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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
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Fifty years after the separation of international human rights into the two covenants, the United Nations is well situated to retrieve a unified and inclusive understanding of human rights and to affirm that the right to life includes the right to a place to live in dignity and security, free of violence. The Human Rights Committee has the opportunity to affirm this integrated understanding of the right to life in the ongoing preparation of its general comment No. 36. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has the opportunity under its Optional Protocol to highlight the connection between the rights to life and adequate housing in lived experience. Other treaty monitoring bodies have the opportunity to ensure that the understanding of the rights to life and adequate housing is informed by the experiences and unique claims of people with disabilities, women, children, migrants, racial minorities and indigenous peoples, among others.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Article 3: The equality of rights between men and women - replaces GC No. 4 2000, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- To fulfil their obligations under article 23, paragraph 4, States parties must ensure that the matrimonial regime contains equal rights and obligations for both spouses with regard to the custody and care of children, the children's religious and moral education, the capacity to transmit to children the parent's nationality, and the ownership or administration of property, whether common property or property in the sole ownership of either spouse. States parties should review their legislation to ensure that married women have equal rights in regard to the ownership and administration of such property, where necessary. Also, States parties should ensure that no sex-based discrimination occurs in respect of the acquisition or loss of nationality by reason of marriage, of residence rights, and of the right of each spouse to retain the use of his or her original family name or to participate on an equal basis in the choice of a new family name. Equality during marriage implies that husband and wife should participate equally in responsibility and authority within the family.
- Body
- Human Rights Committee
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2000
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human rights of women 1998, para. b
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments:] Take steps, including a gender-sensitive review of national legislation, to revoke any laws or legal procedures and eradicate practices – national or customary – that promote discrimination on the basis of sex;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 1998
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- The Committee's recognition in these cases that deportation into homelessness may constitute cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment, and that victims of homelessness in this context are entitled to a remedy, is significant. It is equally important, however, to ensure access to adjudication and remedy for those who experience the same deprivations of homelessness resulting from inaction or neglect within a State's own borders. In A.H.G and Jasin, the Committee considered the effects of widespread and systemic violations of the right to security and dignity. However, this consideration remained within the negative rights framework of prohibited "treatment" or "punishment". That framework is not conducive to hearing the substantive claim to a life of dignity, security and inclusion advanced by people with disabilities or women escaping violence, who do not see the fulfilment of their human rights merely as freedom from treatment or punishment but more fundamentally as a right to a place to live in dignity and security.
- 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
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Compendium of good practices in the elimination of discrimination against women 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The integration of gender responsive measures and protection of social welfare systems during economic crises can protect women’s human rights gains and, at the same time, support healthy recovery.
- 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
- Women
- 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
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. 38
- Paragraph text
- The persistence of such harmful practices recently prompted the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child to work on their first joint general comment on harmful traditional practices, which is likely to be finalized in 2013.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- In many cultural contexts, women remain dependent on the social protection of their family. This poses an obvious problem for live-in domestic workers who do not have family close to them. Leaving the house is not an option as women living on their own are looked down upon and viewed with suspicion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- 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
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- However, the demands of unpaid care work often force women into precarious and informal jobs not covered by social insurance schemes linked to employment, such as paid parental leave, unemployment insurance or pensions. This further contributes to their poverty and economic dependency on men.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Address the practical factors that impede women's ability to claim their rights, including the status of women and gender-based stereotypes, prejudices and norms
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- 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
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
Governance structures for internal displacement 2015, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- Questions related to housing, land and property are often complex and require effective management. Effective and accessible mechanisms for timely restitution of housing, land and property rights of internally displaced persons must be established for them to achieve durable solutions, regardless of the solution they have opted for. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee Framework states that "the right to restitution or compensation extends to all displaced persons - including men, women and children - who have lost ownership, tenancy rights or other access entitlements to their housing, land and property, whether they have formal or informal titles or rights on the basis of mere uncontested use or occupation …." The Special Rapporteur also recalls the importance of States implementing the principles on housing and property restitution for refugees and displaced persons, developed by the Special Rapporteur of the Subcommission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/17, annex), most notably principles 12.1-12.6 relating to national procedures, institutions and mechanisms for considering restitution claims of displaced persons.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- Homelessness disproportionately affects particular groups, including women, young people, children, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, migrants and refugees, the working poor, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, each in different ways, but with common structural causes. These include: (a) the retreat by all levels of government from social protection and social housing and the privatization of services, infrastructure, housing and public space; (b) the abandonment of the social function of land and housing; (c) the failure to address growing inequalities in income, wealth and access to land and property; (d) the adoption of fiscal and development policies that support deregulation and real estate speculation and prevent the development of affordable housing options; and (e), in the face of urbanization, the marginalization and mistreatment of those who are most precariously housed in informal settlements, living in temporary overcrowded structures, without access to water, sanitation or other basic services and living under the constant threat of eviction.
- 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
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- In many countries, women are denied not only rights related to inheritance, but also their equal rights over marital property, effectively denying them any legal claim to housing whatsoever. The idea that rights over housing, land, property and inheritance fall exclusively within the male domain must be challenged. When looking at what works best for women, researchers have found that a full or modified community of property regimes which recognize joint rights with equal powers between spouses best protects women's right to adequate housing and to equality. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in its recent concluding observations on Sri Lanka underscored this point when it noted "that discriminatory practices prevent women from acquiring ownership of land since only the 'head of household' is authorized to sign official documentation such as land ownership certificates and receive pieces of land from Government." In that case, the Committee urged the Government to abolish the concept of "head of household" in administrative practice and recognize joint or co-ownership of land, and to amend its national legislation to ensure joint or co-ownership.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In the wake of Hurricane Mitch, a combination of factors militated against satisfying the most basic housing needs of the affected Honduran population, much less the full realization of their right to adequate housing. Most analyses of post-Mitch responses conclude that both the country's government and the national emergency management system (as represented by its main agency, COPECO) were not adequately prepared to respond to the need of the victims. On the positive side, Hurricane Mitch led to the arrival of significant human and financial resources. Post-disaster housing response initiatives represented unprecedented opportunities to "build back better". In particular, many women gained access to land and participation through some of these donor-funded responses who insisted that the deeds to all reconstructed houses bear the names of the female spouses (instead of the males), which was justified by the assumption that "women won't sell". Other projects compromised by proposing that post-disaster housing be registered under joint title and then established as family patrimony.
- 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)
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- While people from all economic groups suffered from the effects of the hurricane, the damage disproportionately affected the most marginalized sectors of the population - poor women, peasants, indigenous groups. Significantly, many of these had been living under insecure tenure conditions in irregular settlements and inadequate housing, located in vulnerable areas exposed to strong winds, flooding and landslides. Although evacuation orders were issued, many refused to leave their homes for fear of losing their belongings, with disastrous and often fatal consequences. Vulnerability and in particular tenure insecurity was both the cause and effect of the disaster for such families. In the absence of officially recognized tenure rights, people ended up living on the fringes in dangerous areas, which due to their location were often worst affected by the hurricane. Any post-disaster response measures intended to form the basis for longer-term recovery would therefore have needed to address pre-existing insecurity, in order to provide a basis for the full realization of the right to adequate housing.
- 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)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- 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 (viii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Working Group recommends that States:] Guarantee women's de jure and de facto right to equality in family diversity: In countries where several legal systems coexist, establish and implement national mechanisms to ensure the effective implementation of guarantees of equality and non-discrimination between men and women in all areas and at all levels, offering women, especially rural and indigenous women, the possibility of removing themselves from the arbitral authority and jurisdiction of customary institutions. Bring parallel customary, religious and indigenous law systems into line with international human rights law, particularly in respect of gender equality, while acknowledging the importance of the wealth and diversity of culture and traditions. Grant women the right to appeal, in State courts, decisions of religious, customary or indigenous authorities, whether formal or informal, that have violated their right to equality;
- 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
- Ethnic minorities
- Families
- 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. 48
- Paragraph text
- Several States have no secular family code and regulate personal status either by integrating religious laws on the family into constitutional or legislative provisions or by granting religious authorities or religious tribunals jurisdiction over personal status so that they may apply the family codes derived from the sacred texts. Currently, a large number of States that have Islam as their State religion, such as the Islamic and Arab republics, regulate the personal status of all citizens by applying Islamic law from the Koran and the Sunna. Although the notion of the equality of men and women before the law is often incorporated in their constitutions, some States maintain that this equality does not apply in the case of laws on the family and on marital or personal status. Some States that recognize the legal competence of a majority religion in the State also grant non-majority religions jurisdiction over their own communities of faithful, such as Lebanon (Muslim majority), India (Hindu majority) and Israel (Jewish majority).
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- 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. 44
- Paragraph text
- The first process is the elimination of discriminatory laws on the family and the promotion of gender equality within secular law systems. This sort of legal reform took place in some of these systems from the end of the nineteenth century, when many States reformed their laws on the family by separating religion from the State and introducing measures to promote women's equality within marriage and the family, including the right of married women to conclude contracts, own property, inherit, divorce, and have guardianship and custody of children, on an equal basis with men. Secular family law systems thus moved from being patriarchal to adopting a more egalitarian approach, which now represents good practice in ensuring gender equality in the family. A recent example is the Marriage Law in China, as amended in 2001, which nullified all bigamous marriages and all marriages in which one of the parties had not reached the legal minimum age for marriage, repealing traditionalist patriarchal laws on the family and affirming gender equality in the family.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Annual Report of the WG on Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice 2012, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- For legal guarantees of gender equality to benefit all women, implementation frameworks and strategies must be responsive to the intersections of sex-based discrimination with other grounds of discrimination, such as race, ethnicity, religion or belief, language, political affiliation, health, status, age, class, caste, national or social origin, property, birth, and sexual orientation and gender identity. Legal guarantees and implementation frameworks and strategies must also integrate special measures to reach women who face multiple forms of discrimination, such as rural and indigenous women, women with disabilities, women living in poverty and women facing other forms of marginalization. This requires a comprehensive and coherent human rights-based approach that ensures that women are at the centre of efforts to hold principally States accountable for implementing international standards guaranteeing civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. National, regional and international human rights mechanisms play critical roles in ensuring the full enjoyment by women of their 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 17e
- Paragraph text
- Structural or systemic discrimination are hidden or overt patterns of discriminatory institutional behaviour, discriminatory cultural traditions, social norms and/or rules. Harmful gender and disability stereotyping can lead to such discrimination, inextricably linked to a lack of policies, regulation and service provision specifically for women with disabilities. For example, due to stereotyping based on the intersection of gender and disability, women with disabilities may face barriers when reporting violence, such as disbelief and dismissal by police, prosecutors and courts. Likewise, harmful practices are strongly connected to and reinforce socially constructed gender roles and power relations that can reflect negative perceptions of, or discriminatory beliefs regarding women with disabilities, such as the belief that men with HIV/AIDS can be cured by engaging in sexual intercourse with women with disabilities . The lack of awareness training and policies to prevent harmful stereotyping of women with disabilities by public officials, be it teachers, health service providers, police officers, prosecutors, judges,. and the public at large can often lead to individual instances of violations of rights.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Economic consequences of marriage, family relations and their dissolution 2013, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The constitutions or legal frameworks of a number of States parties still provide that personal status laws (relating to marriage, divorce, distribution of marital property, inheritance, guardianship, adoption and other such matters) are exempt from constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination or reserve matters of personal status to the ethnic and religious communities within the State party to determine. In such cases, constitutional equal protection provisions and anti-discrimination provisions do not protect women from the discriminatory effects of marriage under customary practices and religious laws. Some States parties have adopted constitutions that include equal protection and non discrimination provisions but have not revised or adopted legislation to eliminate the discriminatory aspects of their family law regimes, whether they are regulated by civil code, religious law, ethnic custom or any combination of laws and practices. All these constitutional and legal frameworks are discriminatory, in violation of article 2 in conjunction with articles 5, 15 and 16 of the Convention.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women 1992, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- In some States there are traditional practices perpetuated by culture and tradition that are harmful to the health of women and children. These practices include dietary restrictions for pregnant women, preference for male children and female circumcision or genital mutilation.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 1992
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Article 3: The equality of rights between men and women - replaces GC No. 4 2000, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- States parties must take measures to ensure that freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and the freedom to adopt the religion or belief of one's choice - including the freedom to change religion or belief and to express one's religion or belief - will be guaranteed and protected in law and in practice for both men and women, on the same terms and without discrimination. These freedoms, protected by article 18, must not be subject to restrictions otherthan those authorized by the Covenant and must not be constrained by, inter alia, rules requiring permission from third parties, or by interference from fathers, husbands, brothers or others. Article 18 may not be relied upon to justify discrimination against women by reference to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; States parties should therefore provide information on the status of women as regards their freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and indicate what steps they have taken or intend to take both to eliminate and prevent infringements of these freedoms in respect of women and to protect their right not to be discriminated against.
- Body
- Human Rights Committee
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2000
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Certain segments of the population face a greater risk of suffering intersectional and multiple discrimination. For instance, investment-linked evictions and displacements often result in physical and sexual violence against, and inadequate compensation and additional burdens related to resettlement for, women and girls. In the course of such investment-linked evictions and displacements, indigenous women and girls face discrimination both due to their gender and because they identify as indigenous people. In addition, women are overrepresented in the informal economy and are less likely to enjoy labour-related and social security protections. Furthermore, despite some improvement, women continue to be underrepresented in corporate decision-making processes worldwide. The Committee therefore recommends that States parties address the specific impacts of business activities on women and girls, including indigenous women and girls, and incorporate a gender perspective into all measures to regulate business activities that may adversely affect economic, social and cultural rights, including by consulting the Guidance on National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights. States parties should also take appropriate steps, including through temporary special measures, to improve women’s representation in the labour market, including at the upper echelons of the corporate hierarchy.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph