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Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- Addressing violence cuts across the Sustainable Development Goals and is critical to the realization of the right to health. The Goals envisage "a world free from fear and violence" and include specific commitments to eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres (target 5.2); to eliminate all harmful practices, including child early and forced marriage and genital mutilation (target 5.3); to significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere (target 16.1); and to end all forms of violence against and torture of children (target 16.2). The Goals also include a commitment to build capacities to prevent violence (target 16.a). In addition, several other Goals address risk factors linked to violence, including ending poverty (Goal 1), ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being (Goal 3), ensuring quality education (Goal 4), addressing inequalities (Goal 10) and making cities and settlements safe (Goal 11). As recognized in the Goals, reducing and eliminating violence is critical to transforming the world into a peaceful and inclusive global community.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in conflict situations 2013, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Mass displacement, breakdown of community and family networks, and institutional collapse may create a vacuum in which women and young girls are vulnerable to sexual violence. They face a heightened risk of sexual exploitation and trafficking, as well as increased domestic violence and abuse from family members. Health facilities that lack qualified health professionals, patient referral mechanisms and psychological counselling may be unable to identify and respond to these forms of conflict-related sexual violence. This is especially true when health services are restricted to sexual violence perpetrated by armed groups. The stigma associated with sexual violence and HIV and the absence of adequate protection mechanisms may also contribute to negative physical and mental health outcomes. Stigma, abandonment by families and communities, and retribution from perpetrators create an atmosphere that perpetuates gender-based violence and leads to the exclusion and disempowerment of survivors. The failure to provide services that promote the safety and respect the confidentiality of survivors undermines their full participation in society, particularly in post-conflict reconstruction efforts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Other international instruments address the trafficking of people, including for the purposes of sexual exploitation. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime defines trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation" (art. 3 (a)). Exploitation is further defined to include the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation. Additionally, the Protocol states that the consent of any victim of trafficking is deemed irrelevant where circumstances such as vulnerability or abuse of power exist (art. 3 (b)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The focus in the Sustainable Development Goals on tackling violence against women and girls is welcome. However, significant levels of violence are also experienced by adolescent boys. Boys caught up in violent crime are often exposed to harsh punitive responses by States that create a downward spiral of increasing violence with profound detriment to their physical and mental health and well-being.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- The criminalization of HIV transmission also increases the risk of violence directed towards affected individuals, particularly women. HIV-positive women are 10 times more likely to experience violence and abuse than women who are HIV-negative.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Terms such as "vulnerability" and "abuse of power" remain undefined within the Protocol, and have no independent legal meaning. These terms require clarification, as failure to do so could lead to situations in which State responses to trafficking include sex workers who voluntarily enter the sex sector. For instance, the trafficking of women and children to participate in sex work has been conflated with voluntary participation in sex work in Cambodia, where the Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation was introduced in 1998. The purpose of this legislation was the suppression of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, as stated in article 1, but the statute includes provisions that prohibit activities around sex work and effectively criminalize the sex sector in its entirety. The law prohibits solicitation, support of prostitution in any manner, sharing of benefits obtained from prostitution, management of an establishment for prostitution, or even selling premises knowing they will be used for prostitution, amongst other activities (chapt. IV). The penalties for breach of these laws are extreme, including the seizure of materials and proceeds, closure of businesses and, alarmingly, the restriction of civil rights (art. 48). This law has led to the detention of sex workers without arrest or imposition of criminal charges, as well as to rape and extortion, following raids.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sports and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health 2016, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- These attempts to control the behaviour of women through violence, and to dictate what an acceptable body image and acceptable activities are, represent clear violations of their human rights. States should take steps to protect the rights of female athletes, for example through the enforcement of criminal laws against perpetrators of violence and through the development of sensitization and education initiatives to combat negative images and attitudes around women's participation in exercise and sport.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- A holistic approach to addressing violence is consistent with the aim of collectively implementing the Sustainable Development Goal targets on violence across the agenda. It is also consonant with the indivisible and interrelated nature of human rights. From a human rights and public health perspective, violence must be addressed comprehensively, including obligations to eliminate violence within health-care settings, to address how structural factors, such as laws and policies, institutionalize violence and to eliminate violence against women and children. The right to health also includes an entitlement to safe access to health care and to a safe environment. Importantly, children and adolescents have a right to be free from violence and to healthy development.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- To date, the approach to violence reduction has been fragmented, compartmentalizing different forms of violence. Importantly, many forms of violence continue to be tolerated within societies and even supported by States. For example, violence against women and children remains accepted in many societies as a cultural norm. The institutional care of young children, a clear act of violence against children, remains widespread in many countries. Around the world, many groups in vulnerable situations, including women, persons with disabilities, migrants and refugees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, experience numerous forms of violence. Each example is also a violation of various human rights protected under international law, including the right to health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- LGBTQI+
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 102
- Paragraph text
- It was not until the end of the twentieth century that the close link between violence and health began to be sufficiently understood. Interestingly, as health and human rights came closer, a similar tendency could be observed by the turn of century when violence was finally seen as a public health concern. In 1996, the World Health Assembly declared violence as "a leading worldwide public health problem". Since then, the burden of violence has been documented and the effectiveness of programmes, with particular attention devoted to women and children and community-based initiatives, has been assessed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in conflict situations 2013, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- As noted by the Security Council (resolution 1820 (2008)) and others, certain civilians may be targeted on the basis of their perceived or actual association with ethnic, religious or political groups. Such strategies infringe human dignity and are manifestly incompatible with the right to health. In certain circumstances, they may also qualify as crimes against humanity, genocide or war crimes. For example, the use of gender-based violence as a strategy of conflict has been well documented. Such violence can include incestuous rape and public rape, rape as a deliberate vector of HIV, camps specifically designed for forced impregnation of women, and premeditated rape as a tool of political repression. Women and girls are common targets of sexual violence, although men and young boys may also be targeted with equal severity. As the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has noted (see E/CN.4/2004/13) among others, armed groups may also specifically target sex workers, sexual and ethnic minorities and other communities as a tool for "social cleansing" of "undesirable elements". By treating civilians as objects of conflict, the physical and psychological impact of sexual violence may extend beyond immediate survivors and disempower whole communities. Due to the stigma attached to sexual violence, survivors are often forced into silence and excluded from their communities. The impact of sexual violence on the mental health of survivors, as well as their family and community may endure for generations. Sexual violence also compromises the participation of targeted communities in public health efforts long after conflict has ended.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The realization of the right to health of older persons 2011, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Various initiatives have been adopted in the area of domestic violence, particularly in respect of violence towards women, which could be drawn upon to raise awareness of abuse of older persons amongst medical professionals and the wider community. In addition to increased training, procedures need to be put in place for reporting abuses and addressing the consequences. For example, the 2006 Older Persons Act of South Africa, inter alia, requires a person who may witness the abuse of an older person, not only physical but also psychological, sexual, and economic abuse, to report the violation. The Act also establishes a system in which abusers of older persons are investigated and registered with a view to prohibiting them from operating or being employed in a residential facility or community-based care for older persons.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- In certain jurisdictions, pregnant women have been prosecuted for various types of conduct during pregnancy. A number of prosecutions have occurred in relation to the use of illicit drugs by pregnant woman, including under pre-existing laws relating to child abuse, attempted murder, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Criminal laws have also been used to prosecute women for other conduct, including alcohol use during pregnancy, the birth of stillborn babies or the miscarriage of a foetus (see A/HRC/17/26/Add.2, para. 68), failing to follow a doctor's orders, failing to refrain from sexual intercourse, and concealment of the birth.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
13 shown of 13 entities