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The right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence 2011, para. 29g
- Paragraph text
- [Harmful practices. These include, but are not limited to:] Accusations of "witchcraft" and related harmful practices such as "exorcism";
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Treatment of Unaccompanied and Separated Children Outside Their Country of Origin 2005, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- When assessing refugee claims of unaccompanied or separated children, States shall take into account the development of, and formative relationship between, international human rights and refugee law, including positions developed by UNHCR in exercising its supervisory functions under the 1951 Refugee Convention. In particular, the refugee definition in that Convention must be interpreted in an age and gender-sensitive manner, taking into account the particular motives for, and forms and manifestations of, persecution experienced by children. Persecution of kin; under-age recruitment; trafficking of children for prostitution; and sexual exploitation or subjection to female genital mutilation, are some of the child-specific forms and manifestations of persecution which may justify the granting of refugee status if such acts are related to one of the 1951 Refugee Convention grounds. States should, therefore, give utmost attention to such child-specific forms and manifestations of persecution as well as gender-based violence in national refugee status-determination procedures.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2005
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women 1992, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- In some States there are traditional practices perpetuated by culture and tradition that are harmful to the health of women and children. These practices include dietary restrictions for pregnant women, preference for male children and female circumcision or genital mutilation.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 1992
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel and degrading forms of punishment 2006, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The Committee defines "corporal" or "physical" punishment as any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light. Most involves hitting ("smacking", "slapping", "spanking") children, with the hand or with an implement - a whip, stick, belt, shoe, wooden spoon, etc. But it can also involve, for example, kicking, shaking or throwing children, scratching, pinching, biting, pulling hair or boxing ears, forcing children to stay in uncomfortable positions, burning, scalding or forced ingestion (for example, washing children's mouths out with soap or forcing them to swallow hot spices). In the view of the Committee, corporal punishment is invariably degrading. In addition, there are other non-physical forms of punishment that are also cruel and degrading and thus incompatible with the Convention. These include, for example, punishment which belittles, humiliates, denigrates, scapegoats, threatens, scares or ridicules the child.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2006
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence 2011, para. 29f
- Paragraph text
- [Harmful practices. These include, but are not limited to:] Honour crimes; "retribution" acts of violence (where disputes between different groups are taken out on children of the parties involved); dowry-related death and violence;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence 2011, para. 29d
- Paragraph text
- [Harmful practices. These include, but are not limited to:] Violent and degrading initiation rites; force-feeding of girls; fattening; virginity testing (inspecting girls' genitalia);
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- States parties should include in their reports under the Conventions information about the nature and extent of attitudes, customs and social norms that perpetuate harmful practices and on the measures guided by the present joint general recommendation/general comment that they have implemented and the effects thereof.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 87a
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Ensure that protection services are mandated and adequately resourced to provide all necessary prevention and protection services to children and women who are, or are at high risk of becoming, victims of harmful practices;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- National protection systems or, in their absence, traditional structures should be mandated to be child friendly and gender sensitive and adequately resourced to provide all necessary protection services to women and girls who face a high risk of being subjected to violence, including girls running away to avoid being subjected to female genital mutilation, forced marriage or crimes committed in the name of so-called honour. Consideration should be given to the establishment of an easy-to-remember, free, around-the-clock helpline that is available and known nationwide. Appropriate safety and security measures for victims must be available, including specifically designed temporary shelters or specialized services within shelters for victims of violence. Given that perpetrators of harmful practices are often the spouse of the victim, a family member or a member of the victim's community, protective services should seek to relocate victims outside their immediate community if there is reason to believe that they may be unsafe. Unsupervised visits must be avoided, especially when the issue may be considered one of so-called honour. Psychosocial support must also be available to treat the immediate and long-term psychological trauma of victims, which may include post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 81e
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Ensure that personnel of national human rights institutions are fully aware and sensitized to the human rights implications of harmful practices within the State party and that they receive support to promote the elimination of those practices;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 81d
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Ensure that awareness-raising programmes targeting State structures engage decision makers and all relevant programmatic staff and key professionals working within local and national government and government agencies;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 81a
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Develop and adopt comprehensive awareness-raising programmes to challenge and change cultural and social attitudes, traditions and customs that underlie forms of behaviour that perpetuate harmful practices;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- To challenge sociocultural norms and attitudes that underlie harmful practices, including male-dominated power structures, sex- and gender-based discrimination and age hierarchies, both Committees regularly recommend that States parties undertake comprehensive public information and awareness-raising campaigns that are part of long-term strategies to eliminate harmful practices.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 69f
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Engage men and boys in creating an enabling environment that supports the empowerment of women and girls.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 69d
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Ensure that schools provide age-appropriate information on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including in relation to gender relations and responsible sexual behaviour, HIV prevention, nutrition and protection from violence and harmful practices;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- A social norm is a contributing factor to and social determinant of certain practices in a community that may be positive and strengthen its identity and cohesion or may be negative and potentially lead to harm. It is also a social rule of behaviour that members of a community are expected to observe. This creates and sustains a collective sense of social obligation and expectation that conditions the behaviour of individual community members, even if they are not personally in agreement with the practice. For example, where female genital mutilation is the social norm, parents are motivated to agree to its being performed on their daughters because they see other parents doing so and believe that others expect them to do the same. The norm or practice is often perpetuated by other women in community networks who have already undergone the procedure and exert additional pressure on younger women to conform to the practice or risk ostracism, being shunned and stigmatization. Such marginalization may include the loss of important economic and social support and social mobility. Conversely, if individuals conform to the social norm, they expect to be rewarded, for example through inclusion and praise. Changing social norms that underlie and justify harmful practices requires that such expectations be challenged and modified.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Monetary compensation may not be feasible in areas of high prevalence. In all instances, however, women and children affected by harmful practices should have access to legal remedies, victim support and rehabilitation services and social and economic opportunities.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Prejudices and weak capacity to address the rights of women and children among judges in customary and religious courts or traditional adjudication mechanisms and the belief that matters falling within the purview of such customary systems should not be subjected to any review or scrutiny by the State or other judicial bodies deny or limit the access to justice of victims of harmful practices.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- In States parties with plural legal systems, even where laws explicitly prohibit harmful practices, prohibition may not be enforced effectively because the existence of customary, traditional or religious laws may actually support those practices.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The payment of dowries and bride prices, which varies among practising communities, may increase the vulnerability of women and girls to violence and to other harmful practices. The husband or his family members may engage in acts of physical or psychological violence, including murder, burning and acid attacks, for failure to fulfil expectations regarding the payment of a dowry or its size. In some cases, families will agree to the temporary "marriage" of their daughter in exchange for financial gains, also referred to as a contractual marriage, which is a form of trafficking in human beings. States parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography have explicit obligations with regard to child and/or forced marriages that include dowry payments or bride prices because they could constitute a sale of children as defined in article 2 (a) of the Protocol. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has repeatedly stressed that allowing marriage to be arranged by such payment or preferment violates the right to freely choose a spouse and has in its general recommendation No. 29 outlined that such practice should not be required for a marriage to be valid and that such agreements should not be recognized by a State party as enforceable.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 16d
- Paragraph text
- [For the purposes of the present joint general recommendation/general comment, practices should meet the following criteria to be regarded as harmful:] They are imposed on women and children by family members, community members or society at large, regardless of whether the victim provides, or is able to provide, full, free and informed consent.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child consistently note that harmful practices are deeply rooted in social attitudes according to which women and girls are regarded as inferior to men and boys based on stereotyped roles. They also highlight the gender dimension of violence and indicate that sex- and gender-based attitudes and stereotypes, power imbalances, inequalities and discrimination perpetuate the widespread existence of practices that often involve violence or coercion. It is also important to recall that the Committees are concerned that the practices are also used to justify gender-based violence as a form of "protection" or control of women and children in the home or community, at school or in other educational settings and institutions and in wider society. Moreover, the Committees draw States parties' attention to the fact that sex- and gender-based discrimination intersects with other factors that affect women and girls, in particular those who belong to, or are perceived as belonging to, disadvantaged groups, and who are therefore at a higher risk of becoming victims of harmful practices.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The Committee notes that contributions from its half day of general discussion on women and girls with disabilities which took place during its 9th session in April 2013, highlighted a range of topics and identified three main subjects of concern with respect to the protection of their human rights: (1) violence, (2) sexual and reproductive health and rights and (3) discrimination. Furthermore, concluding observations issued by this Committee to date on women with disabilities express concern about: the prevalence of multiple discrimination and intersectional discrimination against women with disabilities , on account of their gender, disability and other factors which are not sufficiently addressed in legislation and policies ; the right to life , equal recognition before the law , the persistence of violence against women and girls with disabilities , including sexual violence and abuse , forced sterilization , female genital mutilation , sexual and economic exploitation ; institutionalization , the lack of or insufficient participation of women with disabilities in decision-making processes in public and political life ; the lack of inclusion of a gender perspective in disability policies , the lack of a disability rights perspective in gender policies ; and the lack of or insufficient specific measures to promote the education and employment of women with disabilities .
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- States parties should include in their reports under the Conventions information about the nature and extent of attitudes, customs and social norms that perpetuate harmful practices and on the measures guided by the present joint general recommendation/general comment that they have implemented and the effects thereof.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 87a
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Ensure that protection services are mandated and adequately resourced to provide all necessary prevention and protection services to children and women who are, or are at high risk of becoming, victims of harmful practices;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- National protection systems or, in their absence, traditional structures should be mandated to be child friendly and gender sensitive and adequately resourced to provide all necessary protection services to women and girls who face a high risk of being subjected to violence, including girls running away to avoid being subjected to female genital mutilation, forced marriage or crimes committed in the name of so-called honour. Consideration should be given to the establishment of an easy-to-remember, free, around-the-clock helpline that is available and known nationwide. Appropriate safety and security measures for victims must be available, including specifically designed temporary shelters or specialized services within shelters for victims of violence. Given that perpetrators of harmful practices are often the spouse of the victim, a family member or a member of the victim's community, protective services should seek to relocate victims outside their immediate community if there is reason to believe that they may be unsafe. Unsupervised visits must be avoided, especially when the issue may be considered one of so-called honour. Psychosocial support must also be available to treat the immediate and long-term psychological trauma of victims, which may include post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 81e
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Ensure that personnel of national human rights institutions are fully aware and sensitized to the human rights implications of harmful practices within the State party and that they receive support to promote the elimination of those practices;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 81d
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Ensure that awareness-raising programmes targeting State structures engage decision makers and all relevant programmatic staff and key professionals working within local and national government and government agencies;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 81a
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Develop and adopt comprehensive awareness-raising programmes to challenge and change cultural and social attitudes, traditions and customs that underlie forms of behaviour that perpetuate harmful practices;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- To challenge sociocultural norms and attitudes that underlie harmful practices, including male-dominated power structures, sex- and gender-based discrimination and age hierarchies, both Committees regularly recommend that States parties undertake comprehensive public information and awareness-raising campaigns that are part of long-term strategies to eliminate harmful practices.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph