United Nations A/61/122/Add.1
General Assembly
Distr.: General
6 July 2006
Original: English
06-41974 (E) 310806
*0641974*
Sixty-first session
Item 60 (a) of the preliminary list*
Advancement of women: advancement of women
In-depth study on all forms of violence against women
Report of the Secretary-General
Contents
Paragraphs Page
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1–21 9
A. Scope of the study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8–17 10
B. Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18–21 11
II. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22–64 12
A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 12
B. International attention: the women’s movement and the United Nations . . . . . . . . . . 23–29 13
C. Violence against women: a form of discrimination and human rights violation. . . . . . . .30–37 14
D. Consequences of addressing violence against women as a human rights concern. . . . . . . .38–42 17
E. Integrating violence against women and expanding the scope of action . . . . . . . . . . .43–54 18
F. Challenges and obstacles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55–64 23
III. The context and causes of violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65–103 27
A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65–68 27
B. The broad context and structural causes of violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . 69–91 28
1. Patriarchy and other relations of dominance and subordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69–77 28
2. Culture and violence against women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78–85 30
* A/61/50 and Corr.1.
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3. Economic inequalities and violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86–91 31
C. Causal and risk factors for violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92–100 33
1. Use of violence in conflict resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93–94 33
2. Doctrines of privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 95 33
3. State inaction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 34
4. Risk factors for violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 97–100 34
D. Implications for state and intergovernmental action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101–103 35
IV. Forms, consequences and costs of violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104–181 36
A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104–108 36
B. Forms and manifestations of violence against women in various settings . . . . . . . . .109–155 37
1. Violence against women within the family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111–125 37
(a) Intimate partner violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112–117 37
(b) Harmful traditional practices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118–125 39
2. Violence against women in the community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126–138 40
(a) Femicide: the gender-based murder of a woman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127 41
(b) Sexual violence by non-partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128–131 41
(c) Sexual harassment and violence in the workplace, educational institutions and in sport.132–134 42
(d) Trafficking in women. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135–138 42
3. Violence against women perpetrated or condoned by the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139–142 43
(a) Custodial violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141 44
(b) Forced sterilization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 44
4. Violence against women in armed conflict. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143–146 44
5. Violence against women and multiple discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147–154 46
6. Areas requiring enhanced attention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155 47
C. Consequences of violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156–170 47
1. Health consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157–165 48
2. Social and intergenerational impacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166–170 49
D. Economic costs of violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 171–181 50
V. Collecting data on violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182–241 56
A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182–186 56
B. Population-based surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187–200 57
1. Description of population-based surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187–194 57
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2. Gaps and challenges in population-based data on violence against women . . . . . . . . .195–199 59
(a) Types of violence measured. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196–198 59
(b) Ethical and safety issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 60
3. Study design and implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200 61
C. Other sources of data and information on violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . 201–220 62
1. Service-based data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 201–212 62
(a) Health services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 205–207 63
(b) Criminal and civil justice sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208–210 63
(c) Other services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211–212 64
2. Gaps and challenges in service-based data on violence against women. . . . . . . . . . .213–215 64
3. Qualitative data collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216–219 65
4. Evaluation research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220 65
D. Forms of violence against women that are under-documented . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221–235 66
1. Femicide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 223–225 66
2. Sexual violence against women in armed conflict and post-conflict situations . . . . . 226–228 67
3. Trafficking in women and girls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229–232 67
4. Sexual harassment and violence in workplaces and schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233–234 68
5. Violence in institutional settings and correctional facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 68
E. Indicators on violence against women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236–239 68
F. Improving data collection on violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240–241 69
VI. The responsibility of the State to address violence against women. . . . . . . . . . . 242–284 70
A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242–253 70
B. State responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .254–260 73
C. Addressing violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261–274 74
1. Legal and policy framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262–265 75
2. Criminal justice system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266–268 75
(a) Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 75
(b) Prosecution and punishment of perpetrators of violence against women. . . . . . . . . 267–268 76
3. Remedies for victims of violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 76
4. Support services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 76
5. Modifying attitudes and behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271–272 77
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6. Capacity-building and training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273 77
7. Data and statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 78
D. Gaps in implementation of international standards at the national level . . . .. . . . .275–283 78
1. Legislation and its implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276–279 78
2. Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 79
3. Provision of services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281 79
4. Attitudes and stereotypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282 79
5. Data and research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283 79
E. Actions to be taken by States to meet their international obligations . . . . . . . . . . . .284 79
VII. Promising practices and challenges for implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285–362 81
A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285–291 81
B. Promising practices in law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292–318 83
1. Guiding principles for promising practices in law and the justice system . . . . . . . . . .293 83
2. Legal framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294–303 83
(a) Enactment of laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 83
(b) Implementation of laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295–299 84
(c) Monitoring laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300–301 85
(d) Periodic review and revision of laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 302–303 85
3. Criminal law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304–309 86
(a) Prosecution and punishment of perpetrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .304–306 86
(b) Protection of victims’ rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .307–309 86
4. Civil remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310–313 87
5. Specialized laws and procedures to address violence against women . . . . . . . . . . .314–316 87
6. Other areas of law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .317 88
7. The application of international law by national courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318 89
C. Promising practices in the provision of services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319–335 91
1. Guiding principles for promising practices in the provision of services . . . . . . . . . . 321 91
2. Forms of service provision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322–334 91
(a) Health services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 91
(b) Sexual assault centres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .323 92
(c) Hotlines and helplines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324–325 92
(d) Shelters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326–327 93
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(e) Self-help groups and counselling services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 93
(f) Legal services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329 94
(g) Services for victims of trafficking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330–333 94
(h) Services for victims/survivors of violence against women during
and after armed conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 95
3. Coordination and multiagency work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 95
D. Promising practices in prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336–354 96
1. Guiding principles of promising practices in prevention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338 96
2. Prevention strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .339–354 97
(a) Advocacy and campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339–343 97
(b) Community mobilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344–345 98
(c) Working with men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346–348 98
(d) Using the news media and information technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349–351 99
(e) Promoting public safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 99
(f) Education and capacity-building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 100
(g) Other prevention strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354 100
E. Challenges for implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355–362 100
1. Inconsistent efforts and inadequate resources indicating a lack of political will . . . . .357 101
2. Lack of a comprehensive and integrated approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .358 101
3. Lack of funding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 101
4. Failure to end impunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 101
5. The intersection of multiple forms of discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361 101
6. Lack of evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 102
VIII. Conclusion and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363–402 102
A. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363–373 102
B. End impunity and take action to address violence against women . . . . . . . . .. .. .374–402 104
1. Recommendations at the national level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .376–390 104
(a) Secure gender equality and protect women’s human rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377–378 104
(b) Exercise leadership to end violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .379–380 105
(c) Close the gaps between international standards and national laws,policies and practices . . . . . 381–382 106
(d) Strengthen the knowledge base on all forms of violence against
women to inform policy and strategy development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383–385 107
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(e) Build and sustain strong multisectoral strategies, coordinated
nationally and locally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386–387 108
(f) Allocate adequate resources and funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .388–390 108
2. Recommendations at the international level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391–402 109
(a) Intergovernmental level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .396–397 109
(b) United Nations system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .398–402 111
Tables
1. Sexual violence against women in conflict settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2. Prevalence of physical assaults on women by a male partner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Annex
Costs of violence against women: selected studies generating a monetary estimate of costs . . . . .133
Boxes
1. Definitions of violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
2. The Beijing Platform for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3. Preventing and responding to violence against women: the United Nations system . . . . . . . . . 20
4. Guidelines on violence against women by the specialized agencies and other bodies of the United Nations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 22
5. Selected instruments of law, policy and practice on violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . 25
6. Multi-country surveys on violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 58
7. Prevalence and incidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
8. World Health Organization ethical and safety recommendations for research on domestic
violence against women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 60
9. Issues that affect the comparability of data on violence against women. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 61
10. Examples of international and regional jurisprudence on violence against women. . . . . . . . . 72
11. National laws on violence against women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
12. One-stop centres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
13. Duluth model of a coordinated community approach to domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
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Acknowledgements
The Secretary-General’s in-depth study on violence against women, mandated
by General Assembly resolution 58/185, was prepared by the Division for the
Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the
United Nations Secretariat.
Expert inputs for the study were provided by two expert group meetings
organized by the Division for the Advancement of Women. One meeting, on data
and statistics, was organized in collaboration with the Economic Commission for
Europe and the World Health Organization (WHO), with the participation of the
following experts: Elizabeth Ardayfio-Shandorf (Ghana); Asmita Basu (India); Mary
Ellsberg (United States of America); Sharmeen A. Farouk (Bangladesh); Dalia
Farouki (Jordan); Dominique Fougeyrollas-Schwebel (France); Holly Johnson
(Canada); Ivy Josiah (Malaysia); Sunita Kishor (India); Sami Nevala (Finland);
Ruth Ojiambo Ochieng (Uganda); Ana Flávia d’Oliveira (Brazil); Patricia Tjaden
(United States); Sylvia Walby (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland); and Jeanne Ward (Kenya/United States) (see http://www.un.org/
womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw-stat-2005/index.html).
The second expert group meeting, on good practices, was organized in
collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with
the participation of the following experts: Zarizana binti Abdul Aziz (Malaysia);
Charlotte Bunch (United States); Ana Maria Carcedo Cabanas (Costa Rica); Sally
Fay Goldfarb (United States); Claudia Hermanndorfer Acosta (Honduras); Sheillah
Kanyangarara (Zimbabwe); Elizabeth Kelly (United Kingdom); Fatma Aly Mostafa
Khafagy (Egypt); Madhu Kishwar (India); Rosa Logar (Austria); Lori Michau
(United States); Lepa Mladenovic (Serbia); Sapana Pradhan-Malla (Nepal); Leena
Ruusuvuori (Finland); Lisa-Anne Vetten (South Africa) (see http://www.un.org/
womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw-gp-2005/index.html). In both meetings, representatives
of several entities of the United Nations system also participated.
Expert briefs were prepared by Alexis Aronowitz, Christine Chinkin,
Katherine McKenna, Audra Bowles and Tanis Day, J?rgen Lorentzen and Sylvia
Walby.
Contributions to the study were provided by the International Center for
Research on Women (Nata Duvvury and Caren Grown, with Subadra
Panchanadeswaran and Katherine Weiland), Program for Appropriate Technology in
Health (Mary Ellsberg), Elizabeth Schneider and Donna Sullivan (consultants) and
staff of the Division for the Advancement of Women.
An advisory committee of 10 high-level, internationally recognized experts in
the field of violence against women provided guidance and feedback on the
approach, scope and content of the study, reviewed and commented on drafts and
proposed a set of strategic recommendations. The members of the advisory
committee were: Charlotte Bunch, Executive Director, Center for Women’s Global
Leadership (United States); Susana Chiarotti, former Regional Coordinator, Latin
American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights
(Argentina); Dorcas Coker-Appiah, expert of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (Ghana); Radhika Coomaraswamy, former Special
Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences and Special
Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict (Sri
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Lanka); Yakin Erturk, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences (Turkey); Alda Facio, former Director, Women, Gender and Justice
Programme, United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime
and the Treatment of Offenders (Costa Rica); Asma Khader, General Coordinator,
Sisterhood Is Global Institute of Jordan and former counsel on violence against
women to the Permanent Arab Court to Resist Violence Against Women (Jordan);
Irene Khan, Secretary General, Amnesty International (Bangladesh), represented at
meetings of the advisory committee by Widney Brown; Angela Melo, Special
Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, African Commission on Human and
Peoples’ Rights (Mozambique); and Heisoo Shin, expert of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Republic of Korea).
A task force comprising entities of the United Nations system and nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) provided inputs for the study and served as a
channel for information exchange, consultations and awareness-raising. It included
representatives of the following United Nations Secretariat bodies and United
Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies: Department of Peacekeeping
Operations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Office of
the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, United
Nations Statistics Division, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR), UNODC, Economic Commission for Africa, Economic
Commission for Europe, Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Economic
and Social Commission for Western Asia, United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Human
Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Joint United Nations Programme on
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA), International Research and Training Institute for the
Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), United Nations Interregional Crime and
Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), International Labour Organization (ILO),
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), WHO
and World Bank. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) was also part
of the task force.
The task force also included the following non-governmental organizations:
Amnesty International, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development,
Center for Reproductive Rights, Center for Women’s Global Leadership, Latin
American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights, Equality
Now, African Women’s Development and Communication Network, European
Information Centre Against Violence, Human Rights Watch (Women’s Rights
Division), International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, International
Indigenous Women’s Forum, NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security,
Open Society Institute (Network Women’s Program), Women in Law and
Development in Africa and Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and
Children.
Background material on the study is available at http://www.un.org/
womenwatch/daw/vaw/index.htm.
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I. Introduction
1. Violence against women persists in every country in the world as a pervasive
violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality.
Such violence is unacceptable, whether perpetrated by the State and its agents or by
family members or strangers, in the public or private sphere, in peacetime or in
times of conflict. The Secretary-General has stated that as long as violence against
women continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality,
development and peace.
2. States have an obligation to protect women from violence, to hold perpetrators
accountable and to provide justice and remedies to victims. Eliminating violence
against women remains one of the most serious challenges of our time. The
knowledge base and tools to prevent and eliminate violence against women
developed over the past decade must be utilized more systematically and effectively
to put a stop to all violence against women. This requires clear political will,
outspoken, visible and unwavering commitment at the highest levels of leadership
of the State and the resolve, advocacy and practical action of individuals and
communities.
3. Significant work has been undertaken by States, entities of the United Nations
system, NGOs, women’s groups and networks and researchers to address male
violence against women. The extensive work undertaken by different actors at
different levels has led to a better understanding of the nature and scope of violence
against women and an appreciation of its impact on women and on societies.
International legal and policy frameworks for addressing such violence have been
established, covering many different forms and types of violence in public as well as
in private settings.
4. At the same time, much more remains to be done to create an environment
where women can live free from gender-based violence.1 Progress in the
development of international legal norms, standards and policies has not been
accompanied by comparable progress in their implementation at the national level,
which remains insufficient and inconsistent in all parts of the world. Similarly,
while data on the nature, prevalence and incidence of all forms of violence against
women has increased significantly in recent years, information is not yet
comprehensive. Lack of political will is reflected in inadequate resources devoted to
tackling violence against women and a failure to create and maintain a political and
social environment where violence against women is not tolerated. There is also a
need to engage men more effectively in the work on preventing and eliminating
such violence, and to tackle stereotypes and attitudes that perpetuate male violence
against women.
5. The General Assembly has provided critical leadership in the global effort to
combat violence against women. Its landmark Declaration on the Elimination of
Violence against Women (resolution 48/104) provides the framework for analysis
and action at the national and international levels. In recent years, the General
Assembly has addressed violence against women in general, as well as specific
forms and manifestations of such violence. These include violence against women
migrant workers; trafficking in women and girls; traditional or customary practices
affecting the health of women and girls; crimes against women committed in the
name of “honour”; and domestic violence against women.
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6. In December 2003, the General Assembly mandated — for the first time — the
preparation of an in-depth study on all forms and manifestations of violence against
women (resolution 58/185). This request is a clear signal of the importance that
Member States — through the General Assembly — attach to addressing violence
against women.
7. Specifically, the study aims to: highlight the persistence and unacceptability of
all forms of violence against women in all parts of the world; strengthen the
political commitment and joint efforts of all stakeholders to prevent and eliminate
violence against women; and identify ways and means to ensure more sustained and
effective implementation of State obligations to address all forms of violence
against women, and to increase State accountability.
A. Scope of the study
8. Resolution 58/185 provides that the study should cover all forms and
manifestations of violence against women, and include the following:
(a) a statistical overview of all forms of violence against women, in order to
better evaluate the scale of such violence while identifying gaps in data collection
and formulating proposals for assessing the extent of the problem;
(b) the causes of violence against women, including its root causes and other
contributing factors;
(c) the medium-term and long-term consequences of violence against
women;
(d) the health, social and economic costs of violence against women;
(e) the identification of best practice examples in areas including legislation,
policies, programmes and effective remedies and the efficiency of such mechanisms
to the end of combating and eliminating violence against women.
9. It is not possible to discuss all forms and manifestations of violence against
women comprehensively in one study. Rather, the present study endeavours to
highlight and synthesize issues and concerns within the framework provided by
resolution 58/185, with a view to supporting the work of the General Assembly.
Some issues have recently been, or are being, addressed in other pertinent studies of
the Secretary-General. The issue of violence against women in conflict and postconflict
situations was addressed in the study entitled “Women, peace and security”
of 2002, prepared in response to Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). A study
on violence against children is currently under preparation.
10. The present study sets out the broad context of violence against women and
summarizes the knowledge base with regard to its extent and prevalence. It exposes
the gaps and challenges in the availability of data, including methodologies for
assessing the prevalence of such violence. It synthesizes causes and consequences,
including costs. It discusses States’ responsibility for preventing and addressing
violence against women, and identifies promising practices and effective strategies
for addressing it.
11. Section II of the present study gives a historical overview of the development
of international awareness and action on male violence against women. It traces the
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processes and institutions that have been pivotal in categorizing such violence as a
human rights concern. It summarizes the current framework for addressing violence
against women contained in international and regional legal and policy instruments,
including those agreed by global conferences of the United Nations. It gives
attention to the role of the women’s movement in raising awareness about such
violence and the evolving challenges in addressing it.
12. Section III provides the historical and socio-cultural context within which
violence against women occurs and persists. The section analyses the structural and
systemic causes of male violence against women, in particular discrimination. It
points to the role of patriarchy, denial of women’s human rights, and male control
over women’s agency and sexuality. It highlights risk factors that increase women’s
vulnerability to violence, while also noting its universality and particularity, and
factors that shape women’s personal experience of such violence.
13. An overview of forms and manifestations of violence against women and its
consequences is provided in section IV. It shows the continuum of violence against
women throughout their lives and in a variety of settings. The section presents
available evidence on the prevalence of different forms and manifestations of
violence against women across countries. It assesses the consequences of such
violence for the victim/survivor as well as for families, communities and nations,
including the economic costs.
14. Section V outlines current progress and challenges in the collection of data and
statistics on violence against women. It reviews available methodologies and their
relevance for collection of particular types of data. It also notes the role of different
actors in data collection. The section emphasizes the urgent need for enhanced data
collection to strengthen the knowledge base on all forms of violence against women
for informed policy and strategy development.
15. Section VI outlines the obligations of the State in preventing and eliminating
all forms of violence against women, whether committed by State agents or non-
State actors, protecting women from such violence and providing reparation to
victims. It reviews applicable international norms and standards and the practice of
judicial and other bodies in clarifying the content of States’ responsibility to take
action. It summarizes key actions to be taken towards meeting these obligations.
16. In section VII, promising practices in addressing violence against women are
highlighted in three areas: the law, service provision and prevention. The section
presents guiding principles that inform good or promising practice in these areas and
gives illustrative examples. It also identifies a series of remaining challenges for
implementing standards and norms on violence against women.
17. Section VIII draws conclusions and sets out recommendations for action, by
different actors and at different levels, in seven key strategic areas.
B. Methodology
18. The study draws from existing research and knowledge at the national,
regional and global levels. Among the many sources used are: contributions by
Member States in response to a note verbale; responses of Member States to the
questionnaire of the Secretariat for the 10-year review and appraisal of the
implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, received in 2003
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and 2004; reports of States parties under article 18 of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; contributions by
entities of the United Nations system, several human rights treaty bodies, and
regional organizations; inputs by NGOs; and contributions made during an online
discussion. Several consultations involving Member States and other stakeholders
were held in 2005 and 2006, including in conjunction with the sixtieth session of the
General Assembly and the fiftieth session of the Commission on the Status of
Women, which also provided inputs. The study benefited from the comments and
guidance of an advisory committee of 10 experts on violence against women from
all regions. It also benefited from consultations with the independent expert for the
Secretary-General’s study on violence against children, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, and
with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences.
19. The website of the Division for the Advancement of Women contains these and
other resources, including a detailed bibliography and further information pertaining
to legislation on different forms of violence against women (see box 10).
20. In this study, the term “violence against women” is understood to mean any act
of gender-based violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman
or that affects women disproportionately (see box 1 below). It does not address
gender-based violence suffered by men. The term “women” is used to cover females
of all ages, including girls under the age of 18.
21. There is an ongoing debate over the use of the terms “victim” and “survivor”,
with some suggesting that the term “victim” should be avoided because it implies
passivity, weakness and inherent vulnerability and fails to recognize the reality of
women’s resilience and agency. For others the term “survivor” is problematic
because it denies the sense of victimization experienced by women who have been
the target of violent crime. In this study, the term “victim” is generally used in the
criminal justice context and the term “survivor” in the context of advocacy. At other
points the term “victim/survivor” is used.
II. Overview
A. Introduction
22. Violence against women has received growing attention at the United Nations
as a form of discrimination and a violation of women’s human rights. The
international community has committed itself to protecting the rights and dignity of
individual women and men through numerous treaties and declarations. Despite the
increased attention to women’s rights, there has been little progress in reducing
violence against women. The present study concludes that violence against women
has yet to receive the priority attention and resources needed at all levels to tackle it
with the seriousness and visibility necessary. It seeks to provide evidence and
recommendations that will assist Governments, intergovernmental institutions and
civil society in addressing this question and in redressing this global injustice.
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B. International attention: the women’s movement and the
United Nations
23. The issue of violence against women came to prominence because of the
grass-roots work of women’s organizations and movements around the world. As
women sought to gain equality and recognition of their rights in many areas, they
drew attention to the fact that violence against women was not the result of random,
individual acts of misconduct, but was deeply rooted in structural relationships of
inequality between women and men (see sect. III). In calling for action and redress
for these violations nationally and internationally, women exposed the role of
violence against women as a form of discrimination and a mechanism to perpetuate
it. This process led to the identification of many different forms and manifestations
of violence against women (see sect. IV), drawing them out of the private domain to
public attention and the arena of State accountability.
24. At the international level, the issue of violence against women came onto the
agenda in the context of women’s rights activism at the United Nations. The
interaction between women’s advocacy around the world and United Nations
initiatives over several decades has been a driving factor in achieving this attention.
Some particular forms of violence against women, such as trafficking for forced
prostitution, had been addressed before the founding of the United Nations.2
However, wider attention to violence against women emerged primarily in the
context of the United Nations Decade for Women (1975-1985), as more women’s
organizations became linked to the United Nations agenda through international and
regional women’s conferences and through women in development initiatives. Their
efforts acted as a catalyst in expanding the understanding of violence against
women. They supported the development of international norms and standards and
the creation of monitoring and reporting mechanisms.3
25. Early initiatives to address violence against women at the international level
focused primarily on the family. The World Plan of Action for Women,4 adopted in
1975 at the World Conference of the International Women’s Year in Mexico City,
drew attention to the need for education programmes and ways to resolve family
conflict that ensured dignity, equality and security to each family member, but did
not explicitly refer to violence. However, the parallel NGO Tribunal held in Mexico
City and the International Tribunal on Crimes against Women in Brussels in 1976
highlighted many more forms of violence against women.5
26. The 1980 Copenhagen mid-decade Second World Conference of the United
Nations Decade for Women6 adopted a resolution on violence in the family. It
referred to violence in the home in its final report and, in the context of health care,
called for the development of programmes to eliminate violence against women and
children and to protect women from physical and mental abuse. Violence against
women was also addressed in the parallel NGO forum and several Government
delegations addressed this issue. This reflected its growing importance on the
agendas of women’s movements at the national level.7
27. Women’s activism on violence against women increased in the early 1980s and
the issue was more prominent at the Third World Conference on Women in Nairobi
in 1985.8 The Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women
recognized the prevalence of violence against women in various forms in everyday
life in all societies and identified diverse manifestations of violence by calling
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attention to abused women in the home, women victims of trafficking and
involuntary prostitution, women in detention and women in armed conflict. The link
between violence against women and other issues on the United Nations agenda
began to be drawn as such violence was identified as a major obstacle to achieving
the objectives of the Decade for Women: equality, development and peace. The
Forward-Looking Strategies called for preventive policies, legal measures, national
machinery and comprehensive assistance to women victims of violence. They also
acknowledged the need for public awareness of violence against women as a
societal problem.
28. Parallel to the work on violence against women in the framework of the
Decade for Women, United Nations bodies dealing with crime prevention and
criminal justice increasingly addressed violence against women, in particular
domestic violence.9 Work in this sector demonstrated that it was a significantly
underreported global phenomenon that was committed in different contexts and
highlighted the need for appropriate laws and access to justice for women victims,
as well as effective implementation and enforcement of laws at the national level.10
29. During the early 1990s, efforts by the women’s movement to gain recognition
of violence against women as a human rights issue gained momentum. For the
World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993, women caucused and
lobbied globally and regionally to redefine the contours of human rights law to
include the experiences of women. They presented conference delegates with almost
half a million signatures from 128 countries demanding that such violence be
recognized as a violation of women’s human rights, and ran a global tribunal in
which women’s testimonies, including cases of violence from around the world,
were presented in a human rights framework.11
C. Violence against women: a form of discrimination and
human rights violation
30. Evidence gathered by researchers of the pervasive nature and multiple forms
of violence against women, together with advocacy campaigns, led to the
recognition that violence against women was global, systemic and rooted in power
imbalances and structural inequality between men and women. The identification of
the link between violence against women and discrimination was key.
31. The work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women, the treaty body established in 1982 to monitor implementation of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,12
contributed significantly to the recognition of violence against women as a human
rights issue. The Convention does not explicitly refer to violence against women,
but the Committee has made clear that all forms of violence against women fall
within the definition of discrimination against women as set out in the Convention.
The Committee regularly calls on States parties to adopt measures to address such
violence. In its general recommendation No. 12 (1989),13 the Committee noted
States’ obligation to protect women from violence under various articles of the
Convention, and requested them to include information on the incidence of violence
and the measures adopted to confront it in their periodic reports to the Committee.
General recommendation No. 19 (1992)14 decisively established the link: it asserted
unequivocally that violence against women constitutes a form of gender-based
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discrimination and that discrimination is a major cause of such violence. This
analysis added the issue of violence against women to the terms of the Convention
and the international legal norm of non-discrimination on the basis of sex and, thus,
directly into the language, institutions and processes of human rights. The inquiry
and individual complaints procedures under the Optional Protocol to the
Convention, in force since 2000, allow the Committee to develop jurisprudence in
this area (see sect. VI).
32. The World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993 saw a coordinated
global mobilization to reaffirm women’s rights as human rights. Women from all
regions, from both Governments and NGOs, collaborated and organized to influence
both regional and global preparatory processes for the Conference by campaigning
to bring a gender perspective to the international human rights agenda and to
increase the visibility of violations of women’s human rights. The Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action included affirmation of the universality of
women’s rights as human rights and a call for elimination of gender-based violence.
The Vienna Conference also added significant momentum to the adoption of the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women15 by the General
Assembly later that year.
33. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women states that
violence against women is “a manifestation of historically unequal power relations
between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination
against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women”.16
It highlights the different sites of violence against women: violence in the family,
violence in the community and violence perpetrated or condoned by the State. The
Declaration is sensitive to the fact that particular groups of women are especially
prone to be targeted for violence, including minority, indigenous and refugee
women, destitute women, women in institutions or in detention, girls, women with
disabilities, older women and women in situations of armed conflict. The
Declaration sets out a series of measures to be taken by States to prevent and
eliminate such violence. It requires States to condemn violence against women and
not invoke custom, tradition or religion to avoid their obligations to eliminate such
violence.
Box 1
Definitions of violence against women
General recommendation No. 19
Gender-based violence against women is “violence that is directed
against a woman because she is a woman, or violence that affects women
disproportionately. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual
harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of
liberty.”
“Gender-based violence, which impairs or nullifies the
enjoyment by women of human rights and fundamental freedoms
under general international law or under human rights conventions,
is discrimination within the meaning of article 1 of the
Convention.”a
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Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, article 1
Violence against women “means any act of gender-based violence
that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological
harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or
arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private
life.”b
General Assembly resolution on the Elimination of Domestic Violence
against Women
Recognizes that “domestic violence can include economic
deprivation and isolation and that such conduct may cause imminent
harm to the safety, health or well-being of women.”c
a Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women general
recommendation No. 19, para. 7.
b General Assembly resolution 48/104.
c General Assembly resolution 58/147.
34. A further outcome of the Vienna conference was the appointment by the
Commission on Human Rights in 1994 of a Special Rapporteur on violence against
women, its causes and consequences.17 This mandate created an institutional
mechanism for regular in-depth review and reporting on violence against women
around the world.18 The work is conducted within the framework of the international
human rights regime and includes recommendations on how to eliminate violence
against women and its causes and remedy its consequences. Through analysis,
recommendations and country visits, the Special Rapporteur has raised awareness of
the causes and consequences of different forms of violence against women and has
further elaborated an understanding of international standards in this area.
35. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted by 189 countries at
the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, consolidated these
gains by underlining that violence against women is both a violation of women’s
human rights and an impediment to the full enjoyment by women of all human
rights. The focus shifted to demanding State accountability for action to prevent and
eliminate violence against women. The Beijing Platform for Action identified 12
critical areas of concern that require urgent action to achieve the goals of equality,
development and peace; one of these areas was on violence against women. Such
violence is also addressed in several other critical areas of concern.19
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Box 2
The Beijing Platform for Action
The Beijing Platform for Action’s critical area of concern on
violence against women established three strategic objectives:
? taking integrated measures to prevent and eliminate violence
against women
? studying the causes and consequences of violence against
women and the effectiveness of preventive measures
? eliminating trafficking in women and assisting victims of
violence due to prostitution and trafficking.
Within these objectives, the Platform for Action sets out a series of
concrete actions to be taken by Governments, including implementation
of international human rights instruments; adoption and periodic review
of legislation on violence against women, access to justice and effective
remedies; policies and programmes to protect and support women
victims of violence; and awareness-raising and education.
36. At the five-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action in 2000, States
specified that violence against women and girls, whether occurring in public or
private life, is a human rights issue and highlighted State responsibility in
addressing such violence.20 Governments were asked to take all appropriate
measures to eliminate discrimination and violence against women by any person,
organization or enterprise and to treat all forms of violence against women and girls
as criminal offences.
37. Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security21
was a milestone in addressing violence against women in situations of armed
conflict. Recognizing the need to fully implement laws that protect the rights of
women and girls during and after armed conflict, it calls for special measures to
protect women and girls from gender-based violence in armed conflict. The
resolution also emphasized the responsibility of all States to put an end to the
impunity of perpetrators.
D. Consequences of addressing violence against women as
a human rights concern
38. The first Special Rapporteur on violence against women described the violence
against women movement as “perhaps the greatest success story of international
mobilization around a specific human rights issue, leading to the articulation of
international norms and standards and the formulation of international programmes
and policies”.22
39. There are important consequences that flow from categorizing violence against
women as a matter of human rights. Recognizing violence against women as a
violation of human rights clarifies the binding obligations on States to prevent,
eradicate and punish such violence and their accountability if they fail to comply
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with these obligations. These obligations arise from the duty of States to take steps
to respect, protect, promote and fulfil human rights. Claims on the State to take all
appropriate measures to respond to violence against women thus move from the
realm of discretion and become legal entitlements. The human rights framework
provides access to a number of tools and mechanisms that have been developed to
hold States accountable at the international and regional level. These include the
human rights treaty bodies and international criminal tribunals, as well as the
African, European and inter-American human rights systems (see sect. VI).
40. Human rights provide a unifying set of norms that can be used to hold States
accountable for adhering to their obligations, to monitor progress and to promote
coordination and consistency. Addressing violence against women as a human rights
issue empowers women, positioning them not as passive recipients of discretionary
benefits but as active rights-holders. It also enhances the participation of other
human rights advocates, including men and boys, who become stakeholders in
addressing violence against women as part of building respect for all human rights.
41. Recognizing violence against women as a human rights issue has also enabled
human rights discourse and practice to become more inclusive by encompassing the
experiences of women. When women’s particular experiences remain invisible, they
do not inform the understanding of human rights violations and remedies for them.23
Human rights norms therefore must take into account the particular circumstances of
women in order to be fully universal. An integrated and inclusive human rights
regime should take into account not only gender perspectives but also the wide
variety of factors that shape and reinforce women’s, and men’s, experiences of
discrimination and violence, including race, ethnicity, class, age, sexual orientation,
disability, nationality, religion and culture.
42. Understanding violence against women as a human rights concern does not
preclude other approaches to preventing and eliminating violence, such as
education, health, development and criminal justice efforts. Rather, addressing
violence against women as a human rights issue encourages an indivisible, holistic
and multisectoral response that adds a human rights dimension to work in all
sectors. It calls for strengthening and accelerating initiatives in all areas to prevent
and eliminate violence against women, including in the criminal justice, health,
development, humanitarian, peacebuilding and security sectors.
E. Integrating violence against women and expanding the scope
of action
43. As the understanding of violence against women as a human rights issue
evolved during the 1990s, so too did the implications of this violence for many
different sectors. As a result, an increasing number of stakeholders now address the
impact of violence against women in their goals and mandates. Similarly, the
understanding of the scope and dimensions of violence against women continues to
evolve through policy and practice, as reflected in the work of human rights treaty
bodies and special procedures, international criminal tribunals, intergovernmental
bodies and a range of United Nations entities and regional bodies.
44. Women-specific policies and programmes continue to drive the agenda on
violence against women in the United Nations. At the same time, increased attention
is being given to ensuring that women’s right to be free from violence is protected in
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a comprehensive manner. Human rights treaty bodies increasingly integrate
women’s perspectives and experiences into the scope of their work and pay attention
to violence against women within their mandates. The Human Rights Committee
and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights have, for example,
adopted general comments on the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment
of rights,24 and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has
adopted a general recommendation on the gender-related dimensions of racial
discrimination.25 These contain explicit references to the nature, scope and extent of
violence against women and to States’ responsibilities to prevent and eliminate it.
Other treaty bodies also refer to the need to eliminate and prevent violence against
women in their concluding observations on States parties’ reports (see sect. VI).
45. In addition to the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, other
thematic special rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights deal with
violence-related issues. These include the Special Rapporteurs on sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography and on trafficking in persons, especially in
women and children. Other special rapporteurs have also begun to address the
impact of violence against women within their mandates, such as the Special
Rapporteurs on torture and on the right to health, food, education, adequate housing,
freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of religion or belief. The Special
Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special
Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, have both focused on crimes
against women committed in the name of “honour”.
46. The General Assembly and the functional commissions of the Economic and
Social Council have regularly addressed violence against women.26 In particular, the
Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on Human Rights and its
main subsidiary body, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of
Human Rights, and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice have
adopted resolutions giving guidance on actions to be taken, at different levels and by
different stakeholders, to prevent and eliminate specific forms of violence. Some
resolutions have reinforced civil society initiatives, such as the General Assembly
recognition in 1999 of 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of
Violence against Women.27
47. Intergovernmental conferences and summits have reaffirmed the commitment
to eliminate violence against women. For example, the 1994 International
Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo, recognized that the
elimination of violence against women is necessary for the empowerment of
women.28 At the Millennium Summit, held in 2000, Heads of State and Government
resolved to combat all forms of violence against women.29 The 2005 World Summit
underlined the urgency of eliminating all forms of discrimination and violence
against women and the girl child and linked this to the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals.30
48. The International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for
Rwanda, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone have enhanced the role of the
international criminal justice system in providing accountability for violence against
women in armed conflict. The Rome Statute of 1998 establishing the International
Criminal Court includes several types of gender-based crimes (see sect. VI).
49. As a result of the directives to integrate a gender perspective into all areas of
work in the United Nations, more policies and programmes seek to take into account
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the various impacts of their actions on women and men. The range of entities
engaged in programmes to eliminate violence against women has grown.31 These
bodies contribute to research, normative and policy development, services and
support to victims/survivors of violence, advocacy and awareness-raising activities
and funding. While the number of United Nations bodies that now list violence
against women as one of their concerns is impressive, the amount of resources and
attention given to this issue is still small and the work lacks effective coordination.
Box 3
Preventing and responding to violence against women:
the United Nations system
Within the United Nations system, a range of bodies, offices and
agencies implement specific programmes on violence against women or
include efforts to address such violence within their overall mandates and
objectives. A survey of United Nations entities indicates that 32 of these
undertake work on violence against women at the global, regional and
national level. Such work covers many aspects of violence against
women, from domestic and interpersonal violence to violence against
women in conflict and post-conflict situations.
The work of United Nations entities also includes efforts to
eliminate trafficking in women and to prevent sexual exploitation and
abuse in each country where the United Nations has a presence, including
by United Nations staff and other personnel. Increasing attention is being
paid to the role of men and boys in preventing violence against women.
The role of violence against women as an obstacle for development
receives growing attention. Entities respond to the links between
violence against women and other areas, such as HIV/AIDS, and
contribute to data collection and the enhancement of the knowledge base
on different forms and manifestations of violence against women.
Gaps and challenges persist, and efforts are needed to achieve a
more comprehensive and well-coordinated system-wide response to
violence against women, in particular with respect to:
? implementation of the legal and policy frameworks that guide
United Nations system efforts to prevent and eliminate violence
against women
? data collection and research
? awareness-raising, communication and dissemination of good
practices
? coordinated response at the national level
? resource mobilization
? coordination mechanisms at the international level
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A task force of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender
Equality of the United Nations system aims to enhance system-wide
coordination and strengthen efforts to address violence against women.
The Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against
Women, managed by UNIFEM, supports innovative and catalytic
projects around the world aimed at eliminating violence against women.
50. Regional institutions have also addressed violence against women. Regional
treaties include the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and
Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará); the
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa; and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for
Prostitution (see sect. VI). Initiatives at the regional level in Africa include the
special addendum on the eradication of all forms of violence against women and
children (1998) to the 1997 Southern African Development Community’s
Declaration on Gender and Development and, at the European level,
recommendation 2002 (5), issued by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of
Europe to member States on the protection of women against violence.
51. These regional initiatives, which are informed by international standards on
violence against women, establish regional mechanisms, including monitoring
bodies, to prevent and eliminate such violence. Some regional initiatives expand on
existing standards. For example, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa expanded the definition in the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women by including within its
ambit economic violence or harm. The Convention of Belém do Pará asserts the
right of women to be free from violence in both the public and private spheres and
imposes a number of obligations on States in this regard. It also stresses the link
between violence and women’s enjoyment of all other rights.
52. The Inter-Parliamentary Union has highlighted the role of parliaments in
combating violence against women in all fields.32 Many States have enacted
legislation and developed policies and programmes to address violence against
women.33 Some States have adopted national action plans, which generally include
support measures for victims/survivors; awareness-raising, education and
sensitization; training and capacity-building; and the prosecution, punishment and
rehabilitation of perpetrators. However, progress is uneven. Most countries still lack
a coordinated multidisciplinary approach that includes the criminal justice system,
health care and other services, the media and the education system.
53. The differing levels of activity to address violence against women in
individual countries make it hard to assess the overall success of national efforts.
Comparisons are made all the more difficult by the fact that the manifestations of
violence against women vary according to the social, economic and historical
context.34 However, it is clear that violence against women remains a devastating
reality in all parts of the world, and the implementation of international and regional
standards to eradicate such violence is therefore an urgent priority. Strategies to
stem this pandemic can draw on the variety of promising practices and strategies to
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address violence against women that have been implemented in countries around the
world (see sect. VII).
54. Violence prevents women from contributing to, and benefiting from,
development by restricting their choices and limiting their ability to act. The
resulting consequences for economic growth and poverty reduction should be of
central concern to Governments.35 Violence against women also undermines and
constrains the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, including those
set in the areas of poverty, education, child health, maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS
and overall sustainable development.36 Unless attention to preventing and redressing
violence against women is incorporated in programmes to realize each of the
Millennium Development Goals, the health, social and economic consequences of
such violence can limit the potential benefits of these initiatives. Ultimately, the
persistence of violence against women is inconsistent with all the Millennium
Development Goals.37
Box 4
Guidelines on violence against women by the specialized agencies and
other bodies of the United Nations
Inter-agency standing committee, Guidelines for gender-based violence
interventions in humanitarian settings: Focusing on prevention of and
response to sexual violence in emergencies (2006)a
Secretary-General’s Bulletin on special measures for protection from
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (2003)b
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Principles and
Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking (2002)c
UN-Habitat, Safer Cities Programme, Guidelines for conducting safety
auditsd
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Guidelines for
Prevention and Response: Sexual and gender-based violence against
refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons (2002)e
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Guidelines on
international protection, gender-related persecution within the context of
Article 1 A (2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating
to the status of refugees (2002)f
World Food Programme, Executive Director’s circulars on implementation
of the Secretary-General’s Bulletin on special measures for protection
from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
World Health Organization, Guidelines for medico-legal care for victims
of sexual violence (2003)g
World Health Organization, Ethical and safety guidelines for interviewing
trafficked women (2003)h
World Health Organization, Ethical and safety recommendations for
domestic violence research (1999)i
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a http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/content/documents/subsidi/tf_gender/
IASC%20GBV%20Guidelines%20overview.PPT.
b ST/SGB/2003/13.
c http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu6/2/trafficking.doc.
d Adapted for each city where audits are conducted. Information about the
programme is available at: http://www.unhabitat.org/safercities.
e http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/protect/
opendoc.pdf?tbl=PROTECTION&id=3f696bcc4.
f Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/publ/opendoc.pdf?tbl
=PUBL&id=3d58ddef4.
g http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/publications/violence/
med_leg_guidelines/en/.
h http://www.who.int/gender/documents/en/
final%20recommendations%2023%20oct.pdf.
i http://www.who.int/gender/violence/womenfirtseng.pdf.
F. Challenges and obstacles
55. Violence against women will not be eradicated without political will and
commitment at the highest levels to make it a priority locally, nationally, regionally
and internationally. Political will is expressed in a variety of ways, including
legislation, national plans of action, adequate resource allocation, location of
mechanisms to address violence against women at the highest levels, efforts to
overcome impunity, visible condemnation of this violence, and sustained support by
leaders and opinion makers of efforts to eradicate it. Creating an environment
conducive to the effective functioning of NGOs working on this issue and
collaboration with them are also indications of political will.
56. Promoting and protecting the human rights of women and strengthening efforts
to achieve substantive equality between women and men are key to preventing
violence against women. Structural imbalances of power and inequality between
women and men are both the context and causes of violence against women (see
sect. III). As the present study makes clear, the elimination of violence and
discrimination against women in all spheres requires a comprehensive, coordinated
and sustained effort. It requires action in different arenas, including legislation; the
criminal justice sector; economic and social policies; services; awareness-raising
and education.
57. A particularly problematic challenge is the elimination of discriminatory
sociocultural attitudes and economic inequalities that reinforce women’s subordinate
place in society. Male violence against women is generated by sociocultural
attitudes and cultures of violence in all parts of the world, and especially by norms
about the control of female reproduction and sexuality (see sect. III). Furthermore,
violence against women intersects with other factors, such as race and class, and
with other forms of violence, including ethnic conflict.
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58. The emergence in many places of a backlash against advances in the status of
women has increased the difficulty of changing sociocultural attitudes that
perpetuate impunity for violence against women. In come contexts, organized
political forces, including different forms of cultural or religious “fundamentalisms”,
have put pressure on Governments to reverse advances in women’s rights (see
sect. III). Previous gains by women have been eroded or are under threat in some
countries around the world.
59. Controversies over strategies and approaches have also emerged among those
who seek to end violence against women. For example, there are disagreements over
how best to counter trafficking in women, whether and when prostitution constitutes
violence against women, and where to draw the line between a woman’s freedom of
choice and her victimization. Nevertheless, in spite of such controversies and
complexities, the obligation of States to defend the human rights of women in all
situations, including their right to freedom from violence against women, is clear
(see sect. VI).
60. A serious obstacle to progress is the inadequate and uneven data on various
forms of violence against women and on how they affect different groups of women.
The lack of data to evaluate the measures taken impedes informed analysis and
policymaking, which are critical to developing the most effective responses (see
sect. IV).
61. Overcoming these challenges requires dedicated and sustained resources.
Although many of the required actions are not resource-intensive — for example,
adopting the necessary legislation — even these actions are often not carried out
(see sects. IV and VII and box 11). The question remains why even those steps are
not taken and why so few resources are committed to an issue that harms so many.
For example, 10 years after its creation, the United Nations Trust Fund to End
Violence against Women only receives less than $2 million a year. Funding
measures to end violence against women should be a higher priority for both
Governments and donors.
62. Eliminating societal attitudes and structures that support and perpetuate
systemic discrimination and violence against women requires coordinated and
multifaceted efforts by Governments, NGOs and other actors. The challenge is to
create an integrated and coordinated strategy that combines targeted initiatives for
the promotion of gender equality, including the elimination of violence against
women, with systematic use of the gender mainstreaming strategy in all sectors.
Such efforts need to be supported by strong women-specific mechanisms that
enhance coordination and function as a catalyst for action.
63. Women’s movements and human rights organizations have a crucial role to
play in initiatives to address violence against women, in particular to translate
international standards into reality at the local level. At the national level, women’s
rights activists and NGOs continue to use international standards and norms on the
elimination of violence against women as lobbying tools and benchmarks for
assessing government efforts to prevent, eliminate and redress such violence.
64. Despite the complexities and challenges, progress towards ending violence
against women has begun, and there are many initiatives and recommendations
pointing the way forward. Bold leadership on the elimination of violence against
women at every level of society, together with increased political will and the
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allocation of significant resources, can lead to a dramatic reduction of such
violence.
Box 5
Selected instruments of law, policy and practice on violence
against women
International treaties
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Optional Protocol
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
Convention on the Rights of the Child and Optional Protocols
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in
Times of War (Fourth Geneva Convention)
Regional treaties
Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and
Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará)
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the
Rights of Women in Africa
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Convention on
Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for
Prostitution
International policy instruments
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted at the World
Conference on Human Rights
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Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and
Development
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted at the Fourth World
Conference on Women
Outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General
Assembly entitled: “Women 2000: Gender equality, development and
peace for the twenty-first century” (General Assembly resolution S-23/3)
Selected recent General Assembly resolutions
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, resolution 48/104
Crime prevention and criminal justice measures to eliminate violence
against women, resolution 52/86
United Nations Millennium Declaration, resolution 55/2a
Traditional or customary practices affecting the health of women and
girls, resolution 56/128
Elimination of domestic violence against women, resolution 58/147
Working towards the elimination of crimes against women and girls
committed in the name of honour, resolution 59/165
Trafficking in women and girls, resolution 59/166
Violence against women migrant workers, resolution 60/139
2005 World Summit Outcome, resolution 60/1b
Security Council resolution
Resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security
Commission on Human Rights resolution (most recent)c
Elimination of violence against women, resolution 2005/41
United Nations treaty bodies
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: general
recommendation No. 12, violence against women
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: general
recommendation No. 14, female circumcision
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: general
recommendation No. 19, violence against women,
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: general
recommendation No. 25, gender related dimensions of racial discrimination
Human Rights Committee: general comment No. 28, equality of rights
between men and women (article 3)
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Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: general comment
No. 14, the right to the highest attainable standard of health
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: general comment
No. 16, the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all
economic, social and cultural rights (article 3)
Inter-Parliamentary Union
How Parliaments can and must promote effective ways of combating
violence against women in all fields, resolution of 12 May 2006
a Particularly para. 25.
b Particularly para. 58 (f).
c General Assembly resolution 60/251 established the Human Rights Council. It
also transferred to the Council all existing mandates, mechanisms, functions
and responsibilities of the Commission on Human Rights. The resolution also
extended these mandates by one year within which the Council is to complete a
review.
III. The context and causes of violence against women
A. Introduction
65. The recognition of violence against women as a form of discrimination and,
thus, a human rights violation, provides an entry point for understanding the broad
context from which such violence emerges and related risk factors. The central
premise of the analysis of violence against women within the human rights
framework is that the specific causes of such violence and the factors that increase
the risk of its occurrence are grounded in the broader context of systemic genderbased
discrimination against women and other forms of subordination. Such
violence is a manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between
women and men reflected in both public and private life.38 The human rights-based
approach reveals the scope of women’s inequality and points to the linkages
between violations of a range of women’s human rights, including violence against
women. It highlights the link between the realization of women’s rights and the
elimination of power disparities. Vulnerability to violence is understood as a
condition created by the absence or denial of rights.
66. Violence against women is not confined to a specific culture, region or
country, or to particular groups of women within a society. The different
manifestations of such violence and women’s personal experience of it are, however,
shaped by many factors, including economic status, race, ethnicity, class, age,
sexual orientation, disability, nationality, religion and culture. In order to prevent
violence against women, the underlying root causes of such violence and the effects
of the intersection of the subordination of women and other forms of social, cultural,
economic and political subordination, need to be identified and addressed.
67. The causes of violence against women have been investigated from diverse
perspectives, including feminism, criminology, development, human rights, public
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health and sociology. Various explanations have emerged from these empirical and
theoretical inquiries. While they differ in the emphasis given to individual and
societal factors in explaining violence against women, all have concluded that no
single cause adequately accounts for violence against women.39 Such violence arises
from the convergence of specific factors within the broad context of power
inequalities at the individual, group, national and global levels.
68. The human rights-based approach encourages a holistic and multisectoral
response to violence against women. It permits an understanding of the
interrelationships between women’s human rights and how denial of these rights
creates the conditions for violence against them. Human rights establish the State’s
obligations to address the causes of violence against women, and to prevent and
respond to all violence against women, including that committed by non-State
actors, and hold States accountable for the fulfilment of these obligations.40 Human
rights also encourage communities to examine practices and values that promote
violence against women and offer guidance for sustainable change.41
B. The broad context and structural causes of violence
against women
1. Patriarchy and other relations of dominance and subordination
69. Violence against women is both universal and particular. It is universal in that
there is no region of the world, no country and no culture in which women’s
freedom from violence has been secured. The pervasiveness of violence against
women across the boundaries of nation, culture, race, class and religion points to its
roots in patriarchy — the systemic domination of women by men. The many forms
and manifestations of violence and women’s differing experiences of violence point
to the intersection between gender-based subordination and other forms of
subordination experienced by women in specific contexts.
70. Historically, gender roles — the socially constructed roles of women and
men — have been ordered hierarchically, with men exercising power and control
over women. Male dominance and female subordination have both ideological and
material bases. Patriarchy has been entrenched in social and cultural norms,
institutionalized in the law and political structures and embedded in local and global
economies. It has also been ingrained in formal ideologies and in public discourse.
Patriarchy restricts women’s choices but does not render women powerless, as
evidenced by the existence of women’s movements and successful claims by women
for their rights.
71. Patriarchy has had different historical manifestations and it functions
differently in specific cultural, geographic and political settings. It is intertwined
with other systems of subordination and exclusion. It is shaped by the interaction of
a wide range of factors, including histories of colonialism and post-colonial
domination, nation-building initiatives, armed conflict, displacement and migration.
Its expressions are also influenced by economic status, race, ethnicity, class, age,
sexual orientation, disability, nationality, religion and culture. Analysis of the
gender-based inequalities that give rise to violence must therefore take into account
the specific factors that disempower women in a particular setting.42 Such
contextualized analyses of women’s experiences of violence reveal that women
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exercise agency and varying degrees of control over their lives even within the
constraints of multiple forms of subordination.43
72. A number of key means through which male dominance and women’s
subordination are maintained are common to many settings. These include:
exploitation of women’s productive and reproductive work; control over women’s
sexuality and reproductive capacity; cultural norms and practices that entrench
women’s unequal status; State structures and processes that legitimize and
institutionalize gender inequalities; and violence against women. Violence against
women is both a means by which women’s subordination is perpetuated and a
consequence of their subordination.
73. Violence against women serves as a mechanism for maintaining male
authority. When a woman is subjected to violence for transgressing social norms
governing female sexuality and family roles, for example, the violence is not only
individual but, through its punitive and controlling functions, also reinforces
prevailing gender norms. Acts of violence against women cannot be attributed solely
to individual psychological factors or socio-economic conditions such as
unemployment. Explanations for violence that focus primarily on individual
behaviours and personal histories, such as alcohol abuse or a history of exposure to
violence, overlook the broader impact of systemic gender inequality and women’s
subordination. Efforts to uncover the factors that are associated with violence
against women should therefore be situated within this larger social context of
power relations.
74. People’s perceptions of the causes of violence may or may not encompass
these structural factors. In a 2005 study on intimate partner violence in Malawi, for
example, researchers found that while most women identified social and cultural
norms as major causal factors for the violence, including the practices of polygamy,
wife inheritance and bride price, most men attributed violence largely to individual
interpersonal dynamics.44
75. Violence against women also operates as a mechanism for maintaining the
boundaries of both male and female gender roles. The norms governing these roles
may be expressed in moral codes or in widely held social expectations. According to
a WHO assessment on intimate partner violence and HIV/AIDS, “men use violence
against women as a way of disciplining women for transgressions of traditional
female roles or when they perceive challenges to their masculinity.”45 Intimate
partner violence is significantly correlated with rigid gender roles that associate
masculinity with dominance, toughness, male authority in the home and threats to
male authority.46
76. Impunity for violence against women compounds the effects of such violence
as a mechanism of control. When the State fails to hold the perpetrators accountable,
impunity not only intensifies the subordination and powerlessness of the targets of
violence, but also sends a message to society that male violence against women is
both acceptable and inevitable. As a result, patterns of violent behaviour are
normalized.
77. The relationship between violence against women and patriarchy was
highlighted in a landmark decision by the Constitutional Court of South Africa in
1999. The Court found that the South African Constitution imposed a direct
obligation on the State to provide protection from domestic violence. The Court
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linked this right to protection to the right to equality and non-discrimination.47
Judge Albie Sachs explained that “to the extent that it is systemic, pervasive and
overwhelmingly gender-specific, domestic violence both reflects and reinforces
patriarchal domination, and does so in a particularly brutal form”.48
2. Culture and violence against women
78. While some cultural norms and practices empower women and promote
women’s human rights, customs, traditions and religious values are also often used
to justify violence against women. Certain cultural norms have long been cited as
causal factors for violence against women, including the beliefs associated with
“harmful traditional practices” (such as female genital mutilation/cutting, child
marriage and son preference), crimes committed in the name of “honour”,
discriminatory criminal punishments imposed under religiously based laws, and
restrictions on women’s rights in marriage.49 However, the cultural bases of other
forms of violence against women have not been adequately examined, at least in
part because of narrow conceptions of what constitutes “culture.”
79. Culture is formed by the values, practices and power relations that are
interwoven into the daily lives of individuals and their communities.50 Social
behaviour is mediated by culture in all societies and culture affects most
manifestations of violence everywhere. But the particular relationship between
culture and violence against women can only be clarified in specific historical and
geographic contexts. Since culture is constantly being shaped and reshaped by
processes of material and ideological change at the local and global levels, the
capacity to change is essential to the continuation of cultural identities and
ideologies.51 Culture cannot be reduced to a static, closed set of beliefs and
practices.
80. Culture is not homogenous. It incorporates competing and contradictory
values. Particular values and norms acquire authority when political, economic and
social developments bring their proponents to power or positions of influence.
Determinations of what needs to be preserved change over time, as, for example,
when male leaders willingly accept technology that massively affects culture, but
resist changes in women’s status, reflecting a tendency to treat women as the
repositories of cultural identity.52 Women are also actors in constituting culture: they
“influence and build the cultures around them, changing them as they resist, and
reinforcing and recreating them as they conform”.53 Key aspects of women’s
individual identities are interwoven with their cultural communities and their
participation in cultural customs and practices. Women not only suffer from
negative aspects of the cultures in which they live, they also benefit from and are
supported by positive cultural values and practices within their communities.
81. Cultural justifications for restricting women’s human rights have been asserted
by some States and by social groups within many countries claiming to defend
cultural tradition. These defences are generally voiced by political leaders or
traditional authorities, not by those whose rights are actually affected.54 Cultural
relativist arguments have been advanced in national contexts and in international
debates when laws and practices that curtail women’s human rights have been
challenged.55 The politicization of culture in the form of religious
“fundamentalisms” in diverse geographic and religious contexts has become a
serious challenge to efforts to secure women’s human rights.56
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82. Tension between cultural relativism and the recognition of women’s human
rights, including the right to be free from violence, has been intensified as a result of
the current heightened attention to State security issues. The resort to cultural
relativism has been “made worse by the policies adopted since 11 September 2001
by many groups and societies that feel threatened and under siege”.57 This tension
poses a notable challenge in ensuring that violence against women is kept firmly on
the international and national agendas with the priority it requires.
83. The ways in which culture shapes violence against women are as varied as
culture itself. For example, the phenomena of “date rape” and eating disorders are
tied to cultural norms but are not often labelled as cultural phenomena. In the United
States of America, researchers report high rates of violence against women in casual
and longer-term romantic dating relationships, which are a culturally specific form
of social relations between women and men, with culturally constructed
expectations. According to one agency “40 per cent of teenage girls ages 14 to 17
say they know someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend [and]
one of five college females will experience some form of dating violence”.58 Eating
disorders, including starvation dieting (anorexia) and bulimia (binge eating), are
similarly tied to cultural values: “studies show expectation of body weight and
appearance, particularly oriented towards girls, come from parents, peers, the
dieting industry and images in the media”.59
84. Various manifestations of femicide, the murder of women because they are
women, illustrate the interrelationship between cultural norms and the use of
violence in the subordination of women. Femicide takes place in many contexts:
intimate partner violence, armed conflict, workplace harassment, dowry disputes
and the protection of family “honour”. For example, crimes committed in the name
of “honour”, usually by a brother, father, husband or other male family member, are
a means of controlling women’s choices, not only in the area of sexuality but also in
other aspects of behaviour, such as freedom of movement. Such crimes frequently
have a collective dimension, with the family as a whole believing itself to be injured
by a woman’s actual or perceived behaviour.60 They are often public in character,
which is integral to their social functions, which include influencing the conduct of
other women. In other cultural contexts, preoccupation with women’s sexuality is
manifested not only in practices for enforcing chastity but also in the way female
sexuality is turned into a commodity in the media and advertising.
85. The role of culture as a causal factor for violence against women must
therefore be investigated within diverse cultural settings, taking into account the
many ways in which the concept of culture is used. Culture can be most usefully
viewed as a shifting set of discourses, power relations and social, economic and
political processes, rather than as a fixed set of beliefs and practices. Given the
fluidity of culture, women’s agency in challenging oppressive cultural norms and
articulating cultural values that respect their human rights is of central importance.61
Efforts to address the impact of culture on violence should therefore take direction
from the women who are seeking to ensure their rights within the cultural
communities concerned.
3. Economic inequalities and violence against women
86. Economic inequalities can be a causal factor for violence against women both
at the level of individual acts of violence and at the level of broad-based economic
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trends that create or exacerbate the enabling conditions for such violence.62 These
economic inequalities can be found at the local, national and global level. Women’s
economic inequalities and discrimination against women in areas such as
employment, income, access to other economic resources and lack of economic
independence reduce women’s capacity to act and take decisions, and increase their
vulnerability to violence.
87. Despite overall advances in women’s economic status in many countries, many
women continue to face discrimination in formal and informal sectors of the
economy, as well as economic exploitation within the family. Women’s lack of
economic empowerment, also reflected in lack of access to and control over
economic resources in the form of land, personal property, wages and credit, can
place them at increased risk of violence. In addition, restrictions on women’s control
over economic resources, such as household income, can constitute a form of
violence against women in the family. While economic independence does not
shield women from violence, access to economic resources can enhance women’s
capacity to make meaningful choices, including escaping violent situations and
accessing mechanisms for protection and redress.
88. Policies such as structural adjustment, deregulation of economies and
privatization of the public sector have tended to reinforce women’s economic and
social inequality, especially within marginalized communities. Economic
restructuring has reduced the capacity of many national Governments to promote
and ensure women’s rights through public sector programmes and social spending.63
89. WHO has noted the disruptive effects of globalization on social structures and
consequent increases in overall levels of violence in society: “societies with already
high levels of inequality, which experience a further widening of the gap between
rich and poor as a result of globalization, are likely to witness an increase in
interpersonal violence. Rapid social change in a country in response to strong global
pressures — as occurred, for instance, in some of the states of the former Soviet
Union — can overwhelm existing social controls over behaviour and create
conditions for a high level of violence.”64 Since many existing social controls
already rationalize or endorse various forms of violence against women, the social
changes triggered by globalization in many contexts have tended to produce new
forms or worsened existing forms of violence against women, including trafficking
on a global scale.65
90. The large-scale inequities and upheavals associated with globalization
exacerbate the conditions that generate violence against women by amplifying
disparities of wealth and social privilege and impoverishing rural economies. They
can also expose women to violence in the form of exploitative working conditions in
inadequately regulated industries. At the same time, industrialization and economic
migration offer women waged work outside the traditional boundaries of gender
roles within their communities. The destabilization of traditional gender roles
coexists with new permutations of gender subordination, however, and women are
employed primarily in sex-segregated and low-wage industries.66
91. The current Special Rapporteur on violence against women has noted that
while women’s migration as workers or as “members of transnational households
has the potential to empower women and give them direct access to international
human rights law, opposing trends have also been observed. Some local and
‘traditional’ forms of violence against women have become globalized and others
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such as trafficking have become increasingly prevalent”.67 In many countries,
women migrants also face discrimination based on race, ethnicity or national origin,
little or no access to social services and increased domestic violence. Women who
are undocumented or who do not have legal migration status are at even greater risk
of violence and have even less access to protection or redress.68
C. Causal and risk factors for violence against women
92. Within the broad context of women’s subordination, a number of specific
causal factors for violence can be identified. These include structural causal factors
such as the use of violence in conflict resolution, doctrines of privacy and State
inaction, discussed below.69 They also include individual or family behaviour
patterns that create a higher risk of violence, as discussed in paragraphs 97 to 100
below.
1. Use of violence in conflict resolution
93. A correlation between broad-based social and political acceptance of violence
as a means of conflict resolution and violence against women can be traced at the
individual, community and national levels. At the individual level, approaches to
conflict resolution between couples and within families and interpersonal
relationship skills are factors in determining whether conflict escalates into
violence. At the community level, social norms governing how conflicts within the
family or in the community should be handled create an environment that either
condones or discourages violence.
94. At the national and international levels, the use of force to resolve political and
economic disputes generates violence against women in armed conflict. The use of
rape as a tool of war and atrocities targeting women are the most systematic
expressions of violence against women in armed conflict. Control of women’s
sexuality and reproduction through systematic attacks against women has become a
means of ethnic cleansing. For example, the use of rape and other forms of sexual
violence in Kosovo (former Serbia and Montenegro) in 1999 as weapons of warfare
and methods of ethnic cleansing had been preceded by official state propaganda and
media accounts that stereotyped Kosovar Albanian women as sexually promiscuous
and exploited Serbian fears of Albanian population growth.70 The relationship
between broad-based social and political acceptance of violence as a means of
conflict resolution and violence against women is a critical area for further research.
2. Doctrines of privacy
95. Legal doctrines protecting the privacy of the home and family have been
widely used to justify the failure of the State and society to intervene when violence
is committed against women in the family and to take remedial action.71 Deference
to the privacy of the home, in both law and practice, contributes not only to
impunity for violence against women at the hands of family members, but also to
impunity for violence against domestic workers. The development of international
law in the last 15 years has extended the State’s human rights obligations in the
family arena and States have adopted laws and policies in line with these obligations
(see sect. VI). However, enforcement remains a pervasive challenge, as social norms
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and legal culture often protect privacy and male dominance within the family at the
expense of the safety of women and girls.
3. State inaction
96. The State plays a key part in the construction and maintenance of gender roles
and power relations. State inaction leaves in place discriminatory laws and policies
that undermine women’s human rights and disempowers women. It shifts
responsibility for preventive and remedial measures to NGOs and other groups in
civil society. It also functions as approval of the subordination of women that
sustains violence and acquiescence in the violence itself. State inaction with regard
to the proper functioning of the criminal justice system has particularly corrosive
effects as impunity for acts of violence against women encourages further violence
and reinforces women’s subordination. Such inaction by the State to address the
causes of violence against women constitutes lack of compliance with human rights
obligations (see sect. VI).
4. Risk factors for violence
97. Major systemic causes often converge with other factors that may increase the
risk of violence against women. Public health researchers have identified a number
of factors that are correlated with, or are considered risk factors for, certain forms of
violence. These include social and economic status, individual histories of exposure
to violence, and individual types of behaviour. Studies conducted mostly in
developed countries have focused primarily on intimate partner violence, childhood
sexual abuse and sexual assault and rape by strangers. The data collected from these
studies points to a recurring set of factors correlated statistically with violence
against women, but these have not been established as direct causal factors.
98. A range of studies72 identify risk factors at the levels of the individual, family,
community, society and State. These have been summarized in one public health
model and include:
(a) At the level of the individual: youth; a history of abuse as a child;
witnessing marital violence in the home; the frequent use of alcohol and drugs; low
educational or economic status; and membership in marginalized and excluded
communities. These factors are associated with both the perpetrators and
victims/survivors of violence.
(b) At the level of the couple and family: male control of wealth and
decision-making authority within the family; a history of marital conflict; and
significant interpersonal disparities in economic, educational or employment status.
(c) At the level of the community: women’s isolation and lack of social
support; community attitudes that tolerate and legitimize male violence; and high
levels of social and economic disempowerment, including poverty.
(d) At the level of society: gender roles that entrench male dominance and
female subordination; and tolerance of violence as a means of conflict resolution.
(e) At the level of the State: inadequate laws and policies for the prevention
and punishment of violence; and limited awareness and sensitivity on the part of law
enforcement officials, courts and social service providers.
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99. These analyses point to power disparities based on discrimination and
inequalities as the underlying determinants of violence against women. As a leading
researcher on domestic violence noted, although such violence “is greatest in
relationships and communities where the use of violence in many situations is
normative, notably when witnessed in childhood, it is substantially a product of
gender inequality and the lesser status of women compared with men in society.”73 A
number of the risk factors cited above are tied to human rights violations. For
example, girls and young women face violations of a range of rights guaranteed by
the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Some of these violations constitute forms
of violence and others increase the risk of violence.
100. Researchers have consistently found that poor women are at increased risk of
intimate partner violence and sexual violence, including rape. However, when
identifying poverty as a correlate or risk factor for violence against women, focus
needs to be placed on the human rights dimensions of poverty. The correlation
between poverty and violence against women points to the need for changes in
policies and practices in order to respect, protect and fulfil women’s economic and
social rights. Emphasis thus moves beyond interventions at the individual level to
address the structural factors that contribute to violence against women, including
gender-based discrimination in access to resources and services and the denial of
women’s economic and social rights.
D. Implications for State and intergovernmental action
101. The centrality of discrimination against women and women’s subordination as
a cause of violence against women has clear implications for action by States and
intergovernmental organizations. To meet their human rights obligations, States
must take up the challenge of transforming the social and cultural norms regulating
the relations of power between men and women and other linked systems of
subordination. States have a responsibility to act as a catalyst for social change and
cannot defer this responsibility to civil society groups. Historically, States have
shaped cultural and social norms through laws and policies that incorporated
existing gender relations of power or modified them to respond to State-centred
goals, such as expanding the participation of women in the labour force. The
question, therefore, is not whether States can and should play a role in transforming
discriminatory social and cultural norms, but how they can do so most effectively.
As a former Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief emphasized: “[i]t is
not the role of the State simply to keep abreast of society or stand for the social
status quo. The State is also responsible for prompting and guiding change. The law
does not need to be restricted to articulating the current situation. It can also be
looked upon as an important vehicle for change, one whose power can be mobilized
to wear down resistance and encourage the emergence of new mindsets, attitudes
and ways of behaving.”74
102. All efforts — State, intergovernmental and non-governmental — to address
systemic gender-based discrimination against women must engage women in the
communities concerned to provide leadership and develop strategies.75 In this
regard, State and intergovernmental organizations can draw on innovative
approaches developed by civil society groups in community dialogue, awarenessraising
and mobilization initiatives. Open and transparent collaboration between
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Government and those in civil society who oppose violence against women enhance
such efforts (see sect. VII).76
103. The growing powers of transnational actors, including multinational
corporations, political groups and criminal networks, have significant effects on
women’s economic and social rights.77 These effects are not always adequately
addressed in national law, resulting in gaps in accountability for violence against
women and its causes. States and intergovernmental organizations should examine
the role of these actors in generating violence against women, in order to devise
appropriate responses.
IV. Forms, consequences and costs of violence against women
A. Introduction
104. Violence against women takes many different forms, manifested in a
continuum of multiple, interrelated and sometimes recurring forms.78 It can include
physical, sexual and psychological/emotional violence and economic abuse and
exploitation, experienced in a range of settings, from private to public, and in
today’s globalized world, transcending national boundaries. Naming forms and
manifestations of violence against women is an important step towards recognizing
and addressing them.
105. Forms and manifestations of violence against women vary depending on the
specific social, economic, cultural and political context. Some forms of violence
may grow in importance while others diminish as societies undergo demographic
changes, economic restructuring and social and cultural shifts. For example, new
technologies may generate new forms of violence, such as Internet or mobile
telephone stalking. Consequently, no list of forms of violence against women can be
exhaustive. States must acknowledge the evolving nature of violence against women
and respond to new forms as they are recognized.
106. Violence against women has far-reaching consequences for women, their
children and community and society as a whole. Women who experience violence
suffer a range of health problems and their ability to earn a living and to participate
in public life is diminished. Their children are significantly more at risk for health
problems, poor school performance and behavioural disturbances.
107. The costs of violence against women, apart from the human costs, go beyond
lowered economic production and reduced human capital formation but also include
the costs associated with political and social instability through intergenerational
transmission of violence, as well as the funds required for programmes for
victims/survivors of violence.
108. Although most cases of violence against women involve a female
victim/survivor and a male perpetrator, women also commit acts of violence. While
women commit a small proportion of intimate partner violence, they are involved to
a greater degree in the perpetration of harmful traditional practices and in
trafficking. They have also engaged in acts of violence against women and children
in the context of armed conflicts.
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B. Forms and manifestations of violence against women in
various settings
109. Ten years after the Beijing Platform for Action called for improved research
and data collection on different forms of violence against women, the available
evidence remains uneven and at times non-existent, although there has been notable
progress, especially in regard to intimate partner violence (see sect. V). While
rigorously evaluated data on the prevalence of violence against women may be
limited for some forms of violence and lacking for others, the occurrence of acts of
violence against women is well documented. In addition to surveys, information
sources include States through reports to United Nations treaty bodies and other
mechanisms, researchers, the media and NGOs.
110. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and the
Beijing Platform for Action address violence against women according to the site, or
setting, where it occurs: in the family; within the general community; and
perpetrated or condoned by the State. Many forms of violence against women occur
in more than one setting: for example, harmful traditional practices that involve both
the family and the community and are condoned by the State. Trafficking is a form
of violence against women that involves family, community and State and crosses
international boundaries. Violence against women in situations of armed conflict
also extends into different settings. Different forms of violence against women may
be linked, or reinforce one another. A range of factors also influence what forms of
violence women suffer and how they experience it.
1. Violence against women within the family
111. The forms of violence a woman may experience within the family across her
life cycle extend from violence before birth to violence against older women.
Commonly identified forms of violence against women in the family include:
battering and other forms of intimate partner violence including marital rape; sexual
violence; dowry-related violence; female infanticide; sexual abuse of female
children in the household; female genital mutilation/cutting and other traditional
practices harmful to women; early marriage; forced marriage; non-spousal violence;
violence perpetrated against domestic workers; and other forms of exploitation.
There is more research and data available on intimate partner violence and on some
forms of harmful practices than on many other forms and manifestations of violence
against women.
(a) Intimate partner violence
112. The most common form of violence experienced by women globally is
intimate partner violence. The pervasiveness of different forms of violence against
women within intimate relationships, commonly referred to as domestic violence or
spousal abuse, is now well established. There is a growing body of research on
intimate partner violence, which has expanded to capture the experience of women
in intimate relationships beyond formal marriage.
113. Intimate partner violence includes a range of sexually, psychologically and
physically coercive acts used against adult and adolescent women by a current or
former intimate partner, without her consent.79 Physical violence involves
intentionally using physical force, strength or a weapon to harm or injure the
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woman. Sexual violence includes abusive sexual contact, making a woman engage
in a sexual act without her consent, and attempted or completed sex acts with a
woman who is ill, disabled, under pressure or under the influence of alcohol or other
drugs. Psychological violence includes controlling or isolating the woman, and
humiliating or embarrassing her. Economic violence includes denying a woman
access to and control over basic resources.80
114. Population-based studies to document the scope and prevalence of intimate
partner violence have been conducted in 71 countries around the world (see table 2).
In the WHO multi-country study on domestic violence,81 implemented in
Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Japan, Namibia, Peru, Samoa, the former Serbia and
Montenegro, Thailand and the United Republic of Tanzania, the lifetime prevalence
of physical violence by an intimate partner ranged between 13 per cent and 61 per
cent. In most of the sites surveyed, the range was between 23 and 49 per cent. The
lifetime prevalence of sexual violence by an intimate partner was between 6 per cent
and 59 per cent.82 A previous review of 50 population-based studies in 36 countries
showed that the lifetime prevalence of physical violence by intimate partners ranged
between 10 per cent and over 50 per cent.83 Most recently, a study in the Syrian
Arab Republic revealed that 21.8 per cent of women had experienced some form of
violence in the family and, of these, 48 per cent had been beaten (see box 7).84
115. At its most severe, intimate partner violence leads to death. Studies of
femicide from Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States of
America show that 40 to 70 per cent of female murder victims were killed by their
husbands or boyfriends.85 In a study in the United States, murder was the second
leading cause of death for girls aged 15 to 18, and 78 per cent of homicide victims
in the study were killed by an acquaintance or an intimate partner.86 In Colombia,
every six days a woman is reportedly killed by her partner or former partner.87
116. A review of studies on intimate partner violence during pregnancy undertaken
between 1963 and 1995 found that prevalence ranged from 0.9 per cent to 20.1 per
cent of all pregnant women in the United States.88 A 1996 study in Nicaragua found
that 31 per cent of battered women reported having been subjected to physical
violence during pregnancy.89 Several studies across different developing countries
indicate that violence during pregnancy ranges from 4 to 32 per cent, and that the
prevalence of moderate to severe physical violence during pregnancy is about 13 per
cent.90
117. Psychological or emotional violence against women has received less attention
in research on intimate partner violence. Measuring such forms of violence is more
difficult as specific behaviours vary significantly across different settings. There is
no common understanding of which acts or combination of acts, and with what
frequency, constitute emotional violence. The WHO multi-country study on
domestic violence found that between 20 per cent and 75 per cent of women had
experienced one or more emotionally abusive acts.91 A multi-country populationbased
cross-sectional study conducted in Chile, Egypt, India and the Philippines
found that the lifetime prevalence of severe psychological violence ranged from
10.5 per cent in Egypt to 50.7 per cent in Chile.92 The first French national survey
on violence against women found that 35 per cent of women had experienced
psychological pressure by an intimate partner over a 12-month period. The
definition of such pressure included attempts to control the other person’s activities,
imposing authority, or attitudes of denigration or contempt. Four per cent had
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experienced emotional blackmail or verbal abuse including insults and threats over
the same period.93 In a study in Germany, 42 per cent of respondents reported
having experienced acts such as intimidation and aggressive yelling, slander,
threats, humiliation and “psycho-terror”.94
(b) Harmful traditional practices
118. Female infanticide and prenatal sex selection, early marriage, dowry-related
violence, female genital mutilation/cutting, crimes against women committed in the
name of “honour”, and maltreatment of widows, including inciting widows to
commit suicide, are forms of violence against women that are considered harmful
traditional practices, and may involve both family and community. While data has
been gathered on some of these forms, this is not a comprehensive list of such
practices. Others have been highlighted by States (for example in their reports to
human rights treaty bodies and in follow-up reports on implementation of the
Beijing Platform for Action), by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women,
its causes and consequences and by the Special Rapporteur on harmful traditional
practices.95 They include the dedication of young girls to temples, restrictions on a
second daughter’s right to marry, dietary restrictions for pregnant women, forced
feeding and nutritional taboos, marriage to a deceased husband’s brother and witch
hunts.96
119. The most extensive body of research concerns female genital
mutilation/cutting. It is estimated that more than 130 million girls and women alive
today have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting, mainly in Africa and some
countries in the Middle East. The practice is also prevalent among immigrant
communities in Europe, North America and Australia.97 Surveys revealed significant
geographic variations in the prevalence rates in 19 countries: 99 per cent in Guinea,
97 per cent in Egypt, 80 per cent in Ethiopia, 17 per cent in Benin, and 5 per cent in
Ghana and Niger.98 They also show that the practice may be slowly declining even
in high prevalence countries because of increasing opposition from women’s groups.
Higher female educational levels, female access to and control over economic
resources, ethnicity and women’s own female genital mutilation/cutting status have
been found to be significantly associated with their support for or opposition to
female genital mutilation/cutting.99
120. Practices of son preference, expressed in manifestations such as female
infanticide, prenatal sex selection and systematic neglect of girls, have resulted in
adverse female-male sex ratios and high rates of female infant mortality in South
and East Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East.100 A study in India estimated that
prenatal sex selection and infanticide have accounted for half a million missing girls
per year for the past two decades.101 In the Republic of Korea, among pregnancies
having sex-identification tests, more than 90 per cent of pregnancies with male
foetuses resulted in normal births, whereas more than 30 per cent of those with
female foetuses were terminated, according to the National Fertility and Family
Health Survey.102
121. Early marriages involve the marriage of a child, i.e. a person below the age of
18.103 Minor girls have not achieved full maturity and capacity to act and lack
ability to control their sexuality. When they marry and have children, their health
can be adversely affected, their education impeded and economic autonomy
restricted.104 Early marriage also increases the risk of HIV infection.105 Such
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marriages take place all over the world, but are most common in sub-Saharan Africa
and South Asia, where more than 30 per cent of girls aged 15 to 19 are married.106 In
Ethiopia, it was found that 19 per cent of girls were married by the age of 15 and in
some regions such as Amhara, the proportion was as high as 50 per cent.107 In
Nepal, 7 per cent of girls were married before the age of 10 and 40 per cent by the
age of 15.108 A UNICEF global assessment found that in Latin America and the
Caribbean, 29 per cent of women aged 15 to 24 were married before the age of
18.109
122. A forced marriage is one lacking the free and valid consent of at least one of
the parties.110 In its most extreme form, forced marriage can involve threatening
behaviour, abduction, imprisonment, physical violence, rape and, in some cases,
murder. There has been little research on this form of violence. A recent European
study confirmed the lack of quantitative surveys in Council of Europe countries.111
One study of 1,322 marriages across six villages in Kyrgyzstan found that one half
of ethnic Kyrgyz marriages were the result of kidnappings, and that as many as two
thirds of these marriages were non-consensual.112 In the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, a Forced Marriage Unit established by the
Government intervenes in 300 cases of forced marriage a year.113
123. Violence related to demands for dowry — which is the payment of cash or
goods by the bride’s family to the groom’s family — may lead to women being
killed in dowry-related femicide. According to official crime statistics in India,
approximately 6,822 women were killed in 2002 as a result of such violence.114
Small community studies have also indicated that dowry demands have played an
important role in women being burned to death and in deaths of women labelled as
suicides.115
124. Crimes against women committed in the name of “honour” may occur within
the family or within the community. These crimes are receiving increased attention,
but remain underreported and under-documented. The most severe manifestation is
murder — so-called “honour killings”. UNFPA estimated that 5,000 women are
murdered by family members each year in “honour killings” around the world.116 A
government report noted that “karo-kari” (“honour killings”) claimed the lives of
4,000 men and women between 1998 and 2003 in Pakistan, and that the number of
women killed was more than double the number of men.117
125. Older women, including in particular widows, are subject to harmful practices
in a number of countries, which can involve both the family and the community. A
study conducted in Ghana, based on data collected from news reports and
interviews, found that many poor, often elderly women were accused of witchcraft.
Some were murdered by male relatives and those who survived were subjected to a
range of physical, sexual and economic abuses.118 Violence directed against widows,
including sexual abuse and harassment and property-related violence at the hands of
relatives, mainly in-laws, has been reported from a number of countries including
India,119 but information remains scarce.
2. Violence against women in the community
126. Women also face pervasive violence within the general community. Physical,
sexual and psychological violence can be a daily feature of women’s interactions in
their neighbourhoods, on public transport, in workplaces, schools, sports clubs,
colleges and hospitals, and in religious and other social institutions. Forms of
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violence against women and girls in the general community include femicide; sexual
violence including rape; sexual harassment; trafficking in women and forced
prostitution. This section focuses on femicide, sexual violence by non-partners,
sexual harassment and trafficking in women.
(a) Femicide: the gender-based murder of a woman
127. Femicide occurs everywhere, but the scale of some cases of femicide within
community contexts — for example, in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and Guatemala —
has drawn attention to this aspect of violence against women. Most official sources
agree that more than 320 women have been murdered in Ciudad Juárez, one third of
whom were brutally raped.120 In Guatemala, according to National Civil Police
statistics, 1,467 women were murdered between 2001 and the beginning of
December 2004.121 Other sources claim the figure is higher, with 2,070 women
murdered, mostly aged 14 to 35.122 The killings have been concentrated in areas
where the economies are dominated by maquilas, assembly plants for export
products owned and operated in tax-free zones by multinational companies.
Impunity for these crimes is seen as a key factor in these occurrences, and in the
case of Guatemala, the legacy of the internal armed conflict that ended in 1996 is
also seen as a contributing factor.123
(b) Sexual violence by non-partners
128. Despite women being more at risk of violence from their intimate partners
than from other people, sexual violence by non-partners is common in many
settings. Sexual violence by non-partners refers to violence by a relative, friend,
acquaintance, neighbour, work colleague or stranger. Estimates of the prevalence of
sexual violence by non-partners are difficult to establish, because in many societies,
sexual violence remains an issue of deep shame for women and often for their
families. Statistics on rape extracted from police records, for example, are
notoriously unreliable because of significant underreporting.
129. A number of population-based surveys have addressed the question of sexual
violence by non-partners. The WHO multi-country study on domestic violence
showed that the proportion of women who had suffered sexual violence by
non-partners after the age of 15 varied from less than 1 per cent in Ethiopia and
Bangladesh to between 10 and 12 per cent in Peru, Samoa and the United Republic
of Tanzania.124 These findings are similar to those emerging from other populationbased
studies. In Canada, for example, 11.6 per cent of women reported sexual
violence by a non-partner in their lifetime.125 In New Zealand and Australia, studies
have shown that between 10 and 20 per cent of women have experienced various
forms of sexual violence from non-partners, including unwanted sexual touching,
attempted rape and rape.126 Preliminary results from Switzerland show that 22.3 per
cent of women experience sexual violence by non-partners in their lifetime.127
130. Forced sexual initiation constitutes a significant sub-field of violence
perpetrated by non-partners, but may also occur in the context of an intimate
relationship. The 2002 WHO World Report on Violence and Health identified
population-based surveys from six countries addressing the issue of forced sexual
initiation. The figures range from 9 per cent in the United States to 40 per cent in
Peru. Across all countries, three to four times more girls than boys reported forced
sexual initiation.128
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131. Dating violence is another form of sexual violence by non-partners
experienced by young women. In Canada, for example, a study of adolescents aged
15 to 19 found that 54 per cent of girls had experienced “sexual coercion” in a
dating relationship.129 Findings from the United States in 2000 showed that the
average prevalence of dating violence was 22 per cent for high-school students and
32 per cent for college students.130 Research in the United States also found that
8.3 per cent of women had experienced physical aggression, rape, or stalking by a
dating partner and 20.6 per cent of women reported more than one type of dating
violence.131 Young girls may be coerced into sexual relationships with older men
who provide food, school fees or gifts in exchange for sex. These so-called “sugar
daddies” place girls at risk of contracting HIV. In parts of Africa and Asia, the rape
of young girls is linked to the myth that sex with a virgin will cure HIV.132
(c) Sexual harassment and violence in the workplace, educational
institutions and in sport
132. The phenomenon of harassment and violence in the workplace is receiving
increasing attention, especially in the context of women’s rising rates of
participation in the labour force and enhanced legal and regulatory provisions.
European surveys have shown significant rates of sexual harassment in the
workplace, with between 40 and 50 per cent of women in the European Union
reporting some form of sexual harassment or unwanted sexual behaviour in the
workplace.133 Small surveys in Asia-Pacific countries indicate that 30 to 40 per cent
of women workers report some form of harassment — verbal, physical or sexual.134
133. Sexual harassment and violence against girls and young women in educational
institutions is also the subject of increased research. Studies show that the extent of
violence in schools may be significant. A study in the United States found that
83 per cent of girls in grades 8 through 11 in public schools experienced some form
of sexual harassment.135 A 2002 World Bank study found that 22 per cent of
adolescent girls reported being victims of sexual abuse in educational settings in
Ecuador.136 According to a 2006 study of schoolgirls in Malawi, 50 per cent of the
girls said they had been touched in a sexual manner “without permission, by either
their teachers or fellow schoolboys”.137
134. Women and girls who engage in sport may face the risk of gender-based
violence, exploitation and harassment, from other athletes, spectators, coaches,
managers and family or community members. A study indicated that 40 to 50 per
cent of female athletes surveyed in Canada and 27 per cent in Australia, and 25 per
cent of sportswomen under the age of 18 in Denmark reported harassment or
knowing someone close to them that had been harassed.138 Research in the Czech
Republic found that 45 per cent of female athletes had experienced sexual
harassment from someone in sport, with 27 per cent reporting harassment from a
coach.139
(d) Trafficking in women
135. Trafficking is a form of violence against women that takes place in multiple
settings and usually involves many different actors including families, local brokers,
international criminal networks and immigration authorities. Trafficking in human
beings takes place both between and within countries. The majority of the victims of
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human trafficking are women and children, and many are trafficked for purposes of
sexual exploitation.
136. A definition of trafficking is provided by the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime: “Trafficking in
persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of
persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of
abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of
vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the
consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of
exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of
prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or
services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the removal of
organs”.140
137. Measuring the extent of trafficking is difficult (see sect. V). Until recently,
interpretations of what constitutes trafficking and how it should be measured
differed widely, but the adoption of the Trafficking Protocol has helped to overcome
this challenge. Efforts are under way at the national, regional and international level
to improve data collection on trafficking. According to the UNODC database on
human trafficking trends, there are 127 countries of origin and 137 countries of
destination for trafficking in human beings. Countries in Central and South-Eastern
Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Asia are the most frequently
mentioned countries of origin, followed by West Africa, Latin America and the
Caribbean. Countries within Western Europe, Asia and North America are the most
commonly reported destinations.141
138. Although various sources suggest that hundreds of thousands of people are
trafficked globally every year, few come to the attention of authorities. For instance,
in 2005, 506 victims were identified in Portugal, 412 in Mexico and 243 in Turkey.
The number of traffickers prosecuted and convicted is also remarkably low. For
instance, in 2003, 24 people were prosecuted and only 8 convicted in Lithuania, 59
were prosecuted and 11 convicted in Ukraine and, in 2004, 59 people were
prosecuted and 43 convicted in the United States.142
3. Violence against women perpetrated or condoned by the State
139. The State — either through its agents or public policy — can perpetrate
physical, sexual and psychological violence against women. State agents include all
people empowered to exercise elements of State authority — members of the
legislative, executive and judicial branches, as well as law enforcement officials,
social security officials, prison guards, officials in places of detention, immigration
officials and military and security forces.
140. State agents may commit violence on the streets and in custodial settings, and
include acts of sexual violence including rape, sexual harassment and molestation.
Some such acts may constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment. A State may also perpetrate violence against women through its laws
and policies. Examples of such laws and policies include those that criminalize
women’s consensual sexual behaviour as a means to control women; policies on
forced sterilization, forced pregnancy and forced abortion; policies on protective
custody of women that effectively imprisons them; and other laws and policies,
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44 06-41974
including policies on virginity testing and sanctioning forced marriages, that fail to
recognize women’s autonomy and agency and legitimize male control over women.
States may also condone violence against women through inadequate laws or
through ineffective implementation of laws, effectively allowing perpetrators of
violence against women impunity for their acts (see sect. VI). This section addresses
custodial violence and forced sterilization in more detail as examples of violence
against women perpetrated or condoned by the State.
(a) Custodial violence against women
141. Custodial violence against women in police cells, prisons, social welfare
institutions, immigration detention centres and other State institutions constitutes
violence perpetrated by the State. Sexual violence, including rape, perpetrated
against women in detention is considered a particularly egregious violation of the
inherent dignity and the right to physical integrity of human beings and accordingly
may constitute torture.143 Other forms of violence against women in custody that
have been documented by various sources include: inappropriate surveillance during
showers or undressing; strip searches conducted by or in the presence of men; and
verbal sexual harassment. The control wielded by correctional officers over
women’s daily lives may also result in violence through demands for sexual acts in
exchange for privileges, goods or basic necessities.144 Although instances of
custodial violence against women are reported in countries all around the world,145
there is little quantitative data to establish the prevalence of such violence across
countries.
(b) Forced sterilization
142. The use of sterilization to control the reproductive behaviour of the female
population or a particular subgroup, constitutes violence against women. While
there are no systematic quantitative studies, the practice of forced sterilization has
been confirmed and condemned in regional and national courts. Cases of forced or
coerced sterilizations of certain populations such as Roma women and girls in
Europe146 and indigenous women in the United States and Canada147 have been
reported.
4. Violence against women in armed conflict
143. During armed conflict, women experience all forms of physical, sexual and
psychological violence perpetrated by both State and non-State actors. These forms
include murder, unlawful killings, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, abductions, maiming and mutilation, forced recruitment of
women combatants, rape, sexual slavery, sexual exploitation, involuntary
disappearance, arbitrary detention, forced marriage, forced prostitution, forced
abortion, forced pregnancy and forced sterilization.
144. Sexual violence has been used during armed conflict for many different
reasons, including as a form of torture, to inflict injury, to extract information, to
degrade and intimidate and to destroy communities. Rape of women has been used
to humiliate opponents, to drive communities and groups off land and to wilfully
spread HIV.148 Women have been forced to perform sexual and domestic slave
labour.149 Women have also been abducted and then forced to serve as “wives” to
reward fighters.150
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145. The incidence of violence against women in armed conflict, particularly sexual
violence including rape, has been increasingly acknowledged and documented.151
Violence against women has been reported from conflict or post-conflict situations
in many countries or areas including Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, C?te
d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Peru, Rwanda, Sierra Leone,
Chechnya/Russian Federation, Darfur, Sudan, northern Uganda and the former
Yugoslavia.152
146. Four population-based surveys on violence against women in contexts of
armed conflict are outlined in table 1. It is estimated that between 250,000 and
500,000 women in Rwanda were raped during the 1994 genocide, that between
20,000 and 50,000 women were raped in Bosnia during the conflict in the early
1990s,153 and around 200,000 women and girls were raped during the armed conflict
in Bangladesh in 1971.154
Table 1
Sexual violence against women in conflict settings
Setting (period of conflict) Type of research Results
Liberia
(1989-1994)
Random survey of
205 women in Monrovia
aged 15 to 79
49 per cent (100) women reported at
least 1 act of violence by a
combatant: 17 per cent reported
being beaten, tied up or detained in
a room under armed guard; 32 per
cent were strip-searched once or
more; 15 per cent reported being
raped, subjected to attempted rape,
or sexually coerced.a
Uganda
(1980-1986)
N/A, Luwero District,
Northern Uganda
70 per cent of women in Luwero
District reported being raped by
soldiers. A large proportion had
been gang-raped by groups of up to
10 soldiers.b
Former East Timor (1999) Population-based survey of
288 women
24 per cent of women reported a
violent episode from someone
outside the family during the 1999
conflict; of these, 96 per cent
included improper sexual comments
and 92 per cent being threatened
with a weapon.c
Sierra Leone
(1991-1999)
Population-based survey of
internally displaced women
living in 3 camps and 1 town
in 2001: 991 women
provided information on
9,166 household members
13 per cent (1,157) of household
members reported some form of
war-related human rights abuses;
9 per cent of respondents and
8 per cent of female household
members reported war-related
sexual violence.d
a Swiss, S., Jennings, P. J., Aryee, G. V. et al., “Violence against women during the Liberian
civil conflict”, Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 279, No. 8 (February
1998), pp. 625-629.
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46 06-41974
b Giller, J., Bracken, P. and Kabaganda, S., “Uganda: War, Women and Rape”, Lancet, vol.
337, No. 604 (March 1991).
c Hynes, M., Ward, J., Robertson, K. and Crouse, C., “A determination of the prevalence of
gender-based violence among conflict-affected populations in East Timor”, Disasters, vol.
28, No. 3 (September 2004), pp. 294-321.
d Amowitz, L., Reis, C., Lyons, K., Vann, B., Mandalay, G., Akinsulure-Smith, A. et al.,
“Prevalence of war-related sexual violence and other human rights abuses among internally
displaced persons in Sierra Leone”, Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 287,
No. 4 (January 2002), pp. 513-521.
5. Violence against women and multiple discrimination
147. Forms and manifestations of violence against women are shaped by social and
cultural norms as well as the dynamics of each social, economic and political
system. Factors such as women’s race, ethnicity, caste, class, migrant or refugee
status, age, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, disability or HIV status will
influence what forms of violence they suffer and how they experience it.
148. In many societies, women belonging to particular ethnic or racial groups are
likely to experience gender-based violence as well as violence based on their ethnic
or racial identity.155 Indigenous women are subject to various forms of violence,
including intimate partner violence, custodial violence by police and murder,
sometimes at a much higher rate than non-indigenous women.156 According to a
1996 Canadian Government statistic, indigenous women in Canada between the
ages of 25 and 44 were five times more likely than all other women of the same age
to die as the result of violence.157 In the United States, a 1999 study found that
indigenous women were more than twice as likely as white women to be the victims
of violent crime.158 A 2003 study found that Australian indigenous women were
28 times more likely than non-indigenous women to be admitted to hospital with
assault injuries.159
149. In India, violence against women based on caste is manifested in high rates of
sexual violence committed against Dalit women by men of higher caste. In
particularly remote villages, access to a Dalit woman’s body is considered the
prerogative of the landlord of the village.160
150. Older women, who form a large proportion of the world’s growing elderly
population, are subject to particular forms and manifestations of violence. Elder
abuse usually refers to women over 60 or 65, but some studies include those over
50. Violence against older women may take the form of physical, sexual or
psychological abuse, as well as financial exploitation or neglect, which can be
perpetrated by family members or other caregivers.
151. Women may encounter violence based on social prejudices against them
because of their sexual orientation. Forms of violence against lesbian women
because of their sexual orientation include non-partner sexual violence, sexual
enslavement, forced marriage and murder. In the United States, for example, lesbian
women may be targeted for acts of violence in prisons, by the police and by
members of their family and community. Numerous cases document lesbians being
beaten, raped, forcibly impregnated or married against their will.161 There have also
been cases of lesbians being incarcerated for gender identity disorders in mental
hospitals by family or community members.162
152. Women with disabilities may experience violence in particular ways in their
homes and institutional settings, perpetrated by family members, caretakers or
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strangers. Surveys conducted in Europe, North America and Australia have shown
that over half of women with disabilities have experienced physical abuse,
compared to one third of non-disabled women.163
153. About 90 million women currently reside outside their countries of origin,
about half of the world’s international migrants.164 Because of their subordinate
status both as migrants and as women, female migrant workers are highly vulnerable
to exploitation and ill-treatment.165 The types of violence suffered by women
migrant workers include: inhumane working conditions, such as long working
hours, non-payment of wages and forced confinement; starvation; beatings; rape;
and being forced into prostitution. Unskilled workers, particularly in domestic
service, experience greater and different kinds of violence than other women.166
Migrant women may also experience intimate partner violence and their status as
migrants may further curtail their access to escape routes, services and
information.167
154. Of the 10.9 million persons of concern to UNHCR, roughly half are female
(49 per cent).168 Stripped of the protection of their homes, their Government and
often their family structure, refugee and displaced women may be subject to
different forms of violence, abuse and exploitation, including rape and abduction,
during flight, in refugee camps as well as in asylum countries. Perpetrators of such
violence may include military personnel, border guards, resistance units, male
refugees and others with whom they come in contact.
6. Areas requiring enhanced attention
155. While all forms and manifestations of violence against women require more
attention, some have been especially neglected. Psychological and emotional abuse
and violence can take different forms that need to be made more visible and
explicitly addressed. In this regard, acts such as incarceration of women in mental
hospitals or in prisons for not conforming to social and cultural expectations,
restrictions placed on women, such as locking them up or enforcing their isolation
and limiting interaction with others, have been documented anecdotally but remain
largely invisible. Knowledge about violence against women in institutional settings,
including in schools, hospitals, prisons and different detention facilities also remains
very limited. Economic abuse and exploitation, including acts such as withholding
of income, forcibly usurping women’s wages and denying basic necessities, are
manifestations that require greater visibility and attention, especially in the context
of growing female participation in the labour force around the world. The abuse of
older women may become more prevalent with changing demographics. While
femicide is gaining recognition, the underlying dynamic of gender inequality that
fuels the murders of women in different contexts is still inadequately understood.
More inquiry is also needed about the use of technology, such as computers and cell
phones, in developing and expanding forms of violence. Evolving and emerging
forms of violence need to be named so that they can be recognized and better
addressed.
C. Consequences of violence against women
156. Violence against women is a violation of women’s human rights and prevents
women from enjoying their human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as the
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rights to life and security of the person, to the highest attainable standard of physical
and mental health, to education, work and housing and to participation in public life.
Such violence perpetuates the subordination of women and the unequal distribution
of power between women and men. It has consequences for women’s health and
well-being, carries a heavy human and economic cost, hinders development and can
also lead to displacement.
1. Health consequences
157. Violence places women at higher risk for poor physical and reproductive
health.169 Abused women also show poorer mental health and social functioning.170
Women subjected to violence are more likely to abuse alcohol and drugs and to
report sexual dysfunction, suicide attempts, post-traumatic stress and central
nervous system disorders.171
158. Violence against women frequently leads to death. Femicide, suicide, AIDSrelated
deaths and maternal mortality can be fatal consequences of violence against
women. There is little data on lethal outcomes of violence against women, such as
the proportions of maternal deaths and AIDS mortality directly attributable to the
different forms of violence women suffer. A few studies based in health facilities
indicate a relationship between intimate partner violence and death during
pregnancy. For example, a study of 400 villages and seven hospitals in rural western
India found that 16 per cent of all deaths during pregnancy were the result of partner
violence.172 A similar trend has been found in Bangladesh and the United States.173
159. There are extensive physical health consequences of violence against women.
These include physical injuries, such as fractures and abdominal/thoracic injuries,
and chronic health conditions, including chronic pain and gastrointestinal disorders.
Reproductive health consequences include gynaecological disorders, pelvic
inflammatory disease, sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, unwanted
pregnancies and poor obstetric outcomes.174 Other gynaecological consequences
include vaginal bleeding or infection, chronic pelvic pain and urinary tract
infections. A study in the United States, for example, found that the prevalence of
women with gynaecological problems among victims of spousal abuse was three
times higher than the average.175
160. For many women worldwide, the threat of violence exacerbates their risk of
contracting HIV. Fear of violence prevents women from accessing HIV/AIDS
information, being tested, disclosing their HIV status, accessing services for the
prevention of HIV transmission to infants and receiving treatment and counselling,
even when they know they have been infected. Studies show the increasing links
between violence against women and HIV and demonstrate that HIV-infected
women are more likely to have experienced violence, and that women who have
experienced violence are at higher risk for HIV.176
161. Unintended pregnancy is another important consequence of sexual violence.
Rape increases the risk of unintended pregnancy. In the context of armed conflict,
for example in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Rwanda, women have been raped
repeatedly until they conceived, as part of a strategy of ethnic cleansing.177 A
woman’s fear of violence from her husband or partner may make her afraid to bring
up the issue of contraceptive use, leading to unintended pregnancy. A study of
women in Colombia, for example, found that women who experienced intimate
partner violence had higher rates of unintended pregnancy.178 Unintended pregnancy
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has serious repercussions — unsafe abortions, suicides and family reactions that can
include social isolation, ostracism or even murder.
162. Violence before and during pregnancy has serious health consequences for
both mother and child. Violence leads to high-risk pregnancies and a range of
pregnancy-related problems including miscarriage, preterm labour, foetal distress
and low birth weight.179 A 2002 study in Nicaragua, for example, found that 16 per
cent of the low birth weight in the infant population could be attributed to physical
abuse by a partner during pregnancy.180
163. Violence against women can result in both physical injury and harm to a
woman’s reproductive health. For trafficked women, the most common health
consequences include chronic pain, malnutrition and unhealthy weight loss.
Trafficked women also may suffer from sexually transmitted infections, permanent
damage to the reproductive organs, and psychological damage from domination and
isolation.181 Female genital mutiliation/cutting is itself a form of physical trauma
that can lead to severe pain, shock, haemorrhaging, infection and ulceration of the
genital area. Haemorrhage and infection can lead to death. The long-term
consequences can include abscesses, dermoid cysts and keloid scars, obstructed
labour resulting in increased risk of maternal and child morbidity and mortality,
infertility and lasting psychological effects.182 Female genital mutiliation/cutting
also places women at a higher risk of HIV infection.
164. The psychological consequences of violence against women can be as grave as
the physical effects. Depression is one of the most common consequences of sexual
and physical violence against women. Women who suffer from violence are also at a
higher risk of stress and anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress
disorder.183 A study in Michigan, United States, for example, found that 59 per cent
of women who had experienced severe abuse in the previous 12 months had
psychological problems, compared to 20 per cent of those who reported no abuse.184
Studies have shown that rape, childhood sexual abuse, and intimate partner violence
are the most common causes of post-traumatic stress disorder in women. Experts
have also identified the “traumatic syndrome of abused women”, which includes
lack of volitional autonomy, fear, anguish, depression and, in some cases, suicide.185
165. Depression and attempted suicide are closely associated with intimate partner
violence. It has also been shown that girls who have been raped or experienced
sexual harassment are at increased risk of suicide.186 Post-traumatic stress disorder,
in particular, appears to be a significant risk factor for suicide.187
2. Social and intergenerational impacts
166. Violence against women prevents women from fully participating in their
communities socially or economically. Women who are targeted for violence are less
likely to be employed, tend to be employed in low status jobs and are unlikely to be
promoted.188 Sexual violence undermines physical security in public areas and the
risk of such violence may increase when women enter public life, constraining their
political voice.189 For example, in Sri Lanka, the continuing conflict has created a
culture of violence against women that has limited their political participation.190
One study in Mexico found that women often stopped participating in community
development projects because of threats from men.191
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167. The societal consequences of trafficking in women include the separation of
children from their families; loss of education; stigmatization of the women, who
therefore require long-term social support; and the growth of criminal activities.192
168. Research indicates that violence against women in the family and social
violence are closely linked.193 Witnessing chronic domestic violence can be the start
of a lifelong pattern of delinquency and the use of violence in personal
relationships.194
169. Children are often present during episodes of domestic violence and those who
witness it may suffer a range of behavioural and emotional problems. Research
suggests that violence in the family affects children in at least three main ways: their
health; their educational performance; and their use of violence in their own lives.195
Children who witness violence may exhibit more fearful and antisocial behaviour.
They also have been found to show more anxiety, depression, trauma symptoms and
temperament problems than other children.196 These children also tend to exhibit
more aggressive behaviour towards their peers.197 Exposure to chronic violence is
associated with lower cognitive functioning and poor school performance.198 A
study in Nicaragua found that children of female victims of violence left school an
average of four years earlier than other children.199 At the same time, most children
who witness violence at home will not become violent and these different reactions
need to be better understood. However, children who do exhibit violent behaviour
are more likely to continue that behaviour and transmit it to future generations.200
170. Domestic or intimate partner violence against women can also be fatal for
children. A Nicaraguan study found that children of women who were physically
abused by a partner were six times more likely than other children to die before the
age of five.201
D. Economic costs of violence against women
171. Violence against women impoverishes individual women and their families, as
well as their communities, societies and nations at many levels. It reduces the
capacity of victims/survivors to contribute productively to the family, the economy
and public life; drains resources from social services, the justice system, health-care
agencies and employers; and lowers the overall educational attainment, mobility and
innovative potential of the victims/survivors, their children and even the
perpetrators of such violence.202
172. Analysing the costs of violence against women is useful for understanding the
severity of the problem as it shows its economic impact on businesses, the State,
community groups and individuals. It emphasizes the pervasiveness of such
violence and confirms that it is a public concern, not a private issue. Such analysis
can provide important information for specific budgetary allocations for
programmes to prevent and redress violence against women and demonstrates that
much more should be invested in early intervention and prevention strategies, rather
than allowing such violence to continue unabated.
173. There are several types of costs, in the short and long term: first, the direct
cost of services in relation to violence against women; second, the indirect cost of
lost employment and productivity; and third, the value placed on human pain and
suffering.
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174. The direct cost of services in relation to violence against women include the
actual expenditure by individuals, Governments and businesses on goods, facilities
and services to treat and support victims/survivors and to bring perpetrators to
justice. Services include the criminal justice system (such as for the police,
prosecution, courts, prisons, offender programmes, the administration of community
sentences and victim compensation); health services (such as for primary and
hospital health care for both physical and mental harm); housing (such as shelters,
refuges and re-housing); social services (especially in relation to the care of
children); income support; other support services (such as rape crisis counselling,
telephone advice lines); and civil legal costs (such as those for legal injunctions to
remove violent men from the home or otherwise restrain them and for legal
separation and divorce proceedings).
175. The cost of these services is mostly borne by the State/public sector. While the
criminal justice system is almost universally funded by the State, the funding for
other services varies. In some countries, support services and refuges are primarily
provided by volunteers or the community sector, while in others such services are
provided by the public sector either directly or through State funding for service
providers. In some countries, health care is provided by the public sector, while in
others, individuals carry the costs directly or through private insurance.
176. The second major category of costs relates to reduced employment and
productivity, a category sometimes described as the cost to the private or business
sector. Women may be absent from employment as a result of injury or trauma, or
may work at a level of reduced productivity because of injuries and stress. Further
costs arise when women lose jobs either as a result of absence and reduced
performance, or because they have been compelled to relocate. Both workers and
employers face costs as a result of such disruption to employment. While women
may lose earnings, employers may lose output and may face the costs of sick leave
and of recruiting and training replacements. Some studies include the lost revenue to
the State in taxation as a consequence of lost employment and output.
177. The third category of cost is that of the value placed on the pain and suffering
inflicted on women. This is an intangible cost borne by the victim/survivor.
Increasingly, government cost-benefit analyses include the value of “pain and
suffering” in a range of areas. For example, they include such costs in their
calculations of the impact of crime or when they assess the costs of road traffic
accidents when planning new roads (see annex for a summary of studies, including
the costs calculated).
178. There are other costs that are imposed by violence against women, but which
are very difficult to estimate. Some studies note them as a category, but do not
include a figure in the estimates. One important such cost is that of the
consequences for children who witness violence, such as their need for counselling,
given the psychological damage they endure, and the long-term costs of lower levels
of educational and employment achievement.
179. While some studies on the cost of violence against women focus on specific
types of cost, the majority include both the cost of services and lost earnings. Some
more recent studies additionally include the cost of pain and suffering. The first
study on the economic costs of violence against women was conducted in Australia
in 1988. Most of the studies have been conducted in developed countries. New
research, as yet unpublished, is being carried out in Bulgaria, Fiji, South Africa and
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Uganda. Since 1994, the World Bank has noted the cost of domestic violence.203 The
main studies are summarized in the annex.
180. The costs calculated in these studies vary considerably as a result of
differences in methodology. In Canada, the annual costs of direct expenditures
related to violence against women were estimated at 684 million Canadian dollars
for the criminal justice system, 187 million for police and 294 million for the cost of
counselling and training, totalling more than 1 billion a year.204 In the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the study examined the cost
categories of justice, health care, social services, housing, legal, lost output and pain
and suffering and estimated the resulting cost of domestic violence to be 23 billion
pounds sterling (￡) per year or ￡440 per person.205 A 1998 national random survey
of 7,000 Finnish women on rates and consequences of violence was later used to
estimate the economic costs of violence against women in Finland.206 The study
measured the direct costs of health care, social services, police, courts and
incarceration and also the indirect costs of the value of lost lives and time lost from
paid work and volunteer labour. The annual cost was estimated at 101 million
euros (€) per year, or approximately €20 per person. A World Bank study estimated
that domestic violence and rape account for 5 per cent of the total disease burden for
women aged 15 to 44 in developing countries and 19 per cent in developed
countries.207
181. The costs of violence against women are enormous. They impoverish not only
individuals, families, communities and Governments, but also reduce the economic
development of each nation. Even the most comprehensive surveys to date
underestimate the costs, given the number of factors not included. Nonetheless, they
all show that the failure to address violence against women has serious economic
consequences, highlighting the need for determined and sustained preventive action.
Table 2
Prevalence of physical assaults on women by a male partnera
Country or area Year of study Region covered Sample size
Study
population
Age
(years)
Proportion of
women
physically
assaulted by
a partner —
last 12
months Ever
Africa
Ethiopia 2002 Meskanena Woreda 2 261 III 15-49 29 49
Kenya 1984-1987 Kisii District 612 V >15 42b
Malawic 2005 National 3 546 30
Namibia 2003 Windhoek 1 367 III 15-49 16 31
South Africa 1998 Eastern Cape 396 III 18-49 11 27
1998 Mpumalanga 419 III 18-49 12 28
1998 Northern Province 464 III 18-49 5 19
1998 National 10 190 II 15-49 6 13
Uganda 1995-1996 Lira and Masaka 1 660 II 20-44 41b
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Country or area Year of study Region covered Sample size
Study
population
Age
(years)
Proportion of
women
physically
assaulted by
a partner —
last 12
months Ever
United Republic of
Tanzania
2002 Dar es Salaam 1 442 III 15-49 15 33
2002 Mbeya 1 256 III 15-49 19 47
Zambia 2001-2002 National 3 792 III 15-49 27 49
Zimbabwe 1996 Midlands Province 966 I >18 17d
Latin America and the Caribbean
Barbados 1990 National 264 I 20-45 30e,f
Brazil 2001 Sao Paulo 940 III 15-49 8 27
2001 Pernambuco 1 188 III 15-49 13 35
Chile 1993 Santiago Province 1 000 II 22-55 26b
1997 Santiago 310 II 15-49 23
2004g Santa Rosa 422 IV 15-49 4 25
Colombia 1995 National 6 097 II 15-49 19b
2000 National 7 602 III 15-49 3 44
Dominican Republic 2002 National 6 807 III 15-49 11 22
Ecuador 1995 National 11 657 II 15-49 12
El Salvador 2002 National 10 689 III 15-49 6 20b
Guatemala 2002 National 6 595 VI 15-49 9
Honduras 2001 National 6 827 VI 15-49 6 10
Haiti 2000 National 2 347 III 15-49 21 29
Mexico 1996 Guadalajara 650 III >15 27
1996g Monterrey 1 064 III >15 17
2003 National 34 184 II >15 9
Nicaragua 1995 Leon 360 III 15-49 27 52
1997 Managua 378 III 15-49 33 69
1998 National 8 507 III 15-49 13 30
Paraguay 1995-1996 National 5 940 III 15-49 10
2004 National 5 070 III 15-44 7 19
Peru 2000 National 17 369 III 15-49 2 42
2001 Lima 1 019 III 15-49 17 50
2001 Cusco 1 497 III 15-49 25 62
Puerto Rico 1995-1996 National 4 755 III 15-49 13h
Uruguay 1997 National 545 IIi 22-55 10f
North America
Canada 1993 National 12 300 I >18 3d,f 29d,f
1999 National 8 356 III >15 3 8j
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Country or area Year of study Region covered Sample size
Study
population
Age
(years)
Proportion of
women
physically
assaulted by
a partner —
last 12
months Ever
United States of
America
1995-1996 National 8 000 I >18 1e 22e
Asia and Western Pacific
Australia 1996 National 6 300 I 3a 8b,d
2002-2003 National 6 438 III 18-69 3 31
Bangladesh 1992 National (villages) 1 225 II <50 19 47
1993 Two rural regions 10 368 II 15-49 42b
2003 Dhaka 1 373 III 15-49 19 40
2003 Matlab 1 329 III 15-49 16 42
Cambodia 1996 Six regions 1 374 III 15-49 16
2000 National 2 403 III 15-49 15 18
China 1999-2000 National 1 665 II 20-64 15
India 1998-1999 National 90 303 III 15-49 10 19
1999 Six states 9 938 III 15-49 14 40
2004g Lucknow 506 IV 15-49 25 35
2004g Trivandrum 700 IV 15-49 20 43
2004g Vellore 716 IV 15-49 16 31
Indonesia 2000 Central Java 765 IV 15-49 2 11
Japan 2001 Yokohama 1 276 III 18-49 3 13
New Zealand 2002 Auckland 1 309 III 18-64 5 30
2002 North Waikato 1 360 III 18-64 34
Papua New Guinea 2002 National, rural
villages
628 IIIi 67
Philippines 1993 National 8 481 IV 15-49 10
1998 Cagayan de Oro City
and Bukidnon
1 660 II 15-49 26
2004g Paco 1 000 IV 15-49 6 21
Republic of Korea 2004 National 5 916 II 20 - 13.2 20.7
Samoa 2000 National 1 204 III 15-49 18 41
Tajikistank 2005 Khatlon region 400 I 17-49 19 36
Thailand 2002 Bangkok 1 048 III 15-49 8 23
2002 Nakonsawan 1 024 III 15-49 13 34
Viet Nam 2004 Ha Tay province 1 090 III 15-60 14 25
Europe
Albania 2002 National 4 049 III 15-44 5 8
Azerbaijan 2001 National 5 533 III 15-44 8 20
Finland 1997 National 4 955 I 18-74 30
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Country or area Year of study Region covered Sample size
Study
population
Age
(years)
Proportion of
women
physically
assaulted by
a partner —
last 12
months Ever
France 2002 National 5 908 II >18 3 9l
Georgia 1999 National 5 694 III 15-44 2 5
Germany 2003 National 10 264 III 16-85 23d
Lithuania 1999 National 1 010 II 18-74 42b,d,m
Netherlands 1986 National 989 I 20-60 21e
Norway 1989 Tronheim 111 III 20-49 18
2003 National 2 143 III 20-56 6 27
Republic of Moldova 1997 National 4 790 III 15-44 8 15
Romania 1999 National 5 322 III 15-44 10 29
Russian Federation 2000 Three provinces 5 482 III 15-44 7 22
Former Serbia and
Montenegro
2003 Belgrade 1 189 III 15-49 3 23
Sweden 2000 National 5 868 III 18-64 4h 18h
Switzerland 1994-1996 National 1 500 II 20-60 6f 21f
2003 National 1 882 III >18 10
Turkey 1998 East and South-East
Anatolia
599 I 14-75 58e
Ukraine 1999 National 5 596 III 15-44 7 19
United Kingdom of
Great Britain and
Northern Ireland
1993g North London 430 I >16 12e 30e
2001 National 12 226 I 16-59 3 19n
Eastern Mediterranean
Egypt 1995-1996 National 7 123 III 15-49 13 34
2004j El-Sheik Zayed 631 IV 15-49 11 11
Israel 1997 Arab population 1 826 II 19-67 32
West Bank and Gaza
Strip
1994 Palestinian
population
2 410 II 17-65 52
Key
Study population
I: all women
II: currently married/partnered women
III: ever married/partnered women
IV: women with a pregnancy outcome
V: married women — half with pregnancy outcome, half without
VI: women who had a partner within the last 12 months
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Notes
a Source for all countries or areas, unless noted: Ellsberg, M. and Heise, L., Researching violence against women: a practical
guide for researchers and activists (Washington, D.C., WHO, PATH, 2005).
b During current relationship.
c Pelser, E. et al. 2005. Intimate Partner Violence: Results from a National Gender-Based Study in Malawi, Crime and Justice
Statistical Division, National Statistical Office.
d Although sample included all women, rate of abuse is shown for ever married/partnered women (number not given).
e Sample group included women who had never been in a relationship and therefore were not in exposed group.
f Physical or sexual assault.
g Publication date (field work dates not reported).
h Rate of partner abuse among ever married/partnered women recalculated from author’s data.
i Non-random sampling methods used.
j Within the last five years.
k Haar, Robin N., Violence Against Women in Marriage: A General Population Study in Khatlon Oblast, Tajikistan, baseline
survey conducted by the NGO Social Development Group (2005).
l Since the age of 18.
m Includes threats.
n Since the age of 16.
V. Collecting data on violence against women
A. Introduction
182. The number of studies conducted to estimate the prevalence of different forms
of violence against women, particularly intimate partner violence, expanded greatly
in the second half of the 1990s. According to a 2006 United Nations report, at least
one survey on violence against women had been conducted in 71 countries and at
least one national survey was available in 41 countries.208
183. Studies on violence against women have been carried out by a wide variety of
bodies, including government ministries, national statistical offices, universities,
international agencies, NGOs and women’s rights organizations. The results have
provided compelling evidence that violence against women is a severe and
pervasive human rights violation throughout the world, with devastating effects on
the health and well-being of women and children.
184. Despite the progress in recent years, however, there is still an urgent need to
strengthen the knowledge base on all forms of violence against women to inform
policy and strategy development. Many countries still lack reliable data and much of
the existing information cannot be meaningfully compared. Moreover, very few
countries collect data on violence against women on a regular basis, which would
allow changes over time to be measured. More data are urgently needed on how
various forms of violence against women affect different groups of women,
requiring that data be disaggregated according to factors such as age and ethnicity.
Little information is available to assess the measures taken to combat violence
against women and to evaluate their impact.
185. Both policymakers and activists have called for the development of a
comprehensive set of international indicators on violence against women.209 These
international indicators would need to be based on widely available and credible
data collected at the national level, using comparable methods to define and
measure violence.
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186. More and better quality data are needed to guide national policies and
programmes and to monitor States’ progress in addressing violence. Ensuring an
adequate knowledge base through data collection is part of every State’s obligation
to address violence against women. States should take responsibility for the
systematic collection and publication of data under the framework of official
statistics, including supporting NGOs, academics and others engaged in such work.
State responsibility and accountability for addressing, preventing and eliminating
violence against women is, however, not reduced because data is inadequate or
unavailable.
B. Population-based surveys
1. Description of population-based surveys
187. Population-based or household surveys that ask women about their experiences
of violence are considered the most reliable method for obtaining information on
violence against women in a general population. Population-based surveys use
randomly selected samples and their results are therefore representative of the larger
population. Because they include the experiences of women regardless of whether
they have reported the violence to authorities or not, population-based surveys are
likely to give a more accurate picture than data from administrative records. This
makes them particularly useful for measuring the extent of violence against women,
monitoring trends over time, building awareness and developing policy. When
studies performed in different countries use similar methods to measure violence, it
is also possible to compare the risk of violence that women face and understand the
similarities and differences between settings.
188. There are two major approaches to collecting population-based data on
violence against women. The first involves “dedicated” surveys specifically
designed to gather detailed information on different forms of violence against
women. The second includes questions or modules on violence against women
within large-scale surveys designed to generate information on broader issues such
as poverty, crime or reproductive health.
189. The Violence against Women Survey, carried out by Statistics Canada in 1993,
was one of the first national dedicated surveys. Similar national surveys have since
been carried out in other countries, including Australia,210 Finland,211 France,212
Germany,213 New Zealand,214 Sweden215 and the United States.216
190. The methodology of these surveys has been further refined. The WHO has
developed a comprehensive research methodology, reflected in its multi-country
study on domestic violence, which has been implemented in at least 12 mainly
resource-poor countries (see box 6). A standardized instrument for international
surveys on violence against women has also been developed and implemented in
11 (mostly developed) countries to date (see box 6).217 The development of research
instruments that have been validated and used in a wide variety of settings has
greatly increased the capacity of countries to produce reliable, credible and
comparable data on violence against women. However, standard methodology for
the implementation of surveys on violence against women within the framework of
official statistics has not yet been developed at the international or supranational
level.218
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191. In addition to measuring the prevalence of different forms of violence against
women, such dedicated surveys gather detailed information on a broad range of
violence and its causes, as well as some information on perpetrators. Some also
record the circumstances and consequences of violence and women’s responses and
use of services. Dedicated surveys tend to devote more attention to training than
general surveys and address issues of safety and confidentiality more
comprehensively. Experience to date indicates that prevalence estimates from
dedicated surveys tend to be higher than those from general surveys. The main
disadvantage of dedicated studies is their cost, which may pose challenges for
repeating them on a regular basis.
Box 6
Multi-country surveys on violence against women
The WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic
violence against women has been conducted in at least 12 countries and
has involved over 24,000 women. The study collects data on women’s
experiences of intimate partner violence, sexual assault and child sexual
abuse. The WHO study also collects data on a broad range of negative
health outcomes commonly associated with violence, on risk and
protective factors for intimate partner violence and on strategies and
services that women use to deal with this violence.a
The International Violence against Women Survey has been carried
out in 11 countries to date. The survey collects data from a nationally
representative sample on a broad range of violent acts perpetrated by
men against women, including physical and sexual violence. It is
conducted within a crime victimization framework and provides
information that is particularly useful for interventions in the criminal
justice sector.b
a WHO Multi-Country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against
Women and Initial Results on Prevalence, Health Outcomes and Women’s
Responses (Geneva, WHO, 2005).
b Nevala, S., The International Violence against Women Surveys (Geneva,
European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, 2005).
192. The second approach to data collection — integrating special modules on
violence against women into general surveys — is particularly useful when
resources are scarce. Questions or modules on violence against women have been
included in demographic and health surveys and in reproductive health surveys in a
number of countries, including in Cambodia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic,
Egypt, Haiti, India, Nicaragua, Peru and Zambia.219 Several Governments routinely
conduct population-based crime surveys that include information on violence
against women. For example, in the United States, the National Crime Victimization
Survey (formerly known as the National Crime Survey) has been conducted since
the 1960s, while in the United Kingdom, the British Crime Survey has been carried
out since 1982. Statistics Canada has adapted a module of questions from the 1993
Violence against Women survey and included it in the ongoing General Social
Survey on Victimization, which is conducted at regular five-year intervals.
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193. An advantage of general surveys is that the broad variety of information
collected in these surveys, such as reproductive and child health outcomes, can
deepen understanding of the risk factors and health and other consequences of
violence against women. Their regularity can allow monitoring over time of
violence against women and its intergenerational consequences. However, the
number of questions that can be included in a general survey is usually limited.
Moreover, as there is less opportunity to develop rapport with the respondents,
women may be less likely to report violence in these surveys.
194. Both dedicated surveys and general surveys can contribute valuable data for
guiding interventions on violence against women and States should be encouraged
to use the approach that best serves their needs and capacities.
2. Gaps and challenges in population-based data on violence against women
195. Despite recent multi-country initiatives, more work is needed to ensure greater
uniformity and comparability in the collection and reporting of data on all forms of
violence against women. For example, many of the prevalence estimates for
intimate partner violence are not comparable because of methodological differences
in the way that violence has been defined and measured. Moreover, there are
enormous gaps in terms of geographic coverage, population groups addressed and
types of violence measured.
(a) Types of violence measured
196. Population-based surveys have examined many different types of violence
against women, including intimate partner violence, sexual violence, female genital
mutiliation/cutting, child sexual abuse and emotional abuse. The majority of studies
focus on just one type of violence, most commonly intimate partner violence or
sexual violence. Studies on intimate partner violence usually address physical,
sexual and emotional/psychological violence. Some studies also measure controlling
behaviours on the part of the husband and economic abuse, such as denying a
woman access or control over resources including her own income, as well as
attitudes towards violence, such as the circumstances under which a husband is
perceived as being justified in hitting his wife.
197. There has been significant progress in documenting the extent of female
genital mutiliation/cutting through the addition of a special module on female
gential mutiliation/cutting in demographic and health surveys and in surveys carried
out by UNICEF. To date, these surveys have collected data on female genital
mutiliation/cutting in more than 20 countries.220 They include information on the
prevalence of female gential mutiliation/cutting at national and regional levels,
types of female gential mutiliation/cutting performed, who performed the procedure
and opinions about whether the practice should be continued.
198. However, other forms of violence identified in the Beijing Platform for Action
have not been documented to the same extent (see para. 222 below). Because many
of these forms of violence occur less frequently, or in specific populations, they are
difficult to study using population-based surveys, and are best addressed through
other methods.
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Box 7
Prevalence and incidencea
The prevalence of violence against women refers to the
proportion of “at-risk” women in a population who have experienced
violence. For some kinds of violence, such as sexual violence, all women
may be considered to be “at risk”. For others, such as intimate partner
violence, only women who have or have had an intimate partner would
be considered at risk. Prevalence estimates usually present the percentage
of women who have experienced violence either during the previous 12
months (known as point prevalence) or at any time in their life (lifetime
prevalence).
The incidence rate refers to the number of acts of violence women
experience during a specific period, such as one year, rather than the
number of women who have been targeted. In crime studies, incidence of
violence is generally measured as the number of assaults per inhabitant.
a Ellsberg, M. and Heise, L., Researching violence against women: a practical
guide for researchers and activists (Washington D.C., WHO, PATH, 2005).
(b) Ethical and safety issues
199. Despite the sensitivity of the topic, it is possible to collect reliable and valid
information on violence against women. However, specific safeguards are needed to
protect both respondents and interviewers. WHO has developed safety and ethical
guidelines for conducting research on domestic violence and on trafficking (see
boxes 4 and 8). These address issues such as guaranteeing the safety of both
respondents and interviewers; ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of the
interview; providing special training on gender equality issues and violence against
women to interviewers; providing a minimal level of information or referrals for
respondents in situations of risk; and providing emotional and technical support for
interviewers. Failure to adhere to these measures can compromise the quality of the
data and put respondents and interviewers at risk of physical or emotional harm.
Box 8
World Health Organization ethical and safety recommendations for
research on domestic violence against women
(a) The safety of respondents and the research team is paramount
and should inform all project decisions.
(b) Prevalence studies need to be methodologically sound and
build upon current research experience about how to minimize the
underreporting of abuse.
(c) Protecting confidentiality is essential to ensure both women’s
safety and data quality.
(d) All research team members should be carefully selected and
receive specialized training and ongoing support.
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(e) The study design must include a number of actions aimed at
reducing any possible distress caused to the participants by the research.
(f) Fieldworkers should be trained to refer women requesting
assistance to available sources of support. Where few resources exist, it
may be necessary for the study to create short-term support mechanisms.
(g) Researchers and donors have an ethical obligation to help
ensure that their findings are properly interpreted and used to advance
policy and intervention development.
(h) Violence questions should be incorporated into surveys
designed for other purposes only when ethical and methodological
requirements can be met.
3. Study design and implementation
200. The way that violence is defined and measured in population-based surveys
varies a great deal. For example, some studies use definitions based on national
criminal codes, while others allow respondents to define themselves as victims of
violence. Further, while some surveys use a single direct question such as “Have
you ever been beaten by anyone?”, others use more specific multiple questions such
as “Have you ever been slapped? or kicked? or beaten?” It has been shown that
women are more likely to disclose violence if they are offered more than one
opportunity to respond to a series of behaviourally specific questions; single
questions to assess violence are not recommended. Studies that use only a few
questions generally provide the lowest estimates of violence. Other issues, such as
the way the surveys are administered and who is included in the study population,
can also have a major influence on study results (see box 8).
Box 9
Issues that affect the comparability of data on violence against
womena
(a) How is the study population identified?
? What are the cut-off ages, for example over 18, between 15
and 49?
? Are unmarried women excluded?
? What geographic area is included in the study?
(b) How is violence defined and measured?
? Who defines the abuse — the researcher or the respondent?
? Over what period of time is violence being measured?
? Does the study distinguish between different types of
perpetrators in terms of their relationship to the victim?
? Is frequency of violence measured?
? What types of violence are included (physical, sexual,
emotional or economic)?
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? Does the study gather information regarding the severity of
violence?
(c) Is the interview carried out in such a way that women are
likely to disclose experiences of violence?
? How are questions on violence worded?
? How are the questions introduced?
? What questions precede them?
? How many opportunities do the respondents have to
disclose?
? What is the context of the interview, in terms of privacy,
length and skill of interviewer?
? How is the interview administered, for example, face-toface,
by telephone or using computer technology?
a Ellsberg, M. and Heise, L., Researching violence against women: a practical
guide for researchers and activists (Washington, D.C., WHO, PATH, 2005).
C. Other sources of data and information on violence against women
1. Service-based data
201. Information that is collected routinely through public and private agencies that
come into contact with women who have suffered violence is known as servicebased
data. It includes records from health centres, police stations and courts, public
services such as housing and social welfare services and shelters and other support
services for survivors of violence. Other support services include women lawyers’
associations, legal aid services and advocacy organizations. Service-based data
cannot be used to measure the prevalence of violence in a community since in most
societies very few abused women report violence to the police or support services,
and those who do tend to be the most seriously injured. However, service-based data
can contribute to understanding sector responses to violence and how far they meet
the needs of women.
202. Service-based data can be used to monitor the number of women coming
forward to various agencies for help and can identify how many women have sought
support due to violence in specific populations, for example, those attending healthcare
services. Information on the number of women utilizing particular services
because of violence can provide estimates of the need for such services and their
costs. It can also be used to quantify the need for training among service providers,
including medical and criminal justice professionals.
203. Service-based data can also contribute to evaluating the response of agencies
to which women turn for help. It is important to know, for example, how police
respond when a woman reports violence. Is the case investigated, are arrests made
and are the charges pursued through the courts? Data from police and courts are also
needed to evaluate and formulate legislation, policies and procedures to respond to
violence.
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204. Tracking the availability of services, such as shelters or refuges and other
support for women who have been subjected to violence is also needed to evaluate a
society’s response to the problem. In addition, this information provides important
context to analyses of the numbers of women coming forward for help. For
example, growth in the availability of services may explain growth in the numbers
seeking help. At the same time, low numbers of women using shelters or other
services should not be interpreted as low demand or need in areas where few such
services exist. This instead may point to obstacles preventing women from seeking
services.
(a) Health services
205. Women who have been targeted for violence can be identified in a health-care
setting where they seek treatment, care and support. However, women often do not
disclose the fact that they have suffered violence, even when it is the underlying
cause of their health-care visit. One way of increasing disclosure is through routine
enquiry about violence. However, where routine enquiry takes place, the health
service needs to have the capacity to respond appropriately and make referrals, as
well as to record, analyse and report the data.
206. There is considerable debate about whether health workers who identify
victims of violence should be obliged to report cases to the criminal justice system
(mandatory reporting). Many health workers believe that this is a breach of privacy
and confidentiality and can result in lower disclosure and increased risk for women.
Health workers have also raised ethical concerns about routine identification of
women who need help when the health-care system is unable to provide appropriate
assistance.
207. Routine data collection of specific health outcomes related to violence, such as
injury or death from homicide, offer potential for monitoring trends in violence
against women, particularly intimate partner violence and sexual assault by partners
and other perpetrators.
(b) Criminal and civil justice sectors
208. Statistics may be collected more systematically in the criminal and civil justice
sectors than in other sectors. The police are often the primary source of information
on intimate partner homicides and other types of femicide. The criminal justice
sector has the potential to collect information on both victims and perpetrators and
to track repeat victimization and repeat offending. Because these sectors operate on
the basis of a code of law, it should be possible to organize data by criminal code
sections. In most countries, however, it is not possible to gain a complete picture of
the magnitude of violence against women because statistics are not broken down
according to the sex of the victim and do not describe the relationship of the victim
to the perpetrator. Some countries have specific laws on domestic violence while
others address domestic violence under laws on assault, grievous bodily harm,
sexual assault, stalking, homicide and other crimes. Even within an individual
country, different ministries may record the same crime differently, in light of
different responsibilities, such as the ministry of justice and the ministry of health.
209. Although criminal court cases represent a very small and non-representative
sample of cases of violence against women, court statistics are important. They can
contribute to understanding the response of the criminal justice system to violence
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against women. In particular, the effectiveness of laws and sanctions designed to
protect women can be assessed through statistics that track repeat offenders.
However, in many countries, feedback from the courts to the ministry of justice is
inadequate.
210. Women escaping domestic violence also use civil law remedies. In some
countries civil injunctions, also known as protection orders, peace bonds, restraining
orders or domestic violence orders, prohibit violent partners from coming into
contact with the victim. They can include other conditions, such as prohibitions on
the use of drugs or alcohol or on the possession of weapons. Other types of
injunctions can remove the violent partner from the home. More data needs to be
collected to ascertain how effective these measures are and how accessible they are
to the women who need them.
(c) Other services
211. Most public agencies that provide services to women victims/survivors of
violence routinely keep some statistics on the use of their services. The quality and
quantity of data collection varies considerably, both in general and in relation to
violence against women. Such services include public agencies providing housing,
child welfare and other social services.
212. Diverse support services, usually led by NGOs, sometimes with support from
public funds, also collect information on the extent and nature of violence against
the women who come to them for help. These services include shelters and refuges,
advice telephone lines and advocacy and related support services. Information is
also sometimes collected by women’s lawyers’ associations and legal aid services.
The information collected by services such as these is particularly relevant to
qualitative research. However, the records vary considerably in the type and quality
of information collected.
2. Gaps and challenges in service-based data on violence against women
213. The availability and quality of service-based data varies a great deal. In some
countries, particularly in Europe and North America, information is available,
although not always compiled or disseminated, from a broad array of sources. In
other countries, particularly those with limited resources, the obstacles to collecting
service-based data on violence against women are much greater.
214. In general, service agencies do not have data collection as their primary
responsibility and data available through these agencies are often not collected in a
systematic way. The quality of the data may be poor, inconsistent over time and not
entirely representative. Double counting is a common problem, whereby women
seeking repeated services from the same agency or from more than one agency are
counted more than once. These problems are largely the result of inadequate
training, lack of resources and poor coordination among agencies.
215. Problems with service-based statistics are compounded when social services
are sparse or non-existent or when violence against women is largely ignored by
police or society in general. In societies where victims/survivors of domestic
violence or sexual violence are highly stigmatized, they are reluctant to come
forward for support. As a result, considerable variation exists in the extent to which
service-based statistics are available at the national level. In order to improve data
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collection in this field, a parallel improvement in the number and quality of services
for victims/survivors of violence is required, as well as a reduction in the stigma and
discrimination they face.
3. Qualitative data collection
216. The main disadvantage of population-based surveys and service-based data is
that the information they provide is often fairly limited — a survey may indicate
how many women have experienced violence or how many have reported violence
to the police, but may provide little or no information on how women experience
violence, the cultural context of violence or the barriers that women face in access
to justice. In contrast to quantitative research methods, which produce information
that can be presented numerically, qualitative methods gather information that is
presented primarily through narratives, verbatim quotes, descriptions, lists and case
studies.
217. Qualitative methods are necessary to complement quantitative surveys, for
example to understand the complexities and nuances of experiences from the
respondent’s point of view. Qualitative methods can be used for in-depth studies, as
well as rapid assessments, and are particularly appropriate for exploratory research
or when an issue is being studied for the first time. In addition, qualitative research
findings are useful in assessing women’s needs and constraints, community needs,
designing prevention campaigns, planning and evaluating interventions and
engaging community actors via participatory research.
218. When qualitative research is carried out in order to strengthen local
programmes, the process of conducting research can initiate a public discussion
about violence against women and open a dialogue with key institutional actors. For
example, the Pan American Health Organization carried out a study in 10 Latin
American countries that used qualitative methods to understand what happened to
women affected by family violence when they decided to seek assistance.221 The
study asked: to whom does the woman turn for help? What kinds of attitudes and
responses does she encounter from institutional actors? What factors motivate her to
act or inhibit her from acting? The results of the study and the dissemination process
served as an effective point of entry for developing coordinated community
interventions against domestic violence in 25 pilot communities throughout Latin
America.222
219. In another example, participatory research methods, such as focus group
discussions, were used in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya to investigate a
reported increase in cases of sexual violence and to identify possible interventions.
The study found that the majority of rapes occurred when women left the camp to
search for firewood. As a result, practical measures were taken to give women
greater protection when they were collecting firewood.223
4. Evaluation research
220. Although the number and breadth of interventions to address violence against
women have greatly increased in the last decade, there has been a lack of rigorous
evaluation to identify the most effective practices. Very few studies have evaluated
the impact on women’s safety and well-being of such measures as protection orders,
mandatory arrests and treatment programmes for perpetrators. Randomized control
trials are considered to be the most rigorous way to compare the effectiveness of one
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intervention over another. However, this method is rarely used to evaluate
interventions to prevent violence against women and ensure women’s safety, partly
due to ethical considerations. In the absence of reliable data, scarce resources might
be wasted on programmes that have limited impact, making investment in
programme evaluation an urgent priority.224
D. Forms of violence against women that are under-documented
221. Although the knowledge base about all forms of violence against women needs
to be strengthened, some progress has been made in documenting some of the most
common forms, particularly intimate partner violence, sexual violence, female
genital mutiliation/cutting and child sexual abuse. However, there are still many
forms of violence that remain largely undocumented. Some forms may affect
relatively few women overall, but have a devastating effect on the women
concerned. Some forms may be new or newly recognized. Efforts are ongoing to
improve the quality of data collection, but in some cases, new methods need to be
developed in order to adequately understand the extent and dynamics of these underdocumented
forms of violence.
222. Under-documented forms of violence against women include femicide; sexual
violence against women in armed conflict and post-conflict situations; trafficking in
women for sexual and other exploitation; traditional harmful practices (other than
female genital mutilation/cutting); prenatal sex selection and neglect of infant girls;
forced marriage; early marriage; acid throwing, dowry or “honour” related violence;
stalking; sexual harassment and violence in custody, workplaces and educational
settings; and economic violence. It also includes violence against certain groups of
women, for example, members of ethnic minorities, women with disabilities and
migrant and undocumented women. Some of these were not widely recognized as
forms of violence against women before the Fourth World Conference on Women in
Beijing in 1995. Many of these forms of violence could be addressed in populationbased
surveys — for example, the WHO multi-country study on domestic violence
asks detailed information about issues such as age and circumstances of marriage,
the type of ceremony held and whether money was exchanged. Data collection
implications for some forms are discussed below.
1. Femicide
223. Recent studies on femicide have found that the characteristics of murders of
women are very different from those of men and often involve domestic violence,
extreme jealousy and possessiveness or passion, dowry disputes or issues of
“honour”. Further, they are often accompanied by sexual violence, as seen in recent
high rates of murders of women reported in parts of Mexico and Guatemala.225
224. Studies of femicide have relied primarily on records provided by the police,
the courts or medical examiners. Such records have been used to determine the
relationship between the victim and the perpetrator (for example, intimate partners,
family members or in-laws or strangers) and the circumstances of death (for
example, cause of death and location).226 Some countries categorize so-called
“honour” killings or dowry murders separately, which allows researchers to examine
risk factors and dynamics of these killings. However, these crimes are generally
considered to be grossly underreported.227
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225. In most countries, police and forensic data regarding homicides are
incomplete, and often do not provide basic information about circumstances of
death or the relation between victim and perpetrator. In many countries, homicide
data are not even disaggregated by the sex of the victim. Researchers have used
innovative methods such as “verbal autopsies”, which involve interviews with
individuals close to the victim, to determine the circumstances of deaths and to learn
how they might have been prevented.228 In South Africa, researchers addressed the
under-recording of femicide in police records by reviewing records from a variety of
sources, including private mortuaries.229
2. Sexual violence against women in armed conflict and post-conflict situations
226. Although rape in war has been widespread for centuries, it has only recently
been recognized as a significant human rights issue. Providing reliable data on the
extent of sexual violence in war and humanitarian crises is particularly challenging
precisely because of the chaotic circumstances and constantly shifting populations
as well as safety considerations. Moreover, many women are reluctant to disclose
rape, even in order to access support or obtain justice, either for fear of additional
reprisals or because of the stigma associated with sexual violence.
227. Most of the data available on sexual violence in conflict comes from case
studies or interviews with victims/survivors. Population-based surveys have been
performed in a few countries, either in refugee camps or other post-conflict settings,
including in Colombia, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste.230
Surveillance of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations, with due
attention to ethical and safety considerations, is needed urgently in order to establish
more effective prevention measures and remedial services.
228. From 2000 to 2004, the Reproductive Health Response in Conflict Consortium
spearheaded a global initiative on gender-based violence. One of its outcomes was a
qualitative assessment of such violence in conflict settings. The Consortium also
developed tools for measuring the prevalence of sexual violence among refugees,
internally displaced persons and other conflict-affected populations.231 The Genderbased
Violence Tools Manual for Assessment and Program Design, Monitoring and
Evaluation contains a series of qualitative assessment tools and techniques and a
working draft of a standardized population-based survey designed to measure
multiple forms of gender-based violence in conflict-affected settings around the
world. This has been piloted in four countries to date.
3. Trafficking in women and girls232
229. Statistics available in this area are notoriously unreliable. Many countries do
not have trafficking legislation or have legislation that is inadequate. Even where
legislation is in place, few traffickers are successfully prosecuted. There is often no
centralized agency collecting data on human trafficking. Statistics may be reported
by individual government agencies, by NGOs, the media or international or regional
organizations, but these data sources are rarely linked and are often not comparable.
230. Trafficked women rarely report their situation to the authorities and are often
unwilling to cooperate with law enforcement officials if identified and rescued.
Their reasons include: fear of reprisals from traffickers; lack of trust in the
authorities; the belief that the authorities cannot, or will not help; rejection by their
families; and lack of opportunities in their home countries. Some trafficked women
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may not see themselves as exploited, particularly if they are earning more than they
could in their own country.
231. IOM, in a review of trafficking in women across Europe, came to the
conclusion that it was “not possible with any level of accuracy to produce accurate
estimates for trafficking in women”.233 Most estimates on trafficking are difficult to
compare or verify because the methodology for computing the estimates is rarely
given, and the coverage of estimates is often unclear.234 There is often a wide
disparity between estimates, with some 10 times higher than others.
232. With regard to trafficking, several regional and national initiatives have begun
to develop comprehensive databases to provide information on international
trafficking routes, sources, transit and destination countries and on the numbers of
trafficked victims and offenders.235
4. Sexual harassment and violence in workplaces and schools
233. The main source of information on sexual harassment in the workplace in most
countries is the ministry of labour or the national office that processes complaints
against employers. In countries where there is no legislation to address sexual
harassment, there are virtually no records on its extent. Regardless of data collection
procedures, the actual number of women who experience sexual harassment is likely
to exceed by far the number of reported cases.
234. In many industrialized countries, surveys have been conducted to estimate the
proportion of individuals who have experienced harassment, either in the workplace
or educational settings. In developing countries, although harassment is recognized
as a grave problem, most information comes from anecdotal, or qualitative, research
and little is known about the magnitude of the problem. Only a few studies, mostly
conducted in Africa, have measured the prevalence of school-based violence against
girls in representative samples of students.236
5. Violence in institutional settings and correctional facilities
235. While there is anecdotal information, there is little data available about
violence against women in health facilities,237 including mental health facilities.
Similarly, information about violence against women in prisons, detention centres
and other correctional facilities is not readily available. Such information would
need to be collected primarily by ministries of health and justice, as well as
independent research institutions.
E. Indicators on violence against women
236. Policymakers and activists have called on States, intergovernmental agencies
and others to develop a set of international indicators on violence against women.
These are needed for three main purposes:
(a) To persuade policymakers of the need to take action to address violence
against women: the most compelling evidence has been based on household surveys
that measure the extent and characteristics of different forms of violence against
women. There are numerous examples around the world in which the presentation of
survey data on violence against women has galvanized political will and resulted in
legislative and policy reforms;
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(b) To measure access and quality of services to survivors of violence: this
information is generally derived from the administrative records of the criminal
justice system, health and social services or of NGOs that provide services to
survivors of violence or from research on women’s perceptions and use of services.
Evaluation research, using both qualitative and quantitative methods, is key to
assessing the effectiveness of programmes;
(c) To monitor the progress of States in meeting their international
obligations to address violence against women: relevant indicators would measure
the impact of policies through changes in the prevalence and incidence of violence,
progress in the establishment of legal and policy reforms, availability of services
and budgetary allocations to address violence against women.
237. There is still no consensus as to the best approach for measuring the global
occurrence of violence against women, despite several proposals for a set of
international indicators.238 The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its
causes and consequences has been invited to put forward proposals for such
indicators.239 The Millennium Project Task Force on Education and Gender Equality
(Task Force 3) proposed an indicator on violence against women in order to monitor
global progress in the Millennium Development Goal of “achieving gender equality
and empowering women”.240
238. There has also been discussion of including an indicator on violence against
women in a composite index on the gender equality dimensions of human
development, such as the Gender Development Index or the Gender Empowerment
Measure.241 This approach would highlight the issue of violence against women as a
critical dimension of women’s empowerment and place it within the broader context
of human development. Including violence against women as part of a composite
index would also encourage Governments to collect data on the issue.
239. For a composite index, a single indicator must be selected that is both simple
and easy to interpret and for which robust, comparable data are available. It must
also be possible to measure changes in the situation within a medium to long-term
time frame. To date, the most widely available indicator is the prevalence of
physical intimate partner violence, defined as the proportion of women who have
ever had a partner who have experienced such violence within the last 12 months or
in their lifetime. There is fairly broad consensus among researchers about how to
measure physical partner violence, and it is currently included in most surveys on
violence against women. For the purpose of policy development, other indicators are
necessary, such as the lifetime prevalence of violence, the number, frequency and
severity of violent incidents and the prevalence of other forms of violence such as
sexual and emotional violence. With sufficient investment of resources and effort,
an internationally comparable database could be built within the next five to seven
years showing 12-month prevalence estimates of physical intimate partner violence
for the majority of countries.
F. Improving data collection on violence against women
240. There is an urgent need to strengthen the knowledge base on all forms of
violence against women to inform policy and strategy development. The expert
group meeting on challenges and gaps in data collection on violence against women
made a detailed set of recommendations for improving data collection.242 The expert
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group emphasized the responsibility of States to ensure the systematic collection
and publication of data, including through supporting NGOs, academics and other
actors engaged in research. National statistical agencies and relevant ministries such
as those of health or justice, have an important role to play in setting technical and
ethical standards, ensuring consistency of concepts, regularity of data collection,
and wide and timely dissemination of data. Government’s national machineries for
the advancement of women should be closely associated with such efforts.
241. Because the international understanding of what constitutes violence against
women continues to evolve, operational definitions need to remain flexible.
Collaboration between producers and users of data should be strengthened by
having users involved in the development and implementation of data collection.
Data collection on violence against women should be carried out in consultation
with a wide range of stakeholders, including data suppliers, advocates and agencies
providing services to women, policymakers, legislators and researchers.
VI. The responsibility of the State to address violence
against women
A. Introduction
242. The present section builds on section II, which summarizes the emergence of
violence against women as a human rights concern and the common understanding
of the State’s responsibility to prevent and respond to such violence. It elaborates on
the content of this responsibility and implementation at the national level.
243. Human rights treaties, equally applicable to women and men, set out a series
of rights that are critical in the protection of women from violence (see box 5).
These include the right to life, liberty and security of the person; to be free from
torture and from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; to be free
from slavery and servitude; to equal protection under the law; to equality in
marriage and family relations; to an adequate standard of living; to just and
favourable conditions of work; and to the highest attainable standard of physical and
mental health.243
244. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime, supports action to prevent and combat
trafficking, protect and assist the victims of such trafficking and promote
cooperation among States parties.
245. International humanitarian law is of primary relevance to the protection of
women and girls during armed conflict and international criminal law and the
principle of universal jurisdiction can provide an avenue of redress to women for
crimes committed against them in wars and other situations of conflict and
persecution.244 International refugee law instruments, particularly the 1951
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, provide
protection to refugee women.
246. The rights of women are specifically elaborated in international and regional
treaties, in particular the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women. The Optional Protocol to the Convention, in force
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since 2000, establishes an individual complaints procedure as well as an inquiry
procedure. Both procedures have already been used to enhance State accountability
for violence against women.
247. While the Convention does not explicitly address violence against women (see
sect. II), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women made
it clear that gender-based violence may breach specific provisions of the Convention
regardless of whether those provisions expressly mention violence. The Convention
requires “States parties to act to protect women against violence of any kind
occurring within the family, at the work place or in any other area of social life”.245
The protection of women’s right to be free from violence under the Convention is
confirmed by the practice of States parties who report on violence against women to
the Committee and the inclusion of this issue in the concluding comments of the
Committee.
248. The Convention of Belém do Pará is the only treaty directed solely at
eliminating violence against women and has frequently been cited as a model for a
binding treaty on violence against women. The Protocol to the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa addresses violence
against women within many of its provisions. In South Asia, States have agreed to
the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Convention on Preventing
and Combating the Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution and the
Dhaka Declaration for Eliminating Violence against Women in South Asia. The
provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights have also been applied in
cases involving violence against women.
249. The international legal framework is complemented by an extensive array of
policy instruments that provide detailed guidance for action to address violence
against women. These include declarations and resolutions adopted by United
Nations bodies and documents emanating from United Nations conferences and
summit meetings (see box 5).
250. Human rights treaty bodies established to monitor the implementation of
treaties — Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the
Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the
Rights of the Child, the Committee Against Torture and the Committee on Migrant
Workers — address violence against women in relation to the enjoyment of the
rights protected by the respective treaties. The treaty bodies address the structural
causes of violence against women and clarify States’ obligations to address and
prevent all forms of violence against women in general recommendations and
concluding observations and in their work under individual complaints and inquiry
procedures. Other United Nations mechanisms, in particular the Special Rapporteur
on violence against women, its causes and consequences, contribute to the
understanding of State responsibility for preventing and eliminating violence against
women.
251. There is an increasing body of jurisprudence on violence against women at the
international and regional level. In particular, case law has been established by the
European and inter-American human rights systems and by the ad hoc international
criminal tribunals (see box 9). These decisions set important precedents on the
applicability of international law to State and individual responsibility for violence
against women.
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252. Legislative and judicial developments at the national level have also
elaborated on standards of State responsibility within national contexts. The
Constitutional Court of South Africa, for example, has held that the State has a duty
under international law to protect women from gender-based discrimination,
including violence that has the purpose or effect of impairing the enjoyment by
women of their human rights.246
253. The implementation of international norms and standards on violence against
women requires comprehensive legal, policy and other measures at the national
level, with the involvement of many stakeholders. These include all levels of the
State at federal, state, provincial and local levels, as well as all branches of
Government, including the judiciary, legislature and executive. Collaboration and
coordination between all stakeholders, including Governments, NGOs and civil
society organizations are vital for an effective approach to redressing such violence
(see sect. VII).
Box 10
Examples of international and regional jurisprudence on violence
against women
International
? Kisoki v. Sweden, Communication No. 41/1996 (A/51/44),
Committee against Torture
? The Prosecutor v. Jean-Paul Akayesu, Case No. ICTR-96-4-T-
2, 1998, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
? The Prosecutor v. Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovac, and
Zoran Vukovic, Case No. IT-96-23&23/1, 2002, International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
? Karen Noelia Llantoy Huamán v. Peru, Communication
No. 1153/2003, Human Rights Committee
? AT v. Hungary, Communication No. 2/2003, 2005, Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
? Inquiry under article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women in regard to Mexico, and reply from the
Government of Mexico,a 2005, Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women
Regional
? Airey v. Ireland, European Court of Human Rights 6289/73,
1979
? X and Y v. the Netherlands, European Court of Human Rights
8978/80, 1985
? Raquel Martí de Mejía v. Peru, Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights, Case 10.970, 1996
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? Aydin v. Turkey, European Court of Human Rights, 23178/94,
1997
? Ana, Beatriz and Celia Gonzáles Pérez v. Mexico, Inter-
American Commission on Human Rights, Case 11.565,
No. 53/01, 2000
? María da Penha Maia Fernandes v. Brazil, Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights, Case 12.051, 2001
? Algür v. Turkey, European Court of Human Rights 32574/96,
2002
? María Mamérita Mestanza Chávez v. Peru, Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights, Case 12.191, 2003
? MC v. Bulgaria, European Court of Human Rights 39272/98,
2003
a See CEDAW/C/2005/OP.8/Mexico.
B. State responsibility
254. It is now well established under international law that violence against women
is a form of discrimination against women and a violation of human rights.247 States’
obligations to respect, protect, fulfil and promote human rights248 with regard to
violence against women encompasses the responsibility to prevent, investigate and
prosecute all forms of, and protect women from, such violence and to hold
perpetrators accountable.249
255. States are responsible under international law for human rights violations and
acts of violence against women perpetrated by the State or any of its agents.250 Such
responsibility arises not only from State actions, but also from omissions and failure
to take positive measures to protect and promote rights.251 States must refrain from
committing human rights violations through their own agents. They also have a duty
to prevent human rights violations by non-State actors, investigate allegations of
violations, punish wrongdoers and provide effective remedies to victims. States are
accountable for the actions of non-State actors if they fail to act with due diligence
to prevent, investigate or punish such acts and provide an effective remedy.252
256. Much violence against women is committed by private actors and includes a
broad range of individuals and entities, such as intimate partners and other family
members; casual acquaintances and strangers; neighbourhood and community
institutions; criminal gangs, organizations and business enterprises. The use of the
standard of due diligence underlines the State’s duty to protect women effectively
from such violence.
257. The standard of due diligence is articulated in general recommendation No. 19
of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which notes
that “States may also be responsible for private acts if they fail to act with due
diligence to prevent violations of rights or to investigate and punish acts of
violence, and for providing compensation” and in international and regional legal
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and policy instruments253 and jurisprudence. In Velasquez Rodriguez v. Honduras,254
the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held that a State must take action to
prevent human rights violations committed by non-State actors, investigate
allegations of violations and punish wrongdoers. The standard is not one of strict
liability, in which the State would be held accountable for acts of violence against
women regardless of the circumstances, but rather one of reasonableness.255 It is
based on principles of non-discrimination and good faith in application.256 The
standard of due diligence therefore requires a State to act with the existing means at
its disposal to address both individual acts of violence against women and the
structural causes so as to prevent future violence.257
258. When State actors commit sexual violence, such violence may constitute
torture. For example, the rape of women in custody by State agents including
soldiers, policemen and prison officers has been recognized as an act of torture. The
Committee against Torture found that a woman would be in danger of being tortured
if returned to Zaire, where she was allegedly raped by security forces.258 The
European Court of Human Rights held that physical and mental abuse of a woman
in detention violated her right to freedom from torture or inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment.259 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
found that a family of four women who were beaten and gang-raped by Mexican
military personnel in detention had been tortured.260
259. The International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda
have recognized sexual violence including rape as acts of torture, as crimes against
humanity and an element of genocide in some circumstances.261 The Rwanda
tribunal recognized that “sexual violence is not limited to physical invasion of the
human body and may include acts which do not involve penetration or even physical
contact”.262 The Special Court for Sierra Leone included forced marriage in an
indictment.263 The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court established
jurisdiction to try crimes of sexual violence, such as rape, sexual slavery, enforced
prostitution and forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization and other sexual violence
as crimes against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic
attack directed at a civilian population.264
260. The international legal and policy frameworks provide a set of standards for
action by States to prevent and eliminate violence against women. Different
contexts, circumstances and constraints, including availability of resources, will
affect the type of action to be taken. Inaction or inadequate action results in a breach
of a State’s duty to address such violence. Examples are provided below.
C. Addressing violence against women
261. Measures taken to prevent violence against women, to investigate and
prosecute acts of violence and punish perpetrators and to put in place remedies are
benchmarks by which States, women’s organizations and advocates and human
rights mechanisms may assess national laws, programmes and policies and evaluate
their compliance with international obligations. States have a general duty to
promote de facto equality between women and men and to develop and implement
effectively a legal and policy framework for the full protection and promotion of
women’s human rights. This is particularly important where women may face
increased risk of violence because their enjoyment of rights such as those to
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housing, education or employment is impaired. State responsibility is not limited to
responding to acts of violence against women, but extends to identifying patterns of
inequality that could result in violence and taking steps to overcome them.
1. Legal and policy framework
262. Adherence to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, its Optional Protocol and other relevant
international human rights treaties and the removal of reservations constitute
measures to address violence against women.265 Similarly, the inclusion of the
principle of equality of men and women in national constitutions or similar
legislation, in accordance with international standards, enhances the framework for
addressing violence against women.266 National plans of action to protect women
against violence and to improve the promotion and protection of women’s human
rights are part of compliance measures.267 States are also required to allocate an
adequate budget to address violence against women.268
263. The requirement to enact, implement and monitor legislation covering all
forms of violence against women is set out in a number of international and regional
instruments.269 It has been elaborated in the case of AT v. Hungary,270 where the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women found that the lack
of specific legislation to combat domestic violence and sexual harassment
constituted a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, particularly the
right to security of person. In X and Y v. the Netherlands,271 the European Court of
Human Rights found that the Netherlands had breached its human rights
responsibilities by failing to create appropriate criminal legislation applicable to the
rape of a mentally handicapped young woman.
264. The requirement to review and revise existing laws and policy to address
violence against women was spelled out by the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights in the case of María Mamérita Mestanza Chávez v. Peru,272 which
involved a government sterilization programme.
265. The case of MC v. Bulgaria illustrates the importance of monitoring the
manner in which legislation is enforced. In this case, the European Court of Human
Rights found that although the article prohibiting rape in Bulgaria’s penal code did
not “mention any requirement of physical resistance by the victim”, physical
resistance appeared to be required in practice to pursue a charge of rape.273
2. Criminal justice system
(a) Investigation
266. States have a duty as set out in numerous international instruments to
investigate acts of violence against women.274 Such investigations should use
techniques that do “not degrade women subjected to violence and minimize
intrusion, while maintaining standards for the collection of the best evidence”.275 In
AT v. Hungary, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
spelled out the need to “investigate promptly, thoroughly, impartially and seriously
all allegations” of domestic violence.276 In MC v. Bulgaria,277 the European Court of
Human Rights upheld the positive duty of States to ensure the effectiveness of the
criminal law through effective investigation and prosecution. The Court found that
the approach of the prosecutors and investigators “fell short of the requirement
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inherent in States’ positive obligations — viewed in the light of the relevant modern
standards in comparative and international law — to establish and apply effectively
a criminal law system punishing all forms of rape and sexual abuse”.278 The creation
of a safe and confidential system for reporting violence against women, and
protection of complainants from any possible acts of retaliation, form part of
effective investigation procedures.279
(b) Prosecution and punishment of perpetrators of violence against women
267. The obligation of States to prosecute and punish perpetrators of violence
against women is outlined in international instruments.280 In María da Penha Maia
Fernandes v. Brazil,281 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that
the failure of the State to prosecute and punish a perpetrator of domestic violence
for more than 15 years after the start of an investigation contradicted the State’s
international commitments and was an indication that the State condoned such
violence.282 Similarly, in the inquiry into the abduction, rape and murder of
hundreds of women in and around Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, the Committee raised the
issue of impunity, which had prevailed for an entire decade, during which these
crimes had been treated as common acts of violence belonging to the private sphere.
The Committee noted that the existing pattern of discrimination “whose most brutal
manifestation [was] extreme violence against women”, had been ignored.283
268. Standards for criminal proceedings, including rules of evidence and procedure,
should be conducted in a gender-sensitive manner to ensure that women are not
“re-victimized”.284 This includes the development and application of rules of
evidence and procedure to ensure that they are not too onerous or based on harmful
stereotypes that would inhibit women from testifying. Strategies to make criminal
proceedings more gender-sensitive may also require simplification of legal
procedures, victim confidentiality through in-camera proceedings where
appropriate, victim support and protection measures and trained personnel.
3. Remedies for victims of violence against women
269. In tandem with responsibility for prosecution and punishment, States have an
obligation to provide just and effective remedies for women subjected to
violence.285 Generally, the right to a remedy should include: access to justice;
reparation for harm suffered; restitution; compensation; satisfaction; rehabilitation;
and guarantees of non-repetition and prevention. In AT v. Hungary, the Committee
clarified that reparation should be proportionate to the physical and mental harm
undergone and to the gravity of the violations of the woman’s rights.286 In María da
Penha Maia Fernandes v. Brazil, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
recommended that a victim of domestic violence receive “appropriate symbolic and
actual compensation” for the violence that she had suffered at the hands of her
husband and also for the State’s “failure to provide rapid and effective remedies, for
the impunity that has surrounded the case for more than 15 years, and for making it
impossible, as a result of that delay, to institute timely proceedings for redress and
compensation in the civil sphere”.287
4. Support services
270. Women subjected to violence need access to shelters, medical, psychological
and other support, legal aid and other services, as set out in a number of
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international instruments, policy and practice.288 In AT v. Hungary, the complainant
could not access a shelter, as none in the country could support her and her two
children, one of whom was disabled. Moreover, there were no protection orders or
restraining orders under Hungarian law. The Committee found that the avenues
available to the complainant were “not capable of providing immediate protection to
her against ill-treatment by her former partner”.289 The Committee indicated that
available, effective and sufficient remedies and rehabilitation for victims of
domestic violence were necessary for safe and prompt access to justice, including
free legal aid where necessary.
5. Modifying attitudes and behaviour
271. International instruments and practice address the role of gender-based
stereotypes and sociocultural patterns of behaviour in the prevention and elimination
of violence against women. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women requires States parties to address social and cultural
patterns of conduct that lead to discrimination and stereotyped roles for women and
men.290 The Convention of Belém do Pará requires States to “modify legal or
customary practices which sustain the persistence and tolerance of violence against
women”.291 Provisions of the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of
Women in Africa address the elimination of discrimination and of harmful practices,
including by modifying social and cultural patterns of conduct of women and
men.292 This includes elimination of stereotypes that legitimize, exacerbate or
tolerate violence against women.293 A number of instruments specifically emphasize
that customs, traditions or religious considerations may not be invoked to avoid
obligations to eliminate violence against women.294
272. The role of stereotypes and sociocultural patterns of behaviour was addressed
by the Committee in the inquiry into the abduction, rape and murder of women in
and around Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The Committee emphasized that changing “a
structural situation and a social and cultural phenomenon deeply rooted in the
consciousness and customs of the population … requires a global and integrated
response … aimed at transforming existing sociocultural patterns” and “eradicating
the notion that gender violence is inevitable”.295 The Committee addressed this
aspect also in AT v. Hungary, where it found a violation of article 5 (a) of the
Convention.296
6. Capacity-building and training
273. All those who respond to violence against women, such as law enforcement
officers, immigration, judicial and medical personnel and social workers, require the
capacity to deal with such violence in a gender-sensitive manner297 and training,
guidelines and manuals relating to violence against women contribute to such
efforts.298 In the Ciudad Juárez inquiry, the Committee underlined the State party’s
responsibility to promote and guarantee the education and training of all public
officials involved in investigations in regard to both technical aspects of
investigations and the issue of violence against women as a violation of women’s
human rights.299
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7. Data and statistics
274. Accurate and comprehensive data and other documentation are crucial in
monitoring and enhancing State accountability for violence against women and for
devising effective responses. States’ role in promoting research, collecting data and
compiling statistics is addressed in policy instruments300 (see sect. V).
D. Gaps in implementation of international standards at the
national level
275. Implementation of international standards at the national level remains
inadequate, as evidenced by the continuing prevalence of violence against women
worldwide. Human rights treaty bodies regularly draw attention to gaps in the
implementation of international obligations relating to violence against women. The
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has consistently
identified a number of areas of concern,301 as have other human rights treaty
bodies.302 Good or promising practices for addressing some of these concerns are
discussed in section VII.
1. Legislation and its implementation
276. Human rights treaty bodies have expressed concern where States parties’ legal
systems lack specific legislation or legislative provisions to criminalize violence
against women, particularly domestic violence, marital rape, incest, sexual
harassment and traditional practices harmful to women. Treaty bodies have also
highlighted the lack, in many countries, of comprehensive laws on trafficking and
specific provisions for a gender-sensitive approach in their asylum laws.
277. The treaty bodies have expressed concerns about the scope and coverage of
existing legislation, in particular in regard to: definitions of rape that require use of
force and violence rather than lack of consent; definitions of domestic violence that
are limited to physical violence; treatment of sexual violence against women as
crimes against the honour of the family or crimes against decency rather than
violations of women’s right to bodily integrity; use of the defence of “honour” in
cases of violence against women and the related mitigation of sentences; provisions
allowing mitigation of sentences in rape cases where the perpetrator marries the
victim; inadequacy of protective measures for trafficked women, as well as their
treatment as criminals rather than victims; termination of criminal proceedings upon
withdrawal of a case by the victim; penalization of abortion in rape cases; laws that
allow early or forced marriage; inadequate penalties for acts of violence against
women; and discriminatory penal laws.
278. Where adequate legislation exists, the treaty bodies have frequently expressed
concern that such legislation has not been effectively implemented. Particular
concerns include: the absence of regulations to implement legislation; lack of clear
procedures for law enforcement and health-care personnel; attitudes of law
enforcement officers that discourage women from reporting cases; high dismissal
rates of cases by police and prosecutors; high withdrawal rates of complaints by
victims; low prosecution rates; low conviction rates; failure of courts to apply
uniform criteria, particularly in relation to measures to protect victims; lack of legal
aid and high costs of legal representation in courts; practices that deny women
agency, such as detaining women for their “protection” without their consent; and
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use of reconciliation proceedings between a perpetrator and a victim of violence in
criminal and divorce cases to the detriment of the victim.
279. In countries where customary law prevails alongside codified law, the
Committee and other treaty bodies have been consistently concerned about the use
of discriminatory customary law and practice, despite laws enacted to protect
women from violence.
2. Training
280. The treaty bodies have emphasized that in order for legislation and policies
pertaining to violence against women to be effectively enforced, the officials
responsible for implementation must be provided with training to ensure that they
are sensitized to all forms of violence against women and can respond in a gendersensitive
manner.
3. Provision of services
281. The treaty bodies have expressed concern where States parties do not have
sufficient support measures in place for women victims/survivors of violence. The
treaty bodies have emphasized the responsibility of the State to ensure that
victims/survivors have access to services such as shelters and legal, medical and
psychological support. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women has also been concerned about inadequate financing for such programmes
and organizations that provide such services. It has also expressed concern about the
lack of monitoring of programmes providing services to victims/survivors of
violence.
4. Attitudes and stereotypes
282. The treaty bodies have highlighted the fact that women are kept in subordinate
positions and thus placed at risk of violence, by traditions and customs that
discriminate against women, by gender-role stereotyping and by discrimination
against women in law, including customary law and in practice. The treaty bodies
have noted that the perpetuation of discriminatory attitudes and stereotypes
constructs violence against women, particularly domestic violence, as a private
matter that is acceptable or normal. In doing so, the treaty bodies have stressed the
importance of States parties taking steps to eliminate such attitudes and stereotypes.
5. Data and research
283. The treaty bodies have been consistently concerned by the lack of systematic
data collection on all forms of violence against women and the lack of data
disaggregated by sex more generally.
E. Actions to be taken by States to meet their international
obligations
284. The international legal and policy framework establishes standards for action
by States to meet their legal obligations and policy commitments to address violence
against women. These fall into the following categories:
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? Ratification of all international human rights instruments, including the
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women
and its Optional Protocol, and withdrawal of reservations
? Establishment of constitutional frameworks guaranteeing substantive equality
for women and prohibiting violence against women
? Adoption, periodic review and effective implementation, in a gender-sensitive
manner, of legislation that criminalizes all forms of violence against women
? Formulation and implementation of executive policies or plans of action to
eliminate violence against women and regular monitoring and evaluation of
such policies or plans of action
? Investigation in a prompt, thorough, gender-sensitive and effective manner of
all allegations of violence against women, including by keeping official
records of all complaints; undertaking investigation and evidence-gathering
expeditiously; collecting and safeguarding evidence, with witness protection
where needed; and providing the opportunity for women to make complaints
to, and deal with, skilled and professional female staff
? Prosecution of the perpetrators of all forms of violence against women and
elimination of any climate of impunity surrounding such offences
? Action to ensure that the criminal justice system, including rules of evidence
and procedure, functions in a non-discriminating and gender-sensitive manner
to encourage women’s testimony in proceedings regarding violence against
women
? Punishment of the perpetrators of all forms of violence against women in a
manner commensurate with the severity of the offence
? Provision of appropriate remedies, including by adopting measures to allow
victims to obtain appropriate symbolic and actual compensation, without
prejudice to possible civil proceedings against the perpetrator
? Implementation of training and awareness-raising programmes to familiarize
judges, prosecutors and other members of the legal profession with women’s
human rights in general, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol in particular
? Implementation of training programmes for judicial, legal, medical, social
services, social work, educational, police and immigration personnel to
educate such personnel and sensitize them to the social context of violence
against women
? Action to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and raise
awareness of the issue of violence against women through measures such as:
removing all stereotypes and sexist content from educational curricula and
creating positive images of women; organizing, supporting or funding, as
appropriate, community-based education campaigns to raise awareness about
violence against women; promoting and instituting an active and visible policy
of gender mainstreaming in all policies and programmes
? Creation of services, in cooperation with civil society organizations as
appropriate, in the following areas: access to justice, including free legal aid
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when necessary; provision of a safe and confidential environment for women
to report violence against women; adequately funded shelters and relief
services; adequately funded health-care and support services, including
counselling; linguistically and culturally accessible services for women
requiring such services; and counselling and rehabilitation programmes for
perpetrators of violence against women
? Systematic collection of data disaggregated by sex and other factors such as
age, ethnicity and disability detailing the prevalence of all forms of violence
against women; the causes and consequences of violence against women; and
the effectiveness of any measures implemented to prevent and redress violence
against women.
VII. Promising practices and challenges for implementation
A. Introduction
285. Good or promising practices have been developed by many States to meet their
human rights obligations to address violence against women. Innovative work has
been done by women’s NGOs in many countries, sometimes in collaboration with
the State, to find dynamic approaches to ending violence against women in differing
contexts. It remains, however, difficult to identify best practices on an international
or global level because of the range of ways and the variety of contexts in which
violence against women is manifested. The lack of sustained resources committed to
this work, and especially to evaluating different initiatives, adds to the difficulty of
generalizing about which approach works best. For this reason, this study uses the
more qualified characterization of “promising” or “good” practice.
286. There is as yet no agreement on assessment criteria of “good practices”.
Whether a practice is “good”, “promising” or “effective” depends both on the
standards that are used in evaluation and on the local context. Family forms, living
arrangements and livelihoods and the capacities of the State vary across and within
societies, leading to different approaches to tackling similar problems. What works
well is influenced by the form of the State, its commitment to women’s equality, its
relationship with NGOs and civil society and the resources it has to draw on.
Whether the State is involved in or emerging from conflict, or hosts large refugee
populations is another critical factor. The challenge is to identify useful
generalizations about interventions and reforms without understating the importance
of the specific context and without minimizing the responsibility of the State to
address violence against women despite constraints.
287. There are generic aspects of good or promising practices that can be extracted
from a variety of experiences around the world. Common principles of such
practices include: clear policies and laws that make violence illegal; strong
enforcement mechanisms; effective and well-trained personnel; the involvement of
multiple sectors; and close collaboration with local women’s groups, civil society
organizations, academics and professionals. It is critical to involve women fully and
to use their experiences of violence — including the complexities that arise from
multiple discrimination — as the starting point for developing policies and
programmes. The most promising practices in all areas involve a clear
demonstration of political commitment to eliminating violence against women, as
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evidenced by statements by high-level government officials, backed by action and
the commitment of resources by the State.
288. Practices emerge in particular contexts and circumstances, often building on
and learning from what has been tried before. A practice may be considered good
based on its effectiveness, replicability, sustainability, relevance, responsiveness,
efficiency or innovativeness.303 The process involved in developing or implementing
a practice may itself be considered a good practice. The former Special Rapporteur
on violence against women described “best” or “good” practices as those “that led
to actual change, contributed to a policy environment more conducive to gender
equality and/or have broken new ground in non-traditional areas for women”.304
289. Collaboration and coordination between Governments, NGOs and civil society
organizations continue to be vital in the development of effective practices to
eliminate violence against women. Examples include alliances and coalitions
between Government and NGOs that draw on the experience and expertise of the
most active and informed partners — women’s groups and networks — in designing
and implementing programmes. Coordination and networking between government
sectors, such as the justice system and the health, education and employment
sectors, is widely seen as good practice. The formation of strategic coalitions and
alliances between groups working on violence against women and those working on
other issues such as HIV/AIDS, women’s economic empowerment and other aspects
of social justice is also good practice.
290. Governments, NGOs and women’s rights activists dealing with violence
against women have used different approaches in three distinct, yet interrelated,
areas: law and justice, provision of services and prevention of violence. Many
Governments use national plans of action, which include legal measures, service
provision and prevention strategies, to address violence against women. Promising
practices in the development and implementation of such plans of action include
consultation with women’s groups and other civil society organizations, clear
timelines and benchmarks, transparent mechanisms for monitoring implementation,
clear indicators of impact and evaluation, predictable and adequate funding streams
and the integration of measures to address and prevent violence against women in
sectoral programmes.
291. States’ responsibilities in addressing violence against women, as well as gaps
in implementation, were laid out in section VI. This section indicates how these
gaps in implementation at the national level could be closed by presenting examples
of practices that, for different reasons, are viewed as good or promising. They are
drawn mainly from experience with domestic violence and sexual violence because
there is more information available in these areas, but many of the principles apply
more broadly. The list of examples is neither exhaustive nor static. As experience
grows, existing practices may be eclipsed by innovations and new insights that offer
even more promise in efforts to prevent and redress violence against women.305
Enhanced use of such promising practices could also respond to the consistent
concerns voiced by treaty bodies (see sect. VI.D) about gaps in legislation and its
effective implementation, in provision of services and in general prevention efforts.
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B. Promising practices in law
292. The incorporation of provisions on gender equality in national constitutions or
other comparable legislation and the elimination of discriminatory provisions in all
areas of law, enhance the prevention of violence against women and constitute good
practice. Laws establish standards of right and wrong, deter wrongdoers through
arrests, prosecution and punishment of perpetrators and provide remedies to victims.
Laws provide access to justice and may mandate the allocation of resources or the
establishment of services for victims/survivors. Laws alone, however, are
insufficient and need to be part of a broader effort that encompasses public policies,
public education, services and violence prevention.306
1. Guiding principles for promising practices in law and the justice system
293. A growing body of experience suggests that when certain principles are
followed, laws have greater potential to address violence against women effectively.
These principles include:
? Address violence against women as a form of gender-based discrimination,
linked to other forms of oppression of women, and a violation of women’s
human rights
? Make clear that violence against women is unacceptable and that eliminating it
is a public responsibility
? Monitor implementation of legal reforms to assess how well they are working
in practice
? Keep legislation under constant review and continue to reform it in the light of
new information and understanding
? Ensure that victims/survivors of violence are not “revictimized” through the
legal process
? Promote women’s agency and empower individual women who are
victims/survivors of violence
? Promote women’s safety in public spaces
? Take into account the differential impact of measures on women according to
their race, class, ethnicity, religion, disability, culture, indigenous or migrant
status, legal status, age or sexual orientation
2. Legal framework
(a) Enactment of laws
294. Enacting laws prohibiting specific forms of violence against women is an
important step towards eliminating such violence.307 Good practice in the
development of such laws requires a process that is consultative and that
incorporates the opinions of civil society, especially victims/survivors and women’s
NGOs, in dialogue with practitioners who will apply and enforce the laws. For
example, the 2004 Spanish Protection from Violence Act (Ley Integral) was
developed with strong involvement from women’s organizations and contains a wide
definition of violence including psychological forms of violence, such as sexual
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aggression, threat, compulsion, coercion and deprivation of free will.308 The law
covers preventive and educational measures, as well as protection and assistance for
victims and new sanctions against perpetrators. The Mongolian Domestic Violence
Law, enacted in May 2004, was the result of collaboration between two prominent
Mongolian women’s NGOs and the parliamentary domestic violence legislative
taskforce.309
(b) Implementation of laws
295. The potential of laws on violence against women remains unfulfilled if they
are not effectively applied and enforced. Implementation of laws is enhanced by
mandatory and systematic gender-sensitivity training of law enforcement officials,
prosecutors and judges and by protocols and guidelines on the appropriate
application of the law. Critical for the effective use of the law is women’s
knowledge of the law and the protection and remedies it offers and women’s
capacity to claim these rights effectively.
296. Gender-sensitivity training of law enforcement officials is conducted in many
countries by Governments and civil society organizations, often in collaboration.
Good practice requires such training to be systematic and mandatory. For example,
Brazil and Paraguay have introduced compulsory educational curricula on violence
against women for police trainees.310 Luxembourg’s Ministry for the Advancement
of Women conducts training on domestic violence for members of the national
police directorate, officers of the National Police Academy and the public
prosecutor’s office.311 The National Police Agency in the Republic of Korea
educates police officials on the laws on domestic violence, procedures in responding
to reports and steps to protect victims. It also conducts a nationwide test of police
officials on these subjects.312 Chile has trained more than 25,000 officials under a
framework developed by the Inter-Ministerial Commission on Violence within the
Family Sphere.313 In the Netherlands, a nationwide project on domestic violence
launched by the Board of Police Commissioners in 2003 encourages all police
regions to develop a policy on tackling domestic violence, to promote police
expertise and to enable the national registration of domestic violence cases.314 The
Centre for Women’s and Children’s Studies in Bangladesh developed a training
manual for police officers that reflects the needs of survivors and defines the role of
law enforcement in combating domestic, sexual and dowry-related violence,
trafficking and acid throwing.315
297. Programmes to enhance the gender-sensitivity of judges include “Towards a
Jurisprudence of Equality”, developed by the International Association of Women
Judges and its partners in Africa and Latin America. This programme strengthens
the capacity of judges and magistrates to apply international and regional human
rights law to cases involving violence against women.316 The Indian women’s NGO
Sakshi has trained members of the judiciary on gender issues using interactive
dialogue, small group problem-solving, visits to shelters and meetings with NGOs to
give judges a better understanding of women’s experiences.317 Women in Law and
Development Africa, an NGO, has compiled legal training kits for judges.318 The
Gender Justice Awards organized by the Government of the Philippines in
collaboration with civil society recognize judges who have rendered gendersensitive
decisions in cases of violence against women.319
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298. Guidelines and protocols on the implementation of laws and policies regarding
violence against women have been devised in several countries. Such guidelines and
protocols are promising practice in that they establish clear and predictable
standards to follow for the police and others who respond to violence against
women. The South African Police Service and the National Prosecuting Authority
have compiled detailed documents setting out standards for the management of
domestic violence and sexual assault cases.320 In the United Kingdom, there are
guidelines for police, social workers and educational professionals on addressing
forced marriages.321
299. Programmes and strategies to empower women by raising their awareness
about their rights and enhancing their capacity to claim such rights have been
developed in many countries, mostly by NGOs. Such programmes can also
contribute to increased reporting of violence. In 2004, the Afghan Women’s
Resource Center trained more than 500 women in a remote area of Afghanistan
about their basic rights, violence against women and forced marriages. In Timor-
Leste, Fokupers, an NGO, provides accessible legal aid services for women victims
and raises public awareness of domestic violence and women’s legal rights. Its
Babadok Bulletin and public information brochures are distributed to service
providers, religious institutions, government agencies and lawmakers.
(c) Monitoring laws
300. Good practice involves monitoring and evaluating laws to ensure continuing
effective application through such mechanisms as ombudspersons, national
rapporteurs, observatories and gender equality machinery. For example, Nepal and
the Netherlands have national rapporteurs on trafficking who oversee and monitor
anti-trafficking activities.322
301. Civil society organizations play a fundamental role in monitoring the
implementation of legislation and policy. The European Women’s Lobby, the largest
umbrella organization of women’s associations in the European Union, established
the European Observatory on Violence against Women in 1997.323 The Observatory
is composed of women experts from each of the European Union member States
who monitor policy issues at the national, European, and international levels and
share good practices identified. In addition, five European countries have now
established national observatories.324
(d) Periodic review and revision of laws
302. Good practice requires periodic review and reform of laws taking account of
the evolving knowledge-base on violence against women and the ways to address it,
developments in international human rights law and insights gained through
application, monitoring and evaluation. The Convention of Belém do Pará led to the
enactment of laws on violence against women in countries in the Latin American
region. Insights gained from the application of such laws have resulted in their
revision, including revision of domestic violence laws, such as in Belize, Peru and
Puerto Rico, to enhance their applicability and effectiveness.325
303. Evolving knowledge has led to the inclusion of new standards in legislation. In
Canada, a person charged with sexual violence is now required to have taken
reasonable steps to determine whether there was consent, as opposed to the victim
having to establish resistance.326 The marital rape exemption has been removed from
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the laws in many countries and marital rape has been criminalized in others (see
box 10). Reduced penalties in cases of “honour killings” have been eliminated in
Tunisia,327 and crimes committed in the name of “honour” are punishable by life
imprisonment in Turkey.328 Psychological and economic violence are now
incorporated in the legal definition of domestic violence in a number of countries
including Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and South Africa.329
3. Criminal law
(a) Prosecution and punishment of perpetrators
304. Vigorous arrest and prosecution policies make a statement to society as a
whole that violence against women is a serious crime that is not condoned by the
authorities. However, the majority of reported cases of violence against women are
not prosecuted and of those that are, many do not result in a conviction. Even when
perpetrators are convicted, they often receive sentences that are not commensurate
with the gravity of the crime.330
305. Measures that enhance women’s access to justice, including timely arrests,
effective proceedings and punishments are good practice. An inter-agency project,
the Family Violence Intervention Program, in Canberra, Australia, works with
prosecutors to ensure that they do not drop domestic violence cases. It uses an
agreed protocol between involved agencies and technology such as digital cameras
to photograph victims and crime scenes, making evidence available to the court.
Since the inception of the project, there has been a 288 per cent increase in cases
prosecuted.331
306. Appropriate sentencing can be achieved through the introduction of minimum
sentences for certain offences and monitoring of sentencing practices. Several
States, such as Sri Lanka, have minimum prison sentences for rape and aggravated
rape.332 The Solicitor General in the United Kingdom monitors all sentencing and
may refer cases to the Court of Criminal Appeal when the sentence is considered too
lenient.
(b) Protection of victims’ rights
307. Women victims of violence frequently do not seek justice because of feelings
of shame and fear of persecution by the criminal justice system.333 Good practice
involves safeguarding the rights of victims and creating a system that respects the
privacy, dignity and autonomy of all victims and is conducive to reporting.
308. A number of States have endeavoured to meet such objectives by providing
greater legal protection for victims of rape, including through laws that prevent the
introduction of unrelated evidence about a victim’s sexual behaviour in order to
protect victims of rape from abusive cross-examination. The Philippines Rape
Victim Assistance and Protection Act of 1998 is one example. Courtroom
procedures that protect the privacy of victims during trial, such as allowing evidence
to be given by video link or restricting access to courtrooms for the general public
during rape trials, are used increasingly widely, including in Finland, Ireland, Japan
and Nepal.334
309. Progress has been made in a number of areas to avoid the re-victimization of
women in the criminal justice process. For example, “virginity tests” in rape cases
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have been banned in Jordan and Turkey.335 Provisions allowing impunity for rape if
the perpetrator marries the victim have been removed from the penal codes of
countries including Egypt,336 Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Peru,337 and Turkey.338
4. Civil remedies
310. Civil laws complement criminal measures and play an important role in
providing victims/survivors with avenues of redress and compensation. Promising
practice in this area includes the availability of civil remedies such as civil
protection orders; anti-discrimination laws; civil laws to sue perpetrators and State
agents for compensation; and victim compensation funds that cover cases of
violence against women.
311. Protection orders, also known as restraining or removal orders, aim to protect
women from the immediate threat of violence by restraining the perpetrator from
contacting the victim during a specified period or removing the perpetrator from the
home. Such orders have been adopted in countries around the world. Under the
Austrian Federal Act on Protection against Family Violence, the police may
immediately evict and bar the batterer from the home of the victim for 10 to 20
days. Longer-term protection is available through a court-issued protective
temporary injunction.339 This law has been replicated in other European countries,
including Germany.340
312. Under the general tort law of most countries, women may bring a civil action
for assault, battery or the intentional infliction of emotional distress, although this is
not often done. Civil suits may result in financial compensation for the harm
inflicted. Victim/survivors of violence, or families of the deceased, may pursue civil
causes of action not only against the perpetrators but also against law enforcement
officials when they fail to provide adequate protection to individual victims.341
313. Anti-discrimination laws and laws that identify violence against women as a
violation of women’s civil rights are promising in that they convey the message that
acts of violence against women are not merely crimes by one individual against
another but are an assault on a publicly shared ideal of equal rights.342 Some States
and localities within the United States, such as New York state, have enacted laws
providing a remedy for acts of violence against women as a violation of civil
rights.343 The South African Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair
Discrimination Act explicitly recognizes gender-based violence as unfair
discrimination and requires the State and non-State actors to refrain from
discriminating and to take positive measures to promote equality. Sexual harassment
is recognized as a form of discrimination and a violation of women’s human rights
in several States, including New Zealand.
5. Specialized laws and procedures to address violence against women
314. The adoption of specialized laws and procedures on violence against women is
promising in that such laws and procedures aim to enhance the effectiveness of the
State’s response to violence against women. Some States have enacted
comprehensive laws specific to violence against women that provide multiple types
of remedy. For example, in the United States, the federal Violence against Women
Act of 1994 contains provisions designed to reduce the frequency of violence
against women, provide needed services to victims, hold perpetrators accountable,
strengthen law enforcement, improve research and data collection and reform
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immigration law to help battered immigrant women escape their abusers. The statute
authorized the appropriation of more than 1 billion United States dollars ($) in
federal funds to support a broad range of programmes, including training police,
prosecutors and judges; supporting shelters and rape prevention programmes; setting
up a national toll-free domestic violence telephone hotline; and establishing a
national database to improve the ability of local, state and federal law enforcement
agencies to record and share information.344 In the Philippines, the Anti-Violence
against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 criminalizes acts of physical, sexual,
psychological and economic abuse in intimate relationships. The law allows courts
to issue temporary protection orders and, for rural women, mandates village
officials to provide protection. The law also created an inter-agency council to
formulate programmes and projects.345
315. Specialized courts can improve efficiency, minimize the burden on victims and
improve case outcomes when prosecutors, judges and other court officers have
received relevant training. These courts take many different forms and the most
ambitious combine different components of the legal system, such as civil and
criminal, as well as non-legal aspects such as access to support services and
counselling. A model Integrated Domestic Violence Court developed in the United
States in New York state has been replicated in other parts of the world, including
the United Kingdom.346 In South Africa, 54 specialist Sexual Offences Courts have
been established, which have greatly reduced case turnaround time and increased
conviction rates.347
316. Specialized police units aim to provide a safe environment for women who
report violence and to enhance the police response to violence against women
through specialized officers. The first women’s police unit was established in Sao
Paulo, Brazil in 1985.348 The practice then spread throughout Latin America,
including to Argentina, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.349 In the Dominican Republic,
domestic violence legislation is enforced by six prosecutor’s offices working
exclusively with domestic violence cases; six police squads specifically charged
with protecting women from violence; and a magistrate’s court and a criminal court
dealing exclusively with cases of domestic violence.350 In Belgium, the Human
Trafficking Unit is tasked with detecting cases of human trafficking, sending early
warnings to the authorities and serving as an operational focal point within the
country’s police forces.351
6. Other areas of law
317. Because violence affects every aspect of a woman’s life, it is good practice to
scrutinize the many other areas of law that may affect victims/survivors. Women’s
rights advocates have worked to incorporate a sensitivity to violence against women
in such diverse areas of law as divorce, child custody and visitation, child abuse and
neglect, welfare and public benefits, immigration, employment and housing. Even
the best laws providing civil and criminal remedies for violence against women are
of limited utility if victims are placed at a disadvantage by other legal rules.352 For
example, a migrant woman who is subjected to domestic violence but is dependent
on her husband’s immigration status is unlikely to report it for fear of repercussions.
Countries such as Canada, the Netherlands and the United States have addressed this
concern by allowing victims of domestic violence to apply for permanent residence
status irrespective of whether their spouses support their application.
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7. The application of international law by national courts
318. The use of international legal standards on violence against women by
domestic courts is a promising practice. In a case where a woman was attacked by a
man on bail on a rape charge, the South African Constitutional Court held that the
police and prosecutors had failed to comply with a legal duty to take steps to
prevent him from causing her harm.353 In rejecting a challenge to the
constitutionality of key provisions of domestic violence legislation, the Court held
that it was the duty of the State under international law, including the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, to enact appropriate
and effective legislation. The Supreme Court of India354 relied on the Indian
Government’s international obligations, particularly under the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Beijing Platform
for Action, to establish guidelines and norms on sexual harassment at work. These
norms were to be observed pending the enactment of appropriate national
legislation.
Box 11
National laws on violence against women
Over the past decade, many States have introduced laws addressing
various forms of violence against women. States’ responsibility for the
enactment of a legal framework for addressing all forms of violence
against women was discussed in section 6, as were the concerns of treaty
bodies about persistent gaps. The present box highlights existing
legislation in five areas where treaty bodies have commonly voiced
concerns.a The information was last updated on 30 April 2006.b
Domestic violence
Eighty-ninec States currently have some legislative provisions that
specifically address domestic violence. Of these, 60 States have specific
domestic violence laws; seven have violence against women laws; one
has a gender-neutral law against violence; 14 have specific provisions on
domestic violence in their penal codes; five have civil procedures for the
removal of perpetrators; and one addresses domestic violence through
family law. Twelve of the States with specific domestic violence
legislation refer to family-based violence rather than gender-based
violence. There are 102 States that are not known to have any specific
legal provisions on domestic violence. Twenty States have draft
legislation on domestic violence in varying stages of development, with a
further four states having expressed an intention to develop specific
legislation, or provisions, on domestic violence.
Marital rape
Marital rape may be prosecuted in at least 104 States.d Of these, 32
have made marital rape a specific criminal offence, while the remaining
74 do not exempt marital rape from general rape provisions. Marital rape
is not a prosecutable offence in at least 53 States. Four States criminalize
marital rape only when the spouses are judicially separated. Four States
are considering legislation that would allow marital rape to be
prosecuted.
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Sexual harassment
Ninety Statese have some form of legislative provision against
sexual harassment. Of these, 11 States have adopted specific legislation
on sexual harassment; another 31 States have amended their penal code
or criminal law to make sexual harassment a specific criminal offence;
18 States address sexual harassment in their labour code or employment
law; 18 States address it in anti-discrimination or gender equality
legislation; and 12 States have a combination of provisions in these three
areas. In addition, the judiciaries of two States have developed common
law doctrines on sexual harassment.f Seven States are considering draft
laws pertaining to sexual harassment.
Trafficking
A total of 93 States have some legislative provision regarding
trafficking in human beings. Of these, 10 States have legislative
provisions that apply only to children. Currently, there are at least 7
States with draft legislation regarding trafficking.
Female genital mutilation/cutting
Fifteen of the 28 African States where female genital
mutilation/cutting is prevalent have enacted laws criminalizing the
practice. In addition, one State has enacted a health law prohibiting
female genital mutilation/cutting, two prohibit the practice through
ministerial decrees and in one federal State, several states criminalize the
practice. Five additional African States are considering draft legislation
on female genital mutilation/cutting. Of the nine States in Asia and the
Arabian Peninsula where female genital mutilation/cutting is prevalent
among certain groups, two have enacted legal measures prohibiting it. In
addition, 10 States in other parts of the world have enacted laws
criminalizing the practice.
a Research was conducted on the laws of 191 States. The main sources were
State reports under the Convention; Member States’ responses to the
questionnaire for the ten-year review and appraisal of the Beijing Platform for
Action and Outcome Document; Member States’ contributions to the
Secretary-General’s study; reports of the Special Rapporteur on violence
against women, its causes and consequences; ILO reports; reports of
non-governmental organizations; and Government websites.
b The data on which this table is based is available at:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/index.htm.
c This figure includes Canada, which has no federal law on domestic violence
but has many laws at the provincial level.
d The following figures on marital rape do not include 16 States for which
information could not be found.
e Some legislative measures regarding sexual harassment are not allencompassing
in their scope. For example, some States have legislation
directed solely towards public sector employees, while others address sexual
harassment in their morality laws.
f Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan and others AIR, 1997 S.C. 3011 (India); and Bank
Employees’ Union v. Republic Bank Ltd. Trade Dispute 17 of 1995 (Trinidad
and Tobago).
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C. Promising practices in the provision of services
319. All over the world, women suffer the physical, emotional and psychological
effects of violence. They also have to face the economic and social consequences
that affect their lives, relationships, productivity and achievement in education and
employment. Victims/survivors of violence against women need timely access to
health care and support services that respond to short-term injuries, protect them
from further violations and address longer-term needs. Yet many do not get the help
they need, because there are too few support services in their country, because they
do not have access to services or do not know about their existence or because, for
whatever reason, they are reluctant to contact those services. Good practices in the
provision of services endeavour to address these challenges.
320. Support services are provided by a range of actors, most commonly by State
agencies and NGOs. Communities, employers, private practitioners and individuals
may also provide support. Support for victims/survivors needs State funding and
encouragement and benefits from State coordination with NGO initiatives. It
requires training and capacity-building across State agencies such as health, law
enforcement, justice, social welfare and education.
1. Guiding principles for promising practices in the provision of services
321. A growing body of experience indicates that good or promising practices in the
provision of services are based on a number of general principles, including to:
? Promote the well-being, physical safety and economic security of
victims/survivors and enable women to overcome the multiple consequences
of violence to rebuild their lives
? Ensure that victims/survivors have access to appropriate services and that a
range of support options are available that take into account the particular
access needs of women facing multiple discrimination
? Ensure that service providers are skilled, gender-sensitive, have ongoing
training and conduct their work in accordance with clear guidelines, protocols
and ethics codes and, where possible, provide female staff
? Maintain the confidentiality and privacy of the victim/survivor
? Cooperate and coordinate with all other services for victims/survivors of
violence
? Monitor and evaluate the services provided
? Reject ideologies that excuse or justify men’s violence or blame victims
? Empower women to take control of their lives
2. Forms of service provision
(a) Health services
322. The health-care system is often the first service to have contact with women
victims of violence. It is good practice for the health system to offer a range of
interventions to support victims and to ensure that they are not subjected to
additional violence within hospitals and health-care facilities. Examples of
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promising practice in this area include training protocols for health-care providers;
integration of victim service centres within the health-care system; and the
establishment of referral systems that link relevant sectors, such as health care,
counselling, housing, law enforcement services and programmes for perpetrators.
Box 12
One-stop centres
One of the best-known good practices in service provision involves
bringing together services in one location, often called the “One-stop
centre”, an inter-agency unit for victim/survivors of domestic or sexual
violence. Such a service was first developed in the largest Governmentrun
general hospital in Malaysia. The victim/survivor is first examined
and treated by a doctor and is seen by a counsellor within 24 hours in a
separate examination room that protects privacy and confidentiality. If it
appears that the victim will be in danger if she returns home, the doctor
or counsellor arranges for her to go to an emergency shelter or admits her
to the accident and emergency ward for 24 hours. If the patient chooses
not to seek shelter, she is encouraged to return to see a social worker at
the hospital at a later date. She is also encouraged to make a police report
at the police unit based in the hospital. In a case involving severe injury,
the police see the patient in the ward to record her statement and start
investigations. This model is currently being replicated in much of Asiaa
as well as in other countries, including South Africa.b
a See endnote 305, Vienna EGM expert paper, Kelly, L.
b See endnote 305, South Africa contribution to study.
(b) Sexual assault centres
323. Victims of sexual violence, including rape, require immediate health care and
support and evidence for any resulting legal case also needs to be collected.
Physical examinations following sexual violence may be experienced as further
violence, or at least as invasive. Lack of timely access to such services can prevent
women from getting the evidence needed to bring a rape charge. Protocols and
guidelines on forensic examinations in cases of sexual violence are therefore
important, as is women’s access to such services. Sexual assault centres aim to
provide a high standard of comprehensive care to victims of recent sexual assault.
Many countries operate hospital-based sexual assault centres or community-based
centres near a partner hospital. Some countries, such as Canada, have extensive
networks of centres, while others, such as Germany, Switzerland and the United
Kingdom, have a number of centres, often in major cities where women’s groups or
committed medical staff have campaigned to improve local provision.355
(c) Hotlines and helplines
324. Hotlines and helplines provide important access to information and support
systems for victims of violence against women and constitute good practice. Such
advice lines are now considered a standard component of services in many
countries. Because many women are hesitant to seek help, advice lines need to
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preserve the privacy and confidentiality of their clients and to provide information
free of charge. New information and communication technologies expand the
potential of such advice lines to provide services in previously deprived locations
and in different languages.
325. The operation of at least one 24-hour national emergency telephone line
providing information, advocacy, support and crisis counselling would constitute
good practice. Locally appropriate methods of distributing information about the
advice line and of ensuring resources for its operation are vital. The National
Institute of Women in Costa Rica established a 24-hour toll-free phone line “Break
the Silence” in 1997. There was a sharp increase in the number of calls in 2000 and
2001 as a result of publicity about the line and its coordination with the country’s
emergency number. The hotline 1366 in the Republic of Korea assists and advises
victims of violence and is accessible 24 hours a day, with interpretation services for
victims of trafficking.356 The Croatian Government has funded the operating costs
for a dedicated national SOS hotline for victims of trafficking.357
(d) Shelters
326. Shelters were originally set up by women’s organizations to meet women’s
need for immediate protection and care when fleeing abusive situations. They have
evolved to be much more than “safe houses” and now often provide a range of
services. Ensuring that women have access to shelters that meet safety standards to
protect them from further violence is good practice. According to the
recommendations of an expert group of the Council of Europe, one place in a
women’s shelter should be provided per 7,500 inhabitants and the minimum
standard should be one place per 10,000 inhabitants.358 The European network,
Women Against Violence Europe, has developed quality standards for women’s
shelters.359
327. While the State may not always be the best provider of such shelters, it is good
practice for the State to assist, encourage, finance and cooperate with NGOs in
establishing and maintaining them. For example, the First Women’s Centre in Kyiv,
Ukraine, was established through the coordinated efforts of women’s groups and the
city administration. This initiative led to a number of shelters being established
throughout the country. These shelters work 24 hours a day and offer free services
including accommodation for women and their children, medical help, legal
consultation, psychological consultation and some social support.360 Dastak in
Lahore, Pakistan, formed by an NGO, provides a halfway house service to women
fleeing from their homes because of violence that is open to women and girls of all
ages and provides security, legal aid and skills training.361
(e) Self-help groups and counselling services
328. Self-help groups and counselling services are promising, as they provide
support for women while respecting their autonomy and encouraging their
independent decision-making. Counselling involves professionals working with
individual victims/survivors, while self-help groups involve a group of
victims/survivors who provide support to each other. For example, Women You Are
Not Alone, a self-help group dealing with domestic violence in Costa Rica, works to
give women the confidence and support they need to end violent relationships or to
renegotiate them. The factors identified as contributing to the success of this group
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are that women feel empowered by listening to others who have escaped violent
situations; they feel understood and appreciated while not being questioned; and
they are informed of their rights while being allowed to think for themselves.362 The
Autonomous Women’s Centre in Belgrade, provides an example of counselling
services for victims of violence. The counsellors at the Centre follow a code of
ethics, clear guidelines and protocols and receive ongoing training. They follow
three basic principles in providing counselling services: trust women’s experience,
do not blame women for the violence they have experienced and do not give advice
but foster women’s self-determination.363
(f) Legal services
329. Women victims/survivors of violence often need legal services to address a
variety of issues such as divorce, child custody, child support and maintenance,
property settlements, housing, employment and civil suits. The availability of such
services, including free legal aid and advice for indigent women, is a promising
practice. Legal services may be provided as part of an integrated model of support
or by legal aid centres, community legal services or networks of pro bono lawyers.
The provision of free legal aid and advice to indigent women is a promising
practice. GABRIELA, an NGO in the Philippines, integrates the provision of legal
services with counselling, home visits and shelter.364 While legal services to victims
of violence against women are usually provided by civil society organizations, it is
good practice for Governments to support such projects, particularly through
funding.
(g) Services for victims of trafficking
330. Victims of trafficking encounter many obstacles in accessing services because
they are often afraid of reprisals by trafficking networks; they may lack legal
literacy and confidence in legal systems; many fear arrest, legal sanctions and
deportation; and they frequently face language barriers.365 Their immediate needs
are protection, medical care, access to legal advice and counselling. If they are
repatriated, they require services in their country of origin. Good practice in the
provision of services to victims of trafficking requires that these complexities are
addressed.
331. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Government provides free legal aid to victims
of trafficking and partially finances the shelters run by NGOs for them. An
important policy that has emerged from the collaboration between the Government
and NGOs is official recognition of the trauma suffered by victims of trafficking
who are therefore given 15 days in the shelter before they are interviewed.
332. In Italy, victims of trafficking can receive residence permits if their life is in
danger or if they risk further exploitation. The residence permit allows the
trafficking victim to work and requires the victim’s participation in an assistance
and social reintegration programme, during which the victim can reflect on whether
she wishes to report the crime to the police. The trafficked person is provided with
medical and psychological assistance, legal advice, training and education
opportunities, which are provided through cooperation between NGOs, law
enforcement officials and local authorities.
333. A programme run by an NGO, Reaching Out Romania, provides shelter,
counselling, medical, educational and vocational assistance and life skills training
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support to women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation. The organization
helps trafficked women to find accommodation after leaving the shelter and offers
continued counselling services.366
(h) Services for victims/survivors of violence against women during and after
armed conflict
334. During and after armed conflict, women in disproportionate numbers may
suffer certain forms of violence and they may also be targeted for gender-specific
forms of violence. As a result, their physical, psychological and reproductive wellbeing
may be severely compromised. Women have been the targets of sexual
violence, including rape, during armed conflict. The consequences of such violence
include exposure to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, and
unwanted or forced pregnancies. In addition, women who are forcibly displaced or
are refugees face a high risk of gender-based violence. The range of services
required to assist victims/survivors of violence against women include:
comprehensive medical services, including access to safe abortion; counselling;
shelter; provision of basic necessities such as food, water and sanitation; and
community services and education.
3. Coordination and multi-agency work
335. Inter-agency cooperation and coordination in service provision constitutes a
good practice, since the creation of services and support for victims and sanctions
for perpetrators requires the interlinking of a number of agencies and services.
Women victims/survivors often face a range of practical issues, involving criminal
and civil law, as well as housing and employment related matters. Many coordinated
responses to violence against women, such as the One-stop centres and Duluth
model (see boxes 12 and 13), integrate various forms of service provision.
Singapore uses a “Many Helping Hands” approach to combating violence against
women and has developed a manual entitled “Integrated management of family
violence cases in Singapore”, to map out the protocol, procedures, roles and
responsibilities of each partner agency in the network.367 Greece has in place an
integrated programme of action against human trafficking, involving all relevant
ministries and a general secretariat for gender equality. The programme includes a
permanent forum for exchange of opinions and information between ministries and
NGOs.368
Box 13
Duluth model of a coordinated community approach to domestic
violence
A leading early example of a coordinated community approach to
domestic violence was developed in the city of Duluth, Minnesota,
United States. The Duluth programme coordinates different aspects of the
legal system (including police, criminal court, civil court and probation
officers) and forges links between the legal system and resources such as
battered women’s shelters and advocacy programmes.a This approach has
been replicated in many countries around the world, including a number
of countries throughout Central and Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet Union.b
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a Pence, E. et al., Coordinated Community Response To Domestic Assault Cases:
A Guide For Policy Development Rev. Ed. (Duluth, Domestic Abuse
Intervention Project, 1996); Shepard, M. and Pence, E., eds., Coordinating
Community Responses To Domestic Violence: Lessons From Duluth And
Beyond (Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications, 1999).
b See Open Society Institute “Violence against women”, available at:
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/women/focus_areas/h_violence; and note 305,
UNIFEM, 2003, p. 58.
D. Promising practices in prevention
336. Prevention efforts fall into three categories: primary — stopping violence
before it occurs; secondary — an immediate response after violence has occurred to
limit its extent and consequences; and tertiary — longer-term care and support for
those who have suffered violence.369 This section focuses on promising practices in
primary prevention of violence against women.
337. Primary prevention requires changing attitudes and challenging stereotypes in
society and assisting communities that seek to end the acceptance of violence
against women. It also requires women to be empowered both politically and
economically, so as to overcome their subordinate position in society. The impact of
different prevention measures remains difficult to evaluate. While NGOs pioneered
prevention efforts through advocacy, awareness-raising and community
mobilization, States have become increasingly active in this area. They have worked
to create an enabling and non-discriminatory legal environment, prepare national
plans of action and promote public safety, education efforts and media involvement.
1. Guiding principles of promising practices in prevention
338. Experience suggests that good or promising practice in the area of primary
prevention should be based on a number of guiding principles, including the
following:
? Prioritize the prevention of violence against women in all policies and
programmes
? Allocate specific resources within all sectors for prevention activities
? Seek political support for sustained long-term investment in prevention
? Develop prevention strategies that address the causes of violence against
women, particularly the persistence of gender-based stereotypes
? Outline clear objectives, defining what prevention strategies are seeking to
change and how, and put in place a process of monitoring and evaluation
? Ensure that the perspectives and voices of women, particularly
victims/survivors, are central to the development of prevention strategies
? Work with a cross-section of stakeholders, including government bodies,
NGOs, workers’ and employers’ organizations and local community leaders, to
build inclusive and effective strategies
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? Engage men and boys proactively in strategy development and implementation
for the prevention of male violence against women
? Highlight the fact that violence against women is unacceptable and its
elimination is a public responsibility
? Promote women’s safety, including by altering physical environments where
necessary
? Ensure that prevention efforts are holistic, take into account multiple
discrimination and connect wherever possible with other key issues for
women, such as HIV/AIDS
2. Prevention strategies
(a) Advocacy and campaigns
339. Advocacy efforts, especially campaigns to expose and convey the
unacceptability of violence against women, continue to be instrumental in
stimulating change and are good practice. They enhance women’s awareness of their
rights and of available remedies and services. While such campaigns began as
initiatives of the women’s movement, many Governments now regularly include
them in awareness-raising and prevention strategies. Campaigns have used different
means, including theatre, demonstrations, vigils, print, radio, television and the
Internet.
340. The Scottish zero tolerance campaign is an example of a sustained national
campaign that ran over five years, linking rape, sexual harassment, domestic
violence and child sexual abuse. The campaign was undertaken by an NGO and
supported by the State. This project drew on graphic design and social marketing
techniques, using inviting images alongside uncompromising slogans, such as “No
man has the right”, which were displayed on billboards, on buses and in other public
places. Each phase of the campaign was linked to research and accompanied by
work on the “three p’s” — provision, protection and prevention.
341. The Australian Government ran a campaign in 2004 to condemn domestic and
sexual violence. This campaign comprised television, radio, cinema and magazine
commercials, a household information booklet, a schools kit, a website and a
nationwide 24-hour hotline.370 The Danish Government similarly ran a
comprehensive nationwide campaign on the theme “Stop the violence against
women: break the silence” in 2003. The campaign was launched in Danish, English,
Arabic, Turkish and Somali and aimed to break the taboo surrounding violence
against women and to inform women about their rights and options.371
342. The Tanzania Media Women’s Association, an NGO, ran a comprehensive
media campaign in 1998 to promote the enactment of the Sexual Offences Special
Provision Act, a law to criminalize female genital mutilation/cutting. The campaign
used social and journalistic surveys, radio programmes, television and multi-media
news and features. It involved interaction between NGOs, media practitioners and
theatre artists. It produced education materials, information kits, an international
appeal/manifesto and a website (www.stopfgm.org) in English, French and
Arabic.372
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343. An NGO global campaign entitled “16 Days of activism against gender-based
violence against women”, has been held every year since 1991 between
25 November and 10 December. It has involved groups in almost every country in
the world. The campaign develops both a global action kit and local materials to
raise awareness of violence against women and to link it to other events and issues,
such as HIV/AIDS. The campaign also provides a worldwide forum for organizers
to develop and share strategies. In 2005, activities took place in some 130 countries,
involving different levels and sectors of Government, parts of the United Nations
system and international and local NGOs. The “16 Days of activism” campaign
exemplifies government involvement in a campaign initiated by civil society, as
well as effective and creative use of information and communications
technologies.373
(b) Community mobilization
344. Mobilization strategies at the community level can contribute to the prevention
of violence against women.374 Good practice in community mobilization involves a
participatory process and the engagement of all levels of society, including local
government representatives, community leaders, NGOs and women’s groups.
345. The “Raising voices” programme in Kampala is a multisectoral communitylevel
prevention effort seeking to promote change through reduced tolerance of
violence against women by local councils, police and the community at large.375 In
the Deir El Barsha in the Minya governate in upper Egypt, where female genital
mutilation/cutting was widely practised, NGOs used community mobilization to
inform local and religious leaders of the adverse effects of the practice. These
leaders reached out to families within their areas of influence. Villagers drew up a
social contract in which everyone in the village committed to ending the practice:
parents agreed not to subject their daughters to female genital mutilation/cutting,
young men committed to marry uncircumcised girls and those who performed
female genital mutilation/cutting agreed to end their work.376
(c) Working with men
346. The struggle to transform gender relations and to eliminate violence against
women cannot be successful without the involvement of men. There are promising
examples of coalitions in which men address the need to end community
acquiescence in violence against women and support women’s leadership roles.
Strategies to engage men in the prevention of violence against women have included
work to raise awareness of the issue with organized groups — such as the military,
trade unions, sports teams and the police — as well as campaigns that utilize
positive male role models to oppose violence against women.
347. The White Ribbon Campaign encourages men and boys to wear white ribbons
on November 25 — the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against
Women — as a personal pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about
violence against women.377 The campaign has developed educational materials and
action kits aimed at transforming men’s attitudes that have been distributed to
schools, universities, corporations and labour unions. Since its inception in Canada
in 1991, the White Ribbon Campaign has spread to 47 countries in Africa, Asia,
Europe, Latin America and the Pacific.378
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348. The mayor of a town in Honduras engaged men’s help in educating the
community on violence against women and linked training for men on the issue of
violence against women to the purchase of new football equipment. Many men
became actively involved in the campaign and men’s football teams began to carry
placards promoting respect for women’s human rights before each game and during
half-time.379 The New South Wales state government in Australia also used wellknown
male athletes in its community education campaign “Violence against
women: it’s against all the rules” aimed at men aged 21 to 29.380
(d) Using the news media and information technology
349. Training and sensitization of journalists and other media personnel who report
on violence against women is a promising practice as it can enhance the quality of
reporting and contribute to increased awareness and understanding of the causes and
consequences of violence against women among the general public. In Nepal,
women journalists formed a communication group to monitor domestic violence
reported in newspapers and to provide training to people in the media on violence
against women, encouraging them to report cases of violence in a victim-sensitive
manner.
350. The creative use of popular media to reach wider audiences is also a promising
practice. An example is a music video made by an Indian women’s human rights
group, Breakthrough, which addressed domestic violence and empowerment of the
survivor. It reached more than 26 million households throughout India, and reached
the top 10 in the country’s music charts.381
351. Use of new information and communications technologies such as cell phones
and the Internet can be good practice to disseminate information widely and allow
interaction between stakeholders in various locations. The website www.stopfgm.org,
referred to above, exemplifies the use of the Internet as an international platform to
raise awareness, analyse and disseminate information and share good practices on the
elimination of female genital mutilation/cutting.
(e) Promoting public safety
352. It is good practice to make the physical environment safer for women and
community safety audits have been used to identify dangerous locations, discuss
women’s fears and obtain women’s recommendations for improving their safety.
Prevention of violence against women should be an explicit element in urban and
rural planning and in the design of buildings and residential dwellings. Improving
the safety of public transport and routes travelled by women, such as to schools and
educational institutions or to wells, fields and factories, is part of prevention work.
The “Safer cities” initiative in the United Republic of Tanzania, for example, builds
the capacity of local authorities to address issues of urban insecurity in partnership
with local communities and other stakeholders. Safety audits were conducted under
this initiative in which women participated in “exploratory walkabouts” and
identified unsafe areas and recommended solutions for action by appropriate
authorities.382 Initiatives to enhance the safety of women living in refugee camps to
gather firewood have also been implemented.
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(f) Education and capacity-building
353. The formal education system can be used as a key site for raising awareness
about violence against women and challenging and eradicating gender stereotypes.
Promising practices in this area include eliminating gender-based stereotypes in
educational curricula; providing gender-sensitivity training for teachers; creating a
school environment that rejects violence; and offering specialized courses on human
rights, including women’s rights.
(g) Other prevention strategies
354. There are many other examples of promising efforts and interventions focused
on prevention. NGOs have used hearings and tribunals in which victims/survivors of
violence against women tell their stories, exposing the realities of such violence and
calling for attention to measures for prevention. Women’s rights advocates have
lobbied Governments and parliamentarians to pursue prevention strategies more
vigorously. Litigation in cases involving violence against women has been used to
expose gaps in protection and remedies and the need for more prevention.
Prevention strategies are based on working with perpetrators towards genderequitable
relationships and in training community members in basic conflict
resolution skills. Sharing experiences and lessons, including across borders, has
enhanced knowledge about prevention and should be encouraged and supported.
E. Challenges for implementation
355. Despite the progress of recent decades and the emergence of promising
practices in many areas, the struggle to eliminate violence against women continues
to face multiple challenges. At the same time, some good practices may encounter
drawbacks in application, which need to be addressed. For example, while
specialized procedures may be established for the purpose of expedited reporting,
investigation and prosecution of cases of violence against women, in practice such
procedures may be marginalized and not receive the support and resources they need
to function effectively. They may at the same time result in mainstream mechanisms
of justice, including the police and courts, not developing the required expertise for
handling violence against women cases professionally and effectively. Alternative
dispute resolution mechanisms likewise have to be examined critically for their
appropriateness and the consequences of moving responsibility for the issue of
violence against women out of the mainstream justice system, especially if such
alternative mechanisms place high priority on community cohesion or family
reputation rather than the rights of victims.
356. While women’s agency and empowerment are crucial dimensions of good
practices, it is not always clear how these goals can be most effectively pursued. For
example, so-called no-drop policies, under which the State undertakes an
investigation and prosecution even if the victim/survivor wishes to drop the case.
The imposition of appropriate punishments for acts of violence against women,
including prison terms, may also function as a disincentive for victims/survivors to
report cases when they do not want their abusive partner to be prosecuted or
incarcerated for various reasons.
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1. Inconsistent efforts and inadequate resources indicating a lack of political will
357. State efforts to address violence against women are neither consistent nor
sustained. Many specific shortcomings in efforts to eliminate violence against
women at the national level have been identified by the human rights treaty bodies,
as outlined in section VI. While the reasons for such a lack of systematic effort may
vary, violence against women is generally not treated as seriously as other forms of
crime or human rights abuse. The level of investment and resources allocated to
legal and support services, let alone prevention, remains minimal compared with
many other issues.
2. Lack of a comprehensive and integrated approach
358. While there is wide agreement that comprehensive and coordinated
multisectoral efforts by multiple stakeholders are necessary to eliminate violence
against women, such efforts are rarely forthcoming on a large scale or in a sustained
manner. Although models of comprehensive integrated approaches have been
developed, these have been sporadically implemented and replication has not always
been successful, owing to the absence of vital components, including resources.
3. Lack of funding
359. Legal, service and prevention efforts to address violence against women
require a sustained funding stream. The main sources of funding are States and
donors. State funding for such initiatives has historically been inadequate. Funding
from donors is often project-driven, not sustained and sometimes not in line with the
aspirations of women’s groups working on these issues. To ensure viability and
sustainability, initiatives on violence against women require funding from the
general national budget and not only from specialized funds.
4. Failure to end impunity
360. Although efforts to reform criminal justice systems are ongoing, including the
enactment of new laws and more effective implementation of legislation,
perpetrators of violence against women continue to enjoy impunity. Ensuring that
perpetrators are brought to justice is more important than increasing the penalties
for violence against women. In fact, demanding draconian sentences and sanctions
may have the unintended consequence of decreasing reporting and convictions. At
the same time, women lose faith in justice systems where sentences are minimal and
fail to offer them any protection.
5. The intersection of multiple forms of discrimination
361. The intersection of male dominance with race, ethnicity, age, caste, religion,
culture, language, sexual orientation, migrant and refugee status and disability —
frequently termed “intersectionality” — operates at many levels in relation to
violence against women. Multiple discrimination shapes the forms of violence that a
woman experiences. It makes some women more likely to be targeted for certain
forms of violence because they have less social status than other women and
because perpetrators know such women have fewer options for seeking assistance or
reporting.
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6. Lack of evaluation
362. While research on interventions has expanded considerably, the ability to
demonstrate “what works” continues to be limited. Insufficient resources have been
devoted to developing methodologies that can trace the subtle and profound changes
necessary to end violence against women. Ongoing dialogue between State
agencies, NGOs and researchers could contribute to developing and refining new
measurements appropriate for various levels of analysis.
VIII. Conclusion and recommendations
A. Conclusion
363. As this study has shown, violence against women is a widespread and serious
problem that affects the lives of countless women and is an obstacle to the
achievement of equality, development and peace in all continents. It endangers
women’s lives and impedes the full development of women’s capabilities. It
obstructs the exercise of their rights as citizens; it harms families and communities
and reinforces other forms of violence throughout societies, often with deadly
consequences.
364. Violence against women is a violation of human rights, rooted in historically
unequal power relations between men and women and the systemic discrimination
against women that pervades both the public and private spheres. The broad context
from which it emerges includes disparities of power in the form of patriarchy,
sociocultural norms and practices that perpetuate gender-based discrimination and
economic inequalities. Its scope and prevalence reflect the degree and persistence of
gender-based discrimination that women face, which is often compounded by other
systems of domination. Violence against women must therefore be addressed in the
context of seeking to end all forms of discrimination, to advance gender equality
and the empowerment of women and to create a world in which all women enjoy all
their human rights.
365. This study outlines many forms and manifestations of violence against women
in a wide range of settings, including the family, the community, State custody and
institutions, armed conflict and refugee and internally displaced persons situations.
Such violence constitutes a continuum across the lifespan of women, it cuts across
both the public and the private sphere and one form of violence often reinforces
another. Violence against women often takes a direct physical form, but can also be
psychological abuse and economic deprivation. Despite the growing
acknowledgment of the multiple forms and manifestations of violence against
women, comprehensive data to establish the scope and magnitude of the various
forms of such violence remains inadequate.
366. While violence against women is universal and present in every society and
culture, it takes different forms and is experienced differently. The forms of violence
to which women are subjected and the ways in which they experience this violence
are often shaped by the intersection of gender with other factors such as race,
ethnicity, class, age, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, legal status, religion
and culture. Therefore diverse strategies that take these intersecting factors into
account are required in order to eradicate violence against all women.
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367. Over the past two decades, there has been significant progress in elaborating
and agreeing on international standards and norms to address violence against
women. These form a baseline of commitment by States and other stakeholders,
including the United Nations system, to work to end violence against women.
States’ responsibility and obligations to address violence against women are
concrete and clear and encompass violence committed both by State agents and
non-State actors. States have a duty to prevent acts of violence against women; to
investigate and prosecute such acts when they occur and punish perpetrators; and to
provide remedies and redress to those against whom acts of violence have been
committed.
368. To an unacceptable extent, these obligations are not being met. Impunity for
violence against women compounds the effects of such violence as a mechanism of
male control over women. When the State fails to hold the perpetrators of violence
accountable and society explicitly or tacitly condones such violence, impunity not
only encourages further abuses, it also gives the message that male violence against
women is acceptable or normal. The result of such impunity is not solely the denial
of justice to the individual victims/survivors, but also the reinforcement of
prevailing gender relations and replicate inequalities that affect other women and
girls as well.
369. There is a significant and unacceptable gap between the international standards
on violence against women and the concrete commitment of political capital and
resources to implement these standards. The specificities of the State’s obligations
need to be clarified in the diverse contexts in which violence against women occurs.
Varying circumstances and constraints allow for different actions to be taken by
individual States, but do not excuse State inaction.
370. The State has a responsibility for the prevention, punishment and elimination
of violence against women that it cannot relegate to other actors. However, there are
significant advantages to engaging in partnerships with NGOs and other actors in
civil society and the private sector, especially since women’s organizations often
pilot programmes that Governments can support and replicate or institutionalize.
Further, the development of State strategies to address violence should be based on
women’s experiences and requires their involvement.
371. The women’s movement has been instrumental in identifying a wide range of
ways in which women experience violence and bringing these to national and global
attention. However, any enumeration of forms of violence at any given time cannot
be exhaustive, as male violence against women continues to change, reflecting
social, economic and political dynamics. New technologies, such as the Internet, or
new circumstances such as free trade zones, can lead to new forms of violence
against women. States must be ready to address new forms of violence against
women as they appear and are identified.
372. Violence against women is complex and diverse in its manifestations. This
very diversity demonstrates that it is not immutable or inevitable. The enabling
conditions for violence against women are socially produced and therefore the
processes by which they are produced can be altered. With the necessary political
will and resources dedicated to eradicating it and to ensuring that women can enjoy
all their human rights, violence against women can be seriously reduced and
eventually eliminated. Securing gender equality and ending violence against women
must not be treated as optional or marginal tasks. A coordinated, cross-cutting and
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multisectoral response is required to address violence against women. Strong
institutional mechanisms at local, national, regional and international levels are
needed to ensure action, coordination, monitoring and accountability.
373. Continuing pervasive violence against women across the globe fuels cultures
of violence and undermines progress towards the goals of human rights,
development and peace. There is much at stake for all of humanity in the effort to
end violence against women. The time has come for all nations and peoples to make
this a local, national, regional and global priority.
B. End impunity and take action to address violence against women
374. Detailed recommendations for action on violence against women have been
developed in intergovernmental agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action and in reports, studies, guidelines by United Nations bodies,
agencies and mechanisms, academics and NGOs. However, significant gaps remain
in their effective implementation. The present recommendations complement
existing ones and aim to accelerate implementation of these existing standards,
norms and commitments.383
375. The present recommendations are limited to six key areas for action at the
national level. Concrete recommendations are also directed at both the
intergovernmental level and the United Nations system. They highlight, in
particular, the role of the General Assembly in ensuring that meaningful follow-up
and implementation is undertaken by different stakeholders. Member States and the
international community must acknowledge the devastating impact any further delay
in taking these limited but critical measures will have on women, their families and
their communities. Together, these recommendations constitute a clear strategy for
Member States and the United Nations system to make measurable progress in
preventing and eliminating violence against women.
1. Recommendations at the national level
376. The following strategic recommendations arising from this study are key to
moving the agenda for the elimination of violence against women forward. These
recommendations are interrelated and all are crucial for an effective, systematic and
comprehensive approach to end violence against women.
(a) Secure gender equality and protect women’s human rights
377. Violence against women is both a cause and a consequence of discrimination
against women and of their inequality and subordination. States have an obligation
to respect, protect, promote and fulfil all human rights, including the right of women
to be free from discrimination. Failure to do so results in and exacerbates violence
against women.
378. Therefore, it is recommended that States:
? Ensure that all human rights and fundamental freedoms are respected,
protected and fulfilled
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? Ratify without reservations all human rights treaties, including, in particular,
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women and its Optional Protocol
? Ensure that women know their rights and are empowered to demand and
exercise them
? Educate men and women, boys and girls about women’s human rights and
their responsibility to respect the rights of others
? Ensure that women have access to justice and equal protection of the law and
that perpetrators of violence against women do not enjoy impunity
? Recognize and protect women’s right to control their bodies and their sexuality
? Secure women’s rights to inheritance, property, housing and social security,
among the range of economic and social rights
? Utilize gender impact assessments to ensure that social and economic policies,
including development planning, do not perpetuate or exacerbate violence
against women and, instead, actively support the prevention and elimination of
violence against women
? Respond to different women’s experiences of violence, as such experiences are
shaped by the intersection of gender with other factors, such as race, ethnicity,
class, age, HIV status, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, legal status,
religion and culture
(b) Exercise leadership to end violence against women
379. Leadership to end all violence against women and support advocacy in this
regard is critical at all levels (local, national, regional and international) and by all
sectors (including State actors, opinion makers, business leaders, civil society
organizations and community leaders). Ending impunity and ensuring accountability
for violence against women are crucial actions for preventing and reducing such
violence and are visible expressions by States of their commitment to take action.
380. Accordingly, it is recommended that:
? States speak out forcefully on the urgent need to end violence against women
and ensure public accountability for all instances of violence, hold up to public
scrutiny and eliminate those institutional and cultural attitudes that foster,
justify, or tolerate it
? States do not commit acts of violence against women, ensure that no State
agents commit such acts, including by taking punitive or disciplinary action
against any State agent who does so, prevent violence against women by
non-State actors, prosecute and punish all perpetrators and provide remedies
and redress to victims
? Local community leaders and opinion makers (including in schools, religious
and traditional institutions, community organizations, trade unions, businesses
and the media) play a key role in generating political will and sustained action
to end community tolerance of, and complicity in, male violence against
women
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? Men and boys be encouraged to speak out strongly against violence against
women and to stop protecting perpetrators or condoning their violence
? Women providing leadership on ending violence against women at all levels,
and especially in grassroots women’s organizations, be recognized and allowed
to carry out their work unhindered, as well as actively supported in their
efforts
(c) Close the gaps between international standards and national laws, policies
and practices
381. International standards and norms are not yet sufficiently implemented in
practice. Impunity for violence against women (by both State and non-State actors)
results from the failure to meet international standards through substantial national
and local action and implementation.
382. Accordingly, it is recommended that States:
? Bring national laws, policies and practices into compliance with international
commitments
? Follow-up on and implement the recommendations that emanate from periodic
reviews of their reports and communications and inquiry procedures, as
applicable, by human rights treaty bodies, in particular those of the Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
? Remove all laws that discriminate against women; review and revise all State
policies and practices to ensure that they do not discriminate against women;
and ensure that provisions of multiple legal systems, where they exist, comply
with international human rights standards, including the principle of
non-discrimination
? Ensure that legislation is in place that adequately addresses all forms of
violence against women
? Act with due diligence to prevent violence against women; to investigate such
violence; to prosecute and punish perpetrators, whether they are State or
non-State actors; and to provide access to redress for victims
? Take positive measures to address structural causes of violence against women
and to strengthen prevention efforts that address discriminatory practices and
social norms
? Institute plans of action that are regularly monitored and updated by
Governments in consultation with civil society, in particular, NGOs and
women’s groups and networks
? Promote victims/survivors’ knowledge of their rights and remedies available to
them and their capacity to claim them through effective access to justice
? Promote the competence of all personnel in the legal and criminal justice,
health and education systems to meet the needs and secure the rights of
victims/survivors through professional education, training and other capacitybuilding
programmes
? Guarantee appropriate support for women victims/survivors through adequate
and accessible services that foster women’s safety and agency
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? Protect women in conflict, post-conflict and refugee and internally displaced
persons settings where women are particularly targeted for violence and their
ability to seek and receive redress is restricted and adopt a gender-sensitive
approach to the granting of asylum
? Address stereotypical attitudes and behaviours that contribute to male violence
against women, working specifically with men and boys, and encourage other
stakeholders to implement measures as part of preventing violence against
women
? Review and strengthen their work with perpetrators and, in particular, assess
the impact of rehabilitation programmes with a view to broadening available
strategies for preventing violence against women
(d) Strengthen the knowledge base on all forms of violence against women
to inform policy and strategy development
383. There remains a dearth of reliable information about the scope and extent of
violence against women, especially some of its forms. Data that assesses and
evaluates what policies and practices are most effective in preventing and
addressing such violence is particularly scarce. Limited availability of data,
however, does not diminish State responsibility for addressing violence against
women.
384. Accordingly, it is recommended that States:
? Take responsibility for the systematic collection and analysis of data. They
should carry out this work themselves or in partnership with other actors. This
may include supporting and facilitating the work of NGOs, academics and
others engaged in such activities
? Ensure that data is disaggregated, not only by sex, but also by other factors
such as race, age and disability, as appropriate
? Ensure that national statistical offices and other bodies involved in the
collection of data on violence against women receive the necessary training for
undertaking this work
? Ensure that the information from the data collection and analysis is made
widely available to the public and acted upon as appropriate
? Use internationally comparable measurements about the scope, prevalence and
incidence of all forms and manifestations of violence against women in their
data collection efforts, to allow monitoring of their progress in meeting
obligations to address violence against women
385. It is also necessary that:
? Data be collected in a way that respects confidentiality and women’s human
rights and does not jeopardize women’s safety
? Evaluative data on promising practices be developed and utilized in order to
facilitate the replication, scaling up and institutionalization of the most
effective interventions
? Data on violence against women be included in national and international data
collection efforts, including those undertaken in conjunction with policy
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planning and implementation processes for poverty reduction strategies and
human rights monitoring. National statistical offices have a key role to play in
these efforts
? Methodologies for measuring the economic and developmental costs of
violence against women for victims/survivors, households and society in
different settings be enhanced and further developed
(e) Build and sustain strong multisectoral strategies, coordinated nationally
and locally
386. Work to end violence against women should go beyond ad hoc, single-sector
or single-issue responses to a comprehensive, systematic and sustained approach
that is adequately supported and facilitated by strong dedicated and permanent
institutional mechanisms. This should involve such government sectors as justice,
health, housing and education as well as defence, finance, foreign affairs,
agriculture and labour. Coordination among different sectors and levels is critical in
assisting women who survive violence to access effective legal, health and social
services, as well as enhancing prevention work.
387. Accordingly, it is recommended that States:
? Exercise their responsibility for coordination across all national and local
government sectors as a key component in building sustainable strategies to
end violence against women
? Create strong institutional mechanisms at local, regional and national levels to
ensure action, coordination, monitoring and accountability
? Integrate efforts to prevent and reduce male violence against women into a
wide range of programme areas such as HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, urban
planning, immigration, poverty reduction, development, conflict, post-conflict
and refugee situations and humanitarian relief
? Integrate a comprehensive understanding of the causes and consequences of
violence against women into appropriate education and training curricula at all
levels, including, among others, in the professional education of health
workers, teachers, law enforcement personnel and social workers
(f) Allocate adequate resources and funding
388. Violence against women impoverishes individuals, families, communities and
countries. The social, political and economic costs of allowing it to continue
unabated are great and call for a commensurate investment in women’s security.
Such an effort requires increased political will expressed through a much greater
commitment of financial and human resources.
389. Accordingly, it is recommended that States:
? Increase funding to provide adequate services and access to justice and redress
to victims/survivors
? Assess budgets at national and local levels from a gender perspective and
correct imbalances in order to ensure a more equitable allocation of resources
to eliminating discrimination and violence against women
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? Fund work on violence against women from national budgets
? Secure additional resources from specialized funds and donors for programmes
to address violence against women, particularly the least developed countries
and countries in or emerging from conflict
390. It is also necessary that States, donors and international organizations:
? Allocate significant resources to eliminate discrimination against women,
promote gender equality and prevent and redress all forms and manifestations
of violence against women
? Provide resources to evaluate and monitor innovative programming by
Governments and NGOs and support scaling up of the most promising
practices and successful pilot projects
2. Recommendations at the international level
391. Since the Fourth World Conference on Women, increased attention has been
given to violence against women throughout the United Nations system, both in
intergovernmental and expert bodies, as well as in the entities of the United Nations
system.
392. These efforts have yet to produce a comprehensive, systematic, wellcoordinated
and properly resourced response. As a result, there is limited
implementation of commitments, norms and standards. Moreover, emerging
concerns, such as the linkages between violence against women and other issues,
new forms of violence against women or new situations leading to violence against
women, also need to be addressed. There is some targeted attention to violence
against women in certain areas, but work on violence against women is yet to
become an integral part in all policies, programmes and action.
393. Consequently, violence against women has not received the visibility and
prominence required to enable significant change. A more cohesive and strategic
approach is needed to tackle the challenges outlined in this study and addressed in
the six strategic areas of recommendations above. Such an approach requires the
enhanced collaboration of all actors, including Governments, the international
community and civil society.
394. The present section addresses the need for a more systematic and
comprehensive focus on violence against women within the United Nations system.
The important initiative of the General Assembly in calling for this study needs to
be followed by resolve at all levels for concrete action to prevent and eliminate
violence against women.
395. A stronger, more consistent and visible leadership role by intergovernmental
bodies and the entities of the United Nations system is necessary, demonstrated by
political will, greater prominence on the international agenda, sustained action and
more significant allocation of resources to strengthen implementation of the
normative and policy framework for addressing violence against women.
(a) Intergovernmental level
396. It is recommended that intergovernmental bodies strengthen accountability for
action on violence against women with a view to accelerating implementation of
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commitments, norms and standards, on violence against women, nationally,
regionally and internationally.
397. In particular, it is recommended that:
? The General Assembly consider annually the question of violence against
women, based on one report of the Secretary-General. Such consideration
should build on and complement the targeted and sector-specific work
undertaken on violence against women by other intergovernmental bodies.
While addressing violence against women holistically, the General Assembly
should also place emphasis on new and emerging concerns, including linkages
between violence against women and other issues such as HIV/AIDS, poverty
eradication, food security, peace and security, humanitarian responses, health,
or crime prevention
? The Security Council intensify efforts to address gender-based violence
against women and consistently monitor measures taken within the framework
of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women
and peace and security. Towards this end, the Security Council should consider
establishing a dedicated monitoring mechanism to increase the effectiveness of
the Council’s contribution to preventing and redressing violence against
women in armed conflict
? Intergovernmental bodies, including the Peacebuilding Commission, the
Human Rights Council, the Economic and Social Council and its functional
commissions, especially the Commission on the Status of Women, the
Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the Statistics
Commission, discuss, by 2008, the question of violence against women in all
its forms and manifestations in relation to their mandates, and set priorities for
addressing this issue in their future efforts and work programmes.
Intergovernmental bodies should also identify and address gaps in the
international policy and normative framework pertaining to violence against
women within their respective areas of competence
? The Human Rights Council reaffirms the mandate of the Special Rapporteur
on violence against women, its causes and consequences, which has been
critical to the expansion of work on violence against women and, in
coordination with the Commission on the Status of Women, requests the
Special Rapporteur to report annually to both the Human Rights Council and
the Commission on the Status of Women in its role as a central
intergovernmental body in the follow-up to and implementation of the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action
? The General Assembly strengthens the Office of the Special Adviser to the
Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women as a
mechanism to enhance visibility and strengthen coordination and advocacy for
the elimination of violence against women at the international and regional
level. Such efforts should in particular aim to enhance coordination of a
system-wide approach, including at country level. Responsibility for such
coordination should be located at the level of the Chief Executives Board for
Coordination
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(b) United Nations system
Coordination within the United Nations system and institutional support
398. In order to maximize efficient and effective use of existing structures and
resources and to ensure coherence and coordination, it is recommended that the
following measures be taken:
? Entities of the United Nations system clearly identify how violence against
women affects the effective implementation of their mandates and strengthen
their response to such violence. They should in particular enhance efforts that
respond to the cross-cutting nature of violence against women and link those
efforts with their work on issues such as HIV/AIDS, poverty eradication, food
security, peace and security, humanitarian responses, health, education, legal
and judicial reform or crime prevention
? The Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and
Advancement of Women, through the Inter-Agency Network on Women and
Gender Equality, leads an enhanced system-wide coordination of this work in
order to ensure greater visibility, consistency, effective action, monitoring,
reporting and accountability and reports thereon to the High-level Committees
on Programme and Management and, ultimately, the Chief Executives Board
for Coordination. The task force on violence against women set up by the
Network supports the Special Adviser in this effort
? The Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and
Advancement of Women, UNIFEM as the Trust Fund manager and the task
force on violence against women of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and
Gender Equality, consider ways and means for enhancing the effectiveness of
the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women as a systemwide
mechanism for preventing and redressing violence against women and for
increasing feedback of lessons learned from supported projects into the
system-wide policy and normative work on violence against women
Collection of data, and research
399. The United Nations system has a significant role to play in strengthening the
capacity of countries to collect, process and disseminate data on male violence
against women and to use such data as a basis for legislative, policy and programme
development.
400. As a priority, the United Nations system should undertake to:
? Provide technical support to countries and promote existing methodologies and
good practices to ensure that existing standards of excellence on data
collection are met
? Support the development of unified methods and standards for data collection
on all forms of violence against women that are under-documented
? Support evaluation research and impact analysis of interventions to prevent
and redress violence against women
? Develop common indicators for evaluating and monitoring State compliance
with international agreements
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? Build capacity of national statistical offices, women’s national machineries,
international and national research institutions and NGOs and strengthen links
between them
? Link efforts to collect data on violence against women to existing and ongoing
data collection efforts, including planning processes for poverty reduction
strategies and human rights monitoring
? Establish a coordinated and easily accessible United Nations database within
the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, involving in particular the
Division for the Advancement of Women and developed in collaboration with
the Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the
regional commissions and all other relevant parts of the United Nations system
on statistics, legislation, training models, good practices, ethical guidelines
and other resources regarding all forms and manifestations of violence against
women
? Convene a United Nations working group to develop and propose a set of
international indicators for assessing the scope, prevalence and incidence of
violence against women, monitoring progress in addressing such violence and
assessing the impact of different measures and interventions. This work should
build on existing proposals for indicators on violence against women, as well
as on the work of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its
causes and consequences, called for in resolution 2004/46 of the Commission
on Human Rights
Operational activities at the country level, including in the framework of
humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping missions
401. It is recommended that the following measures be taken:
? United Nations Resident Coordinators take a leadership role in advocating for
an effective and comprehensive response to violence against women at the
national level and systematically support Governments and other actors in
their actions to prevent and eliminate violence against women
? United Nations country teams support development of (when applicable), and
full implementation, of comprehensive national actions plans on violence
against women that include national awareness-raising campaigns and place
emphasis on strengthening knowledge of rights and availability of services and
on changing gender-based stereotypical norms and attitudes that condone and
perpetuate male violence against women
? United Nations country teams give greater priority to prevent and respond to
violence against women, including through a more coordinated system-wide
approach to programming and through collaboration with women’s groups and
civil society
? The capacity of United Nations country teams to deal with violence against
women be strengthened, including through training
? Special Representatives of the Secretary-General give priority attention to
violence against women within their mandates in peacekeeping and
peacebuilding missions
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402. It is recommended that the following measures be undertaken:
? The resources allocated throughout the United Nations system to address
violence against women be increased significantly
? Entities of the United Nations system and all other donors provide increased
resources for the implementation of comprehensive national action plans
aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women, particularly in
the least developed countries and in countries emerging from conflict
? Entities of the United Nations system allocate an increased share of the
resources devoted to issues such as poverty reduction, HIV/AIDS and
peacekeeping for the specific purpose of prevention and elimination of
violence against women, to identify and address the intersection with violence
against women
? States, donors and international organizations increase significantly the
financial support for work on violence against women in United Nations
agencies and programmes, including to the United Nations Trust Fund to End
Violence against Women
Notes
1 See E/CN.4/2003/75, executive summary.
2 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the
Prostitution of Others (1949); Women Go Global: The United Nations and the International
Women’s Movement, 1945-2000, CD-ROM (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.01.IV.1).
3 See Sen, P., “Successes and Challenges: Understanding the Global Movement to End Violence
Against Women in Global Civil Society”, Kaldor, M., Anheier, H. and Glasius, M., eds.
(London, Centre for the Study of Global Governance, 2003); Reilly, N. ed., Without
Reservation: The Beijing Tribunal on Accountability for Women’s Human Rights (New Jersey,
Center for Women’s Global Leadership, 1996); and Jain, D., Women, Development, and the UN:
A Sixty Year Quest for Equality and Justice (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2005).
4 Report of the World Conference of the International Women’s Year, Mexico City, 19 June-2 July
1975 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.76.IV.1).
5 Russell, D. and Van de Ven, N., Crimes against women: The proceedings of the International
Tribunal (East Palo Alto, Frog in the Well Press, 1984).
6 Report of the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality,
Development and Peace, Copenhagen, 14-30 July 1980 (United Nations publication, Sales
No. E.80.IV.3 and corrigendum).
7 See Antrobus, P., The Global Women’s Movement: Origins, Issues and Strategies (London, Zed
Books, 2004); and Bunch, C., Passionate Politics (New York, St. Martins Press, 1987).
8 Report of the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievement of the United Nations
Decade for Women: Development and Peace, Nairobi, 15-26 July 1985 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.85.IV.10).
9 Sixth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, Caracas,
25 August-5 September 1980 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.81.IV.4); Seventh United
Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, Milan, 26 August-
6 September 1985 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.86.IV.1).
10 Violence against women in the family, New York, 1989 (United Nations publication, Sales
No. E.89.IV.5).
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11 See Bunch, C. and Reilly, N., Demanding Accountability: The Global Campaign and Vienna
Tribunal for Women’s Human Rights (New Jersey, Center for Women’s Global Leadership/
UNIFEM, 1994).
12 General Assembly resolution 34/180.
13 See A/44/38.
14 See A/47/38, 1992.
15 General Assembly resolution 48/104.
16 Ibid, preamble.
17 See A/CONF.157/23, para 18.
18 The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences, was established by the Commission on Human Rights in 1994 (Commission on
Human Rights resolution 1994/45) and was extended in 1997, 2000 and 2003 (Commission on
Human Rights resolutions 1997/44, 2000/45 and 2003/45).
19 Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995 (United
Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13).
20 See General Assembly resolution S-23/3, annex, para. 13.
21 Security Council resolution 1325 (2000).
22 Coomaraswamy, R., “The varied contours of violence against women in South Asia”, paper
presented at the Fifth South Asia Regional Ministerial Conference, Celebrating Beijing + 10,
Islamabad, Pakistan, 3-5 May 2005.
23 See note 11, p. 117.
24 See Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women General recommendation
No. 19; Human Rights Committee, general comment 28; and Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights general comment 16.
25 See Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women General recommendation
No. 19; Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, general recommendation 25.
26 General Assembly resolutions 60/139, 59/167, 59/166, 59/165, 58/147 and Commission on
Human Rights resolutions 2005/41 and 2001/49.
27 General Assembly resolution 54/134.
28 Report of the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 5-13 September
1994 (United Nations publication, Sales No. 95.XIII.18), para. 4.4 (e).
29 General Assembly resolution 55/2.
30 General Assembly resolution 60/1, para. 58. United Nations Millennium Project, Taking Action:
Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering Women, Task Force on Education and Gender
Equality (London, Earthscan, 2005).
31 Division for the Advancement of Women, Final report of the workshop on violence against
women for entities of the United Nations system, New York, 5-7 December 2005, available at
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw, and Division for the Advancement of Women,
Preventing and eliminating violence against women: An inventory of United Nations system
activities on violence against women.
32 Resolution adopted at the 114th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Nairobi, 12 May
2006.
33 E/CN.6/2000/2 and E/CN.6/2005/2.
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 115
34 See Carrillo, R., “Violence against women: an obstacle to development”, in Bunch, C. and
Carrillo R., eds., Gender Violence: A Development and Human Rights Issue (New Jersey, Center
for Women’s Global Leadership, 1991).
35 Moser, C. and Moser, A., “Background Paper on Gender-Based Violence”, paper commissioned
by the World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2003.
36 See note 30; and http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/report.pdf; WHO, Addressing
violence against women and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (Geneva, WHO,
2005).
37 The lack of freedom from violence and physical security is identified as one of the critical
indicators of inadequate governance, a critical constraint to the realization of the Millennium
Development Goals. See Sachs, J., Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (New York, Millennium Project, 2005).
38 Platform for Action, para. 118.
39 See Harway, M. and O’Neil, J., eds., What causes men’s violence against women (Thousand
Oaks, Sage Publications, 1999); WHO Multi-Country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic
Violence Against Women: Initial Results on Prevalence, Health Outcomes and Women’s
Responses (Geneva, WHO, 2005);.and WHO, World report on violence and health (Geneva,
WHO, 2002).
40 See http://www.ohchr.org/english/about/publications/docs/FAQ_en.pdf; and Clapham, A.,
Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Actors (Oxford University Press, 2006).
41 Michau, L. and Naker, D., eds., Preventing gender-based violence in the Horn, East and
Southern Africa: A regional dialogue (Raising Voices and UN-Habitat Safer Cities Programme,
2004), pp. 7-8, available at: http://www.preventgbvafrica.org/images/publications/
reports/preventgbv_a.pdf.
42 Mohanty, C.T., “Under western eyes: Feminist scholarship and colonial discourse”, Feminist
Review, vol. 30 (Autumn 1988), pp. 65-88.
43 Chege, J., “Interventions linking gender relations and violence with reproductive health and
HIV: rationale, effectiveness and gaps”, Gender, Culture and Rights, Agenda Special Focus,
vol. 115 (2005), pp. 114-123.
44 Pelser, E., Gondwe, L., Mayamba, C., Mhango, T., Phiri, W. and Burton, P., Intimate partner
violence: Results from a national gender-based violence study in Malawi (Pretoria, Institute for
Security Studies, 2005), pp. 6-7, available at: http://www.issafrica.org/
index.php?link_id=14&slink_id=185&link_type=12&slink_type=12&tmpl_id=3.
45 World Health Organization, “Intimate partner violence and HIV/AIDS”, WHO Information
Bulletin Series, Number 1, available at http://www.who.int/gender/violence/en/
vawinformationbrief.pdf.
46 Sideris, T., “Post-apartheid South Africa — Gender, rights and the politics of recognition —
Continuities in gender-based violence?”, Gender, Culture and Rights, Agenda Special Focus,
vol. 115 (2005), pp. 100-109.
47 The State v. Baloyi, Constitutional Court of South Africa, Case CCT 29/99, pp. 13-14 (footnotes
omitted).
48 Ibid, p. 13 (italics added).
49 E/CN.4/2002/83.
50 See Raday, F., “Culture, religion and gender”, I.CON, vol. 1, No. 4 (2003), pp. 663-715.
51 Mama, A., Melber, H. and Nyamnjoh, F. B., eds., “Concluding reflections on beyond identities:
Rethinking power in Africa”, Identity and Beyond: Rethinking Africanity (Uppsala, Nordic
Africa Institute, 2001), p. 30.
A/61/122/Add.1
116 06-41974
52 See E/CN.4/2003/75, paras. 61, 63; and Milillo, D., “Rape as a tactic of war: social and
psychological perspectives” Affilia, vol. 21, No. 2, (2006), pp. 196-205.
53 Jolly, S., Gender and cultural change: Overview report (Bridge, Institute of Development
Studies, University of Sussex, 2002), p. 9.
54 Potgieter, C., “Gender, culture and rights: challenges and approaches of three Chapter 9
Institutions”, Gender, Culture and Rights, Agenda Special Focus, vol. 115 (2005), pp. 154-160,
159, quoting Chanock, M., “Culture and Human Rights: Orientalising, Occidentalising and
Authenticity”, in Mamdani, M., ed., Beyond Rights Talk and Culture (New York, St. Martin’s
Press, 2000), p. 15.
55 See note 1, para. 61; E/CN.4/2004/66; and E/CN.4/2002/83, para. 5.
56 E/CN.4/2004/66, paras. 37, 38.
57 E/CN.4/2003/75; Ibid.
58 Alabama Coalition against Domestic Violence, information available at http://www.acadv.org/
dating.html.
59 See note 53, p. 15.
60 See Welchman, L. and Hossain, S., eds., Honour — Crimes, paradigms, and violence against
women (London, Zed Books, 2005).
61 See note 50.
62 E/CN.4/2000/68/Add.5; and Merry, S. E., “Constructing a Global Law? Violence against Women
and the Human Rights System”, 28, Law and Social Inquiry (2003).
63 See note 44, Organization of American States, “Trade liberalization, gender and development:
What are the issues and how can we think about them?”, paper prepared for the Second
Ministerial Meeting on the Advancement of Women, Washington, D.C., 21-23 April 2004,
available at http://www.oas.org/cim/REMIM%20II/CIM-REMIMII-doc.4ing.doc.
64 See note 39, chap. 1.
65 Sassen, S., “Women’s Burden: Counter-Geographies of Globalization and the Feminization of
Survival”, Nordic Journal of International Law, vol. 71, No. 2 (2002), pp. 255-274.
66 See 2004 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development, United Nations publication.
67 E/CN.4/2006/61 (footnotes omitted).
68 See 2004 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development.
69 E/CN.4/1995/42.
70 Human Rights Watch, Gender-based violence against Kosovar Albanian women (New York,
Human Rights Watch, 2000), available at: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/fry/
Kosov003-02.htm#P113_16068.
71 Thomas, D. and Beasley, M, “Domestic violence as a human rights issue”, Albany Law Review,
vol. 58 (1994-1995).
72 See Heise, L., Violence against women: An integrated, ecological framework (New York,
St. Martin’s Press, 1998); note 39; Heise, L., Ellsberg, M. and Gottemoeller, M., “Ending
violence against women”, Population Reports, vol. 27, No. 11 (1999) , pp. 8-38; and Jewkes, R.,
“Intimate Partner Violence: Causes and Prevention”, Lancet, vol. 359 (2002), pp. 1423-1429.
73 Jewkes, R., “Editorials: Preventing Domestic Violence”, British Medical Journal, vol. 324
(2002), pp. 253-254 (italics added, footnote omitted), available at http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/
cgi/content/full/324/7332/253.
74 See E/CN.4/2003/66/Add.1, para. 142.
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 117
75 See note 49, recommendation 10.
76 For description and evaluation of such programmes in several African countries, see note 41.
77 See E/CN.4/2004/66, para. 69; and note 67, paras. 94-99.
78 Watts, C. and Zimmerman, C., “Violence against women: global scope and magnitude”, Lancet,
vol. 359 (April 2002), pp. 1232-1237.
79 Osattin, A., and Short, L., Intimate partner violence and sexual assault: A guide to training
materials and programs for health care providers (Atlanta, Centers for Disease Control,
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 1998).
80 Saltzman, L., Fanslow, J. L., McMahon, P. M. and Shelley, G. A., Intimate partner violence
surveillance: Uniform definitions and recommended data elements, version 1.0. (Atlanta,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,
2002).
81 See note 39.
82 Ibid.
83 See note 72.
84 The study covered 1,891 families. General Union of Women, Syrian Commission for Family
Affairs, Violence against women study: Syria, supported by the United Nations Development
Fund for Women, 2005.
85 See note 39, p. 93.
86 Coyne-Beasley, T., Moracco, K.E. and Casteel, M.J., “Adolescent femicide: a population-based
study”, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, vol. 157, No. 4 (April 2003), pp. 355-360.
87 Paterson, K., Femicide on the Rise in Latin America (Silver City, International Relations Center, 2006).
88 Gazmararian, J. A., Lazorick, S. et al., “Prevalence of violence against pregnant women”,
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 275, No. 24 (June 1996), pp. 1915-20.
89 Almeras, D. et al., “Violence against women in couples: Latin America and the Caribbean. A
proposal for measuring its incidence and trends”, paper prepared for the International Meeting
on Gender Statistics and Indicators for Measuring the Incidence of and Trends in Violence
against Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, La Paz, 21-23 November 2001.
90 Peedicayil, A., Sadowski, L. S., Jayaseelan, L., Shankar, V., Jain, D., Suresh, S. and
Bangdiwala, S., “Spousal physical violence against women during pregnancy”, BJOG: An
International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 111, No. 7 (July 2004), pp. 682-687;
Nasir, K. and Hyder, A.A., “Violence against pregnant women in developing countries: review
of evidence”, European Journal of Public Health, vol. 13, No. 2 (June 2003), pp. 105-107.
Campbell, J., Garcia-Moreno, C., and Sharps, P., “Abuse during pregnancy in industrialized and
developed countries”, Violence against women, vol. 10, No. 7 (July 2004), pp. 770-789.
91 See note 39, p. 35.
92 Ramiro, L., Hassan, F. and Peedicayil, A., “Risk markers of severe psychological violence
against women: a WorldSAFE multi-country study”, Injury Control and Safety Promotion,
vol. 11, No. 2 (June 2004), pp. 131-137.
93 Jaspard, M., Brown, E., Condon, S., Fougeyrollas-Schwebel, D., Houel, A., Lhomond, B. et al.,
Les violences enver les femmes en France: Une enquete nationale (Paris, CNRS, Universite de
Paris Dauphine, 2001).
94 Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Health, well-being and
personal safety of women in Germany: A representative study of violence against women in
Germany (Bonn, Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, 2004).
Central research results available at http://www.bmfsfj.de.
A/61/122/Add.1
118 06-41974
95 See E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/36.
96 Other forms of traditional practices are identified in reports by States parties.
97 UNICEF, Female genital mutilation/Cutting: A statistical exploration (New York, UNICEF,
2005); and UNICEF, Changing a harmful social convention: female genital mutilation/cutting,
UNICEF Innocenti Digest (2005), available at http://www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/pdf/fgmgb-
2005.pdf.
98 Ibid.
99 Ibid.
100 Krantz, G. and Garcia-Moreno, C., “Violence against women”, Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health, vol. 58 (2005), pp. 818-821.
101 Prabhat, J. et al., “Low male to female sex ratio of children born in India: national survey of
1.1 million households”, Lancet, vol. 367 (January 2006), pp. 211-18.
102 Hong, M.S., “Boy preference and imbalance in sex ratio in Korea”, paper prepared for the
UNFPA/KIHASA International Symposium on Issues Related to Sex Preference for Children in
the Rapidly Changing Demographic Dynamics in Asia, Seoul, 21-24 November 1994.
103 While the definition in the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that “a child as a person
below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is obtained
earlier”, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women considers that the
minimum age for marriage should be 18 years for both man and woman and that marriage
should not be permitted before they have attained full maturity and capacity to act. See general
recommendation No. 21 (1994).
104 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women general recommendation
No. 21, referring to WHO.
105 UNAIDS/UNFPA/UNIFEM, Women and HIV: Confronting the Crisis, 2004.
106 See Mathur, S., Greene, M. and Malhotra, A., Too young to wed: The lives, rights, and health of
young married girls (Washington, D.C.: International Center for Research on Women, 2003).
107 Population Council, Briefing sheet, Child Marriage Briefing — Ethiopia (July 2004), available
at http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/briefingsheets/Ethiopia.pdf.
108 See note 39; Vlachova, M. and Biason, L., 2005, Women in an Insecure World: Violence against
Women, Facts, Figures, and Analysis (Geneva, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of
Armed Forces, 2005).
109 UNICEF, Early marriage: A harmful traditional practice: A statistical exploration (New York,
UNICEF, 2005); Estimates are given in World Marriage Patterns (United Nations publication,
Sales No. E.00.XIII.7).
110 Article 16 (1) (b) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women requires that States parties ensure to women “the same right freely to choose a spouse
and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent”. See also art. 23(3) of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
111 Rude-Antoine, E., Forced marriages in Council of Europe member states (Strasbourg,
Directorate General of Human Rights, Council of Europe, 2005).
112 Kleinbach, R., “Frequency of Non-Consensual Bride Kidnapping in the Kyrgyz Republic”,
International Journal of Central Asian Studies, vol. 8, No. 1 (2003).
113 Home Office, Dealing with Cases of Forced Marriage: Guidance for Education Professionals
(London, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 2005).
114 Indian Ministry of Home Affairs Parliamentary Questionnaire, 16 August 2004, cited in:
Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to India: Women
in India, 11-24 July 2004 (London, United Kingdom Home Office, 2004).
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 119
115 See Mohanty, M. K., Panigrahi, M. K., Mohanty, S. and Das, S. K., “Victimologic study of
female homicide”, Legal Issues in Medicine, vol. 6, No. 3 (July 2004), pp. 151-156.
116 UNFPA, State of World Population 2000 (New York, UNFPA, 2000); Kogacioglu, D., 2004.
“The tradition effect: Framing honor crimes in Turkey”, Differences: A Journal of Feminist
Cultural Studies, vol. 15, No. 2 (2004), pp. 119-151.
117 Combined initial, second and third reports of Pakistan submitted under Article 18 of the
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, para. 529.
118 Adinkrah, M., “Witchcraft accusation and female homicide victimization in contemporary
Ghana”, Violence against women, vol. 10, No. 4 (December 2004), pp. 325-356.
119 Saravanan, S., Violence against women in India: A literature review (New Delhi, Institute of
Social Studies Trust, 2000); Chen, M. A., “Widowhood and aging in India”, United Nations
Research Institute for Social Development case study available at: http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/
website/projects.nsf/(httpAuxPages)/25DCC0F9F3E206C3C1256BB200552FC6?OpenDocumen
t&category=Case+Studies.
120 CEDAW/C/2005/OP.8/Mexico.
121 E/CN.4/2005/72/Add.3.
122 Consideration of the sixth periodic report of Guatemala submitted under Article 18 of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Department of
Public Information of the United Nations, 18 May 2006, available at: http://www.un.org/NEWS/
Press/docs/2006/wom1559.doc.htm.
123 See report of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on the rights
of women, The Situation of the Rights of Women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico: The Right to be
Free from Violence and Discrimination, March 2003; E/CN.4/2005/72/Add.3; and note 87.
124 See note 39.
125 Health Canada, Women’s health surveillance report: A multi-dimensional look at the health of
Canadian women (Ontario, Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2003); Tjaden, P. and
Thoennes, N., Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences of Violence Against Women: Findings
from the National Violence Against Women Study, Research in Brief series No. 2
(Washington D.C., National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control, 1998),
available at http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/172837.pdf.
126 See note 39.
127 Violence experienced by women in Switzerland over their lifetime: Results of the International
Violence against Women Survey (IVAWS), 2006.
128 See note 39.
129 Byers, S., Sears, H., Whelan, J. and Saint-Pierre, M., Dating Violence Amongst New Brunswick
Adolescents: A Summary of Two Studies, Research Paper Series No. 2 (Fredericton, University
of New Brunswick, Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research, 2000).
130 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2000), Dating violence, National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control.
131 Slashinski, M., Coker, L. A. and Davis, E. K., “Physical Aggression, forced sex, and stalking
victimization by a dating partner: an analysis of the national violence against women survey”,
Violence and Victims, vol. 18, No. 6 (December 2003), pp. 595-617.
132 E/CN.4/2005/72, paras. 37 and 38.
133 Directorate-General for Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs, Sexual harassment
at the workplace in the European Union (European Commission, 1998).
A/61/122/Add.1
120 06-41974
134 See ILO, “Action against sexual harassment at work in Asia and the Pacific”, technical report
for discussion at the ILO/Japan regional tripartite seminar on action against sexual harassment
at work in Asia and the Pacific, Penang, Malaysia, 2-4 October 2001.
135 American Association of University Women, Hostile Hallways: bullying, teasing, and sexual
harassment in school (Washington D.C., American Association of University Women, 2001).
136 Cited in Wellesley Centers for Research on Women, Unsafe Schools: A Literature Review of
School-Related Gender-Based Violence in Developing Countries (Arlington, Development and
Training Services, Inc., 2004).
137 Action Aid and UNICEF commissioned survey on gender violence in Malawi cited in IRIN
News report, “Malawi: Abuse of women a national shame”, United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, available at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?
ReportID=51488&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=MALAWI
138 Bradley, R. C., Abuso en el deporte (Mexico City, Mexico, D.F., 2006), p. 3.
139 Fasting, K. and Knorre, N., Women in Sport in the Czech Republic: The Experiences of Female
Athletes. Norwegian School of Sports Sciences and Czech Olympic Committee (Oslo and Praha
2005), pp. 42-43.
140 General Assembly resolution 55/25, article 3 (a).
141 All data taken from: Trafficking in persons. Global patterns, United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime, Vienna, April 2006.
142 Ibid.
143 E/CN.4/1992/SR.21, para. 35.
144 See E/CN.4/1998/54; E/CN.4/2004/66/Add.1; Human Rights Watch, All too familiar: Sexual
abuse of women in U.S. state prisons (1996); Arbour, L. Commission of Inquiry into certain
events at the Prison for women in Kingston (Public Works and Government Services, Canada,
1996).
145 See Taylor, R., Women in prison and children of imprisoned mothers, Preliminary research
report (New York, Quaker United Nations Office, 2004).
146 Final report by the Commissioner For Human Rights, On The Human Rights Situation Of The
Roma, Sinti And Travellers In Europe, for the attention of the Committee of Ministers and the
Parliamentary Assembly, paras. 71-74.
147 Amnesty International, Stolen Sisters: Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women
in Canada. A Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns (London, Amnesty International,
2004).
148 NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, Fact Sheet on Women and Armed Conflict,
October 23, 2002, available at: http://www.iwtc.org/212.html.
149 Ibid.
150 Ibid.
151 In humanitarian settings, attention is commonly placed on gender-based violence (of which
sexual violence is a form). Although sexual violence is perpetrated primarily by men against
women, men and boys may also be subject to gender-based violence.
152 See S/2004/814; S/2005/740; and E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/28.
153 See note 148.
154 Ibid.
155 Crenshaw, K. “Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics and violence against
women of color”, Stanford Law Review, vol. 43, No. 6 (1991), pp. 1241-1299.
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 121
156 See note 149.
157 Ibid.
158 Ibid.
159 Bhandari, N., “Aboriginal violence against women”, Contemporary Review (December 2003).
160 Grey, M., “Dalit women and the struggle for justice”, Feminist Theology, vol. 14, No. 1 (2005),
pp. 127-149.
161 Amnesty International, “Violence against women: A fact sheet”, available at: http://www.
amnestyusa.org/stopviolence/factsheets/violence.html.
162 See note 3.
163 Human Rights Watch, “Women and girls with disabilities”, available at: http://hrw.org/women/
disabled.html.
164 2004 World Survey on the role of women in development: Women and international migration
(United Nations publication, Sales No. E.04.IV.4), p. 1.
165 E/CN.4/2000/76, para. 8
166 E/CN.4/2000/76, para. 12; Esim, S. and Smith, M., “Gender and Migration in Arab States: the
Case of Domestic Workers” (Beirut, International Labour Organization Regional Office for Arab
States, 2004).
167 See note 164.
168 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2005 Global Refugee Trends,
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/events/opendoc.pdf?tbl=STATISTICS&id=4486ceb12.
169 Heise, L., “Violence against women: The hidden health burden”, World Health Statistic
Quarters, vol. 46, No. 1 (1993), pp. 78-85.
170 Laffaye, C., Kennedy, C. and Stein, M. B., “Post-traumatic stress disorder and health-related
quality of life in female victims of intimate partner violence”, Violence Victims, vol. 18, No. 2
(April 2003), pp. 227-238; Paranjape, A., Heron, S. and Kaslow, N., 2005. “Utilization of
Services by Abused, Low-Income African-American Women”, Journal of General Internal
Medicine, vol. 21, No. 2 (February 2006), p. 22.
171 Cohen, M. M. and Maclean, H., “Violence against Canadian Women”, BMC Womens Health,
vol. 4, (Suppl. 1) (August 2004), pp. S22-S46; Silverman, J., Raj, A., Mucci, L. and
Hathaway, J., “Dating violence against adolescent girls and associated substance use, unhealthy
weight control, sexual risk behavior, pregnancy, and suicidality”, Journal of the American
Medical Association, vol. 286, No. 5 (August 2001), pp. 372-379.
172 Ganatra, B., Coyaji, K. and Rao, V., “Too far, too little, too late: a community-based casecontrol
study of maternal mortality in rural west Maharashtra, India”, Bulletin of the World
Health Organization, vol. 76, No. 6 (1998), pp. 591-598.
173 Fauveau, V. et al., “Causes of maternal mortality in rural Bangladesh, 1976-85”, Bulletin of the
World Health Organization, vol. 66, No. 5 (March-April 1988), pp. 643-651; see note 39.
174 Heise, L., Ellsberg, M. and Gottemoeller M., “A global overview of gender-based violence”,
International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, vol. 78, Suppl. 1 (2002), pp. S3-S14;
UNICEF, “Domestic violence against women and girls”, Innocenti Digest, No. 6 (June 2000).
175 Campbell, J. C., “Health consequences of intimate partner violence”, Lancet, vol. 359, No. 9314
(April 2002), pp. 1331-1336.
176 Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, background paper on “Violence against women and
AIDS” available at http://data.unaids.org/GCWA/GCWA_BG_Violence_en.pdf; amfAR,
Gender-based violence and HIV among women: Assessing the evidence, Issue Brief No. 3,
June 2005; and Human Rights Watch, Just die quietly: Domestic violence and women’s
vulnerability to HIV in Uganda, August 2003.
A/61/122/Add.1
122 06-41974
177 See note 108.
178 Pallitto, C., “Relationship between intimate partner violence and unintended pregnancy:
Analysis of a national sample from Colombia”, International Family Planning Perspectives,
vol. 30, No. 4 (December 2004), pp. 165-173.
179 Leung W. C. et al., “Pregnancy outcome following domestic violence in a Chinese community”,
International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, vol. 71, No. 1 (January 2001), pp. 79-80;
and Valladares E. M. et al., “Physical partner abuse during pregnancy: a risk factor for low birth
weight in Nicaragua”, Obstetrics & Gynecology, vol. 100, No. 4 (October 2002), pp. 700-705.
180 Ibid.
181 Palmerlee, A., Human trafficking: combating an international crisis (St. Leonards, N.S.W.,
Centre for Independent Studies, 2004), p. 4.
182 See note 97, chapter 4.
183 See note 175.
184 Tolman, R. and Rosen, D., “Domestic violence in the lives of women receiving welfare: Mental
health, substance dependences and economic well-being”, Violence against Women, vol. 7
(February 2001), pp. 141-158.
185 See note 39; Haarr, R., Violence against women in marriage: A general population study in
Khatlon Oblast, Tajikistan (Dushanbe, Project to Reduce Violence against Women — PROVAW,
Social Development Group, 2005).
186 Mulugeta, E., Kassaye, M. and Berhane, Y., “Prevalence and outcomes of sexual violence among
high school students”, Ethiopian Medical Journal, vol. 36, No. 3 (July 1998), pp. 167-174;
Bagley, C., Bolitho, F. and Bertrand, L., “Sexual Assault in school, mental health and suicidal
behaviors in adolescent women in Canada”, Adolescence, vol. 32, No. 126 (Summer 1997),
pp. 361-366.
187 See note 72.
188 Lyon, E., “Welfare and Domestic Violence Against Women: Lessons from Research”, Applied
Research Forum, National Electronic Network on Violence Against Women (August 2002),
available at http://www.vawnet.org/DomesticViolence/Research/VAWnetDocs/AR_Welfare2.
pdf.; Morrison, A. and Biehl, L., eds., Too Close to Home: Domestic Violence in the Americas
(Washington D.C., Inter-American Development Bank, 1999).
189 Goetz, A. M., “Conditions for Women’s Political Effectiveness: A Conceptual Framework”,
paper presented at the conference on EnGendering Processes of Governance at Global, Regional
and National Levels, University of Warwick, 19 September 2002; Center for Women’s Global
Leadership and International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Written Out: How
Sexuality is Used to Attack Women’s Organizing (Rutgers, Center for Women’s Global
Leadership, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, 2005); for specific
incidents of violence against women activists and leaders see: http://www.cwru.edu/provost/
centerforwomen/writtenout.pdf.
190 Mumtaz, K., “Women’s Representation, Effectiveness and Leadership in South Asia”,
background paper prepared for the Fifth South Asia Regional Ministerial Conference,
Islamabad, Pakistan, 3-5 May 2005.
191 See note 72.
192 See note 181.
193 Moser, C. and Clark, F. C., eds., Victims, Perpetrators or Actors? Gender, Armed Conflict and
Political Violence (London, Zed Books, 2001).
194 Osofsky, J., “The Impact of Violence on Children”, The future of children: Domestic violence
and children, vol. 9, No. 3 (Winter 1999), pp. 33-49; Margolin, G. and Gordis E. B., “The
effects of family and community violence on children”, Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 51
(February 2000), pp. 445-479.
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 123
195 See note 188, Morrison, A. and Orlando, M. B., “Social and economic costs of domestic
violence: Chile and Nicaragua”.
196 Kitzmann, K. M. et al., “Child witnesses to domestic violence: A meta-analytic review”, Journal
of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, vol. 71, No. 2 (April 2003), pp. 339-352.
197 See note 194.
198 Edleson, J., “Problems associated with children’s witnessing of domestic violence”, Applied
Research Forum National Electronic Forum on Violence against Women (April 1999), available
at: http://www.vawnet.org/DomesticViolence/Research/VAWnetDocs/AR_witness.pdf.
199 Larraín, S., Vega, J. and Delgado, I., Relacionares Familiares y Maltrato Infantil (Santiago,
UNICEF, 1997).
200 Merrill, L., Thomsen, C., Crouch, J., May, P., Gold, S. and Milner, J., “Predicting risk of child
physical abuse from childhood exposure to violence: Can interpersonal schemata explain the
association?”, Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, vol. 24, No. 7 (December 2005),
pp. 981-1002.
201 Asling-Monemi, K. et al., “Violence against women increases the risk of infant and child
mortality: a case-referent study from Nicaragua”, Bulletin of the World Health Organization,
vol. 81, No. 1 (2003), pp. 10-16.
202 Council of Europe, Combating violence against women: Stocktaking study on the measures and
actions taken in the Council of Europe member states, 2006, p. 8.
203 Heise, L., Pitanguy, J. and Germain, A., Violence against Women: The Hidden Health Burden,
World Bank Discussion Paper 255 (Washington D.C., World Bank, 1994).
204 Greaves, L., Hakivsky, O. et al., Selected Estimates of the costs of Violence Against Women
(London, Centre of Research on Violence against Women and Children, 1995).
205 Walby, S., The cost of domestic violence (London, Department of Trade and Industry, 2004),
available at: http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/research/cost_of_dv_Report_sept04.pdf.
206 Heiskanen, M. and Piispa, M., The price of violence: The costs of men’s violence against women
in Finland (Helsinki, Statistics Finland, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, 2001).
207 World Bank, World Development Report 1993: Investing in health (New York, Oxford
University Press, 1993).
208 The World’s Women 2005: Progress in statistics (United Nations publication, Sales
No. E.05.XVII.7).
209 See Division for the Advancement of Women, “Violence against women: a statistical overview,
challenges and gaps in data collection and methodology and approaches for overcoming them”,
report of the expert group meeting organized in collaboration with the Economic Commission
for Europe and World Health Organization, Geneva, 11-14 April 2005, available at
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw-stat-2005/index.html.
210 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Women’s Safety Australia, Catalogue 4128.0 (Canberra,
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996).
211 Heiskanen, M. and Piispa, M., Faith, Hope, Battering. A survey of men’s violence against
women in Finland (Helsinki, Statistics Finland and Council for Equality, Ministry of Social
Affairs and Health, 1998).
212 See note 93.
213 See note 94.
214 Morris, A., Women’s safety survey 1996 (Wellington, Institute of Criminology, University of
Wellington, 1997).
A/61/122/Add.1
124 06-41974
215 Lundgren, E., Heimer, G., Westerstand, J. and Kalliokoski, A-M., Captured queen: Men’s
violence against women in “equal” Sweden: A prevalence study (Ume?, Fritzes Offentliga
Publikationer; 2001).
216 Tjaden, P. and Thoennes, N., Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence:
Findings from the National Violence against Women Survey (Washington, D.C., National
Institute of Justice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000).
217 Coordinated by the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, with inputs from the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Statistics Canada and the United Nations
Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute.
218 ECE/CES/2006/7, paras 28-29.
219 Kishor, S. and Johnson, K., Domestic violence in nine developing countries: A comparative
study (Calverton, Macro International, 2004).
220 Yoder, S., Abderrahim N. and Zhuahuni A., Female genital cutting in the Demographic and
Health Surveys: A critical and comparative analysis (Calverton, Macro International, 2004); see
note 112.
221 Velzeboer, M., Ellsberg, M., Clavel, C. and Garcia-Moreno C., Violence against women: The
health sector responds, Occasional publication No. 12 (Washington, D.C., Pan American Health
Organization, 2003).
222 Sagot, M., “The critical path of women affected by family violence in Latin America: Case
studies from 10 countries”, Violence against Women, vol. 11, No. 10 (October 2005), pp. 1292-
1318.
223 Igras, S., Monahan, B. and Syphrines, O., Issues and Responses to Sexual Violence: Assessment
Report of the Dadaab Refugee Camps, Kenya (Nairobi, CARE International, 1998).
224 Bott, S., Morrison, A. and Ellsberg, M., Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in
middle and low-income countries: A global review and analysis (Washington, D.C., World Bank,
2004).
225 See note 123; E/CN.4/2005/72/Add.3; Amnesty International, Mexico: Ending the brutal cycle
of violence against women in Ciudad Juárez and the city of Chihuahua (London, Amnesty
International, 2004); Amnesty International, Guatemala: No protection, no justice: Killings of
women in Guatemala (London, Amnesty International, 2005), available at: http://web.amnesty.
org/library/Index/ENGAMR340172005; see note 87.
226 Frye, V., Hosein, V., Waltermaurer, E., Blaney, S. and Wilt, S., “The epidemiology of femicide
in New York City: 1990-1999”, Homicide Studies, vol. 9, No. 3 (2005), pp. 204-228; Sharma B.,
Harish D., Gupta, M. and Singh, V., “Dowry: A deep-rooted cause of violence against women in
India”, Medicine, Science and the Law, vol. 45, No. 2 (April 2005), pp. 45:161-168; Pratt, C.
and Deosaransingh, K., “Gender differences in homicide in Contra Costa County, California:
1982-1993”, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, vol. 13, No. 6 (November-December
1997), pp. 19-24; Parsons, L. H. and Harper, M. A., “Violent maternal deaths in North
Carolina”, Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 94, No. 6 (December 1999), pp. 990-993.
227 Ibid., Sharma, B., note; Hadidi, M., Kulwicki, A. and Jahshan, H., “A review of 16 cases of
honour killings in Jordan in 1995”, International Journal of Legal Medicine, vol. 114, No. 6
(July 2001), pp. 357-359; Kardam, F., Alpar, Z., Yuksel, I. and Ergun, E., The Dynamics of
Honor Killings in Turkey: Prospects for Action (Ankara, UNDP/UNFPA, 2005); Kumar, V.,
“Poisoning deaths in married women”, Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, vol. 11, No. 1
(February 2004), pp. 2-5; Mago, V., Ahmad, I., Kochhar, N. and Bariar, L. M., “Burnt pregnant
wives: a social stigma”, Burns, vol. 31, No. 2 (March 2005), pp. 175-177; Mohanty, M. K.,
Arun, M, Monteiro, F.N. and Palimar, V., “Self-inflicted burns fatalities in Manipal, India”,
Medicine, Science and the Law, vol. 45, No. 1 (January 2005), pp. 27-30; Kulwicki, A. D., “The
practice of honor crimes: a glimpse of domestic violence in the Arab world”, Issues in Mental
Health Nursing, vol. 23, No. 1 (January-February 2002), pp. 77-87.
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 125
228 Campbell, J. C., Webster, D., Koziol-McLain, J., Block, C., Campbell, D. and Curry, M.A. et al.,
“Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: results from a multisite case control study”,
American Journal of Public Health, vol. 93, No. 7 (July 2003), pp. 1089-1097.
229 Ibid.
230 Amowitz, L., Reis, C., Lyons, K., Vann, B., Mandalay, G., Akinsulure-Smith, A. et al.,
“Prevalence of war-related sexual violence and other human rights abuses among internally
displaced persons in Sierra Leone”, Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 287,
No. 4 (January 2002), pp. 513-521; Swiss, S., Jennings, P. J., Aryee, G. V. et al. “Violence
against women during the Liberian civil conflict”, Journal of the American Medical Association,
vol. 279, No. 8 (February 1998), pp. 625-629; Ward, J. and Vann, B., “Gender-based violence in
refugee settings”, Lancet, vol. 360, Suppl. (December 2002), pp. 13-14; and Hynes, M.,
Ward, J., Robertson, K. and Crouse, C., “A determination of the prevalence of gender-based
violence among conflict-affected populations in East Timor”, Disasters, vol. 28, No. 3
(September 2004), pp. 294-321.
231 Developed with the Centers for Disease Control and the University of Arizona. See note 230;
Reproductive Health Response in Conflict Consortium, Gender-based Violence Tools Manual for
Assessment and Program Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation in Conflict-affected Settings (New
York, Reproductive Health Response in Conflict Consortium, 2004).
232 This section is based on Aronowitz, A., Data on Trafficking in Women, New York: United
Nations Division for the Advancement of Women; 2005.
233 Kelly, E. and Regan, L., Stopping traffic: Exploring the extent of, and responses to trafficking in
women for sexual exploitation in the UK (London, Policing and Reducing Crime Unit, Research,
Development and Statistics Directorate, Home Office, 2000).
234 Makkai, T., “Thematic discussion on trafficking in human beings”, paper prepared for the
Workshop on trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, held as part of the
twelfth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Vienna,
15 May 2003.
235 For example, global and regional data collection efforts are being carried out by the
International Organization for Migration Counter Trafficking Module Database, the Innocenti
Research Centre of UNICEF, The Global Programme against Trafficking in Human Beings
Database of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the OSCE-Regional Clearing Point
of the Stability Pact Task Force on Trafficking in the Balkans and the Protection Project of
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
236 See note 136; Leach, F., Fiscian, V., Kadzamira, E., Lemani E. and Machakanja, P., An
Investigative Study of the Abuse of Girls in African Schools (London, Department for
International Development, 2003).
237 d’Oliveira, A. F., Diniz, S. G. and Schraiber, L. B., “Violence against women in health-care
institutions: an emerging problem”, Lancet, vol. 359, No. 9318 (May 2002), pp. 1681-1685.
238 See note 30; Walby, S., Developing indicators on violence against women. New York: United
Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, 2005; Almeras, D., Bravo, R., Milsavljevic,
V., Monta?o, D. and Rico, M. N., Violence against women in couples: Latin America and the
Caribbean. A proposal for measuring its incidence and trends (Santiago, Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2004). The United Nations Economic Commission for
Africa has developed an African Gender and Development Index, consisting of the Gender
Status Index and the African Women’s Progress Scoreboard. The Gender Status Index is
quantitative, whereas the African Women’s Progress Scoreboard captures qualitative issues in
relation to the performance of gender policies of African Governments, including indicators on
violence against women. See http://www.uneca.org/eca_programmes/acgd/Publications/
AGDI_book_final.pdf.
239 Commission on Human Rights resolution 2004/46.
240 See note 30.
A/61/122/Add.1
126 06-41974
241 Dijkstra, A.G., “Revisiting UNDP’s GDI and GEM: Towards an Alternative”, Social Indicators
Research, vol. 57, No. 3 (March 2002), pp. 301-338; Hirway, I. and Mahadevia, D., “Critique of
Gender Development Index: Towards an Alternative”, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 31,
No. 43 (October 1996), pp. 87-96; Bardhan, K. and Klasen, S., “UNDP’s Gender-Related
indices: A Critical Review”, World Development, vol. 27, No. 6 (June 1999), pp. 985-1010.
242 See note 209.
243 These rights are set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, articles 3, 4, 5, 7, 16 and
25; and guaranteed by treaties including the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, articles 6, 7, 8, 9, 23, 26 and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, articles 7, 11 and 12. See also Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women General recommendation 19, para 7.
244 Women, Peace and Security (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.IV.1), p. 33.
245 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women General recommendation No. 12.
246 Carmichele v. Minister of Safety and Security 2001 (10) BCLR 995 (CC) at para. 62.
247 See Cook, R., ed., The Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives
(Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994); Cook, R., ed., “State Responsibility for
Violations of Women’s Human Rights”, Harvard Human Rights Journal, vol. 125 (1994),
p. 137.
248 This terminology was first elaborated by the Special Rapporteur of the Sub-commission on the
right to adequate food as a human right (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1987/23 paras. 66-69), and has
subsequently been advanced by Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general
comment No. 14 (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.8); On the general issue of responsibility of States for
internationally wrongful acts, see the articles on responsibility of States for internationally
wrongful acts, adopted by the International Law Commission at its 53rd session, annexed to
General Assembly resolution 56/83.
249 See HRI/GEN/1/Rev.8, 8 May 2006, para. 27.
250 See General Assembly resolution 56/83, article 5. It has been argued that this definition includes
public corporations, quasi-public entities and certain private companies. See Crawford, J., The
International Law Commission’s Articles on State Responsibility: Introduction, Text and
Commentary (Cambridge, University of Cambridge, 2002), p. 10. See also article 8.
251 See the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, article
2 (e); Chirwa, D., “The doctrine of state responsibility as a potential means of holding private
actors accountable for human rights”, Melbourne Law Journal, vol. 5 (2004), p. 5.
252 See Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women General recommendation
19, article 24 (i); note 15, article 4 (d).
253 See Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women General recommendation
19, para. 24 (a); note 15, para. 4 (c); note 22, para. 124 (b); note 23, para. 13; Inter-American
Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against women
(Convention of Belém do Pará), article 7 (b).
254 Velasquez Rodriguez v. Honduras, Judgment of July 29, 1988, Inter-American Court of Human
Rights (Ser. C) No. 4, 1988.
255 Ibid. para. 175; Osman v. United Kingdom — (28 October 1998) [Grand Chamber] (2000) 29
EHRR 245.
256 See E/CN.4/1997/47 and E/CN.4/2006/61 paras. 35 and 36.
257 See note 255; E. and Others v. The United Kingdom — 33218/96 [2002] ECHR 769.
258 A/51/44.
259 Algür v. Turkey, European Court of Human Rights, 32574/96 (22 October 2002).
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 127
260 Ana, Beatriz and Celia Gonzales Perez v. Mexico, Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights Case 11.565, No. 53/01, 4 April 2001.
261 See The Prosecutor v. Jean-Paul Akayesu, Case No. ICTR-96-4-T, 2 September 1998;
Prosecutor v. Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovac, and Zoran Vukovic — Appeals Chamber —
Judgment — IT-96-23 &23 /1 [2002] ICTY 2 (12 June 2002).
262 The Prosecutor v. Jean-Paul Akayesu, Case. No. ICTR-96-4-T, 2 September 1998.
263 Forced marriage has been charged as an “inhumane act” under article 2 (i) of the Statute. See
also: Special Court for Sierra Leone: Decision on Prosecution Request for Leave to Amend the
Indictment, SCSL-04-16 (AFRC), 6 May 2004.
264 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, article 7, para 1. See also article 8, paras. 1
and 2 (b) on war crimes.
265 See note 9, paras. 124 (e) and (f); Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women,
article 4 (a); note 23, para. 68 (c) and (d).
266 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, article 2; note
19, para. 232 (b); see Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women General
recommendation 19, paras. 1, 4, 6, 7.
267 See note 15, article 4 (e); note 19, para. 124 (p); note 20, para. 76.
268 See note 15, article 4 (h); note 19, para. 124 (p).
269 See note 19, paras. 124 (c), 124 (d), 124 (i) and 124 (o), along with 283 (a) and 283 (d) in
relation to the girl child; note 20, paras. 69 (a), 69 (d), 69 (e); note 15, article 4 (d); Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women General recommendation 19, para. 24 (b);
note 253, Belém do Pará, article 7 (c) and (e); A.T. v. Hungary, communication No. 2/2003;
views adopted 26 January 2005, at 9.6.II v; and MC v. Bulgaria, European Court of Human
Rights 39272/98, 4 December 2003.
270 Ibid., note 294, A.T. v. Hungary.
271 X and Y v. the Netherlands, European Court of Human Rights 8978/80, 1985; note 247, p. 144.
272 Maria Mamerita Mestanza Chavez v. Peru, Inter-American Commission of Human Rights,
Case 12.191, No. 66/00, 2000.
273 See note 269, para. 174.
274 See note 19, paras. 124 (b), 143 (c), 145 (d) and (e) and 147 (c); note 20, para. 13; note 15,
article 4 (c); note 253, Belém do Pará, article 7 (b).
275 General Assembly resolution 52/86; A/52/635, para 8 (b).
276 See note 269, A.T. v. Hungary, at 9.6 II (vi).
277 See note 269, MC v. Bulgaria.
278 Ibid., paras. 177 and 185.
279 Ibid., para. 8 (c).
280 See note 15, articles 4 (c) and (d); note 278, Belém do Pará, article 7 (b) and (c); note 19,
paras. 124 (c), 124 (o) and 130 (b).
281 Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes v. Brazil, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,
Case 12.051, 16 April 2002.
282 Ibid., para. 55.
283 See note 120, paras. 273 and 274.
284 See note 19, para. 124 (g).
A/61/122/Add.1
128 06-41974
285 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women General recommendation 19,
para. 24 (i); note 15, article 4 (d); note 23, para. 69 (b); Rome Statute, article 79; note 278,
Belém do Pará, article 7 (g); note 300, annex, para. 10 (c); E/CN.4/2000/62, 2000, annex,
preamble.
286 para. 9.6 I (ii).
287 See note 281, recommendation 3 and para. 61.
288 See note 19, para. 125 (a) and (j) and, in relation to the girl child, para. 283 (d); Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women General recommendation 19, para. 24 (b);
note 253, Belém do Pará, article 8 (d); E/CN.4/2006/61, para 74; note 269, A.T. v. Hungary.
289 See note 269, A.T. v. Hungary, at 9.3.
290 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, article 2 (f) and
5 (a).
291 See note 253, Belém do Pará, article 7 (e).
292 Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa, articles 2 (2) and 5.
293 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, article 5 (a);
note 253, Belém do Pará, article 8 (b); Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women
in Africa, article 4 (d).
294 See note 19, para. 124 (a); note 15, article 4; note 269, A.T. v. Hungary; Human Rights
Committee general comment No. 28 (2002), para. 5.
295 See note 120, para 287.
296 See note 269, A.T. v. Hungary.
297 See note 15, article 4 (h); note 19, paras. 124 (g), 124 (n); note 23, para. 78 (d); note 20,
pp. 276, 278, 286 and 288; note 269, A.T. v. Hungary, at 9.6 II (iv); note 306,
recommendation 4a; E/CN.4/2006; note 275, annex, paras. 12 (a)-(c) and 14 (b).
298 General Assembly resolution 55/67, para. 17.
299 See note 120, para. 278.
300 See note 19, paras. 34, 129 (a), 261, 275, 287; note 23, para. 169 (f); Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women General recommendation 19, article 24 (c);
note 15, article 4 (k); note 275, para 13.
301 Concluding comments issued to 90 States parties between 2001 and 2005 were examined and are
reflected in the discussion of the Committee’s concerns.
302 Concluding comments/observations made by the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee Against Torture to
States parties between 2002 and 2005 were analysed for references to violence against women.
During that time, the Committee on Migrant Workers had not yet considered reports of States
parties.
303 International Labour Organization/International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour
(2003) “Good Practices: Gender mainstreaming in actions against child labour”, available at:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/publ/gender/mainstreaming.pdf.
304 E/CN.4 /2003/75/Add.1, para. 2147.
305 Unless otherwise stated, the examples in this chapter came from the following sources: Member
States’ contributions to the Secretary-General’s in-depth study on violence against women,
available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/responses/index.htm; NGO contributions
to the Secretary-General’s in-depth study on violence against women, available at:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/ngo-contributions.htm; responses to the SecretaryA/
61/122/Add.1
06-41974 129
General’s questionnaire to Governments on Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action,
available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/followup/countrylist.htm; responses to the
United Nations Secretary-General’s Questionnaire to Member States on implementation of the
Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General
Assembly, available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/Review/english/responses.htm;
papers prepared for and final report of the Expert Group Meeting “Good practices in combating
and eliminating violence against women”, organized by the Division for the Advancement of
Women in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna,
17-20 May, 2005, available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw-gp-2005/
index.html; State party reports submitted under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, available at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/
daw/cedaw; UNIFEM, Not a Minute More, Ending Violence Against Women (2003) (United
Nations publication, Sales No. 05.III.F.2); Council of Europe, Implementation of and follow-up
to Recommendation Rec(2002)5 on the Protection of Women against Violence (2005), available
at: http://www.coe.int/equality; CLADEM, UNIFEM, Dossier sobre Violencia Domestica en
America Latina y el Caribe (2005); and Rioseco Ortiga, L., Buenas prácticas para la
erradicación de la violencia doméstica en la región de América Latina y el Caribe, Serie Mujer
y Desarrollo No.75, Comision Economica para America Latina y El Caribe (United Nations,
Chile, 2005).
306 See note 1, para. 36.
307 Ibid., para. 28.
308 For further information see the following websites: http://www.fundacionmujeres.es;
http://www.elmundo.es/; http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/institutodelamujer/;
http://www.malostratos.com/; http://www.redfeminista.org.
309 The Asia Foundation “Combating Violence Against Women” available at: http://www.
asiafoundation.org/pdf/violenceagainstwomen.pdf.
310 See CEDAW/C/PAR/5, p. 19; note 305, Rioseco, 2005, p. 40.
311 See note 305, Luxembourg response to 10-year review questionnaire.
312 See CEDAW/C/KOR/5, paras. 95-96.
313 See note 305, Chile response to 5 year review questionnaire.
314 See note 305, Netherlands contribution to study.
315 See note 305, UNIFEM, p. 59.
316 See note 305, International Association of Women Judges’ contribution to study.
317 See note 305, UNIFEM, 2003, p. 45.
318 See for example, For a World Free of Violence against Women in Ghana: legal training kit
compiled by WiLDAF/FeDDAF Ghana, available at: http://www.wildafao.
org/eng/IMG/pdf/soc_ss_violence_Ghana.pdf.
319 See note 305, Philippines contribution to study.
320 Combrink, H., The dark side of the rainbow: violence against women in South Africa after ten
years of democracy (2005) Acta Juridica 174, p. 195; see also South African Police Service
National Instruction No. 22/1998 “Sexual offences: Support to victims and crucial aspects of the
investigation”; South African Police Service National Instruction (no. 16); National Prosecutors’
Directives.
321 See note 305, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland contribution to study.
322 See note 305, Nepal contributions to study.
323 “EWL Observatory”, available at: http://www.womenlobby.org.
324 “National Observatories”, available at: http://www.womenlobby.org.
A/61/122/Add.1
130 06-41974
325 See note 305, CLADEM, UNIFEM.
326 Introduced as Bill C-49 in 1991, now section 277 of the Criminal Code; note that evaluations of
this law have suggested the need for further improvement in implementation and judicial
interpretation. See Canadian Department of Justice (1997) “Technical Report: Implementation
Review of Bill C-49”, available from: http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/rs/rep/1997/tr97-1a.html.
327 See note 305, CEDAW/C/TUN/3-4, para. 59. Note, however, that this law provides that
withdrawal of the case by a victim who is an ascendant or spouse shall terminate any
proceedings, trial or enforcement of penalty.
328 See note 305, Turkey contribution to study.
329 See note 305, Rioseco, p. 41; note 320, p. 191.
330 See note 305, Vienna EGM expert paper.
331 “Family Violence Intervention Program” available at: http://www.dvcs.org.au/Resources/
FVIP%20info%20for%20WEBSITE.doc.
332 CEDAW/C/LKA/3-4, p.14.
333 E/CN.4/2003/75, para. 37.
334 See note 305, Finland, Japan, Nepal and the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland responses to
5 year review questionnaire.
335 See note 305, Vienna EGM final report, p. 18.
336 See note 305, Egypt response to 5 year review questionnaire.
337 Information at www.equalitynow.org.
338 See note 305, Vienna EGM final report, p. 18.
339 See note 305, Vienna EGM expert paper, Logar, R.
340 Act to Improve Civil Court Protection against Acts of Violence and Unwelcome Advances as
well as to Facilitate the Allocation of the Marital Dwelling in the event of Separation, entered
into force 1 January 2002.
341 E/CN.4/1996/53, para. 126.
342 See note 330, p. 8.
343 Ibid.
344 Ibid, p. 13.
345 See note 305, Philippines contribution to study.
346 See note 305, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland contribution to study.
347 See note 305, South Africa contribution to study.
348 Larrain, S., “Curbing domestic violence: Two decades of action”, Inter-American Development
Bank, available at: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=361449.
349 See note 305, Ibid.
350 See note 305, Dominican Republic response to 10 year review questionnaire.
351 “Belgium: Trafficking in human beings”, available at: http://www.legislationline.org,
Trafficking in Human Beings/Belgium/Analysis.
352 Schneider, E., Battered Women and Feminist Lawmaking (New Haven, Yale University Press,
2000), pp. 148-78, 196-98; and Goldscheid, J., “The Civil Rights Remedy of the 1994 Violence
Against Women Act: Struck Down But Not Ruled Out”, Family Law Quarterly, vol. 39, No. 1
(Spring 2005).
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 131
353 Carmichele v. Minister of Safety and Security 2001 (10) BCLR 995 (CC).
354 Vishaka v. The State of Rajasthan, 1997 SOL Case No. 177 (Supreme Court of India).
355 See note 305, Vienna EGM expert paper, p. 7.
356 See note 305, Republic of Korea contribution to study.
357 United States Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Trafficking in Persons
Report 2004 (Washington D.C., U.S. Department of State, 2004) available at http://www.state.
gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2004/33192.htm.
358 Council of Europe, Group of Specialists for Combating Violence against Women, Final Report
of Activities of the EG-S-VL including a Plan of Action for combating violence against women
(Strasbourg, Council of Europe, 1997), available at: http://www.coe.int/T/E/Human_Rights/
Equality/PDF_EG-S-VL(97)1_E.pdf.
359 Women against Violence Europe, Away from Violence. European Guidelines for Setting up and
Running a Women’s Refuge, Manual (Vienna, Women against Violence Europe, 2004), available
at: http://www.wave-network.org/start.asp?b=6&sub=14.
360 Council of Europe, Implementation of and Follow-up to Recommendation Rec(2002)5 on the
Protection of Women against Violence (Strasbourg, Council of Europe, 2005), p. 81, available at:
http://www.coe.int/equality. All the shelters except one in Dubno, which admits victims of
trafficking, admit only victims of domestic violence.
361 Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Sexually abused and sexually
exploited children and youth in Pakistan: A qualitative assessment of their health needs and
available services in selected provinces (New York, United Nations, 2001), available at:
www.unescap.org/esid/hds/sexual/pakistan.pdf.
362 See note 305, Vienna EGM expert paper, Carcedo, C.
363 See note 305, Vienna EGM expert paper, Mladjenovic, L.
364 See note 305, GABRIELA contribution to study.
365 See note 305, E/CN.4/1997/47, para. 96.
366 See note 305, Reaching Out Romania contribution to study.
367 See note 305, Singapore contribution to study.
368 See note 305, Greece contribution to the study.
369 See note 39.
370 See note 305, Australia contribution to study.
371 See note 305, Denmark contribution to study.
372 See note 97.
373 Centre for Women’s Global Leadership, “16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence”
available online at: http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/home.html.
374 See note 305, Vienna EGM expert paper, Michau, L.
375 See Michau, L. and Naker, D., Mobilizing Communities to Prevent Domestic Violence: A
Resource Guide for Organizations in East and Southern Africa (Kampala, Raising Voices,
2003); Raising Voices, Impact Assessment. Mobilising Communities to Prevent Domestic
Violence (Kampala, Raising Voices, 2003); and Bott, S., Morrison, A. and Ellsberg, M.,
“Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in middle and low-income countries: a
global review and analysis”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 3618 (Washington
D.C., World Bank, 2005), available at: http://ideasrepec.org/p/wbk/wbrups/3618.html.
A/61/122/Add.1
132 06-41974
376 Abdel-Hadi, A., We Are Decided: The Struggle of an Egyptian Village to Eradicate Female
Circumcision (Cairo, Cairo Institute for Human Rights, 1997).
377 See www.whiteribbon.ca.
378 See note 305, Vienna EGM expert paper, Fisher, H.
379 See note 305, UNIFEM, p. 29.
380 Ibid., p. 20; Violence against Women Specialist Unit, “16 Days of Activism a big success in
NSW”, available at: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/vaw/ll_vaw.nsf/pages/
vaw_vaw_iaatrcampaign.
381 See note 305, UNIFEM, p. 28.
382 Raising Voices and UN-Habitat’s Safer Cities Programme, Preventing gender-based violence in
the Horn, East and Southern Africa, 2004, available at: http://www.unhabitat.org/
programmes/safercities/documents/preventgbv.pdf, pp. 58-59.
383 These and future recommendations will continuously be made available at the website.
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 133
Annex
Costs of violence against women: selected studies
generating a monetary estimate of costs
Author; date of
publication;
region/country
Costs (calculated for
one year) Data used (including sample sizes) Costs covered
Leonard and
Cox, Distaff
Assoc.; 1991;
Australiaa
1.5 billion
Australian
dollars
– Prevalence based on police
call-outs
– Records of service
providing agencies
– Survey of service
providing agencies to
create case study templates
to be used when no data
exists.
Not clear where per unit
costs originate.
– Deaths
– Absenteeism, loss of
productivity
– Accommodation, legal,
medical, lost income, lost
work time
– Health care, welfare
delivery, accommodation,
income, police, courts,
victim compensation,
interpreters
Blumel; 1993;
Australiab
620 million
Australian
dollars
– Original survey of 50
women: 10 victims of
physical violence and 40
victims of rape or sexual
assault.
– Legal, accommodation,
courts, emergency services,
police, health, counselling,
referral, vehicle and
personal effects, lost
earnings
Mansingh &
Ramphal; 1993;
Jamaicac
1.1 billion
United States
dollars
– Original survey of 640
victims of interpersonal
violence at the Kingston
Public Hospital
– Direct medical costs
KPMG; 1994;
Australiad
4 million
Australian
dollars for
40 women
(17.67 million
Australian
dollars for the
state of
Tasmania, but
not a
representative
sample)
– Original survey, 40
respondents
– Survey of community
agencies to provide unit
costs
– Loss of property, sick
leave, bad debts, change of
schools, security measures,
legal costs pertaining to
custody and access
– Telephone advice lines,
police, shelter, ambulance,
crisis support services,
referral services, housing
services
A/61/122/Add.1
134 06-41974
Author; date of
publication;
region/country
Costs (calculated for
one year) Data used (including sample sizes) Costs covered
Snively; 1994;
New Zealande
1.2 to
1.4 billion
New Zealand
dollars
– Survey of service
providing agencies
– Typical template of
services created
– Base scenario: prevalence
equal to police call-outs
– Five-times base scenario:
multiplies base case by 5
– Income foregone scenario:
adds lost earnings
– Includes family violence
with child victims
– Government documents
– Prior research
– Medical care, drugs,
refuge, relocation, legal
costs, dental care, lost
earnings
– Deaths
– Justice, social welfare,
shelters and crisis agencies,
income support, police,
courts
Day; 1995;
Canadaf
1.5 billion
Canadian
dollars
– Violence Against Women
Survey
– National statistical agency
publications
– Government budgets
– Provincial health survey
– National crime
victimization survey
– Other research results
– Medical, dental, lost time
at paid and unpaid work,
psychiatry, drug and
alcohol abuse, shelters,
crisis lines, volunteer time,
government support
services
Greaves et al.;
1995; Canadag
4.2 billion
Canadian
dollars
– Violence Against Women
Survey: 12,300 sample
– Government statistics
– Prior research results
– Expert opinion
– Lost earnings and unpaid
work, accommodation,
relocation, self-defence
– Deaths
– Government’s lost tax
revenues, courts,
incarceration, police, legal
aid, victim compensation,
medical, shelters,
counselling, public
awareness, research,
volunteer hours
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 135
Author; date of
publication;
region/country
Costs (calculated for
one year) Data used (including sample sizes) Costs covered
Kerr and
McLean; 1996;
Canadah
385 million
Canadian
dollars
– Violence Against Women
Survey
– Provincial government
ministry budgets
– National crime
victimization survey
– Police, corrections,
compensation, social
programmes for victims
and perpetrators, mental
health, alcohol and drug
treatment, shelters
– Loss of paid and unpaid
work time
Miller et al.;
1996; United
States of
Americai
105 billion
United States
dollars
tangible,
450 billion
United States
dollars
including
intangibles
(cost for all
crime)
– Federal Bureau of
Investigation Uniform
Crime Reports
– National crime
victimization survey
– Other nationally
representative sample
surveys
– Prior research
– Property damage and loss,
medical care for injuries,
insurance, victim services,
lost earnings and
housework
– Pain and suffering and
death
(covers all crime, not limited
to violence or women
victims)
Korf et al.;
1997;
Netherlandsj
1 billion
Canadian
dollars
– Female victims of domestic
violence
– Police and justice, medical,
psychosocial care, labour,
social security
Stanko et al.;
1998; Hackney,
Greater
London, United
Kingdom of
Great Britain
and Northern
Irelandk
7.5 million
British pounds
for Hackney,
278 million
British pounds
for Greater
London
– Original survey of 107
service providers
– 26 case studies, composites
– Prevalence found from
trawling key agency files
to find the percentage of
caseload resulting from
violence
– Original survey of 129
women in a doctor’s office
waiting room.
– Results from other research
– Police, courts, legal costs,
divorce, public-sector
housing, shelter, social
workers, physicians,
emergency ward, health
office
A/61/122/Add.1
136 06-41974
Author; date of
publication;
region/country
Costs (calculated for
one year) Data used (including sample sizes) Costs covered
Faley et al.;
1999; United
States of
America —
United States
Armyl
250 million
United States
dollars —
(least cost,
1994 dollars)
– Examines sexual
harassment only
– Original survey, 2,079
respondents including
males and females
– United States Army
budgetary documents
– Costs of sexual
harassment: Productivity
loss, absenteeism,
separation, replacement,
transfer and other
Godenzi and
Yodanis; 1999;
Switzerlandm
60 million
euro
– Various surveys – Medical care, police and
justice, support, shelters
and counselling, State
costs, victim-related
support, research
Morrison and
Orlando; 1999;
Chile and
Nicaraguan
In Chile:
reduced
earnings of
1.56 billion
United States
dollars
In Nicaragua:
reduced
earnings of
29.5 million
United States
dollars
– Original surveys of 310
and 378 women,
respectively
– Employment, health
services, children’s
educational achievement
Henderson and
Associates;
2000; Australiao
1.5 billion
Australian
dollars
– Examines business sector
only
– Extrapolations from
relevant Australian and
international research
findings
– Consultations with relevant
organizations and
individuals
– Prior research findings
– Business sector costs:
absenteeism, turnover, lost
productivity
– Other costs: tax share of
relevant government
services, foregone profits
from lost income and
changes in expenditure
patterns of victims,
perpetrators and others.
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 137
Author; date of
publication;
region/country
Costs (calculated for
one year) Data used (including sample sizes) Costs covered
Heiskanen and
Piipsa; 2001;
Finlandp
50 million
euro in direct
costs
56 million
euro in
indirect costs
– Refers to survey of 7,000
women undertaken for
earlier study “Faith, Hope
and Battering” by same
authors.
– Prior research findings of
other authors
– Statistics from government
databases and agency
budgets, activity reports,
etc.
– Interviews with experts to
obtain percentage of
service use attributable to
violence against women
– Includes two case studies
– Health including physician
visits, hospital care and
medication
– Shelters, crisis services,
social work, therapy,
police, trial, prison
– Deaths, using human
capital approach
Deloitte and
Touche,
Almenara
Estudios
Economicos y
Sociales; 2002;
Andalucía,
Spainq
2.4 billion
euro
– 300 women who left their
partners and stayed in
State-provided shelters
– Includes: social, health,
judicial and police sectors,
human and emotional
costs, employment/
economic output
– Includes intangibles
Health Canada;
2002; Canadar
1.5 billion
Canadian
dollars
– Police: reported and
homicide data
– 1999 General Social
Survey and other data
sources
– Direct medical costs
National Center
for Injury
Prevention and
Control; 2003;
United States of
Americas
5.8 billion
United States
dollars
– National Violence Against
Women Survey, sample
size 8,000 (only women
who were injured were
considered)
– Medical Expenditure
Panel — Survey
– Medicare file
– Medical costs from injuries
only
– Lost time at paid and
unpaid work
– Deaths
A/61/122/Add.1
138 06-41974
Author; date of
publication;
region/country
Costs (calculated for
one year) Data used (including sample sizes) Costs covered
Bowlus et al.;
2003; Canadat
15.7 billion
Canadian
dollars
(measuring the
costs of child
abuse in
children and
adult
survivors)
– Provincial health survey
– Government statistics and
agency reports
– Previous research
– Very comprehensive listing
of police, legal, penal,
probation, victim
compensation, special
education, health, social
services, lost earnings, and
personal costs
Access
Economics;
2004; Australiau
8.1 billion
Australian
dollars
– Women’s Safety Survey
– Australian longitudinal
study on Women’s Health
(created a profile of
conditions associated with
domestic violence since
data didn’t have victims
separated out)
– Results from prior research
– Includes all domestic
violence regardless of the
sex of the victim or
perpetrator
– Includes pain and
suffering, death, and costs
of children witnessing
adult violence
– Government: health,
justice, education,
community services,
accommodation
– Personal: property
replacement and bad debts,
lost time at paid and unpaid
work
– Business costs of lost
productivity, search and
hiring, etc.
– Includes lost economies of
scale in households
Walby; 2004;
United
Kingdom of
Great Britain
and Northern
Irelandv
5.8 billion
British pounds
direct and
indirect costs,
23 billion
British pounds
including pain
and suffering
– National Crime Survey
including intimate partner
violence (BCS IPV):
40,000 sample
– Department of Transport
reports on accidents and
injuries
– Service-providing agency
reports
– Prior research findings
– Very comprehensive listing
of criminal justice, health,
social services, housing ,
and civil legal costs
– Loss of productivity and
earnings to employers and
employees
– Pain and suffering
A/61/122/Add.1
06-41974 139
(Footnotes to annex)
______________
a Leonard, H. and Cox, E., Costs of Domestic Violence (Haymarket, New South Wales Women’s
Co-ordination Unit, 1991).
b Blumel, D. K., Gibb, G. L , Innis, B. N., Justo, D. L. and Wilson, D. W , Who Pays? The
economic costs of violence against women (Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast Interagency
Research Group Queensland for the Women’s Policy Unit, 1993).
c Mansingh A. and Ramphal P., “The nature of interpersonal violence in Jamaica and its strain on
the National Health System”, West Indian Medicine Journal, vol. 42 (1993), pp. 53-56.
d KPMG, Economic Costs of Domestic Violence in Tasmania, Tasmanian Domestic Violence
Advisory Committee (Hobart, Office of the Status of Women, 1994).
e Snively, S., The New Zealand Economic Costs of Family Violence (Auckland, Coopers and
Lybrand, 1994).
f Day, T., The Health Related Costs of Violence Against Women in Canada: The Tip of the Iceberg
(London, Ontario, Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children, 1995).
g Greaves, L., Hankivsky, O. and Kingston-Riechers, J., Selected estimates of the costs of violence
against women (London, Ontario, Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and
Children, 1995).
h Kerr, R. and McLean, J., Paying for Violence: Some of the Costs of Violence Against Women in
BC (British Colombia, Ministry of Women’s Equality, 1996).
i Miller T. R., Cohen, M. A. and Wiersema, B., Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look
(U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, 1996).
j Korf, D. J., Meulenbeek, H., Mot, E. and van den Brandt, T., Economic Costs of Domestic
Violence Against Women (Utrecht, Dutch Foundation of Women’s Shelters, 1997).
k Stanko, E., Crisp, D., Hale, C. and Lucraft, H., Counting the Costs: Estimating the Impact of
Domestic Violence in the London Borough of Hackney (Swindon, Crime Concern, 1998).
l Faley, R. H., Knapp, D. E., Kustis, G. A. and Dubois, C., “Estimating the Organization costs of
Sexual Harassment: The Case of U.S. Army”, Journal of Business and Psychology vol. 13
(1999), pp. 461-484.
m Godenzi, A. and Yodanis, C., Report on the Economic Costs of Domestic Violence Against
Women (Fribourg, University of Fribourg, Switzerland, 1999).
n Morrison, A. R. and Orlando, M. B., 1999, supra note 214.
o Henderson, M., Impacts and Costs of Domestic Violence on the Australian Business/Corporate
Sector (Brisbane, Lord Mayor’s Women’s Advisory Committee, Brisbane City Council, 2000).
p Heiskanen, Markku and Minna Piispa, The price of Violence: The costs of Men’s Violence
Against Women in Finland (Statistic Finland and the Council for Equality, 2001).
q Institute for Women of Andalusia, The Economic and Social Costs of Domestic Violence in
Andalusia (Andalusia, Spain: Institute for Women of Andalusia, 2003).
r Health Canada (2002). Violence against women. Impact of violence on women’s health, available
at: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca.
s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against
Women in the United States (Atlanta BA, USA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
2003).
t Bowlus, Audra, Katherine McKenna, Tanis Day, and David Wright, The Economic Costs and
Consequences of Child Abuse (Ottawa, Law Commission of Canada, 2003).
u Access Economics, Ltd., The Cost of Domestic Violence to the Australian Economy, Part I and
II (Office of the Status of Women, Government of Australia, 2004).
v Walby, Sylvia, The Cost of Domestic Violence (London: Department of Trade and Industry,
2004).