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Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur highlights that, apart from the Committee, a variety of international and regional human rights bodies and independent experts are working on the issue of violence against women. These bodies have all developed a rich jurisprudence, general comments and recommendations relating to the right of women and girls not to be subjected to violence, which in certain circumstances may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, denial of the right to health and other human rights. There are regional treaties and treaty bodies looking specifically at gender-based violence in Africa, the Americas and Europe. There are also independent experts in Africa and the Americas. However, these instruments need more incorporation and implementation, including through sustained funding of expert monitoring mechanisms to carry out their work, to facilitate coordination and to share best practices, information and insights. This urgency to support existing good work is even more compelling given the high priority dedicated to the eradication of violence against women in the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women: Twenty years of developments to combat violence against women 2014, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- One of the five priority areas of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) is ending violence against women. The efforts of UN-Women in this regard include standard setting, technical assistance, financial assistance, education, advocacy, data collection and coordination. The entity supports Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards, including in developing and implementing national action plans to end violence against women. UN-Women also participates in a number of joint programmes with partner agencies at the country level and coordinates the Secretary-General's UNiTE campaign and the COMMIT initiative. The Inventory of United Nations activities to prevent and eliminate violence against women describes the efforts of 38 United Nations entities, the International Organization for Migration and six inter-agency partnerships. UN-Women has also developed the Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls, an online resource centre.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women as a barrier to the effective realization of all human rights 2014, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- A more recent challenge is the creation of hierarchies of violence against women, especially through political and funding actions. This is particularly evident in the articulation of sexual violence in conflict situations as being different and exceptional, as opposed to its being a continuation of a pattern of discrimination and violence that is exacerbated in times of conflict - as reflected in recent armed conflict situations. The prioritizing of this manifestation of violence has led to numerous concerns, including a shift away from an understanding of violence against women as both gendered and part of a continuum of violence; a shift in resources, in some instances, despite the need to address all manifestations of violence, including at the national level; a shift in focus by some United Nations entities; and the effect of donor-driven priorities in this process. The view of many women's rights defenders is that these shifts have led to focusing on the manifestation of violence against women in conflict situations, to the detriment and ignoring of the low-level "warfare" that women and girls experience in their homes and communities on a daily basis.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Internally displaced women: progress, challenges and the way ahead 2013, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- However, opportunities for IDW to participate actively in decision-making processes remain particularly limited. For example, IDW have rarely played an active role in developing, implementing and monitoring national action plans on Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), although IDW in a diverse range of contexts have demonstrated their ability and determination to play leading roles in developing and implementing policies and programmes concerning them. Unfortunately, the participatory approaches used to identify protection gaps of concern to IDW often do not extend to ensuring that they have an active say in the development, implementation and evaluation of responses to these gaps. IDW should therefore be given the opportunity to actively participate in peace processes; in negotiating durable solutions and the planning process for returns, reintegration or resettlement; and in post-conflict reconstruction and rebuilding. Participation of women in humanitarian planning should further reflect the diversity of the population and seek to include adolescent girls, youth and those with disabilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous peoples, including their economic, social and cultural rights in the post-2015 development framework 2014, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- When looking at available socioeconomic data disaggregated by ethnicity and gender, there is no doubt that indigenous women experience particular and interrelated forms of discrimination because of their indigenous identity and their gender. Gender-based discrimination is a sad reality in most countries, and it is also found within some indigenous societies where, for example, women may not traditionally have participated in governance institutions or where girls are not encouraged to study. In short, many indigenous women still face additional gender-based discrimination, which leads to disadvantages, marginalization and, in extreme cases, to violence, physical mutilation, trafficking, prostitution and restricted access to justice. On the other hand, there is ample documentation of the strong and crucial roles played by indigenous women in many areas of life, including food production, biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation, transmission of languages, culture and knowledge, conflict resolution and peacekeeping.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Community empowerment initiatives working with poor and marginalized communities have achieved extraordinary health outcomes, for example in the global fight to end HIV/AIDS (target 3.3) (E/HLPF/2016/2, para. 107). Economic and social empowerment, such as the decriminalization of sex work and sex worker mobilization, have improved health and identified critical health gaps (Goals 3 and 5). Community mobilization to attain adequate and stable housing for homeless people living with HIV can have life-saving implications for their health (targets 3.3 and 11.1). Efforts to empower parents in vulnerable situations through participatory parental education initiatives reduce the risk of negative health outcomes for their children (Goal 3 and targets 4.2, 5.2 and 16.2). When young girls have access to education, child mortality rates and girls' long-term health improve (Goals 3, 4 and 5) (A/70/213, para. 9). Investments in such initiatives place the human rights principles of autonomy and participation at the centre of public health policy and are critical components of an open, inclusive and peaceful society.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The above-mentioned developments have been relied on by the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council to pass resolutions that focus particular attention on violence against women and girls. For example, both the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council have identified inter-gender inequality and discrimination, including gender-based violence, as violating the human rights of women and girls. Over time, the language of these resolutions has evolved to reflect the heightened risk of gender-based violence to women suffering intersectional discrimination. As analyzed within the United Nations human rights framework, "power imbalances and structural inequality between men and women are among the root causes of violence against women." This makes violence against women a matter of inter-gender inequality between women and men. In addition, various resolutions have acknowledged that discrimination is understood as having multiple forms that combine to heighten the vulnerability of some women and girls to violence. This reflects an understanding that discrimination and violence against women is also a matter of intra-gender inequality among women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- In Asia, children constituted 48 per cent of the 14.8 million refugees by the end of 2015. The ongoing conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, which had created 2.4 million child refugees in 2015 and more than 2 million internally displaced children by 2016, has led to situations of extreme vulnerability. Indeed, United Nations assessments have revealed cases of child recruitment in 90 per cent of the locations surveyed in that country and cases of child marriage in 85 per cent of them. Similarly, the decades-long conflict in Afghanistan has created 1.3 million child refugees and, by 2016, had displaced more than half a million persons, 56 per cent of whom were children. Those children are at a particularly high risk of being abused and exploited, with a very elevated level of child or forced marriage and domestic abuse. Likewise, the reported rise in the number of child brides among Rohingya children who have fled Myanmar and live in neighbouring countries perpetuates the cycle of violence and poverty experienced by those girls.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Girls and young women with disabilities also encounter significant challenges when attempting to access justice, prevention mechanisms and response services for sexual and gender-based violence. Sexual assault is often underreported, and even more so when the individual has a disability. Girls and young women with disabilities face numerous challenges when reporting abuses, such as the risk of being removed from their homes and institutionalized; stigmatization; fears with regard to single parenthood or losing child custody; the absence or inaccessibility of violence prevention programmes and facilities; the fear of the loss of assistive devices and other supports; and the fear of retaliation and further violence by those on whom they are both emotionally and financially dependent (see A/67/227, para. 59). In addition, when, as survivors of sexual violence, they report the abuse or seek assistance or protection from judicial or law enforcement officials, teachers, health professionals, social workers or others, their testimony, especially that of girls and women with intellectual disabilities, is generally not considered credible, and they are therefore disregarded as competent witnesses, resulting in perpetrators avoiding prosecution.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Many girls and young women with disabilities do not have access to information and education about sexual and reproductive health and rights and related services. Several studies found that youth with disabilities, especially girls and young women with intellectual disabilities, have low levels of sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health and rights knowledge, including information with regard to the prevention and transmission of HIV. The lack of inclusive education prevents girls and young women with disabilities from accessing comprehensive sexuality education, as those programmes are usually not available in special education settings. In addition, comprehensive sexuality education is not always delivered in accessible formats and alternative languages, and very often it does not address disability-specific needs. Stigma and stereotypes about female sexuality can also lead to the exclusion of girls and young women with disabilities from existing comprehensive sexuality education programmes by their parents, guardians and teachers. There is a general lack of guidance for families and teachers on how to talk about sexuality and equality with girls and young women with disabilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The regulatory framework must provide a contextual meaning of the social and cultural acceptability of water and sanitation facilities. This cannot be done in a meaningful way without the genuine participation of those who use the services. While water should be of an acceptable colour, odour and taste for each personal or domestic use, these are highly subjective parameters, and perceptions of these characteristics depend on local culture, education and experience. Personal sanitation is a highly sensitive issue across regions and cultures, and differing perspectives about which sanitation solutions are acceptable must be taken into account when designing, positioning, and setting conditions for the use of sanitation facilities (see A/70/203, para. 13). Regulations should stipulate that facilities need to allow for acceptable hygiene practices in specific cultures, such as anal and genital cleansing, and menstrual hygiene (see A/HRC/12/24, para. 80). Acceptability often requires separate facilities for women and men in public spaces, and for girls and boys in schools, which should be reflected in regulatory frameworks. Regulation should play an essential role in ensuring that toilets are constructed in a way that safeguards privacy and dignity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Adequate water and sanitation services, including menstrual hygiene facilities, must be accessible in the workplace, without hindrance, for all employees, in a manner that corresponds with their gender identity. The Special Rapporteur has noted that there is an urgent need to recognize and address the currently neglected lack of facilities that allow for adequate sanitation and menstrual hygiene management for women and girls in the workplace. Women and girls risk their health or miss out on workdays when such facilities are lacking. For example, 60 per cent of all women working in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia work in the agriculture sector and their workplace often does not include facilities that would allow them to manage their sanitation and menstruation, or those facilities are located far away from the place of work. Regulations often do not apply to women working in the informal sector, and women working in public spaces such as markets often have no access to facilities altogether. In the manufacturing industry and in dense urban areas, women and girls sometimes work in overcrowded spaces where privacy is limited and sanitation facilities and spaces are inadequate to manage their menstruation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision-setting report 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development comprises 17 transformative Sustainable Development Goals aimed at the realization of the human rights of all, including the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Goal 5, and in particular its targets 5.2, focuses on the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation, while target 5.3 focuses on the elimination of all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation While it is remarkable that, For the first time, the elimination of violence against women is included as a target for the achievement of sustainable goals, violence against women is also an issue addressed in Goal 11, on safe spaces, and Goal 16, relating to peace and security. It is also a barrier to achieving other gender-related goals, such as those on health, education, reducing poverty in all its forms, and sustainable growth. For the first time, a global gendered framework for development has been adopted that is inclusive and builds upon human rights instruments, all relevant world conferences, such as the four World Conferences on Women. The implementation of all 17 goals also requires systematic gender mainstreaming in all targets and indicators.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Existing legal standards and practices regarding violence against women in three regional human rights systems and activities being undertaken by civil society regarding the normative gap in international human rights law 2015, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- The concerns raised more than 20 years ago and further highlighted by the Special Rapporteur in her reports reinforce the view that it is time to consider the development and adoption of a binding international instrument on violence against women and girls. Such an instrument should ensure that States are held accountable to standards that are legally binding, provide a clear normative framework for the protection of women and girls globally and have a specific monitoring body to substantively provide in-depth analysis of both general and country-level developments. With a legally binding instrument, a protective, preventive and educative framework could be established to reaffirm the commitment of the international community to its articulation that women's rights are human rights and that violence against women is a human rights violation in and of itself.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women: Twenty years of developments to combat violence against women 2014, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- A more recent challenge is the creation of hierarchies of violence against women, especially through political and funding actions. This is particularly evident in the articulation of sexual violence in conflict situations as being different and exceptional, as opposed to it being a continuation of a pattern of discrimination and violence that is exacerbated in times of conflict - as reflected in recent armed conflict situations. The prioritizing of this manifestation of violence has led to numerous concerns, including a shift away from an understanding of violence against women as both gendered and as part of a continuum of violence; a shift in resources, in some instances, despite the need to address all manifestations of violence, including at the national level; a shift in focus by some United Nations entities; and the effect of donor-driven priorities in this process. The views of many women's rights defenders is that these shifts have led to "privileging" the manifestation of violence against women in conflict situations, to the detriment and ignoring of the low-level "warfare" that women and girls experience in their homes and communities on a daily basis.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women: Twenty years of developments to combat violence against women 2014, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Several General Assembly resolutions on women address the issue of violence against women migrant workers; trafficking; traditional or customary practices affecting the health of women and girls; crimes committed against women in the name of honour; rape and other forms of sexual violence, including in conflict and related situations; women, disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control; female genital mutilation; gender-related killings of women; and protection for human rights defenders. These resolutions reiterate normative developments relating to the recognition of violence against women as a human rights violation; States' due diligence obligation to end impunity; and the introduction of the concepts of intersectionality and a multisectoral approach to violence against women. Other resolutions on women concern, inter alia, the designation of 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women; crime prevention and criminal justice measures to eliminate violence against women; and the annual reporting obligation of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, which includes the requirement to submit a written report annually to the Assembly.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls who are coerced and become victims of sex trafficking have also been incarcerated in numerous countries for crimes such as prostitution. They are frequently prosecuted because States have inadequate or no formal procedures for identifying such victims.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- During armed conflict, women experience all forms of physical, sexual and psychological violence, perpetrated by both State and non-State actors, including unlawful killings. Such violence is often used as a weapon of war, to punish or dehumanize women and girls, and to persecute the community to which they belong.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- In addition, the Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the right to education dedicated his 2007 thematic report to the issue of the right of persons with disabilities to inclusive education (A/HRC/4/29, paras. 8 and 76). He found that literacy rates for women and girls with disabilities were significantly lower than for men and boys, and that women and girls were generally subjected to more discrimination. Similarly, in his 2005 thematic report, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, focused on the right to health of persons with mental disabilities (E/CN.4/2005/51, paras. 12 and 49) and found that women with intellectual disabilities were especially vulnerable to forced sterilization and sexual violence. He advocated for measures to protect them from violence and other right to health-related abuses, whether occurring in private health-care or support services. Finally, the Special Rapporteur to monitor the implementation of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities reports annually to the Commission for Social Development and has mainstreamed the issue of women and disabilities in his reports (see E/CN.5/2011/9).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Continuum of violence against women from the home to the transnational sphere: the challenges of effective redress 2011, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Sexual harassment at school and at the workplace is acknowledged as a pervasive manifestation of violence. In El Salvador, the Special Rapporteur heard testimonies of the working conditions of young women working in the maquila plants, where they were subjected to verbal and physical abuse by supervisors, sexual harassment, and mandatory pregnancy tests. Sexual harassment in educational and training institutions in Algeria was pervasive and underreported at the time of the visit of the Special Rapporteur, despite commendable steps by the authorities to criminalize sexual harassment based on abuse of authority. The visit to the United States revealed the particular vulnerability of undocumented immigrant women to violence, including sexual harassment and abuse, in the workplace. Sexual and physical violence against girls in educational establishments perpetrated by male school staff and school boys remains problematic, as reported during the visit of the Special Rapporteur in Zambia. Long distances from home to school also increased risk of harassment, with girls reportedly having sexual relationships with minibus and taxi drivers as a way of coping with transportation costs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Continuum of violence against women from the home to the transnational sphere: the challenges of effective redress 2011, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- A one-size-fits-all programmatic approach is insufficient for combating gender-based violence. Violence results from a complex interplay of individual, family, community and social factors - and, even though all women are at risk for violence in every society in the world, not all women are equally vulnerable to acts and structures of violence. A holistic approach for the elimination of all forms of violence against all women requires addressing systematic discrimination and marginalization through the adoption of measures that address inequality and discrimination among women, and between women and men. The United Nations human rights treaties, declarations and mechanisms provide the institutional framework within which Governments, non-State actors, and local activists can promote a holistic response to identifying, preventing, and ultimately ending, all forms of violence against women. The fight for the human rights of women remains a collective endeavour in which we should jointly take action to ensure their full enjoyment by every woman and girl worldwide.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Conflict-related sexual violence takes many forms. Women and girls seeking to survive in conflict zones are often compelled to exchange sexual services and even to "marry" for food, shelter, protection or safe passage. UNHCR has affirmed that women in conflict situations are vulnerable to a range of discriminatory practices that exacerbate their dependence (for example, receiving smaller food rations or not having ration cards or other identity documents in their own name) and are disproportionately exposed to sexual violence. For women and girls abducted into military service, sexual assault is often a feature of their experience. Rape has been used as a tactic of war to humiliate and weaken the morale of the enemy, ethnically cleanse the population, destabilize communities and force civilians to flee. Widespread or systematic sexual assault by government and/or opposition or rebel forces has been documented in multiple modern conflicts, including in the reports of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence, issued annually since 2009, in which he has identified incidents and patterns of sexual violence in conflict-affected countries employed by parties to armed conflict, primarily against women and girls but also against boys and men (see S/2015/203).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Debt bondage as a key form of contemporary slavery 2016, para. B.
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States:] Remove any forms of discrimination that negatively impact on the rights of certain groups, including girls, indigenous peoples and migrant children, to an education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- A number of sources have reported that children are subjected to contemporary slavery in Ghanaian fisheries by "fisher-entrepreneurs" or middlemen who take them far from their homes to work in fisheries. Recruiters reportedly deceive families with promises of educational opportunities in exchange for a few hours of work each day. Children are also often promised cash or in-kind payments for their labour, such as a cow for boys or a sewing machine for girls. Parents may be offered an advance for their child's work, thus placing the child in a situation of debt bondage. Lake Volta is a popular destination for child slaves, as fishery resources have been depleted and children are considered cheap sources of labour. Tasks in the fishing sector are gendered: boys paddle canoes, pull in nets and carry fish; girls sort, pack and transport fish; and both boys and girls are often tasked with deep-water diving to clear entangled nets. Children usually work six to seven days a week, at least 12 hours a day, and fishing expeditions can last for many days. These children are exposed to dangerous working conditions, long hours, sexual and physical abuse, and even death due to drowning, snake bites or physical abuse at the hands of boat or equipment owners.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- Girls are taken out of school and forced into servile marriage. The lack of education or limited education seriously harms their opportunities and choices, making them economically dependent on their husbands and vulnerable to poverty if their husbands die or abandon or divorce them. Societies in which servile marriage takes place often value boys more than girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Cultural relativism is often given as an excuse for slavery-like violations such as servile marriage and sexual slavery committed against women and girls. Societies that permit servile marriage are based on an overwhelming fear of female sexuality and culturally believe that it should be curtailed and regulated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Reports also indicate that relentless pressure and emotional blackmail are used by parents and families to force young girls into unwanted marriages. More extreme forms of pressure can involve threatening behaviour, abduction, imprisonment, physical violence, rape and, in some cases, murder.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- The boys are mainly found in underground and underwater extraction. They face the dangers of working inside the mines. Most of the girls are found above ground, breaking down the rocks and processing the minerals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Some parents take out loans against their children's labour. Other parents sell their children and, upon their arrival in the mines, the children are charged exorbitant prices for their transportation to the mines, food and tools by the employer or middleman. In both these instances, the children are often unable to leave the mines or quarries until they have paid off the debt owed to the middleman or employer. In majority of the cases, children become bonded as a result of their parents' debt. Bonded labour is prohibited under the 1956 Supplementary Convention. Many children report not being able to save or even earn enough money to send back home. This results in them being unable to leave their situation until their debt is paid. In 2010, the Special Rapporteur received information that Bangladeshi and Nepali children were being purchased by middlemen or abducted and sold by gangs to mining employers in India. The price of the child varied from 50-75 USD. According to the information received, the children are forced to work to pay off their debt. The middlemen bring both boys and girls to work in the mines. The girls living and working in the mines are often sexually abused by adult mine workers and employers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- 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.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- In the shadow of global domestic work industry, large numbers of people - in the majority, women and girls - find their dignity denied. They suffer invisibly in domestic servitude, contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 4) and human rights treaty law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sale of children for the purpose of forced labour 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Various recent and ongoing events have shed light on the relevance of the issue in current conflicts. After the kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria, in 2014 by Boko Haram, the armed group announced it would "sell" them.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive prevention strategies against sale and sexual exploitation of children 2013, para. 92b
- Paragraph text
- [Specific activities to promote child participation in order to prevent sale and exploitation include:] Awareness-raising with parents to address possible discrimination against girls and to promote the child's right to be heard;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive prevention strategies against sale and sexual exploitation of children 2013, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- A number of social practices are rooted in discrimination against women. Child marriage is entrenched in social and gender norms that significantly affect the well-being of girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive child protection systems 2011, para. 48c
- Paragraph text
- [Preventive measures should address critical socio-economic factors by:] Providing single mothers (particularly adolescent girls) with support through social welfare systems that offer a full range of alternative care services and assistance within child protection systems;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive child protection systems 2011, para. 28c
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to prohibition, comprehensive legal frameworks should:] Establish 18 years as the minimum age of marriage for girls and boys, with a prohibition on the procurement, offering, conducting of or forcing into an under-age marriage;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- Once on the street, children are vulnerable to all forms of exploitation and abuse. Girls who belong to gangs are subject to violence and sexual exploitation by male gang members.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- The rape and sexual exploitation of young girls and women have been used as veritable weapons of war during conflict. The physical and psychological consequences are significant for the victims, who often find themselves stigmatized and marginalized and hence more vulnerable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- In some circumstances, early marriage is used as an economic survival strategy by poor families. Girls are given into marriage, often against their will and in exchange for a dowry, in order to settle the family's debts, to acquire land or even to settle disputes between families or clans.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Therefore, a pubescent child who becomes a victim of sexual exploitation (especially a girl) is not necessarily seen as a victim, but rather as guilty of behaving or dressing provocatively or of a poor upbringing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- [Poverty takes an especially heavy toll on children, as evidenced by the following figures cited by UNICEF:] 101 million children are not attending primary school, with more girls than boys missing out.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Other practices such as forced marriage that are in effect in certain parts of the world can be considered "sale for purposes of sexual exploitation". One manifestation of this, among others, is that young girls are given as wives to men - often older men - in exchange for money.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- [Thanks to these efforts, more data are now available on long-term trends and specific aspects of some types of sale and sexual exploitation of children, including:] The practice of sexual exploitation of boys and girls of all ages, and from all backgrounds, in all States and regions;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- In order to ensure that women's rights are fully respected, social protection programmes must be accompanied by gender-sensitive social services, including sexual and reproductive health care. This requires investment in public services, without which social protection programmes will not be effective. Women and girls, for example, may be prevented from meeting conditionalities imposed by a programme if social services are far away and transportation costs are too high, or if they fear being sexually assaulted while making the trip required. Girls may not attend school if there are no separate sanitation facilities for them or if they are harassed by teachers or other students. Mothers may not bring their children to the hospital owing to discriminatory practices on the part of health-care providers (for example, requesting the consent of the husband) or communication difficulties (for example, women might be expected to demonstrate some form of literacy or might not be able to communicate in their minority language). In the same vein, women may choose not to use clinics for child delivery because of a lack of skilled birth attendants or culturally appropriate birthing methods.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Minorities in situations of humanitarian crises 2016, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Owing to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, specific challenges face minority women and girls affected by humanitarian crises. According to the General Recommendation on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations of the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (see CEDAW/C/GC/30, para. 36), during and after conflict specific groups of women, including, inter alia, internally displaced and refugee women, women of diverse caste, ethnic, national or religious identities, or of other minorities, are at a particular risk of violence, especially sexual violence. These groups of women "are often attacked as symbolic representatives of their community". The Committee has further noted that stateless women and girls face heightened risk of abuse during conflict, owing to, among other factors, their minority status (ibid, para. 60). Minority women may be particularly at risk of sexual and gender-based violence and other forms of violence, including slavery and trafficking. The Special Rapporteur was deeply troubled and saddened when she listened to the testimonies of Yezidi women in Iraq of sexual and gender-based violence committed against them by Daesh, which acts must be fully investigated and their perpetrators prosecuted.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Priorities for the work of the Independent Expert and the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities 2012, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- The issues and concerns of minority women frequently receive a lower priority than the efforts made to ensure minority rights for the group in general. Women belonging to minority groups often struggle within their communities to advocate for their rights, which can be set aside as a result of the prioritization of the general concerns of the group. Barriers to the empowerment of some minority women, including lack of social or economic contact, networks or minority women's support groups, and scarcity of female minority role models have an important impact on the enjoyment by minority women and girls of their human rights. Minority women may hesitate to voice their gender-specific grievances even within their groups, let alone outside them. Minority women's rights could also benefit from increased attention by the broader movement for women's rights. In turn, the women's rights movement would also benefit from the specific experiences of minority women in their overall struggle for equality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
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
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Other laws restricting access to family planning and contraception include a city-wide de facto ban on so-called "artificial" contraception in one jurisdiction, which created significant difficulty for women in accessing reliable forms of birth control (see A/HRC/14/20/Add.1). A total of 70 per cent of the affected population, a majority of whom were poor and marginalized, depended on Government providers for services including female sterilization, oral pills, intrauterine devices and injectables (ibid.). The ban resulted in the absolute deprivation of access to family planning services and contraception for many women and men. In other instances, States require women to obtain their husband's consent and adolescents to obtain parental consent before acquiring various forms of contraception. Other jurisdictions allow pharmacists, and in some cases pharmacies, to refuse to dispense emergency contraception, which is otherwise legally available. These laws directly infringe upon the right of women and girls to make free and informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health and reflect discriminatory notions of women's roles in the family and society.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- The criminalization of abortion also has a severe impact on mental health. The need to seek illegal health services and the intense stigmatization of both the abortion procedure and women who seek such procedures can have deleterious effects on women's mental health. In some cases, women have committed suicide because of accumulated pressures and stigma related to abortion. In jurisdictions where rape is not a ground for termination of pregnancy, women and girls who are pregnant as a result of rape but who do not wish to continue their pregnancy are either forced to carry the pregnancy to term or seek an illegal abortion. Both options can cause enormous anguish. In electing to pursue either option, the overarching threat of being investigated, prosecuted and punished within the criminal justice system has significant negative impacts on the emotional health and well-being of both those who seek abortions and those who do not. Moreover, while the psychological impact of seeking an illegal abortion or carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term is well documented, no corresponding evidence supports the existence of long-term mental health sequelae resulting from elective abortion.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The causal relationship between the gender stereotyping, discrimination and marginalization of women and girls and their enjoyment of their right to sexual and reproductive health is well documented (see E/CN.4/2002/83 and E/CN.4/2004/49). Criminalization generates and perpetuates stigma; restricts their ability to make full use of available sexual and reproductive health-care goods, services and information; denies their full participation in society; and distorts perceptions among health-care professionals which, as a consequence, can hinder their access to health-care services. Criminal laws and other legal restrictions disempower women, who may be deterred from taking steps to protect their health, in order to avoid liability and out of fear of stigmatization. By restricting access to sexual and reproductive health-care goods, services and information these laws can also have a discriminatory effect, in that they disproportionately affect those in need of such resources, namely women. As a result, women and girls are punished both when they abide by these laws, and are thus subjected to poor physical and mental health outcomes, and when they do not, and thus face incarceration.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Studies have shown that while few young people have accurate knowledge about HIV/AIDS, women are generally even less well informed than men. In a UNAIDS study of 147 countries, whereas more than 70 per cent of young men were found to recognize that condoms can protect against HIV, only 55 per cent of young women identified condoms as an effective strategy for HIV prevention. Women and girls are disproportionally impacted by legal restrictions to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education and information, which both reinforces and exacerbates the gender inequalities that the figures demonstrate. The existence of legal restrictions on access to sexual and reproductive health information and education lead to the provision of inaccurate information through informal sources that are often inaccurate and may reinforce negative gender stereotypes. As a result, young women are less prepared for their sexual and reproductive lives, leaving them vulnerable to coercion, abuse and exploitation, as well as to an increased risk of unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Many States use the criminal justice system as a substitute for weak or non-existent child protection systems, leading to the criminalization and incarceration of disadvantaged girls who pose no risk to society and are instead in need of care and protection by the State. The Special Rapporteur recalls that the deprivation of liberty of children is inextricably linked with ill-treatment and must be a measure of last resort, used for the shortest possible time, only when it is in the best interest of the child and limited to exceptional cases (A/HRC/28/68). Accordingly, the lack of gender-centred juvenile justice policies directly contributes to the perpetration of torture and ill-treatment of girls. There is an urgent need for policies that promote the use of such alternative measures as diversion and restorative justice, incorporate broad prevention programmes, build a protective environment and address the root causes of violence against girls. Failure to support girls in detention with adequate and complete information about their rights in a comprehensible manner and to provide assistance with reporting complaints in a safe, supportive and confidential manner further aggravates mistreatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) 2012, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Other international human rights treaties further emphasize the obligation to promote technical and vocational education and training. States have obligations to promote equal opportunities for women and men in education, training and lifelong learning under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. As outlined by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, human rights-based technical and vocational education and training also implies that in tackling tacit discrimination owing to obsolete traditional gender roles, women and girls should be encouraged to choose non-traditional fields of education and careers, such as intensive technical and vocational education and training in traditionally male-dominated areas. That could contribute to eliminating barriers and facilitating professional reinsertion of girls who dropped out of school. States have the obligation to elaborate policies aimed at promoting the access of girls and women to technical and vocational education and training, with proactive measures, including temporary special measures, to encourage and facilitate their participation and to contribute to the elimination of discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Discriminatory laws and practices have contributed to a deplorable global situation with respect to women's health and safety which calls for urgent, immediate and effective actions. According to WHO, an estimated 225 million women are deprived of access to essential modern contraception. Pregnancy and childbirth-related complications resulted in the deaths of almost 300,000 women worldwide in 2013. About 22 million unsafe abortions take place annually and an estimated 47,000 women die from complications resulting from unsafe abortion each year. Breast and cervical cancer remain the leading cancers among women aged 20-59 years, resulting in 1 million deaths, the majority in low- and middle-income countries where screening, prevention and treatment are almost non-existent. Young women bear the brunt of new HIV infections. One in three women under 50 has experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or family member. At least 200 million women and girls have been subjected to female genital mutilation.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- The Secretary-General could be asked to convene a high-level panel on intensifying efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence, especially violence and discrimination against indigenous women and girls. States could increase regional monitoring and interregional cooperation; the Great Lakes treaty processes have been praised in that regard.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- As previously highlighted, many civil society organizations stated that particular importance should also be given to improving implementation strategies and monitoring regimes: there should be a monitoring of State practice in implementing the principles on violence against women as a human rights issue (prevention, prosecution, protection and policy). This monitoring could be carried out by independent organizations engaging with an international treaty body. A treaty could also require States parties to create or nominate a national independent monitoring body on violence against women, which would include frameworks for respective responsibilities in federal States with sufficient resources and the ability to adjudicate cases of violence against women and girls. The treaty could establish a new global gender observatory or international watch centre. It should include a requirement for States to accept more country visits as part of monitoring, as well as ensure consultation with survivors as part of the reporting process and monitoring. Furthermore, more importance should be given to ensuring improved data collection and including a requirement for States to disseminate reports. According to some civil society organizations, any new treaty body should have the power to make general recommendations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- At the regional and national levels, children on the move are also vulnerable to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation. There are also reports of missing children, some of whom fall into the hands of criminals to continue their journey to reach relatives or acquaintances in another country. In Africa, nearly 3 million children were refugees by the end of 2015. As of mid-2016, 390,000 Nigerian children had been displaced to the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and the Niger, and a further 1.1 million children had been internally displaced owing to the conflict in the Lake Chad basin. Children have been subjected to abhorrent abuses, mainly at the hands of Boko Haram, which has reportedly recruited and used more than 8,000 children since 2009, abducted at least 4,000 girls, boys and young women, and inflicted sexual violence on more than 7,000 girls and women, often leading to pregnancies. Since the beginning of the conflict in South Sudan, in 2013, children have constituted 66 per cent of the 1.3 million refugees, and the majority of the 1.9 million internally displaced persons. A direct consequence of the war has been the recruitment and use of more than 17,000 children, with a further 3,090 children abducted and 1,130 children sexually assaulted by armed forces and armed groups, among others.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur recommends that the United Nations, including all its programmes, funds and specialized agencies, adequately consider the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities in all its work, including when assisting States in the implementation of mainstream policies and programmes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 62m
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States:] Mobilize resources within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals and invest in inclusive programmes that increase the access of girls and young women with disabilities to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 62l
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States:] Collect information, including statistical and research data, on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities, including with regard to harmful practices and all forms of violence, disaggregated by sex, age and disability;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 62j
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States:] Support families, including through the provision of information, education and services, in strengthening their ability to understand and address the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities, free from stigma and stereotypes;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 62i
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States:] Implement awareness-raising programmes designed to change the societal perception of the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities and end all forms of violence against them, including forced sterilization, forced abortion and forced contraception;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 62g
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States:] Provide adequate training to law enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges on how to protect girls and young women with disabilities from violence;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 62f
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States:] Ensure that services and programmes aimed at protecting women and girls from violence, including police stations, shelters and courts, are inclusive of and accessible to girls and young women with disabilities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States:] Design and implement comprehensive inclusive and accessible sexuality education programmes and materials for girls and young women with disabilities within and outside the school system;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 62d
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States:] Ensure that sexual and reproductive health services are respectful of the rights of girls and young women with disabilities, including their right to non-discrimination, informed consent prior to being subjected to any medical treatment, privacy and freedom from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 62c
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States:] Mainstream the rights of girls and young women with disabilities in all sexual and reproductive health and rights strategies and action plans to ensure that all sexual and reproductive health information, goods and services are accessible and age-, gender- and disability-sensitive;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- There is a worrisome and growing number of cases of surgical procedures and hormonal treatments intended to inhibit the growth of girls and young women with severe impairments. Hysterectomy, for example, is regarded as an effective way to avoid menstruation management,42 and it is justified on the discriminatory presumption that girls and young women with disabilities cannot handle the pain, discomfort and trauma of menstruation — an argument not applicable to girls and women without disabilities. Oestrogen treatment is also being increasingly administered for “growth-attenuation therapy”, aiming to inhibit girls’ entry into puberty and reduce their final height and weight in order to facilitate care. Those practices constitute gross human rights violations that go well beyond patronizing and infantilizing; they prioritize the interests of caregivers to the detriment and denial of a person’s dignity and integrity. As the Committee on the Rights of the Child has emphasized, the interpretation of a child’s best interests cannot be used to justify practices that conflict with the child’s human dignity and right to physical integrity. Stunting a girl’s growth does not represent, by any means, an appropriate response to the lack of support that families may encounter in providing assistance to their girls with disabilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- While United Nations human rights instruments, mechanisms and agencies have recognized that the forced sterilization of persons with disabilities constitutes discrimination, a form of violence, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the practice is still legal and applied in many countries. Across the globe, many legal systems allow judges, health-care professionals, family members and guardians to consent to sterilization procedures on behalf of persons with disabilities as being in their “best interest”, particularly for girls with disabilities who are under the legal authority of their parents. The practices are often conducted on a purported precautionary basis because of the vulnerability of girls and young women with disabilities to sexual abuse, and under the fallacy that sterilization would enable girls and young women with disabilities who are “deemed unfit for parenthood” to improve their quality of life without the “burden” of a pregnancy. However, sterilization neither protects them against sexual violence or abuse nor removes the State’s obligation to protect them from such abuse. Forced sterilization is an unacceptable practice with lifelong consequences on the physical and mental integrity of girls and young women with disabilities that must be immediately eradicated and criminalized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Stereotypes based on gender and disability often lead to structural or systemic discrimination against women with disabilities, in particular when exercising their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Stigma and misconceptions about disability and sexuality can have a profound negative impact on their lives and can lead to their disempowerment and infantilization. The nature of the prejudice experienced affects their self-esteem, making them feel insecure and socially isolated. Girls and young women with disabilities are neither seen to be in need of information about their sexual and reproductive health and rights and available services, nor seen as competent to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive lives. Moreover, as many girls and young women with more severe impairments live at home or in institutions, often completely dependent on or controlled by others, they are denied the full exercise of their autonomy and privacy, whether that is intentional or not. Consequently, many girls and young women with disabilities lack the basic knowledge and support required to protect themselves from sexual abuse, unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and are not equipped to make informed decisions about their own bodies, health and lives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, girls and young women with disabilities are, almost without exception, prevented from making autonomous decisions with regard to their reproductive and sexual health, which can result in highly discriminatory and harmful practices, as discussed in section III below. Many of those practices occur in institutions, as girls and young women with disabilities are more likely to be institutionalized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- In 2011, a social worker who founded a local shelter for girl survivors of sexual violence and an international human rights lawyer initiated a coalition with local, regional and international civil society organizations, feminist lawyers and the national human rights commission to file a case seeking to hold the police accountable for failure to address rampant sexual violence against girls. The 160 Girls case was brought to the High Court in 2012. With the support of the shelter, 11 applicants were chosen from more than 160 victims of child rape who had been denied access to justice. The remaining victims were represented by the twelfth applicant, which was the rape shelter itself. It was the first case brought to the High Court under the equality provisions laid out in the 2010 Constitution. The decision was instrumental in establishing the failure of the police to meet national and international standards to conduct prompt, effective, proper and professional investigations into complaints, thereby preventing access to justice. With the use of relevant international human rights instruments and progressive interpretation of constitutional rights and State obligation, the jurisprudence was precedent-setting. The seminal contribution of the decision lay in establishing the rights of the child and the delineation of the scope of State obligation in protecting children from violence, and the duty to investigate and apply existing rape laws.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its nineteenth and twentieth sessions 2017, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group urges States to eradicate multiple forms of discrimination and oppression faced by women and girls of African descent in accordance with the concept of intersectionality in all areas of the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Body
- Working Group of experts on people of African descent
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Diversity in humanity, humanity in diversity 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Violence and discrimination often appear not as singular events but as part of a prolonged vicious circle. They are multiple and multiplied — inextricably linked emotionally, psychologically, physically and structurally. They intersect in a variety of ways, and most clearly where the victim is not only attacked or discriminated against for having a different sexual orientation and gender identity but also on grounds of race, ethnic origin, age, gender, or membership of a minority or indigenous community. The person might also be a child, a young girl, an intersex person, a refugee, an internally displaced person, a migrant worker, a person with a disability, and more. This intersectionality involves a conglomeration of incidents, actors, perpetrators, and victims — the latter being revictimized an infinite number of times, possibly in different phases of life. The situation becomes aggravated precisely because of the convoluted nature of the phenomenon, where crimes are replicated against the same victims and where impunity prevails subsequently, from the home to the school, to the community, to the nation State and to the international spectrum. In today’s cyber world and social media, incitement to hatred and violence driven by hate speech relating to sexual orientation and gender identity has an exponential reach, spinning the web of violations in real time and into the future.
- Body
- Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Participation is not only a right in itself, but also imperative for fulfilling other rights. Participation encompasses women's power to influence decisions, to voice their needs, to make individual choices and to control their own lives. The lack of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities that meet women's and girls' needs can be largely attributed to the absence of women's participation in decision-making and planning.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The sanitation and menstrual hygiene needs of homeless women and girls are almost universally unmet and the needs of that group are rarely reflected in water and sanitation policies. Human rights law demands that States place a particular focus on the needs of the most marginalized; hence, States should ensure that homeless women and girls have access to facilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Where it is not yet possible to have access to services on site, it is important to scale up the construction of safe and nearby community toilets. As mentioned above, there is a multitude of psychosocial stress factors that women face owing to unsafe, inadequate or absent sanitation facilities. To reduce the risk of women and girls experiencing violence, building codes for community water and sanitation facilities should include gender considerations such as sex-segregated cubicles, closeness to the house and lighted pathways to and at facilities. The location should also make it possible for a concierge to be present and monitor the surroundings. It is important to note, however, that building safer latrines in or close to households does not eliminate the risk of gender-based violence, as the measure does not address the root causes of violence. As outlined by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, adequate sanitation without attention to gendered relations of power puts the burden of safety on women and does not address gender-based patterns of violence against women, which require a far more structural approach. Building safer facilities may sometimes, however, take away a burden for women and girls to visit public toilets that provide for privacy and safety. In this context, WaterAid has developed a toolkit for practitioners.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- While taxes are a key source of financing for such gender responsive initiatives, they can have detrimental effects on the poorest women. Governments must therefore carefully screen the effects of different tax mechanisms. For example, while value-added taxes may appear gender-neutral, they may disproportionately affect those living in poverty. Certainly, applying value-added tax to menstrual hygiene products disproportionately affects women and girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls need to have materials to manage their menstruation, which can be a particular burden for those living in poverty. The human rights to water and sanitation include the right of all to affordable, safe and hygienic menstruation materials, which should be subsidized or provided free of charge when necessary.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Levels of access to water and sanitation services affect men and women unequally. Because of their domestic roles and responsibilities, women are in greatest physical contact with contaminated water and human waste. Women and girls who hold their urine for long periods of time have a higher risk of bladder and kidney infections. In addition, they tend to avoid consuming liquids to prevent having to use the toilet, as a result of which many become dehydrated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Gender-based violence can be defined as acts that "inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty". It is a widespread issue rooted in power differences and structural inequality between men and women, although men and boys can also suffer gender-based violence. As the Secretary-General has pointed out: "Violence against women and girls makes its hideous imprint on every continent, country and culture".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Although women - at every economic level, all over the world - may suffer disproportionate disadvantages and discrimination, they cannot be seen as a homogenous group. Different women are situated differently and face different challenges and barriers in relationship to water, sanitation and hygiene. Gender-based inequalities are exacerbated when they are coupled with other grounds for discrimination and disadvantages. Examples include when women and girls lack adequate access to water and sanitation and at the same time suffer from poverty, live with a disability, suffer from incontinence, live in remote areas, lack security of tenure, are imprisoned or are homeless. In these cases, they will be more likely to lack access to adequate facilities, to face exclusion or to experience vulnerability and additional health risks. The effects of social factors such as caste, age, marital status, profession, sexual orientation and gender identity are compounded when they intersect with other grounds for discrimination. In some States, women sanitation workers are particularly vulnerable, as they are exposed to an extremely dirty environment and contamination, which have a far greater impact during pregnancy and menstruation. Women belonging to certain minorities, including indigenous peoples and ethnic and religious groups, may face exclusion and disadvantages on multiple grounds. Those factors are not exhaustive and may change over time.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Many legal constituencies, however, have laws in place that hinder the equal enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation. In many countries, land ownership, which is a precondition for gaining access to water, is often denied to women by family laws that also make it difficult for women to inherit land. Some countries criminalize open defecation while at the same time closing down public sanitation facilities. Public urination and defecation is often criminalized and laws that aim to keep cities clean may discriminate against homeless persons who have no other option but to relieve themselves in the open. Among them are many women and girls in desperate need of an adequate facility that offers privacy. Some States allow individuals to use toilets in a manner consistent with that person's chosen gender identity while other States oblige persons to use only those toilets that correspond with the biological sex listed on their birth certificate. Restrictive gender recognition laws not only severely undermine transgender peoples' ability to enjoy their rights to basic services, it also prevents them from living safely, free from violence and discrimination. Water and sanitation facilities must be safe, available, accessible, affordable, socially and culturally acceptable, provide privacy and ensure dignity for all individuals, including those who are transgender and gender non-conforming.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 77m
- Paragraph text
- [In line with the above, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Ensure that comprehensive data is collected on access to water, sanitation and hygiene management in respect of women and girls belonging to marginalized groups and living in marginalized areas, and support civil society in collecting data and in analysing, interpreting and monitoring results;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 77d
- Paragraph text
- [In line with the above, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Create an enabling environment for women and girls to safely use water and sanitation facilities. Discrimination and violence based on gender identity must be prevented, investigated and remedied, and those responsible must be prosecuted;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Marginalized women and girls (including those with disabilities, those who are elderly, uneducated or impoverished, and sex workers) face additional barriers to participation. It is therefore important to consider who participates, since participation is often extended only to certain women, in other words the wealthiest, more educated and those who are relatively privileged owing to their caste or religion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Although sometimes monetized in economic analyses, interventions provide some intangible benefits related to time saved, dignity gained and diseases and deaths prevented. The particularly positive impact for women and girls of investing in water and sanitation is crucial for achieving gender equality. Environmental benefits are also significant, given that improving water and sanitation services helps combat contamination and environmental degradation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- In addition to material costs of service provision, the time spent on collecting water and accessing sanitation facilities outside the home must also be valued. As women and girls are largely responsible for collecting water, maintaining and cleaning sanitation facilities, and for ensuring the hygienic management of the household, these time costs have an important gender equality dimension.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- People must be able to voice their concerns freely. Those who are otherwise discriminated against or stigmatized may have particular difficulties in making their opinion heard as concerns the types of service that are acceptable to them. They must also be given the chance to present their opinions and influence decision-making. For decisions on types of services, women and girls' participation is essential.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Participation in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- Responding to emergencies poses particular challenges for participation. There is often a concern that States and humanitarian actors need to be able to act quickly and that participatory processes would slow down responses. However, many decisions on disaster response are taken beforehand, and participation is essential at the planning stage. Moreover, in many instances emergency responses develop into more long-term programmes. In relation to menstrual hygiene management during an emergency, for instance, a solution might be to include a standard response for distributing sanitary kits to make sure that immediate needs are met on the basis of cultural preferences as far as they are known, or assumed. This response should be monitored subsequently to assess whether it meets women's and girls' needs, and then adjusted accordingly. The need for a rapid response should not be used as an excuse to pre-empt participation. What is needed instead, in particular given the wide range of actors involved in this context, is a broader discussion on how participation can be ensured in cases of emergencies and provision of humanitarian assistance through participatory planning in advance, as well as in monitoring and adjusting emergency responses. The standards contained in The Sphere Handbook recognize that participation by people affected by disaster is integral to humanitarian response.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 76c (vii)
- Paragraph text
- [Against this background, the Special Rapporteur recommends the following:] Recommendations regarding data sources and methodology: Targets and indicators should be crafted to ensure that women and adolescent girls can manage menstruation hygienically and with dignity, including by specific questions in relevant household surveys about adequate menstrual hygiene management.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 76b (iii) f.
- Paragraph text
- [Against this background, the Special Rapporteur recommends the following:] Recommendations regarding goals, targets and indicators for water, sanitation and hygiene: Future goals, targets and indicators on water, sanitation and hygiene must: Address the need for adequate menstrual hygiene management for women and girls;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 6e
- Paragraph text
- [While target 7.C itself is of critical importance, it is also indispensable for achieving the other Millennium Development Goals:] For many women and girls inadequate sanitation implies a loss of dignity and represents a source of insecurity. Water collection responsibilities and the time spent caring for relatives afflicted by water-related diseases diminish women's opportunity to engage in productive activities (Goal 3);
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision-setting report 2016, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- At the Special General Assembly of the Kigali International Conference Declaration, on the role of security organs in ending violence against women and girls (see para. 19 above), 12 Member States signed the Declaration following the high-level international conference on the same topic, which was held in Kigali in 2010. Since then, 43 States have taken part in activities to implement the Declaration, which includes a commitment "to recruit and promote more women officers at all echelons of the security organs".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision-setting report 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur recalls General Assembly resolution 70/176 on action against gender-related killing of women and girls, in which the Assembly encouraged Member States to collect, disaggregate, analyse and report data on gender-related killing of women and girls and to ensure that appropriate punishment for perpetrators of gender-related killings of women and girls are in place and are proportionate to the gravity of the offence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision-setting report 2016, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- In her report on gender-related killing of women and girls: promising practices, challenges and practical recommendations (A/HRC/20/16), the previous mandate holder noted different manifestations of gender-related killings of women, including as a result of intimate-partner violence, following accusations of sorcery or witchcraft, in the name of "honour", in the context of armed conflict, dowry-related killings of women, and killings of aboriginal and indigenous women, among others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision-setting report 2016, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The mandate holder considers that the universal and full acceptance and incorporation by States of both international and regional instruments are crucial for the establishment and improvement of existing national legal frameworks on the elimination of violence against women, including by the elimination of discriminatory family laws and penal laws, also with regard to harmful practices that hinder the enjoyment by women and girls of their rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision-setting report 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- At the sixtieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Special Rapporteur called upon all Members States and other stakeholders to send her their views and proposals on any actions needed to improve the current framework addressing violence against women and girls, and also to consider the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and its call for the development of specific guidelines for its more effective implementation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision-setting report 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- In 2003, the Committee, pursuant to article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, undertook an inquiry into the abduction, rape and murder of women in and around Ciudad Juarez, State of Chihuahua, Mexico, and recommended that the Government investigate thoroughly and punish the negligence and complicity of public authorities in, the disappearances and murders of women. In 2012, the Committee conducted an inquiry with regard to the Philippines on the implementation of an order issued by the Mayor of the City of Manila on 29 February 2000, on the provision of sexual and reproductive health rights, services and commodities in the City of Manila. The Committee recommended that the State party ensure the immediate implementation of the Reproductive Health Act (adopted on 21 December 2012) and its Implementing Rules and Regulations, including provisions that guaranteed universal access to the full range of reproductive health services and information for women (CEDAW/C/OP.8/PHL/1, para. 51 (b)). In 2013, the Committee conducted an inquiry on Canada, based on allegations of severe of violence, including disappearances and murder, suffered by aboriginal women and girls. The Committee recommended that the State ensure that all cases of missing and murdered women were duly investigated and prosecuted (CEDAW/C/OP.8/CAN/1, para. 217 (a)). These examples show how jurisprudence can be an important tool for transformative change.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Modalities for the establishment of femicides/gender-related killings watch 2016, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In 2013, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice initiated a resolution on the gender-related killing of women that was adopted by the General Assembly (resolution 68/191). For the first time, this issue was placed at the highest level of the international political agenda. It its resolution, the Assembly expressed its deep concern for the alarming proportion of different manifestations of the gender-related killing of women and girls and for their high level of impunity and called for renewed action. It urged Member States to exercise due diligence to prevent and investigate acts of violence against women and eliminate impunity. Recognizing the key role of the criminal justice system in preventing and responding to the gender-related killing of women and girls, the Assembly also invited Member States to strengthen their criminal justice response. Furthermore, it requested the Secretary-General to convene an open-ended intergovernmental expert group meeting to discuss ways and means to more effectively prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish the gender-related killing of women and girls, with a view to making practical recommendations, drawing on current best practices. That expert group meeting, held in Bangkok in November 2014, resulted in a set of recommendations on practical steps against the gender-related killing of women (see UNODC/CCPCJ/EG.8/2014/2), to which the Special Rapporteur provided input.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Existing legal standards and practices regarding violence against women in three regional human rights systems and activities being undertaken by civil society regarding the normative gap in international human rights law 2015, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The Protocol includes provisions on violence against women, based largely on the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, but with additions that are both context-specific and progressive. Article 1 of the Protocol provides a broad definition of violence against women, which includes explicit reference to the deprivation of fundamental freedoms in private or public life, and defines harmful practices as all behaviour, attitudes and/or practices which negatively affect the fundamental rights of women and girls, such as their right to life, health, dignity, education and physical integrity. Article 4 is comprehensive with regard to the legal and non-legal measures to be taken by member States in addressing violence against women, including the enactment of specific legislation; the imposition of appropriate sanctions/punishment when violence occurs; the provision of adequate budgetary resources; the adoption of public education and awareness-raising measures, including to address negative elements in attitudes, traditions and culture in order to eliminate harmful cultural and traditional practices; and the provision of relevant services, including justice, health care and shelters.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Closing the gap in international human rights law: lessons from three regional human rights systems on legal standards and practices regarding violence against women 2015, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- The concerns raised more than 20 years ago, prior to the development and adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and highlighted by the mandate of the Special Rapporteur over the past 20 years, reinforce the view that it is time to consider the development and adoption of a United Nations binding international instrument on violence against women and girls, with its own dedicated monitoring body. Such an instrument should ensure that States are held accountable to standards that are legally binding, it should provide a clear normative framework for the protection of women and girls globally and should have a specific monitoring body to substantively provide in-depth analysis of both general and country-level developments. With a legally binding instrument, a protective, preventive and educative framework could be established to reaffirm the commitment of the international community to its articulation that women's rights are human rights, and that violence against women is a human rights violation, in and of itself.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Closing the gap in international human rights law: lessons from three regional human rights systems on legal standards and practices regarding violence against women 2015, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The Protocol includes provisions on violence against women, based largely on the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, but with additions that are both context specific and progressive. Article 1 of the Protocol provides a broad definition of violence against women, which includes explicit reference to the deprivation of fundamental freedoms in private or public life, and defines harmful practices as all behaviour, attitudes and/or practices which negatively affect the fundamental rights of women and girls, such as their right to life, health, dignity, education and physical integrity. Article 4 is comprehensive with regard to the legal and non-legal measures to be taken by member States in addressing violence against women, including the enactment of specific legislation; the imposition of appropriate sanctions/punishment when violence occurs; the provision of adequate budgetary resources; the adoption of public education and awareness-raising measures, including to address negative elements in attitudes, traditions and culture in order to eliminate harmful cultural and traditional practices; and the provision of relevant services, including justice, health care and shelters.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women: Twenty years of developments to combat violence against women 2014, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- In their resolutions on violence against women, several United Nations bodies call upon States to exercise due diligence to prevent and investigate acts of violence against women and girls and to punish the perpetrators. States are broadly called upon to develop civil and criminal measures to address offender accountability; to ensure victim safety; and to provide redress and justice measures that victims can access effectively.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women: Twenty years of developments to combat violence against women 2014, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The United Nations explicitly recognized violence against women as a human rights violation at the World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the Conference, noted that "the human rights of women and of the girl-child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights". Emphasizing that the elimination of violence against women in all areas of life, both public and private, was central to the attainment of women's human rights, the Conference called on governments and the United Nations to take the steps necessary for the realization of this goal, including by integrating the human rights of women "into the mainstream of United Nations system-wide activity", through the activities of the treaty bodies and relevant mechanisms, including the promotion of how to make effective use of existing procedures, and the adoption of new procedures to "strengthen implementation of the commitment to women's equality and the human rights of women." Furthermore, in 1993, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (resolution 48/104), as recommended by the Economic and Social Council, and in 1994, the Commission on Human Rights adopted resolution 1994/45, establishing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women as a barrier to the effective realization of all human rights 2014, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- The concerns raised prior to the development and adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and subsequently reinforced by the work of the mandate holder over the past 20 years, give rise to the view that it is time for the international community to consider the adoption of a binding international convention or protocol on violence against women and girls, which should include a separate monitoring body. An international convention on the elimination of violence against women or an optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women would ensure that States are held accountable to standards that are legally binding and that provide a clear normative framework for the protection of women and girls globally, one which would have a specific monitoring body to substantively provide in-depth analysis of both general and country-level developments. A legally binding international instrument would provide a function that is protective and preventative, as well as educative. Recognition that women's rights are human rights and that violence against women is a human rights violation demands this measure of commitment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
State responsibility for eliminating violence against women 2013, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In 2010, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (now integrated into the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women)) produced the National Accountability Framework to End Violence against Women and Girls as a tool to assist Member States in their national-level efforts at monitoring laws, policies and programmes. This framework draws on and expands on many of the issues raised in the 1999 report of the first Special Rapporteur on violence against women. It includes a checklist of key elements for promoting national accountability to end violence against women. The 10 broad questions are: (a) Are various forms of violence against women and girls addressed? (b) Are data collection, analysis and dissemination systems in place? (c) Do policies and programmes reflect a holistic, multisectoral approach? (d) Are emergency "Frontline Services" available and accessible? (e) Is national legislation adequate and aligned with human rights standards? (f) Do decrees, regulations and protocols establish responsibilities and standards? (g) Is there a National Action Plan and are key policies in place and under way? (h) Are sufficient resources regularly provided to enforce laws and implement programmes? (i) Are efforts focused on women's empowerment and community mobilization? (j) Are monitoring and accountability systems functional and participatory?
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
State responsibility for eliminating violence against women 2013, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The previous mandate holder also highlighted the lack of State accountability for social structural deficiencies, such as ongoing gender discrimination, that create environments that are conducive to acts of violence against women. This theme was addressed in more detail by the current mandate holder in the 2011 report on multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination that contribute to and exacerbate violence against women (A/HRC/17/26). In that report the Special Rapporteur argues that while laws, policies and resources are crucial to address effectively violence against women and girls, efforts must be coupled with renewed will and actions to combat the structural and systemic challenges which are a cause and consequence of such violence. Also, in order to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls, such violence has to be understood as an element which affects women through their life cycle and is underpinned by a complex interplay of individual, family, community, economic and social factors. This requires recognizing that State responsibility to act with due diligence is both a systemic-level responsibility, i.e. the responsibility of States to create good and effective systems and structures that address the root causes and consequences of violence against women; and also an individual-level responsibility, i.e., the responsibility of States to provide each victim with effective measures of prevention, protection, punishment and reparation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- Female infanticide has been practiced throughout history, on all continents, and by persons from all backgrounds. It remains a critical concern in a number of countries today. It is closely linked to the phenomenon of sex-selective abortion, which targets female foetuses. Female infanticide has been known to take such forms as the induced death of infants by suffocation, drowning, neglect and exposure to danger or other means.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Infants
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- The killing of women accused of sorcery/witchcraft has been reported as a significant phenomenon in countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands. The pattern of violations includes violent murders, physical mutilation, displacement, kidnapping and disappearances of girls and women. In many countries where women are accused of sorcery/witchcraft, they are also subjected to exorcism ceremonies involving public beating and abuse by shamans or village elders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- In its resolution 17/11, the Human Rights Council requested OHCHR to prepare a thematic analytical study on the issue of violence against women and girls and disability in consultation, inter alia, with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences. The resulting report (A/HRC/20/5 and Corr.1) was based on the submissions received from Member States, United Nations agencies and programmes, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- The right to an education also includes the right to a quality education. The substance of the education is as crucial as access to it. Low quality education, which disproportionately affects the world's women and girls, does not seek to uplift women and girls, but rather further entrenches them in disadvantaged situations. Quality education should include anti-violence and anti-gender stereotyping as part of the curriculum.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- Women have been disproportionately impacted by a lack of educational opportunities. Having a basic education and being literate improves a woman's opportunities for preventing and removing violence from her life, and this is especially true for women who experience multiple forms of discrimination. When women and girls are able to exercise their right to an education and livelihood, they will enjoy a high level of security in their social lives and financial well-being.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- In order to flee violent situations, women and girls must have the right to adequate housing enforced. Adequate housing refers not only to sufficient housing options, but also to secure ones. Lack of access to and availability of housing options for women seeking security puts women's lives at risk. Furthermore, housing in areas where violence is rampant jeopardizes the lives of women and their families.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Starvation in a world in which food is plentiful is a form of violence inflicted on the body - both physically and mentally. Many studies recognize the discrimination inherent in starvation, which affects the world's women and girls at a disproportionately higher level than men and boys. The human right to food still faces important challenges, as starvation continues to exist throughout the world.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Building on the Vienna Declaration and its framework, both the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995) and the Third World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban (2001) addressed the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination that cause intra-gender and intra-racial inequalities respectively. The Fourth World Conference on Women recognized the particular vulnerability to violence of "women belonging to minority groups, indigenous women, refugee women, women migrants, including women migrant workers, women in poverty living in rural or remote communities, destitute women, women in institutions or in detention, female children, women with disabilities, elderly women, displaced women, repatriated women, women living in poverty and women in situations of armed conflict, foreign occupation, wars of aggression, civil wars, terrorism, including hostage-taking." The World Conference against Racism included gender and racial discrimination among its five areas of focus. The Durban Declaration expressed the view "that racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance reveal themselves in a differentiated manner for women and girls, and can be among the factors leading to a deterioration in their living conditions, poverty, violence, multiple forms of discrimination, and the limitation or denial of their human rights."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Continuum of violence against women from the home to the transnational sphere: the challenges of effective redress 2011, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- The lack of sufficient specialized shelters for women and girls victims of violence contributes to their invisibility and silencing. Even when government-run shelters are available, the Special Rapporteur has noted in most of her country missions the crucial role played by non-governmental organizations in managing shelter facilities and offering psychological, medical and legal assistance to women victims of violence. Whether privately funded or receiving governmental grants, these centres are usually insufficient in number, lack human and material resources, and are commonly concentrated in areas that are not accessible to all women. While commending the work of civil society organizations, the Special Rapporteur has noted that the due diligence obligation to protect women from violence rests primarily upon the State and its agents. It is therefore the responsibility of States to ensure accessibility and availability of effective protection and support services to victims of domestic violence. Further, the Special Rapporteur has raised concern at the lack of policy guidelines across health, psychosocial and legal sectors ensuring coordinated, prompt and supportive services to victims.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Continuum of violence against women from the home to the transnational sphere: the challenges of effective redress 2011, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur's visits to El Salvador, Kyrgyzstan and Zambia - all three source, transit and destination countries for human trafficking - indicated strong commonalities with regard to trafficking of women and children. In Kyrgyzstan, trafficking of women and children became increasingly common during the country's transition period and continues to be a problem. While there are no reliable statistical data with respect to the prevalence of trafficking, a Government report noted that 98 per cent of trafficking victims are women and girls between 15 and 30 years of age. Offers of false employment in urban areas lure young women and girls from rural areas to move to cities, or abroad, where they are forced into sexual exploitation. One young woman interviewed during the visit, who had come to Bishkek to seek employment, was lured to a house in the outskirts of the city where she was locked up for months and forced to have sex with clients. Due to fear of retaliation, she had not reported the case to the police and was even afraid to walk the streets. Similarly, in El Salvador the Special Rapporteur found that the majority of victims of trafficking were women and girls transferred from rural to urban areas in the country. Insufficient measures to ensure victim and witness protection, lack of support services and ineffective responses by law enforcement officials contributed to underreporting of the phenomenon.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Continuum of violence against women from the home to the transnational sphere: the challenges of effective redress 2011, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Closely tied to domestic violence, practices that are harmful and degrading undermine the rights and status of women and girls and continue without systematic monitoring or punishment, despite the increasing existence of legal prohibitions. In some countries, early and forced marriage, polygamy and unregistered marriages continue to be of concern. The mandate considers these practices "aggravated factors" that increase vulnerability of women to violence. In Kyrgyzstan, the Special Rapporteur found correlation between early marriages (12.2 per cent of women) and unregistered marriages, on the one hand, and rising unemployment and feminization of poverty and the resurfacing of patriarchal traditions and religious conservatism, on the other. Early marriage contributes to high maternal mortality rates due to prolonged labour and other complications. Similarly, women living in unregistered marriages in Algeria experienced heightened vulnerability to violence and abuse and were reported to have difficulties in ending abusive relationships due to lack of support, alternative housing and legal protection. Despite legal restrictions in regard to polygamy, the Special Rapporteur heard accounts from women who were subjected to violence or threats of violence by husbands who wished to obtain consent to a polygamous marriage.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- The media should be adequately sensitized on the linkage between trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and conflict and be aware of its gender dimension, in order to be able to report correctly about incidents of trafficking affecting girls, boys, women and men occurring in such circumstances.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 68e
- Paragraph text
- [All States, whether a source, transit or destination country of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation in conflict and-post conflict areas, should:] Address the root causes of trafficking in persons on the basis of a gender-sensitive approach, in cooperation with civil society organizations, United Nations agencies and programmes and international organizations;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 68d
- Paragraph text
- [All States, whether a source, transit or destination country of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation in conflict and-post conflict areas, should:] Identify, protect and assist victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and sexual slavery;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 68c
- Paragraph text
- [All States, whether a source, transit or destination country of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation in conflict and-post conflict areas, should:] Prevent and prosecute all forms of trafficking of women and girls for temporary, forced and/or servile marriages;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 68b
- Paragraph text
- [All States, whether a source, transit or destination country of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation in conflict and-post conflict areas, should:] Prevent early marriages, whether in refugee/internally displaced persons camps or in the society of the host country;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 68a
- Paragraph text
- [All States, whether a source, transit or destination country of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation in conflict and-post conflict areas, should:] Recognize and address the vulnerability of women and girls fleeing conflict to trafficking for sexual exploitation, whether in refugee/internally displaced persons camps or at the hands of the military, extremist groups or family members;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 66c
- Paragraph text
- [States hosting, among persons fleeing conflict, children who may have been or are at risk of being victims of trafficking in persons should:] Recognize the specific vulnerability of trafficked girls or potential victims of trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation in conflict and post-conflict situations and take measure to reduce the vulnerabilities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced prostitution and forced pregnancy, features within the broader picture of sexual violence perpetrated against the civilian population during and in the wake of conflicts. The nexus between trafficking in persons and sexual violence is further affirmed in a statement by the President of the Security Council (S/PRST/2015/25) in which the President underscored the urgency of efforts to deter, detect and disrupt trafficking in persons, including by terrorist and violent extremist groups. Recently, an egregious pattern of abductions from their homes or schools of women and girls who are subsequently forced to marry and/or serve as sex slaves has been reported in conflict-affected settings, though some forms of this phenomenon have also been a feature of armed conflicts in the past. Such exploitation, which in some cases involves trafficking for forced marriage and sexual enslavement by extremist groups such as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Boko Haram and their affiliates, is believed to be a strategy to generate revenue as well as to recruit, reward and retain fighters. In order to prevent such abductions, families are reported to be confining women and girls and removing girls from school (see S/2015/203, para. 61).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Conflict-related sexual violence takes many forms. Women and girls seeking to survive in conflict zones are often compelled to exchange sexual services and even to "marry" for food, shelter, protection or safe passage. UNHCR has affirmed that women in conflict situations are vulnerable to a range of discriminatory practices that exacerbate their dependence (for example, receiving smaller food rations or not having rations cards or other identity documents in their own name) and are disproportionately exposed to sexual violence. For women and girls abducted into military service, sexual assault is often a feature of their experience. Rape has been used as a tactic of war to humiliate and weaken the morale of the enemy, ethnically cleanse the population, destabilize communities and force civilians to flee. Widespread or systematic sexual assault by government and/or opposition or rebel forces has been documented in multiple modern conflicts, including successive annual reports of the Secretary-General on conflict and related sexual violence since 2009 in which he has identified incidents and patterns of sexual violence in conflict-affected countries employed by parties to armed conflict, primarily against women and girls but also against boys and men (see, for example, S/2015/203).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that some 300,000 boys and girls under the age of 18 are involved in more than 30 conflicts worldwide. Children can be trafficked into military service by government armed forces, paramilitary groups and rebel groups. Hostilities and widespread displacement, as well as a general lack of security, increases children's vulnerability to being trafficked by armed groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- The media should be adequately sensitized about the linkage between trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and conflict, and should be aware of its gender dimension, in order to be able to report correctly about incidents of trafficking affecting girls, boys, women and men living in such circumstances.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 73e
- Paragraph text
- [All States, whether source, transit or destination countries of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation in conflict and post-conflict areas, should:] Address the root causes of trafficking in persons on the basis of a gender-sensitive approach, in cooperation with civil society organizations, United Nations agencies and programmes and international organizations;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 73d
- Paragraph text
- [All States, whether source, transit or destination countries of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation in conflict and post-conflict areas, should:] Identify, protect and assist victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and sexual slavery;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 73c
- Paragraph text
- [All States, whether source, transit or destination countries of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation in conflict and post-conflict areas, should:] Prevent and prosecute all forms of trafficking of women and girls for temporary, forced and/or servile marriages;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 73b
- Paragraph text
- [All States, whether source, transit or destination countries of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation in conflict and post-conflict areas, should:] Prevent early marriages, whether in refugee/internally displaced persons camps or in the host country;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 73a
- Paragraph text
- [All States, whether source, transit or destination countries of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation in conflict and post-conflict areas, should:] Recognize and address the vulnerability of women and girls fleeing conflict to the risk of trafficking for sexual exploitation, whether in refugee/internally displaced persons camps or at the hands of the military, extremist groups or family members;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 71c
- Paragraph text
- [States hosting, among persons fleeing conflict, children who may have been or are at risk of being victims of trafficking in persons should:] Recognize the specific vulnerability of trafficked girls or potential victims of trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation in conflict and post-conflict situations and take measures to reduce their vulnerabilities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- These and other factors do not just create the conditions under which trafficking can occur, they also exacerbate the vulnerability of those who may already be susceptible to being trafficked, including migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, women and girls and children travelling alone.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced prostitution and forced pregnancy, features within the broader picture of sexual violence perpetrated against the civilian population during and in the wake of conflicts. The nexus between trafficking in persons and sexual violence is further affirmed in the statement of the President of the Security Council of 16 December 2015 (S/PRST/2015/25), which underscores the urgency of efforts to deter, detect and disrupt trafficking in persons, including by terrorist and violent extremist groups. Although some form of abduction has been a feature of armed conflicts in the past, recently there has been an egregious pattern of abducting women and girls from their homes or schools in conflict-affected settings. These women and girls may subsequently be forced to marry and/or serve as sex slaves. Such exploitation, which in some cases also involves trafficking for forced marriage and sexual enslavement by extremist groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram and their affiliates, is believed to be a strategy to generate revenue as well as to recruit, reward and retain fighters. For instance, it is reported that Yazidi women and girls are being trafficked for sexual enslavement by ISIS between Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic (A/HRC/32/CRP.2, paras. 127 and 174). In order to prevent such abductions, families are reported to be confining women and girls and removing girls from school (S/2015/203, para. 61).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Conflict-related violence, such as sexual violence, can itself be a driver of forced internal displacement, which in turn increases vulnerability to further exploitation, including through trafficking. For instance, in Colombia, sexual violence by armed groups has forced ethnic minority women and girls in remote rural areas away from their communities and placed them at greater risk of trafficking within the country as well as overseas. Additionally in Myanmar, worsening security situations and overcrowded camps with inadequate basic services cause some internally displaced persons along the border between Kachin State and China to risk crossing borders into China in an irregular manner in search of employment, putting themselves at high risk of exploitation because of their lack of legal status. Military attacks on camps further worsen displacement and cause undocumented internally displaced persons, including women and unaccompanied children, to flee their camps, exposing them to the risk of being exploited or trafficked. In contexts such as South Sudan, the Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic, parties to conflict took advantage of the vulnerability of displaced and refugee populations to recruit children and commit crimes, including sexual violence and abduction. Security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have trafficked displaced persons as forced labourers in mines.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Women are significantly involved in trafficking in persons, both as victims and offenders. Data regarding women are among the most interesting findings in the UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2014, which confirms that women and girls are disproportionately exploited not only for the purposes of sexual but also labour exploitation. In some regions, such as in South and East Asia, in Africa and the Middle East, women are even the majority of people exploited as forced labour.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Agenda setting of the work of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Trafficking of children is on the increase globally, with girls being affected the most. The recently released Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2014 also notes significant regional differences concerning child trafficking, with children comprising a majority of detected victims of trafficking in Africa and the Middle East.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integration of a human rights-based approach in measures to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, and which leads to human trafficking 2013, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Several provisions are also included in the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. For instance, its article 6 provides that: To discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, that leads to trafficking, each Party shall adopt or strengthen legislative, administrative, educational, social, cultural or other measures including: a research on best practices, methods and strategies; b raising awareness of the responsibility and important role of media and civil society in identifying the demand as one of the root causes of trafficking in human beings; c target information campaigns involving, as appropriate, inter alia, public authorities and policy makers; d preventive measures, including educational programmes for boys and girls during their schooling, which stress the unacceptable nature of discrimination based on sex, and its disastrous consequences, the importance of gender equality and the dignity and integrity of every human being.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Regional and subregional cooperation in promoting a human rights-based approach to combatting trafficking in persons 2010, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- In this context, regional organizations have a key role to play in promoting the elimination of gender-based misconceptions that prevent authorities from providing appropriate protection and assistance to all victims of trafficking, women and men, girls and boys.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Prevention of trafficking in persons 2010, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- In addition, it is reported that initiatives to intercept potential victims of trafficking at borders are often misguided and abusive, amounting to a violation of their freedom of movement and stigmatization of the intercepted persons in some cases. For example, girls who were intercepted at the border between Nepal and India were stigmatized upon their return to their communities because the organizations carrying out the interception were known to be involved in anti prostitution work and the girls were thus suspected of having been involved in prostitution. By the same token, some communities have established a community-level vigilance or surveillance committee to prevent trafficking in persons, particularly children. However, evidence suggests that the committees often failed to distinguish between trafficked children and other children leaving their homes to earn money elsewhere, with the result that even adolescents were stopped from migrating from extremely poor villages to seek work in other towns. Destination countries also exercise restrictive immigration control purportedly to prevent potential cases of trafficking. For example, it has been reported that many Brazilian women have been repeatedly denied entry to European Union member States because they looked like prostitutes and thus were suspected to be victims of trafficking.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Prevention of trafficking in persons 2010, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- With globalization and changes in demographic trends in developed countries, there is an increased demand for cheap, low-skilled or semi-skilled labour in a wide range of industries, including agriculture, food processing, construction, manufacturing, domestic work and home health care. Those jobs are often dirty, degrading and dangerous and are often not performed by national workers. This gives rise to a significant demand for migrant workers, although this has not been acknowledged or reflected in immigration laws and policies in most developed countries. Furthermore, it is necessary to be cognizant of the gender-specific nature of demand exacerbated by the current economic crisis and globalization, which have caused changes in the international division of labour and labour market demand. As has been observed, the greater demand for trafficked women and girls compared to men and boys has occurred largely in response to this demand-driven reality. Again, the feminization of the labour market results in women being predominantly engaged in the informal sector, characterized by low wages, casual jobs, hazardous working conditions and an absence of collective bargaining mechanisms. It has been argued, consequently, that women are preferred in this sector because they are viewed as submissive, well-suited to simple repetitive tasks, abundant, needy, cheap and pliable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 73c
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to domestic and private-actor violence against women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Provide community support programmes and services, including shelters, to victims and their dependents;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 73a
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to domestic and private-actor violence against women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Repeal or reform civil laws that restrict women's access to divorce, property and inheritance rights and that subjugate women and limit their ability to escape situations of domestic and other gender-based violence;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 72g
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to abuses in health-care settings, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Undertake appropriate training sessions and community-level gender-sensitization campaigns to combat discriminatory gender stereotypes underlying discrimination and abuses in the provision of health-care services to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 72a
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to abuses in health-care settings, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Take concrete measures to establish legal and policy frameworks that effectively enable women and girls to assert their right to access reproductive health services;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 70v
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in detention, the Special Rapporteur calls on all States to:] Ensure the physical and mental integrity of detainees at all times and prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of violence, harassment and abuse by staff members or other prisoners, at all times;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 86g
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to conditions during detention, the Special Rapporteur calls upon all States:] To respond to the specific needs of groups of children that are even more vulnerable to ill-treatment or torture, such as girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children, and children with disabilities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Children should be appropriately separated in detention, including but not limited to children in need of care and those in conflict with the law, children awaiting trial and convicted children, boys and girls, younger children and older children, and children with physical and mental disabilities and those without. Children detained under criminal legislation should never be detained together with adult detainees. The Special Rapporteur also notes that the permitted exception to the separation of children from adults provided for in article 37 (c) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child should be interpreted sensu stricto. The best interests of the child should not be defined in accordance to the convenience of the State. Children in conflict with the law should be held in detention centres specifically designed for persons under the age of 18 years, offering a non-prison-like environment and regimes tailored to their needs and run by specialized staff, trained in dealing with children. Such facilities should offer ready access to natural light and adequate ventilation, access to sanitary facilities that are hygienic and respect privacy and, in principle, accommodation in individual bedrooms. Large dormitories should be avoided.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Certain forms of abuses in health-care settings that may cross a threshold of mistreatment that is tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2013, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Persons with disabilities are particularly affected by forced medical interventions, and continue to be exposed to non-consensual medical practices (A/63/175, para. 40). In the case of children in health-care settings, an actual or perceived disability may diminish the weight given to the child's views in determining their best interests, or may be taken as the basis of substitution of determination and decision-making by parents, guardians, carers or public authorities. Women living with disabilities, with psychiatric labels in particular, are at risk of multiple forms of discrimination and abuse in health-care settings. Forced sterilization of girls and women with disabilities has been widely documented. National law in Spain, among other countries, allows for the sterilization of minors who are found to have severe intellectual disabilities. The Egyptian Parliament failed to include a provision banning the use of sterilization as a "treatment" for mental illness in its patient protection law. In the United States, 15 states have laws that fail to protect women with disabilities from involuntary sterilization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- In many countries with a legal minimum age for marriage, there are also exceptions for girls below that age. Where exceptions exist, rigorous procedures must be put in place to ensure that the marriage is in the child's best interests. Private and public institutions must be required to systematically consider how children's rights and interests are affected by their decisions and actions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- World Health Organization research also shows that women and girls with low levels of education are at a greater risk of violence than better educated and older women. The higher the levels of schooling for girls, the less they are at risk of servile marriage. In the United Republic of Tanzania, women who attend secondary school are 92 per cent less likely to be married before the age of 18 years than women who attend only primary school.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- In countries with a high incidence of HIV/AIDS, some adult men prefer to marry girls as their virginity and HIV-negative status is assured. Early marriage to older, more sexually experienced men is, however, no guarantee that a girl will not be infected with HIV. Studies in Kenya and Zambia show that married girls are more likely to be HIV-positive than their sexually active unmarried counterparts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- According to Save the Children in the 2004 edition of its annual publication, State of the World's Mothers, once born, children of girl brides are twice as likely to die before the age of 1 year as the children of a woman in her twenties. If they survive, the children are more likely than those born to older mothers to have poorer health care and inadequate nutrition as a result of the mother's poor feeding behaviour.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls in servile marriage are required to perform all domestic household tasks and, in some cases, to work outside the home in shops or on farms and to have sex with their husbands. If they do not perform their duties adequately, they face physical and psychological abuse from their husbands or their husbands' families. In many such cases, the girl or woman is also a victim of marital rape.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Conflict and post-conflict situations have also contributed to an increase in servile marriage, given that girls and women recruited or abducted by armed groups have been forced to marry combatants. Armed groups such as the Lord's Resistance Army have been found to force girls into servile marriage in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan (see S/2012/365).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- To help to reduce servile marriage, the Government of India launched conditional cash transfer initiatives to provide incentives to families to delay their daughters' marriages. The "Apni beti apna dhan" ("Our daughter, our wealth") programme was established by the local government of Haryana to issue long-term savings bonds redeemable on a girl's eighteenth birthday, provided that she is unmarried.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Studies show that servile marriage is most common in poor households. A UNICEF study shows that a girl from the poorest household is three times more likely to marry than a girl from the richest household. A United Nations Population Fund study on adolescents shows that, in Nigeria, 80 per cent of the poorest girls marry before the age of 18, compared to 22 per cent of the richest girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The leading cause of servile marriage is gender inequality, where girls and women are perceived, because of cultural or religious beliefs, to be commodities unable to make proper decisions about who and when to marry. Girls and women are forced to become brides because it is easier to control them and, in the case of girls, their virginity can be guaranteed and they have longer reproductive periods in which to produce more children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- According to the Special Rapporteur on traditional practices affecting the health of women and the girl child, the practice of forced marriage deserved the close scrutiny of the international community, as it would not be eradicated until women were considered full and equal participants in the social, economic, cultural and political life of their communities (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/36, para. 82).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Reaffirming forced and early marriages as slavery-like practices is important as it provides an understanding of the violations that victims endure and the kind of interventions required to prevent, monitor and prosecute servile marriage. Victim protection programmes can also be specifically tailored better to support victims of servile marriage. It moves the discussion from being about the rights of women and girls to being about abolishing slavery within communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- In addition to working in artisanal mining and quarrying, girls also perform domestic household tasks which involve cooking, taking care of siblings, cleaning supplying tools and food to other miners, carrying water and washing clothes. While performing these additional duties, girls are exposed to chemically contaminated water, food and soil. Women and girls are also found around the mines selling food, water and tools.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The availability of domestic help has contributed to women's empowerment, because it has allowed many women to reconcile their professional aspirations with their gendered social obligations towards their children and family. It is therefore a bitter irony that the women and girls who made such advances possible are often subjected to a form of exploitation that is gender-based at its heart.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- A comprehensive United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) study has found that women and girls who were married below 18 years of age are less educated and more likely to experience domestic violence. The domestic servitude inherent to child marriages disempowers girls by denying them educational opportunities and the option to form protective networks of friends and peers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Children on their own often accept domestic work for lack of other options, in particular as live-in arrangements entail a new home and often a (false) promise of education. Street children, including those who were abandoned or fled parental abuse, often seek domestic work to find shelter. Children who are orphaned as a result of AIDS also often end up in domestic servitude. Girls also increasingly migrate independently from impoverished rural areas in search of domestic work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sale of children for the purpose of forced labour 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- The overwhelming majority of forced labour consists of labour exploitation. The latest global estimate concludes that a total of 20.9 million persons are victims of forced labour, of which 5.5 million (26 per cent), are children. Women and girls represent the greater share of the total: 11.4 million (55 per cent).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Information and communication technologies and the sale and sexual exploitation of children 2015, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- It seems that girls are more likely to be at risk of grooming than boys. Most victims of grooming tend to be post-pubescent, partly because groomers play on the fact that children who are going through puberty are interested in sex. Group-localized grooming can lead to trafficking in children by offenders within the locality of child victims. Such trafficking is often facilitated through new technologies, particularly mobile telephones.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive, rights-based and child-centred care, recovery and reintegration programmes 2015, para. 88c
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur invites all States:] To conduct research on the effects of sexual exploitation and related sale and trafficking on girls, boys and transgender child victims as well as on the effects of sexual exploitation facilitated by information and communication technologies to inform specialized care, recovery and reintegration programmes;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive, rights-based and child-centred care, recovery and reintegration programmes 2015, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Socioeconomic support, including financial assistance, is as important as education; employment and the ability to earn a livelihood should be viewed as the goal. In Bulgaria, a job skills training programme for Roma girls who were trafficked helped three quarters of them to find a job. In Nepal, eight rehabilitation centres provided victims of trafficking with skills as well as seed money to start a small business.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive, rights-based and child-centred care, recovery and reintegration programmes 2015, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Girls who are sexually exploited may also give birth to children whom they are either forced to abandon or give up for adoption, or the children may be used as leverage by their pimps or traffickers. Many keep their children and attempt to raise them on their own. A few organizations serving child victims of sexual exploitation provide childcare services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism 2013, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- In some cases this phenomenon may be veiled in a "culturally acceptable" practice through, for instance, child marriage. In countries where early marriage is still a common practice, money can be offered to families to marry young girls, despite the marriage only lasting for the length of the stay. Visitors may also take the minor back to their country, where the child will be subjected to continual sexual exploitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Child participation 2012, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- In Yemen, the Children's Parliament has democratically elected representatives from all governorates and includes orphans, children with disabilities and young people belonging to marginalized groups. It regularly meets Government departments and non-governmental organizations. In 2008, it produced a public report on the situation of children in Yemen. In 2010, it carried out a national campaign to illustrate the impact of early marriage on the lives and health of young girls, which has led to a review of Yemeni legislation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive child protection systems 2011, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- There is often confusion between sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, particularly when they occur within the family. In the context of the Optional Protocol, sexual exploitation covers the use, recruitment or offer of a child for purposes of prostitution or pornographic material or performances. Forced and early marriage can be considered a form of sale for the purpose of sexual exploitation. One manifestation of this is the offering of young girls as wives to men - often older men - in exchange for money.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- Despite efforts to combat child labour, UNICEF estimates that 150 million children 5-14 years old worldwide are engaged in child labour. According to ILO estimates, more than two thirds of all child labour is in the agricultural sector. Children in rural areas - and girls in particular - begin agricultural labour as young as 5-7 years old.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Throughout the world, the epidemiological situation shows an increase in cases of AIDS among the heterosexual population, the percentage being three to eight times higher among women and girls than among men. The greater vulnerability of women to AIDS is due to physiological and biological factors, but also to social, cultural and economic pressures that do not allow them to protect themselves.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- In 2007, more than one third of young women 20 to 24 years old (that is, over 64 million ) in developing countries reported that they were married or in union by age 18. Early marriages are twice as common among young girls from poor families and those living in rural areas. Furthermore, these early marriages lead to early pregnancies (14 million young women give birth between the ages of 15 and 19 years old ), which endanger the health of the mothers and their children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- In many societies, the unequal social status of women continues to contribute to patent discrimination against girls, particularly in poor and rural communities. Girls born in poor households or living in rural communities are at a clear disadvantage in terms of education, owing to persistent attitudes and practices that encourage early marriages and the confinement of young women, and give greater importance to the education of boys over girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- [Thanks to these efforts, more data are now available on long-term trends and specific aspects of some types of sale and sexual exploitation of children, including:] The gender dimension of sexual exploitation, which has the greatest effect on girls, although there are reports of some cases of sexual exploitation of boys (prostitution, pornography, sexual tourism); very few cases have been reported owing to taboos and laws prohibiting homosexuality;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Unpaid care work can also compromise the enjoyment of the right of girls and women to education. Entrenched gender stereotypes about the place of women in the home and the family, and the unpaid care work girls and women are expected to perform throughout their lives, often deprive women and girls of time, autonomy and choice to exercise this right.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The amount, intensity and drudgery of unpaid care work increase with poverty and social exclusion. Women and girls in poor households spend more time in unpaid work than in non-poor households, in all countries at all levels of development. This imbalance has a number of causes, including limited access to public services for people living in poverty, lack of adequate infrastructure in the regions and communities where they live, and lack of resources to pay for care services or time-saving technology.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- In addition, States must determine whether the way in which a programme channels the transfer causes or perpetuates the unequal distribution of labour between the genders within the household. For example, a programme that increases the amount of time that a mother spends away from home may have a detrimental effect on girls' schooling if girls are then required to carry out the activities usually performed by the mother, such as cooking or collecting water.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Nonetheless, social protection programmes have limits. Many countries pride themselves on having achieved quantifiable improvements in gender equality, especially regarding girls' access to education. For example, the Female Secondary School Assistance Project in Bangladesh, which provides girls with a stipend so that they can attend school, has been recognized as successful in raising enrolment rates for girls. However, States must take care not to limit their efforts to promote gender equality to improving parity between girls' and boys' enrolment rates. While stipends promoting girls' enrolment are important, they must be accompanied by broader measures addressing other concerns of particular importance to women, such as gender-based violence, including harmful traditional practices (for example, female genital mutilation and child marriage). Several countries have expressed frustration at the narrowness of some of the indicators for Millennium Development Goal 3 (promote gender equality and empower women) and have chosen to focus their energies on their own indicators related to gender equality, such as formal workforce participation, wage gaps, political participation and domestic violence. The independent expert believes States should adopt or revise national targets and indicators for all Millennium Development Goals in line with their obligations under human rights law, in order to accelerate their progress in achieving the Goals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Reflections on the six-year tenure of the Special Rapporteur 2017, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur dedicated the first Forum on Minority Issues under her leadership, the fourth session, to the topic "Guaranteeing the rights of minority women". The Forum participants recognized that it was particularly important that the voices and views of minority women be heard and that they be consulted and have the opportunity to participate fully in all aspects of life, both within their communities and in the wider society. Barriers to the empowerment of some minority women, including lack of social or economic contacts, networks or minority women's support groups, and scarcity of female minority role models had an important impact on the enjoyment by minority women and girls of their human rights. The Forum considered specific thematic areas in detail, for example, the access of minority women and girls to education; their ability to take part effectively in economic life and to have access to labour markets; and issues relating to their participation in social, cultural and political life. It recommended that Governments should seek and encourage opportunities for women's participation and work together with minority communities as well as minority and women's rights organizations to develop and implement programmes to sensitize minority women about their rights, and men about minority women's rights. All the relevant documents, including statements, the final recommendations and the summary report, are available on the Forum's website.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- Available data indicate that caste-based violence against women and girls, in particular sexual violence, may be increasing. Violence and the threat of violence are frequently hidden and go unreported in villages and rural areas, forming a culture of invisibility, silence and impunity which, in many instances, places the burden of shame on victims instead of perpetrators.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- Caste is one of the factors that result in multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination against certain groups of women. Women and girls from low castes are particularly vulnerable to violation and denial of their rights in both public and private life.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Minority women, many of them from low-caste backgrounds, may be subjected to kidnapping and forced religious conversion. According to the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of religion or belief, "such incidents seem to occur in a climate of impunity". Civil society organizations have reported several cases of Dalit Hindu girls being kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam following marriage in Pakistan.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Caste-based discrimination on the grounds of religion has a particular impact on women and girls. The existence of practices labelled as "religious dedication" of girls to temple deities, including the Devadasi system, constitutes a de facto form of forced prostitution and sexual slavery, mainly targeting Dalit girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role and activities of national institutional mechanisms in promoting and protecting minority rights 2012, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- Institutions or departments working on women's issues should establish specialist units or focal points for minority women and girls so as to ensure adequate attention to their issues and should recruit minority women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human rights of migrants in the post-2015 development agenda 2014, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Migration can contribute to gender equality and the empowerment of women by providing women migrants with the income, status, autonomy, freedom and self-esteem that come with employment. Studies have shown that temporary migration is associated with higher school enrolment for girls in countries of origin. Migration can contribute to gender equality and the empowerment of women by providing women migrants with the income, status, autonomy, freedom and
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Irregular migration and criminalization of migrants, protection of children in the migration process and the right to housing and health of migrants 2011, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur focused on the enjoyment of rights to health and to adequate housing for migrants. He recalled the applicable international legal framework and discussed the main challenges encountered by migrants in the enjoyment of these rights, with particular attention to the situations of migrant women and girls and children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Internally displaced women: progress, challenges and the way ahead 2013, para. 76f
- Paragraph text
- [Redouble efforts to prevent and respond effectively to SGBV at all stages of displacement, including by:] Increasing targeted support for young women and girls, including those with disabilities, at risk of or subjected to SGBV;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Internally displaced women: progress, challenges and the way ahead 2013, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Despite attempts to mainstream attention to gender, age and other elements of diversity, room remains for stronger links between gender and generation-sensitive analyses and interventions in support of IDPs. This is especially the case for adolescent girls, young and older IDW. The ageing of the global population points towards the need to integrate gender and generation-sensitive approaches to internal displacement more systematically, given the growing proportion of elderly displaced women, including widows, with particular capacities and protection and assistance concerns. These concerns may be particularly pronounced when older IDW take on the role of caregivers to children whose parents have died or moved elsewhere. Similarly, displaced girls are burdened with heavy household responsibilities, including domestic chores, such as fetching water and firewood and caring for younger siblings. This often results in young girls missing out on schooling and exposes them to increased protection risks. There is also a need for more concerted attention to the particular risks and challenges faced by IDW and girls with disabilities, including ensuring full access to and inclusion in humanitarian programmes and recognizing their skills and capacities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Internally displaced women: progress, challenges and the way ahead 2013, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Access to sustainable livelihoods for both women and men is now widely recognized as a key element of protection in the context of displacement, and is critical to ensuring durable solutions for IDPs. IDW and girls are often disproportionately affected by the loss of livelihoods during displacement. For example, due to security concerns, they may be more confined to the domestic sphere than they were prior to displacement and unable to leave the home in order to pursue livelihoods or other necessary activities. They may not be able to practise their livelihoods due to loss of land and livestock and may have particular difficulty in shifting from rural to urban lifestyles (or vice versa) and livelihood options, depending on their level of education and cultural or other barriers. In extreme circumstances, IDW and girls may resort to dangerous coping practices, such as survival sex, to feed their families. They are also often the first to drop out of school and take on work to support the family; incidences of early marriage tend to rise; and they may experience increased risk of trafficking. Such risks, as well as exposure to sexual violence, harassment, physical abuse, and exploitation, need to be taken into account when programing and advocating for livelihood programmes or schemes for IDW.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 85d
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to United Nations organizations and mechanisms] [United Nations organizations and mechanisms should:] Ensure that the concerns of indigenous women and girls are included within the post-2015 framework;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 85c
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to United Nations organizations and mechanisms] [United Nations organizations and mechanisms should:] Recognize the agency of indigenous communities, women and girls as development actors within the sustainable development goal for development partnerships;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to United Nations organizations and mechanisms] The Human Rights Council should, as it was also invited to do in the outcome document of the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, consider examining the causes and consequences of violence against indigenous women and girls, in consultation with the Special Rapporteur and other special procedures mandate holders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to United Nations organizations and mechanisms] In the context of this increasing attention to indigenous peoples, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women develop a general comment on the rights on indigenous women and girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 79d
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to violence against indigenous women and girls, Member States should:] Ensure that all forms of violence against women, including female genital mutilation and child marriage, are included as violations within criminal law;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 79c
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to violence against indigenous women and girls, Member States should:] Balance respect for the right to self-determination of indigenous communities with their responsibility to protect indigenous women and girls in their capacity as national citizens and rights bearers;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 78f
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to civil and political rights, Member States should:] Provide legal aid, interpretation and translation services, and culturally sensitive information about their rights and available remedies to all indigenous women and girls;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 78c
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to civil and political rights, Member States should:] Explore ways to invest in the leadership capacity of indigenous women so that they can play more active roles in indigenous decision-making structures to protect women and girls within their communities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 77c
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, Member States should:] Pay particular attention to providing a range of sexual and reproductive health services to indigenous women and girls, with their free, prior and informed consent;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 77a
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, Member States should:] Improve access by indigenous peoples to education, with interventions targeted towards understanding and overcoming the specific barriers faced by girls;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 53d
- Paragraph text
- [Examples of violence against women in a military context include the following:] In Fiji, India, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Timor-Leste, the militarization of conflict over indigenous land has led to gang-rape, sexual enslavement and killing of tribal women and girls;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 53a
- Paragraph text
- [Examples of violence against women in a military context include the following:] In Colombia, indigenous women and girls are commonly subjected to patterns of rape, forced prostitution and exploitation in the context of occupation of indigenous land;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- As noted by the Rapporteur on the Rights of Women of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the situation of indigenous women and girls is particularly critical in the context of armed conflict, given that they are already exposed to multiple forms of discrimination. That again shows the impact that intersecting forms of inequality and discrimination can have on indigenous women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Indigenous women are often caught in the crossfire of conflict situations and subjected to militarized violence. Conflicts may be between different ethnic groups and may also involve government forces and business actors. Indigenous women and girls have been victims of gender-based violence in conflicts for example in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines and Nigeria.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The variety of forms of sexual violence reflects, to some extent, the different experiences of indigenous women and girls around the world. It also reflects the multidimensional ways in which indigenous women are vulnerable to violence and the severe threat of revictimization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Indigenous women and girls experience racism and racial discrimination as members of indigenous communities. Such violations of their rights also increase their vulnerability to other human rights abuses, as they are part of the intersecting forms of discrimination and inequality that they face.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 79i
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to violence against indigenous women and girls, Member States should:] Refrain from any forms of violence against women, particularly in situations of conflict, and prosecute all allegations of violence carried out by Government officials, such as border guards, the military and police.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 79h
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to violence against indigenous women and girls, Member States should:] Invest in research into the root causes of domestic violence against women in indigenous communities and design preventive and recovery programmes;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 79g
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to violence against indigenous women and girls, Member States should:] Build the capacity of female indigenous leaders to advocate for the rights of women and girls to freedom from violence within indigenous communities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 79f
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to violence against indigenous women and girls, Member States should:] In engagement with indigenous women and girls and building on existing good practice, develop more comprehensive anti-violence and recovery programmes within indigenous communities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 79e
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to violence against indigenous women and girls, Member States should:] Ensure clarity with regard to the relationship between indigenous, national and local jurisdictions in relation to violence against women; and ensure that the justice process is accessible and sensitive to the needs of indigenous women;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against indigenous women and girls; rights of indigenous peoples in relation to extractive industries 2012, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- A holistic approach to combating violence against women and girls therefore should include, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, advancing indigenous peoples' autonomy and self-governance (articles 5 and 18); strengthening indigenous peoples' traditional justice systems (articles 34 and 35); increasing indigenous peoples' access to justice (article 40); and improving indigenous peoples' economic and social conditions (article 21). Stated comprehensively, tackling violence against indigenous women must in some way go along with advancing indigenous peoples' self-determination. As Special Rapporteur and others have stressed, the right to self-determination, which is affirmed for indigenous peoples in article 3 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, is a foundational right, without which the full range of indigenous peoples' human rights, both collective and individual, cannot be fully enjoyed. Enhancing indigenous self-determination is conducive to successful practical outcomes; studies have shown that indigenous peoples who effectively manage their own affairs tend to fare better across a range of indicators than those who do not.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against indigenous women and girls; rights of indigenous peoples in relation to extractive industries 2012, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- In a similar vein, combating violence against women and girls in the indigenous context must be achieved holistically; it cannot be addressed in isolation from the range of rights recognized for indigenous peoples in general. In this regard, violence against indigenous women and girls, which is distressingly all too common across the globe, cannot be seen as separate from the history of discrimination and marginalization that has been suffered invariably by indigenous peoples. This history manifests itself in continued troubling structural factors, such as conditions of poverty, lack of access to land and resources or other means of subsistence, or poor access to education and health services, which are all factors that bear on indigenous peoples with particular consequences for indigenous women. The history of discrimination against indigenous peoples has also resulted in the deterioration of indigenous social structures and cultural traditions, and in the undermining or breakdown of indigenous governance and judicial systems, impairing in many cases the ability of indigenous peoples to respond effectively to problems of violence against women and girls within their communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- States should eliminate discrimination against women and girls in all matters related to inheritance, so they benefit from inheritance on an equal footing with men and boys. States should ensure that the application of customary law and practice does not interfere with the basic right of women and girls to gender equality, including in matters related to housing and land, such inheritance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Women who face intersectional discrimination are more vulnerable to losing their homes, and have more difficulty accessing adequate housing in the first place. In the case of women affected by HIV/AIDS, for example, advocates have shown how "One of the greatest obstacles HIV/AIDS infected women confront is their inability to secure property. Women's inability to possess and manage property may result in their impoverishment, particularly in cultures which have a propensity to humiliate or shun HIV/AIDS infected women and girls. In many cases, subsequent to the HIV/AIDS related deaths of male partners or disclosure of their HIV/AIDS status, women are divested of their marital property, inheritance rights, livelihoods, and at times even their children, by relatives who forcibly evict them from their homes." Yet, access to housing and land can also serve as a pivotal means by which to improve the lives of women affected by HIV/AIDS. There is growing evidence to suggest that where women's right to adequate housing is upheld, women are far better able to mitigate the negative impacts of AIDS, and that enjoyment of this right may even help to prevent further spread of HIV/AIDS by promoting women's economic security and empowerment. This example shows how the needs of women who are especially marginalized and disadvantaged must be prioritized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Indeed, in its recent concluding observations on Kenya, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern over "the situation of women and girls living in urban slums and informal settlements and who are under threat of sexual violence and lack access to adequate to sanitation facilities, which exacerbate their risks of being victims of sexual violence and impact negatively on their health."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- 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 in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight that the healthy development of boys is an important issue and should also be addressed. In many cultures boys are not allowed or encouraged to express their emotions, which results in the adult male population being more prone to violent and self-destructive behaviour. This inhibition relates to gender stereotyping that is harmful for both girls and women, boys and men.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Gender biases within families give rise to a range of inequalities that obstruct the optimal development of the girl child. Where gender inequalities persist, boys may receive greater medical attention and girls may be vulnerable to discriminatory feeding patterns.
- 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
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has strongly disapproved of restrictive abortion laws, especially those that prohibit and criminalize abortion in all circumstances (see CEDAW/C/CH/CO/4, para. 19). It has also confirmed that such legislation does not prevent women from procuring unsafe illegal abortions and has framed restrictive abortion laws as a violation of the rights to life, health and information. The Committee on the Rights of the Child is also concerned about the impact of highly restrictive abortion laws on the right to health of adolescent girls. The Committee against Torture has further stated that punitive abortion laws should be reassessed since they lead to violations of a woman's right to be free from inhuman and cruel treatment. The Human Rights Committee concluded that equality between men and women required equal treatment in the area of health and the elimination of discrimination in the provision of goods and services and addressed the need to review abortion laws to prevent rights violations (see CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.10, paras. 20, 28 and 31). The former Special Rapporteur on the right to health called for removal of punitive measures against women who seek abortions (see E/CN.4/2004/49, para. 30).
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Criminal laws and other legal restrictions affecting sexual and reproductive health may amount to violations of the right to health. Although the present report deals predominantly with the impact of these laws and legal restrictions on women and girls, it by no means discounts similar problems faced by men and boys. Women, however, are generally more likely to experience infringements of their right to sexual and reproductive health given the physiology of human reproduction and the gendered social, legal and economic context in which sexuality, fertility, pregnancy and parenthood occur. Persistent stereotyping of women's roles within society and the family establish and fuel societal norms. Many of those norms are based on the belief that the freedom of a woman, especially with regard to her sexual identity, should be curtailed and regulated (see E/CN.4/2002/83, para. 99). Where women transgress these stereotype-driven norms in the pursuit of sexual and reproductive freedom, they are often punished severely, with resultant adverse effects on their health outcomes and violations of their right to health. The criminal laws and other legal restrictions examined in the present report facilitate and justify State control over women's life, such as forcing women to continue unwanted or unplanned pregnancies.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- In jurisdictions where aspects of sexual and reproductive health are criminalized, the availability and accessibility of related information is greatly restricted. For example, penal codes may contain specific provisions that prohibit dispensing information on the prevention or interruption of pregnancies, or materials that supposedly conflict with notions of morality or decency. Punishments can range from fines to imprisonment. Moreover, the restriction of information relating to health can be an unintended result of laws relating to other information, such as pornography laws, which can also extend to criminalize sexual and reproductive health materials. Thus, public health and empowerment programmes and activities that rely on such information - educational campaigns on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection prevention, family planning, domestic violence, gender discrimination, female genital mutilation, sexual diversity, overall sexual and reproductive health - are effectively prohibited. Women and girls are most likely to be affected by this gap in available services and programming because they are exposed to a higher risk of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, maternal mortality, unsafe abortion and unwanted or unplanned pregnancies.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of the child to freedom of expression 2014, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- In addition to banning information outright, some school curricula present biased accounts of history or prejudiced views of certain groups, such as girls, sexual or ethnic minorities or children with disabilities, which can negatively affect children's freedom to form their own views and instead perpetuate discrimination - a situation raised by various United Nations treaty bodies in their recommendations to States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 70s
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in detention, the Special Rapporteur calls on all States to:] Take individuals' gender identity and choice into account prior to placement and provide opportunities to appeal placement decisions;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 70m
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in detention, the Special Rapporteur calls on all States to:] Prohibit forced and coerced pregnancy tests and obtain full, free and informed consent for such tests, and prohibit virginity testing under all circumstances;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 70l
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in detention, the Special Rapporteur calls on all States to:] Ensure adequate sanitation standards and provide for facilities and materials that meet women's specific hygiene needs, such as sanitary towels at no cost, and clean water, including during transport;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 70i
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in detention, the Special Rapporteur calls on all States to:] Absolutely prohibit the use of solitary confinement on pregnant and breastfeeding women, mothers with young children, women suffering from mental or physical disabilities and girls under 18 years of age and as a measure of "protection";
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 70h
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in detention, the Special Rapporteur calls on all States to:] Immediately cease the practice of shackling and handcuffing of pregnant women and women in labour and of women immediately after childbirth;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- States have a heightened obligation to prevent and combat gender-based violence and discrimination against women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons that amount to torture and ill-treatment, committed in a variety of contexts by both State and actors. In assessing the level of pain and suffering experienced by victims of gender-based violence, States must examine the totality of the circumstances, including the victim's social status; extant discriminatory legal, normative and institutional frameworks that reinforce gender stereotypes and exacerbate harm; and the long-term impact on victims' physical and psychological well-being, enjoyment of other human rights and their ability to pursue life goals. The provision of comprehensive reparations, including monetary compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition, is essential and must be accompanied by diverse measures and reforms designed to combat inequality and legal, structural and socioeconomic conditions that perpetuate gender-based discrimination. Urgent interim reparations designed to respond to the immediate needs of victims of gender-based violence, including rehabilitation and access to physical and mental health care, should also be provided where necessary.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Harmful practices are persistent practices and forms of behaviour grounded in discrimination on the basis of, inter alia, sex, gender and age, in addition to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination that often involve violence and cause physical or psychological harm or suffering, including immediate or long-term consequences for the victim's dignity, physical and psychosocial integrity and development, health, education and socioeconomic status. Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by harmful practices. Typically justified on the basis of social norms and cultural beliefs, tradition or religion, harmful practices are motivated in part by stereotypes about sex and gender-based roles and rooted in attempts to control individuals' bodies and sexuality. Female genital mutilation, child and forced marriage and honour-based violence are acknowledged as forms of gender-based violence that constitute ill-treatment and torture. Victims seeking justice for violations of their rights as a result of harmful practices often face stigmatization and risk revictimization, harassment and retribution. States must ensure that the rights of women and girls are guaranteed and protected at all stages of the legal processes, inter alia through legal aid, support programmes and witness protection.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- The overuse of imprisonment and disproportionately long sentences in relation to the seriousness of the offence are major causes of overcrowding, resulting in conditions that amount to ill-treatment or even torture. In particular, the non-violent nature of crimes committed by the majority of women and girls and the minimal public risks posed by most female offenders make them ideal candidates for non-custodial sanctions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur recalls that States are prohibited from returning anyone to a situation where there are substantial grounds to believe that the person may be subject to torture or ill-treatment. The prohibition of refoulement is absolute and an important additional source of protection for women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons who fear such treatment in their countries of origin.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- A variety of obstacles to accessing justice, including poverty and discrimination, increase the likelihood of women being detained, while systematic or institutionalized societal discrimination contributes to legitimizing and replicating discrimination and violence against women and girls deprived of liberty. Women in prison face multiple forms of discrimination in accessing gender-sensitive and appropriate services across different aspects of the prison regime, such as health care, educational opportunities, rehabilitation services and visiting rights. The adoption of the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) filled a gap in international standards by recognizing and addressing the gender-specific needs and circumstances of female offenders and prisoners. The Bangkok Rules supplement but do not replace relevant provisions in the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules). Their swift and full implementation by States would contribute significantly to reducing torture and ill-treatment against women in custody, as would gender-sensitive non-custodial measures and the consideration of gender-specific circumstances in sentencing female offenders, including in cases of women convicted of killing abusive domestic partners.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the continued high prevalence of children in domestic servitude, bonded labour and other forms of slavery. Children in domestic work present a particular concern globally, in both developed and developing countries. Many child domestic workers are not only subject to exploitation and hazardous work, but often work in circumstances amounting to slavery or bonded labour in order to fulfil debts that they or their parents have incurred to the employer or to recruitment agents. An estimated 15.5 million children below the age of 18 are in paid or unpaid domestic work in the home of a third-party employer, of whom 10.5 million are estimated to be child labourers, either because they are under the legal minimum working age or are working in hazardous conditions or conditions tantamount to slavery. Furthermore, girls outnumber boys and they face specific additional vulnerabilities in the context of migration and are more likely to end up being trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. The Special Rapporteur is committed to working with the International Labour Organization, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders towards eliminating every vestige of child slavery in the world. Children should be at school or play, not at work; and the continued violation of their human rights should be an urgent global priority for Member States and the international community.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- National strategies grounded in the right to food should be conceived as participatory processes, co-designed by all relevant stakeholders, including in particular the groups most affected by hunger and malnutrition - smallholder producers, fisherfolk, pastoralists, indigenous people, the urban poor, migrants and agricultural workers. Interministerial bodies should be provided with recommendations that can support local initiatives that support the transition to sustainable food systems (A/68/288, paras. 42-46). The strategies should set out objectives that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. Their rights-based dimensions require that they identify which actor is responsible for which action, and that implementation be supported by independent monitoring in the hands of national human rights institutions or, perhaps preferably, food security and nutrition councils. Because gender-based discrimination violates the right to food of women and girls, the empowerment of women and gender equality, as well as the adoption of social protection schemes that are transformative of gender roles, should be a priority of such strategies. Enhancing the role of women in decision-making at all levels, including within the household, moreover, improves nutritional and health outcomes. And women must be better supported as economic agents in the food systems (A/HRC/22/50).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women’s right and the right to food 2013, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Women's access to employment in the industry or the services sectors of the economy requires improved access to education for girls; and infrastructural and services investments that relieve women from part of the burden of the household chores that women shoulder disproportionately. Millennium Development Goal 1, on the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, includes a target (1.B) to "achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people," an implicit recognition that women, due to discrimination and lack of educational opportunities, are generally disadvantaged in access to employment. In September 2010, Heads of State and Government at the High-level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals pledged to invest in "infrastructure and labour-saving technologies, especially in rural areas, benefiting women and girls by reducing their burden of domestic activities, affording the opportunity for girls to attend school and women to engage in self-employment or participate in the labour market," as well as to remove "barriers and expanding support for girls' education through measures such as providing free primary education, a safe environment for schooling and financial assistance such as scholarships and cash transfer programmes".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Issues and challenges to the right to education in the digital age 2016, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Information and communications technologies can result in educational deprivation, particularly for the poor. Special attention must be paid to questions related to access and skills for the most marginalized groups, including girls and women and persons with disabilities. The guiding principle must be to adopt an all-inclusive approach.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Privatization and the right to education 2014, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Privatization in education also exacerbates discrimination against girls in gaining access to education. It is well known that families prioritize the education of boys over girls and that girls are less likely to be enrolled in private education owing to parents' perceived return on the costs of educating girls compared to that of boys.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Justiciability of the right to education 2013, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- This as well as available case law is helpful in safeguarding girls’ right to education. For instance, the Supreme Court of Colombia has upheld the pregnant girl’s right to education, nullifying any contrary regulation by school, as has the Botswana Court of Appeals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Justiciability of the right to education 2013, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has called on the States parties “to denounce and punish such acts of violence and to continue to take all necessary action, including the dismantling of patriarchal barriers and entrenched gender stereotypes, to guarantee and to ensure that girls are able to enjoy their basic human right to education in every region of the world.”
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Justiciability of the right to education 2013, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Women have historically been victims of social injustice and educational deprivation. The majority of those who are deprived of education today are girls and women, whereas they are entitled to education as much as boys. In some cases, they are prevented from attending schools by parents who see no value in educating daughters, or by religious extremists threatening them. Violence against women and girls impairs their right to education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) 2012, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- States should pay particular attention to the empowerment of women and girls in the provision of technical and vocational education and training, also encouraging them to choose non-traditional fields of education and careers. National policies should seek to eliminate gender stereotypes and barriers to the professional development of women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) 2012, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the right to technical and vocational education includes the following aspects: "(a) It enables students to acquire knowledge and skills which contribute to their personal development, self-reliance and employability and enhances the productivity of their families and communities, including the State party's economic and social development; (b) It takes account of the educational, cultural and social background of the population concerned; the skills, knowledge and levels of qualification needed in the various sectors of the economy; and occupational health, safety and welfare; (c) It provides retraining for adults whose current knowledge and skills have become obsolete owing to technological, economic, employment, social or other changes; (d) It consists of programmes which give students, especially those from developing countries, the opportunity to receive TVE in other States, with a view to the appropriate transfer and adaptation of technology; and (e) It consists, in the context of the Covenant's non-discrimination and equality provisions, of programmes which promote the TVE of women, girls, out-of-school youth, unemployed youth, the children of migrant workers, refugees, persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Equality of opportunity in education 2011, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Threat of violence against girls on the way to and from schools limits their education opportunities: household surveys in many countries identify distance as a major factor in parents’ decisions to keep daughters out of school, and concerns over security figure prominently.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Equality of opportunity in education 2011, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Concerning equality between men and women, the Human Rights Committee has also interpreted articles 3 and 24 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on equality between men and women, and on protection of children, respectively, as requiring States to provide information on “measures taken to ensure that girls are treated equally to boys in education.”
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing education and update on education in emergencies 2011, para. 98
- Paragraph text
- States must take specific measure to guarantee the education of girls and marginalized groups in situations of emergency. Specific efforts are required to eliminate persistent or emerging patterns of discrimination and to remove physical, financial, cultural and linguistic barriers that contribute to furthering inequalities during periods of emergency
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- In the case of Africa, several countries do not provide any kind of planned sexual education. According to some studies, families are uncomfortable talking about sexuality with their sons and daughters; yet young girls and boys do receive some information informally from friends or through the HIV prevention programme.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Families
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 108c
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Invalidate conditioning of women's and girls' access to health care on third-party authorization;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- In some countries, adolescent girls are deterred from accessing information and services for family planning and termination of pregnancy that are needed to protect their health and safety and prevent unwanted high-risk pregnancies, including the requirement of third party authorization.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- The social, religious and cultural factors that disregard the dignity of girls and women must be tackled to achieve women's right to equality in health and safety.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, many girls do not receive sexuality education, including knowledge about the functioning of their bodies, and hygienic materials for menstruation are either unavailable or too costly. They are forced to use improvised, unhygienic materials that may lead to leaking and infections.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- The instrumentalization of women's bodies as objects to serve sexual and other purposes leads to practices such as invasive cosmetic procedures. Unhealthy dieting, particularly among adolescent girls, can have disastrous health consequences, including eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- The cultural construction of gender makes women's subjection to gender-based discrimination and violence appear to be inherent and immutable. The patriarchal family is the product of this construction and the most important social mechanism for its perpetuation. Women and girls' human potential is restricted in families. The recognition that women's rights are human rights and that they are universal and indivisible has laid bare the adverse impact of this gender construction on women and girls in families and communities. The need for a paradigm shift has been clearly set out in international human rights law, which, since 1948, has established women's right to equality in all spheres of life, in culture and in the family. As Eleanor Roosevelt said as far back as 1958: "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. […] Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere."
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- Ensuring access to justice for women and girls who have suffered discrimination within the family or in cultural life is part of the State obligation to protect and respect their right to equality. This access must be guaranteed at the legislative and institutional levels. This means, for example, revising all additional laws that affect family and personal status matters, a process in which women must be involved. Also concerned are auxiliary regulations, including special measures adopted, where necessary, in such areas as taxation, social security, retirement benefits, survivors' benefits, rights relating to nationality and the right to family reunification, to ensure women and girls' de facto equality in the various types of family. Women must take part in the formulation and interpretation of national laws, including those relating to family affairs. At the institutional level, they must be involved, on an equal footing, in policy development and judicial bodies so as to ensure that the principle of equality is effectively applied and that decisions handed down demonstrate respect for gender equality. Improving access to justice for women also requires gender-equality training for State authorities and non-State officials responsible for law enforcement, social services and education and for medical and forensic personnel.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- The State must refrain from adopting laws, policies, measures or regulations that discriminate directly or indirectly against women and girls and must ensure that its officials, and private actors, respect this obligation in all contexts, including those situations where women are most vulnerable (as refugees, migrants or stateless persons, for example).
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- In some secular family law systems, elements of discrimination remain, for example a lower legal minimum age for marriage for girls and discriminatory provisions on inheritance rights, divorce and recognition of same-sex couples.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- However, not all forms of marriage deserve recognition. The Working Group calls for the non-recognition of those forms that discriminate against women and/or fail to ensure equality and justice for women, whatever the legal system, religion, custom or tradition. This refers to, among others, early and/or forced marriage, temporary marriage and polygamy. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Human Rights Committee have recommended that States should prohibit polygamy on the grounds that it contravenes women's right to equality with men and can have serious emotional and financial consequences for women and their dependants. However, there are national civil codes that legalize polygamous marriage, early and/or forced marriage and temporary marriage. The Working Group advocates the repeal of these codes. Among the countries that deem such marriages to discriminate against women and girls, some consider them void and others merely voidable. In all cases, the legal solution must protect the rights of women and girls, who remain the victims of these harmful marriages. Their rights to subsistence, to property, including land and inheritance, to a place of residence, to custody of children and to remarry must be guaranteed.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 118
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Introduce a universal core syllabus which will inform boys and girls of their human rights, including women's human rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 115
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Ensure all girls' de facto access to education, including mandatory, free primary education and access to secondary and tertiary education, free of discrimination;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 114
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Eliminate all discriminatory laws and practices which prevent girls from completing their education, including child marriage;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Despite this significant progress, there are still social and cultural barriers preventing girls' access to school in some countries, as resonantly evidenced by Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani schoolgirl who was the victim of an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen in 2012 and has since been a vocal advocate for girls' right to education.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Various other international and regional human rights treaties also protect women's and girls' social and economic rights.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of persons with disabilities to participate in decision-making 2016, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- As women and girls with disabilities are at a higher risk of facing multiple forms of discrimination, States must pay special attention to guaranteeing their right to participate actively and directly in all decision-making processes affecting their lives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Disability-inclusive policies 2016, para. 78d
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States with the aim of assisting them in developing and implementing disability- inclusive policies:] Integrate a gender perspective in such policies and programmes, addressing the intersectionality of discrimination faced by women and girls with disabilities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Activities of the Working Group 2014, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group notes that, despite the existence of numerous legislative instruments at the national, regional and international levels, women and girls of African descent are facing even more challenging obstacles to justice. Women of African descent very often suffer physical or verbal violence on the part of judicial and law enforcement authorities.
- Body
- Working Group of experts on people of African descent
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Discussion on "Recognition through Education, Cultural Rights and Data Collection" 2013, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls of African descent - victims of compounded discrimination - suffer disproportionately from lack of access to education and high illiteracy levels, representing a significant barrier to their overall progress and empowerment.
- Body
- Working Group of experts on people of African descent
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Girls with disabilities are also likely to be proposed for marriage in regions and communities where child marriage occurs. Indeed, families are more prone to force girls with disabilities into marriage because they see it as a way to ensure long-term security and protection for their children. In addition, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has strongly condemned the practice of female genital mutilation affecting girls and women with disabilities in a number of countries.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Soap and clean water for personal hygiene is of particular importance during menstruation. Women and girls must be able to use clean materials to absorb or collect menstrual fluid, and change them regularly and in privacy. They must have access to water and soap to wash their hands and body and facilities to dispose safely and hygienically of menstrual materials like pads, cups, cloths and tampons. Facilities must be easy to maintain and to clean. Women and girls with disabilities face unique challenges in accessing sanitation facilities. Their ability to properly manage their hygiene may be particularly compromised and, when facilities do not provide for the space and materials they need, they are especially prone to diseases. Service providers must ensure that facilities are designed with the participation of women and girls in order to adapt them to their biological and sociocultural needs. The specific needs of women and girls must be incorporated into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of sanitation facilities. Approaches must go beyond advocacy to address policies, infrastructure, maintenance systems and monitoring in order to ensure that services are adapted to the specific needs of users by, for example, taking into account their bodies, including their physical abilities, and their age. Formal independent regulators, as well as locally based participatory water and sanitation committees, should monitor whether regulations are well interpreted, implemented and effective.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- In addition, it would be important to monitor how gender inequalities, including among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and gender non-conforming persons, manifest themselves in extra-household settings, including in facilities in public institutions. This would reveal gender inequalities in the realm of many other human rights, since a lack of access to facilities outside the home severely impedes women and girls from attending school and participating in work, among other opportunities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Because menstrual hygiene management has such a strong impact on gender equality, it could be used as a proxy for information about discrimination against women and girls in sanitation and hygiene. Targets and indicators should be crafted to capture the ability of all women and adolescent girls to manage menstruation hygienically and with dignity, supported by amending the relevant household surveys explicitly asking about adequate menstrual hygiene management.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Not all benefits can be monetized. Intangible benefits, such as time saved and dignity gained, warrant careful consideration for their impact on human well-being. The particularly positive impact for women and girls of investing in water and sanitation is crucial for realizing human rights obligations related to gender equality. Environmental benefits are also difficult to put a figure on, but may be enormous, given that improving water and sanitation services helps combat environmental degradation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women as a barrier to the effective realization of all human rights 2014, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Millennium Development Goal 6 commits Governments to combating HIV/AIDS, but exposure to HIV is positively correlated with gender-based violence and poverty. For example in Sub-Saharan Africa, women in the 19-24 age group are twice as likely to be infected as men, owing to sexual violence and related inequality in decision-making and autonomy. Rates of girls being infected have also increased owing to sexual assaults related to myths about preventing the transmission of HIV or curing AIDS.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Health
- Poverty
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women as a barrier to the effective realization of all human rights 2014, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Violence against women also works against the achievement of development goals such as education, the focus of Millennium Development Goal 3. The fact that 60 million girls worldwide are assaulted while travelling to and from school prevents many girls from completing their education. Many adolescent girls are also forced to withdraw from school owing to marriage and school-related violence, while sexual violence increases the dropout rates of girls and undermines educational achievement.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Pathways to, conditions and consequences of incarceration for women 2013, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- A communication sent to the Government of Brazil addressed the case of a 15 year-old girl who was accused of petty theft and placed in a police cell with approximately 20 male prisoners, where she was raped by several of the men (A/HRC/11/6/Add.1). An urgent appeal was sent to the Government of Kyrgyzstan regarding the multiple rape of a detainee in police detention, the subsequent threats and assaults against her and the lack of attention to her allegations by the court (A/HRC/11/6/Add.1).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- In his report on working towards the elimination of crimes against women committed in the name of honour, the Secretary-General presented a series of recommendations in relation to the criminalization of such acts, and noted that those deliberately participating in, facilitating, encouraging or threatening women and girls in the name of honour should be punished. He also noted that "in countries with immigrant communities, protection should be given to victims and potential victims in connection with asylum and immigration procedures".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- General comment No. 5 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights formulates obligations of States to ensure equal rights and to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities in numerous areas. Significantly, the Committee articulated a connection between non-discrimination and the duty to provide reasonable accommodation. Furthermore, the Committee has stated that forced sterilization of women and girls with disabilities breaches article 10 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls are victimized under authoritarian regimes and during violent conflict in multiple ways. They suffer from operations randomly or strategically targeting and terrorizing the civilian population, but also from summary and extrajudicial executions, imprisonment, torture, rape and sexual mutilations for fighting in resistance movements, engaging in the search for and defence of their loved ones or for coming from communities suspected of collaboration. Women and children represent the majority of the forcefully displaced in internal and international armed conflicts. Women can suffer the consequences of violent actions that target "their" men (husbands, sons, brothers, etc.), for example, when they become the sole breadwinners and protectors of their families. Some forms of violence that women are subject to are similar to those suffered by men; others are more specific to women and girls, subjecting them to systematic patterns of sexual or reproductive violence or to different forms of domestic enslavement. In some settings, certain crimes tend to be perpetrated mostly by State forces while others are used mostly by non-State armed groups or self-defence groups as tools to recruit and instrumentalize women. More importantly, even when women are subjected to the same violations as men, their pre-existing socio-economic and legal status and the cultural meanings surrounding the construction of the male and the female in patriarchal societies may cause different ensuing harms for men and women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- The younger the bride, the more likely it is that she will face serious health complications owing to the physical immaturity of her body at the time of childbirth. A girl with underdeveloped physiology risks incurring an obstetric fistula, a rupture of the vagina, bladder and/or rectum during childbirth that causes persistent leakage of urine and faeces. Girls face a greater risk of health problems associated with repeated pregnancies and childbirth. They also have limited access to information concerning their reproductive health and health care.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- As a result of cultural beliefs, girls and women with dual nationality are sometimes abducted by their families from one country and forced to marry men from their parents' country of origin. This has happened in the United Kingdom to women from Asian diaspora communities. The Governments involved have worked through consular assistance and judicial proceedings to provide victims with effective remedies. In 2005, the United Kingdom set up a forced marriage unit under the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Home Office to tackle the issue.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Early or forced marriage, which is not considered a form of exploitation, makes young girls more vulnerable to mistreatment and exploitation. It often results in their leaving school early and prevents them from acquiring the skills that could make them more independent. When girls flee a marriage, they most often find themselves with no education or source of livelihood, separated from their family environment and, therefore, in a situation of great vulnerability in which one of the sole means of survival is prostitution.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Enjoyment of the rights to health and adequate housing by migrants 2010, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Migrant women and girls also often experience different and more problematic pregnancy and gynaecological health issues, compared to the host population. Many arrive from countries with poor sexual and reproductive health services or information, including on family planning, or with little knowledge or experience in such services. Consequently, the rate of unwanted pregnancies among migrant women and girls may be high and they may be more exposed to risks of deportation or coercive abortion than women from the host country. Indeed, owing to the persistent discrimination against pregnant women, the number of requests for abortion in populations of migrant women and girls may be up to three to four times higher than that of host populations. Additionally, the absence of prenatal care may contribute to the high incidence of premature births, preeclampsia, and other complications among migrant women and girls. In some countries where citizenship is granted based on the jus soli principle (birthright citizenship), several obstacles and limitations have been put in place, intended to prevent migrant women from giving birth in the host country and thus acquiring citizenship for their children. Moreover, pregnant migrant women may be obliged to pay hospital fees based on their nationality or immigration status in cases where nationals do not have to pay. Particular concern is raised in relation to pregnant migrant women and girls in irregular situations who are charged for services rendered other than on an emergency basis.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against indigenous women and girls; rights of indigenous peoples in relation to extractive industries 2012, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- In this connection, the Special Rapporteur would like to mention three specific ways in which indigenous self-determination may be enhanced in the context of combating violence against women and girls. While the following points are, of course, not exhaustive, they provide some reflections on the measures needed by States and indigenous peoples themselves to address concerns in this regard.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sports and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- These examples reflect deep-seated bias towards men's sport, which diminishes the opportunities for women in sport at all levels. States and other actors must act to shift public consciousness away from a male-dominated sporting culture. States should review their laws, policies and programmes, and amend or repeal those that discriminate against women and girls and prevent them from participating in sport on an equal basis with men.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- Criminalization of behaviour that is attributed only to women is discriminatory per se and generates and perpetuates stigma. The threat of criminal punishment restricts women's access to sexual and reproductive health-care services and information and acts as a deterrent to health-care professionals, thus barring women's and girls' access to health-care services.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- The obligation of the State to protect women and girls' right to equality in the family compels the authorities to prevent discrimination by private actors. Due diligence as a principle of State action should result in a global model of prevention, protection, prosecution, punishment and redress for acts of discrimination and violence against women in cultural and family life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- A disproportionate amount of unpaid care work falls on women, limiting women's capacity to engage in paid work. This is evidenced in empirical studies which show that women, whether or not they are in paid employment, spend between twice to four times the amount of hours on care functions than do men. Up to 90 per cent of home care due to illness is performed by women and girls.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur supports the interpretation of violence against women as a form of discrimination against women and girls and a human rights violation. Therefore, the option of creating a separate treaty would expose the existing legal framework under the Convention on violence against women to the risk of isolating provisions aimed at addressing gender-based violence against women from the structural causes of discrimination against women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 85a
- Paragraph text
- [In terms of prevention and the promotion of rights, States, in cooperation with United Nations agencies and programmes, international organizations, host countries and civil society organizations, should:] Recognize and address the specific vulnerability of boys and girls to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in conflict, post-conflict and humanitarian crisis situations;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 77h
- Paragraph text
- [In line with the above, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Ensure that regulations require that the specific needs of women and girls are incorporated into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of water and sanitation facilities, taking into consideration the special needs of women and girls made more vulnerable by disability and age. Regulators should monitor whether such regulations are well interpreted, implemented and effective;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- Reparation measures should not concentrate on the fairly limited and traditionally conceived catalogue of violations of civil and political rights, but instead should include the worst forms of crimes or violations targeting women and girls. It must additionally be acknowledged that the same violations may entail different harms for men and women, but also for women and girls and women from specific groups, and that violations may be perpetrated with the complicity of non-State actors.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 72b
- Paragraph text
- [Concerned governmental institutions, law enforcement authorities, civil society organizations, academia, United Nations agencies and programmes and international organizations should undertake further research on the different forms of trafficking in persons in relation to conflict and post-conflict situations, including on:] The linkage between gender and trafficking in persons in conflicts, not only with regard to girls and women but also boys and men;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 77b
- Paragraph text
- [Concerned governmental institutions, law enforcement authorities, civil society organizations, academia, United Nations agencies and programmes and international organizations should undertake further research on the different forms of trafficking in persons in relation to conflict and post-conflict situations, including on:] The linkage between gender and trafficking in persons in conflicts, not only with regard to girls and women but also boys and men;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 70z
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in detention, the Special Rapporteur calls on all States to:] Undertake specific training and capacity-building programmes designed to sensitize law enforcement authorities and detention facility staff to the specific circumstances and unique needs of female and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender prisoners and standards such as the Bangkok Rules.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 70x
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in detention, the Special Rapporteur calls on all States to:] Monitor and supervise all places of detention in a gender-sensitive manner and ensure that allegations of abuse are effectively investigated and perpetrators brought to justice; and ensure the availability of adequate, speedy and confidential complaint mechanisms in all places of detention;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 103
- Paragraph text
- States should also increase and improve access to reproductive health services and information, in particular for girls and women, including access to family planning. Health information tailored to young mothers about proper nutrition and care for their health and the health of their babies should be made available. Access to reproductive health care for women and girls in urban and rural areas needs to be increased and improved by ensuring that adequate resources and health-care experts are available.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Infants
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Enjoyment of the rights to health and adequate housing by migrants 2010, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- States should fully take into account factors which affect access to housing by migrant women and girls. In particular, States should develop mechanisms to monitor workplace conditions of migrant women, especially where they are required to reside with their employers. States should ensure that migrant women workers have equal protection of the law and should provide accommodation for those who wish to leave abusive employers in the meantime.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Enjoyment of the rights to health and adequate housing by migrants 2010, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- States should provide appropriate training to civil servants working in the area of migration and health and sensitize them on the issues of discrimination against migrants, particularly with respect to migrant women and girls and children. States must ensure that migrants are not denied access to health care due to uncertainty among public service providers, such as nurses and doctors, about what the law allows them to do for migrants.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 85b
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to United Nations organizations and mechanisms] [United Nations organizations and mechanisms should:] Work with Member States to develop research into underdeveloped areas which particularly impact the rights of indigenous women and girls. Research should be developed on intersecting discrimination and vulnerability and the relationship between individual and collective rights;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 80b
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States] [With regard to monitoring and accountability, Member States should:] Invest in research and data collection systems to collect data disaggregated by gender, ethnicity or race, religion, language and territory or geographical area. Such data collection and research should include information on human rights violations, with particular focus on the situation of women and girls;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 70d
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in detention, the Special Rapporteur calls on all States to:] Review laws, criminal procedures and judicial practices to ensure that they take full account of women's backgrounds, including histories of prior abuse, mental health problems and substance abuse, and parental and other caretaker responsibilities in the allocation of sentences and sentence planning;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 106f
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Combat stereotyping and empower girls to take care of their own health and safety from a young age, both at school and at home, and inform and empower women regarding their own bodies at all stages of their lives;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 105c
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Take into account the impact of women's safety on their physical and mental health and protect women and girls from violence at home, on their way to or at school and in other public spaces and in health facilities;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 73c (vi)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Guarantee women's de jure and de facto right to equality in family diversity: Prohibit and punish domestic violence, including incest and marital rape, and provide measures to protect women and girls who are victims of such violence, such as protection orders and shelters;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 116
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Adopt good practices to combat non-attendance by girls, such as providing financial resources to parents to keep their girls in school, preventing violence against girls in schools, providing proper sanitary facilities and making provision for pregnant girls and school-age mothers;
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Development and people of African descent 2015, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The right to education is not enjoyed equally by all; millions of girls, boys, women and men of African descent suffer disproportionately from unequal access to quality education. Failure to ensure equal access to education robs people of their opportunity to reach their full human potential and to contribute to the development of their own communities and society at large.
- Body
- Working Group of experts on people of African descent
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Discussion on "Recognition through Education, Cultural Rights and Data Collection" 2013, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- The right to education is not enjoyed equally by all; millions of girls, boys, women and men of African descent suffer disproportionately from unequal access to quality education. Failure to ensure equal access to education robs people of their opportunity to reach their full human potential and to contribute to the development of their own communities and society at large.
- Body
- Working Group of experts on people of African descent
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 96f
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following specific recommendations:] States should repeal all provisions and procedures that are discriminatory against women and girls, and that thereby facilitate and allow for the toleration of any form of gender-based violence against them, including legislation justifying harmful practices against women, but also abrogate or modify those gender-neutral laws and policies which may prevent women and girls from fully enjoying their human rights in both the private and public spheres;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Adequacy of the international legal framework on violence against women 2017, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- The universal and overall acceptance, incorporation and implementation by States of international and regional instruments are vital steps to consolidate national legal frameworks addressing the elimination of violence against women. This includes not only the ratification of the main international and regional conventions on gender-based violence against women, but also the elimination of all those discriminatory laws and harmful practices which prevent the full enjoyment by women and girls of their human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Conflict and natural and humanitarian disasters expose children, and more particularly those unaccompanied or separated from their families, to multifaceted vulnerabilities and put them at a higher risk of being trafficked, sold and sexually exploited, coerced into child or forced marriages, and used in the worst forms of child labour. While girls are more likely to fall victims to sexual exploitation, there are nonetheless also cases of boys being abused.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- For the girls involved, these coping mechanisms have dangerous short- and long-term implications that put them at increased risk of physical and emotional abuse. Such mechanisms also reduce the likelihood that a girl will complete schooling, a reality that can have negative repercussions throughout a girl’s life, including earlier childbearing, worse health outcomes and lower income.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, in transit countries such as Libya, migrant girls are often exposed to sexual violence by parties to the conflict, as well as by smugglers, traffickers and other criminal groups. They face threats and sexual violence when held, sometimes for months, in detention centres and in poor conditions, and are also abducted and sexually abused by groups pledging allegiance to ISIL.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 62k
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States:] Adopt strategies to ensure the direct participation of girls and young women with disabilities in all processes of public decision-making related to sexual and reproductive health and rights, including the development of legislative or policy measures regarding sexual and gender-based violence and other forms of abuse, and guarantee that such participation is conducted in a safe environment with age- and disability-appropriate support;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- States must recognize the existing layers of identities within the disability community in order to adequately address the inequalities and intersectional discrimination experienced by girls and young women with disabilities. States should consider developing and implementing policies and practices targeting the most marginalized groups of girls and young women with disabilities (e.g., those with multiple or severe impairments and deaf-blind girls and young women) in order to accelerate or achieve de facto equality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- States must ensure effective access to justice for girls and young women with disabilities who experience sexual and other forms of violence. Access to effective and accessible judicial and other appropriate remedies is critical to combating all forms of exploitation, violence or abuse against girls and young women with disabilities in the public and private spheres. States must eliminate all restrictions preventing girls and young women with disabilities from accessing justice, including restrictive rules on legal standing on the basis of age and disability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Girls and young women with disabilities face unique challenges with regard to the management of menstrual hygiene. The absence of appropriate sanitation facilities in schools, including separate, accessible and sheltered toilets, in addition to the lack of education, resources and support for menstrual hygiene, compromise their ability to properly manage their hygiene and make them especially prone to diseases. Consequently, many girls and young women with disabilities stay at home or are sent to special schools, reinforcing their exclusion from comprehensive sexuality education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- The active involvement of internally displaced women and civil society organizations was essential throughout the process. Displaced women brought hundreds of tutelas before tribunals to demand their rights and participated in public hearings convened by the Constitutional Court or civil society organizations sharing their experiences and perspectives. The Court’s decisions were informed by formal submissions by such organizations, presenting experiences of women and girls forcibly displaced around the country.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its nineteenth and twentieth sessions 2017, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls of African descent suffer from multiple forms of discrimination on account of their race, gender, class and other identities. The Working Group agrees with the Afro feminist theory of intersectionality that women of African descent face multiple forms of oppression which are interconnected and cannot be addressed separately from one another. Women of African descent face discrimination in all areas of life and their specific human rights concerns must be addressed.
- Body
- Working Group of experts on people of African descent
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- States must also ensure that schools have the necessary infrastructure for girls and female teachers to manage their menstruation. Some Governments provide menstrual hygiene products for free to girls in public schools. It is important that such products also be provided for free in informal schools, as the students in those schools are among the least able to afford them. Facilities must furthermore be acceptable to all users, and students should be able to freely use the toilet with which they feel most comfortable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Women fear violence by men in public toilets and open defecation sites, and along the routes leading to both. Some women and girls looking for a place to defecate have reportedly been exposed to rude remarks, brick-throwing, stabbing and rape. Gender-based violence also occurs at places to collect water, bathe and wash clothes. Abuse of boys is reportedly a common and underrecognized phenomenon, and one that receives even less attention, as shame and cultural restrictions or taboos concerning homosexuality deters boys from reporting such abuse.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- Many of the challenges to achieving gender equality in access to water, sanitation and hygiene are well documented: where water is not available in the home, women and girls are primarily responsible for water and hygiene at the household level and bear the greatest burden for collecting water. Other challenges related to inequality include access to sanitation, menstrual hygiene and toilets for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and gender non-conforming people and an increased risk of gender-based violence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Considerations of menstrual hygiene are particularly important for issues related to health, education and gender equality. Facilities for menstrual hygiene management must include a system of disposal of sanitary materials and a place for washing reusable materials. Systems should be designed with the participation of users to make sure that they are relevant, appropriate and not liable to increase the stigmatization of girls and women during their periods. Cultural acceptability is essential to determine the type of technology used.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Sanitation facilities and services must be culturally acceptable. Personal sanitation is a highly sensitive issue across regions and cultures and differing perspectives about which sanitation solutions are acceptable must be taken into account regarding the design, positioning and conditions for use of sanitation facilities. In most cultures, toilets must be constructed so as to ensure privacy and dignity. Acceptability often requires separate facilities for women and men in public places, and for girls and boys in schools.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls are frequently subjected to unacceptable risks of violence, including sexual violence, in accessing water and sanitation facilities. Their right to personal security may be violated by failures to provide adequate protection from violence, including through appropriate design and placement of facilities with the participation of women. Many other groups and individuals such as Dalits and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals also face violence in accessing water and sanitation, often linked to deeply entrenched stigmatization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph