, in England and Wales in 2009/10 95 female victims of homicide were killed by a current or former partner, compared to 21 male victims of domestic homicide. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 68 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Victims come from a range of social and economic backgrounds, which vary from country to country, as do the circumstances in which they are killed. Many of the murdered women come from the most marginalized sectors of society: they are poor, from rural areas, of ethnic origin, sex workers or maquila workers. Young women between 16 and 24 years old are the most vulnerable group. Overall, 25 per cent of murders reveal evidence of sexual assault; 66 per cent of murders in Honduras and 44 per cent in El Salvador exhibit signs of brutality. Small firearms were used in 90 per cent of femicides in Guatemala and in 79 per cent of femicides in Honduras in 2010. Femicide is considered the second-highest cause of death of women of reproductive age in Honduras. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 80 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | 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. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 13 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In countries where abortion is illegal or legal only in limited circumstances, women are subject to criminal liability for obtaining abortions, including in cases of rape. Some countries have restrictive abortion laws which impose criminal sanctions for abortions with no exceptions or allowance for extenuating circumstances, including when a pregnancy is due to rape. For example, in Chile abortion is illegal, even when the pregnancy is a result of rape. In a study of 80 women prosecuted for obtaining an abortion, 10 per cent were pregnant as a result of rape, and data gathered for a comparable nationwide study portrayed a similar reality. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 25 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | A 2005 report noted that since 1986, the imprisonment rate for African American women for all offences, a large proportion of which are drug-related, has risen by 800 per cent, as opposed to 400 per cent for women of all other racial groupings. Also, Latina and African American women are being imprisoned for drug-related crimes as opposed to receiving punishment such as community supervision, which is more regularly available to white offenders. Recent positive developments in the United States of America indicate a decrease in drug offences due to a revisiting of drug policies and the consequences thereof. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 46 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Women in prison are more prone to illness from infectious disease, digestive issues, respiratory ailments, injuries and other medical problems. Moreover, HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne diseases are more prevalent among female prisoners than their male counterparts. In Zambia, diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis are transmitted relatively easily as a result of the minimal medical care afforded to prisoners (A/HRC/17/26/Add.4). Prisons in Cameroon simply separate the prisoners with contagious diseases from other inmates, rather than offering preventive medical care to the general population. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 50 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Many facilities for women fail to provide a hygienic environment that meets basic health needs and increases the health risks and prevalence of diseases. In Zambia, it has been alleged that unclean water is used for bathing, no soap or toothpaste is provided, bathroom facilities are run-down and dirty, blankets are infested with lice and rags are given as clothing (A/HRC/17/26/Add.4). In some Sri Lankan prisons, cells are infested with rats; beds, mats and pillows are often lacking; and no fans are provided even when temperatures climb to dangerous levels. Two bathrooms, which are frequently in a serious state of disrepair, are allocated for every 75 inmates to share. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 57 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Prison authorities in some parts of the world routinely shackle pregnant prisoners to their beds while they are in labour, or when they are being transported to off-site visits for medical treatment. For example, despite recent legal developments in the United States, interlocutors have stated that many states allow for the restraint of pregnant women during transportation to hospitals, and some states permit the use of shackles during the delivery (A/HRC/17/26/Add.5 and Corr.1). Such practices have also been found in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (E/CN.4/2005/72/Add.4). Shackling pregnant inmates is representative of the failure of the prison system to adapt protocols to unique situations faced by the female prison population. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 80 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | 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". | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 85 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In some countries, there are emerging practices and ongoing discussions on the need for a paradigm shift from incarceration to community-based sentencing for female offenders. This movement is based on factors such as the sharp increase in the number of women being incarcerated; the overrepresentation of women who have experienced prior violence; the economic and social costs of imprisonment; the detrimental effects of incarceration on women and their families, especially since more women have dependent children than do male prisoners; the impact of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in prisons; and the rising incidence of self-harm by incarcerated women. There is a growing recognition that most female offenders pose little, if any, risk to society. For those women who are deemed to be a risk to society, the recommendations include the need for smaller, specialist prisons which are easily accessible and where mental and physical health care, remedial and rehabilitative services, appropriate living space and family visiting facilities can be better met. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
State responsibility for eliminating violence against women 2013, para. 17e | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | [The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women has for nearly two decades observed and paid attention to the responsibility of the State in general and to the principle of due diligence in particular. In assessing State responsibility to act with due diligence to address violence against women, it was suggested by the first Special Rapporteur in 1999 that the following questions needed to be asked:] Is the criminal justice system sensitive to the issues of violence against women? In this regard, what is police practice? How many cases are investigated by the police? How are victims dealt with by the police? How many cases are prosecuted? What types of judgements are given in such cases? Are the health professionals who assist the prosecution sensitive to issues of violence against women? | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 |