Search
In March 2018, CEDAW adopted General recommendation No. 37 (2018) on the gender-related dimensions of disaster risk reduction in the context of climate change. The General Recommendation provides guidance to States parties on the implementation of their obligations under the Convention in relation to disaster risk reduction and climate change. The General recommendation recognises that women and girls also face a heightened risk of gender-based violence during and following disasters. In the absence of social protection schemes and in situations in which there is food insecurity combined with impunity for gender-based violence, women and girls are often exposed to sexual violence and exploitation as they attempt to gain access to food and other basic needs for family members and themselves.
On 18 September 2018, CEDAW published its inquiry report into so-called “bride kidnapping” in Kyrgyzstan. CEDAW found that women and girls suffer grave and systematic violations of their human rights due to a culture of abduction, rape and forced marriage. In 2018 and 2019, OHCHR supported the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, in its engagement with CEDAW for the elaboration of a General Recommendation on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global migration. The Special Rapporteur intervened in the context of CEDAW informal consultations in December 2018 and produced a written submission in the context of CEDAW Half-Day of General Discussion in February 2019.
In October 2018, CEDAW adopted revised reporting guidelines for States parties, which integrate SDGs with a view to ensuring systematic reporting by States parties and collection of data to be used in assessing progress made on the implementation of all SDG targets.On 22 November 2018 to commemorate the International Day on the Elimination of Violence against Women and which, inter alia, “called for strengthened cooperation between independent global and regional mechanisms, as common synergies and efforts to address violence against women under the existing normative framework on human rights, which will contribute to closing gaps in combating and preventing violence against women worldwide” the experts also called for the inclusion of monitoring mechanisms to ensure full implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 5.” (See: https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23921&LangID=Ettp://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22432&LangID=E );
On the occasion of the 16 Days of Advocacy on ending violence against women and International Human Rights Day in December 2018, the OHCHR supported the efforts of the SRVAW who reiterated her call for the establishment of a femicide watch to collect, analyse and review data at the national, regional and global levels.
On the occasion of International Women Human Rights Defenders Day the OHCHR supported the SRVAW, SUMEX and WGDAW, along with other relevant mandates in calling on States “to fulfil their commitment to enable that work, proclaimed almost 20 years ago in the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and reaffirmed five years ago in General Assembly resolution 68/181 on protecting women human rights defenders” https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23943&LangID=E
The OHCHR also supported the Working Group on the Issue of Discrimination Against Women in Law and in Practice (WGDAW) in developing several conclusions aimed at supporting policy development in its thematic report on “Reasserting equality, countering rollbacks”, published in May 2018 (A/HRC/38/46). It concluded that the road to gender equality and the full realization of women’s and girls’ human right remains long and challenging. Women are scarcely represented in national and global political and economic decision-making bodies and are too often overrepresented in vulnerable employment and paid less than men, impeding their economic independence. They face pervasive violence, lack control over their bodies and lack autonomy, and are too often seen as sexualized objects. In all spheres of life, power and entitlement are still concentrated in the hands of men. Women facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination experience inequality even more acutely. The continuing existence of direct and indirect discrimination, both visible and invisible, is the reason why women lag behind in nearly all human progress indicators. In the face of discrimination against women and one of its worst manifestations, gender-based violence, everyone has a duty to act. The international community must move forward on setting and implementing standards on gender equality to counter the alarming trends towards undermining human rights principles and jeopardizing the gains made in women’s right.
OHCHR is currently engaged in the development of the UN policy on conflict-related sexual violence for peace operations.
In Ukraine, OHCHR jointly with UN Women led the drafting and finalisation of the UN Country Team Submission to the CEDAW Committee. It also participated in the consultations organised CSOs shadow reports to the CEDAW Committee. The Office thereby participated in the confidential briefing of the CEDAW committee, which led to the insertion of some of their recommendations in the Committee concluding observations – followed by the dissemination of the recommendations.
In 2017, OHCHR supported the elaboration by the CEDAW of General recommendation No. 35 on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19, including through the active participation of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women. Support was also provided for the development of global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration envisaged in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (A/71/1) of the General Assembly. Including during the Fifth Informal Thematic Session on “Smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons and contemporary forms of slavery, held on 5 September 2017 in Vienna. Besides this, the SRVAW campaigned for the inclusion of the human rights aspects of possible victims of trafficking, especially women and children from among migrants and refugees, via high-level bilateral discussions.
In Haiti, priority is given during monitoring activities on collection of disaggregated data by sex on the number and proportion of persons held in police custody without charge for more than 48 hours.
In Guatemala, OHCHR carried out a study to analyse the judgments of the specialized tribunals on the crime of femicide and other forms of violence against women.
In CAR, OHCHR regularly monitors, analyses and reports on patterns and cases of conflict related sexual violence. Data collect and analysis have been done through gender and human rights perspectives owing to the consolidation of protection functions in peace missions
In Guatemala, OHCHR, though a Progamme named Maya Programme, works with the Public Prosecutor’s Office (indigenous people’s department) on the drafting of a policy on access to justice for indigenous peoples with a human right’s perspective. It requires the Public Prosecutor’s office to “develop and apply specific criteria for the attention, investigation, and criminal prosecution of femicide, sexual violence and other forms of violence against indigenous women.”
OHCHR assisted CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) and the CRC (Committee on the Rights of the Child) in elaborating joint General Recommendation No. 31/General Comment No. 18 on harmful practices and the update of General Recommendation 19 on violence against women.
In June 2014, OHCHR launched a paper on “Eliminating Judicial Stereotyping: Equal Access to Justice for Women in Gender-based Violence Cases”. The paper is a tool to raise awareness of, and encourage advocacy related to, judicial stereotyping in gender-based violence cases.
OHCHR supported the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences in producing thematic policy recommendations through her reports to the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 20 years of United Nations developments regarding VAW (A/HRC/26/38) and on closing the gap in international human rights law (A/HRC/29/27). Also her reports to the General Assembly on VAW as a barrier to the effective realization of all human rights (A/69/368) and on closing the gap in international human rights law (A/70/209).
OHCHR’s support to Papua New Guinea led to the development of a national action plan and the establishment of a committee to address violence related to accusations of sorcery and witchcraft. OHCHR also supported policy development in cases of gender-based violence and rape.