A/69/368 III. Violence against women as a barrier to the effective exercise of citizenship and continuing challenges in the quest for its elimination A. Introduction 1 8. Violence affects one in three women globally and is a foremost cause of death and disability among women. 2 It is acknowledged as a pervasive and severe violation of human rights, resulting in women’s civil, political, social, cultural, economic and development rights violations. An often-overlooked impact of violence against women is the role it plays in obstructing the realization of women’s citizenship rights. Certain crucial elements of citizenship rights are integral for understanding the negative impact of violence against women on the exercise of rights. Citizenship is characterized by meaningful participation, autonomy and agency through one ’s membership in a community — a community that is not necessarily defined by nationality. It is comprised of an indivisible and interrelated set of rights and it demands a corresponding obligation on States to respect, protect and fulfil rights. 9. Viewing violence against women through a citizenship lens achieves three critical objectives. First, the citizenship framework emphasizes women ’s participation and agency, highlighting the importanc e of women participating as full citizens in their communities. Second, it exposes the role that gender-based violence plays in impeding women’s realization of a broad range of human rights that are essential to the exercise of full participatory citizenship. Finally, it emphasizes the need for States to fulfil their responsibilities for preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, in both the public and private spheres. 10. Full, inclusive and participatory citizenship requires that viole nce against women be seen as a barrier to the realization of all human rights, and consequently the effective exercise of citizenship rights. Participation, autonomy and agency, are core components of citizenship rights and they emanate from human rights, as the necessary conditions for human agency and dignity. Human rights are rooted in citizenship rights, including in their dynamic conception of political, economic, civil and social participation. Human dignity and the rights to freedom and equality lie at the heart of the human rights regime and provide the necessary conditions for human agency in exercising citizenship rights. The fulfilment of one right often depends upon the fulfilment of others, as each cluster of rights provides the necessary conditions for realization of the other. For example, social rights help promote the effective exercise of civil and political rights, while civil and political rights in turn empower citizens to realize their economic, social and cultural rights. 11. Citizenship is both about belonging to a group or community and about the rights and responsibilities associated with such membership. 3 It is not only an __________________ 1 2 3 4/21 I would like to thank Naureen Shameem and students of the Cornell Law School International Human Rights Clinic for research assistance. World Health Organization, Global and Regional Estimates of Violence against Women: Prevalence and Health Effects of Intimate Partner Violence and Non -Partner Sexual Violence (2013). Shamin Meer and Charlie Sever, Gender and Citizenship: Overview Report, Bridge Institute of Development Studies (January 2004); see also Ruth Lister, “Citizenship: towards a feminist synthesis”, Feminist Review, vol. 57 (1997). 14-60186