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The OHCHR supported the work of the SRVAW who presented two thematic reports to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly in 2018 on online violence against women and violence against women in politic.
During the period under review, the OHCHR supported the SRVAW in producing a number of legal and policy recommendations in communications sent to over 50 Member States and recommendations issued after country visits to: Canada (11 to 23 April 2018); Nepal (19 to 29 November 2018).
The OHCHR supported the work of the SRVAW, and SUMEX along with other relevant mandates in issuing a statement calling for revocation of a bill to amend Guatemala’s National Reconciliation Law which has been the basis of trials involving human rights violations in the country since the peace accords of 1996, and would establish an automatic mechanism for extinguishing the criminal responsibility of all those responsible for serious violations of human rights committed during that period (22 February 2019).
The OHCHR supported the Working Group on the Issue of Discrimination Against Women in Law and in Practice (WGDAW) in formulating a series of recommendations aimed at supporting legislative development following its mission to Honduras (1-14 November 2018). It recommended to:
- Repeal laws prohibiting access to emergency contraception and liberalize abortion law so as to ensure access at least in cases where the pregnancy poses a threat to the life or health of the woman, where it is the result of sexual violence or in case of severe foetal impairment, as the first step;
- End the criminalization and judicial harassment of women human rights defenders, protect them from violence (including by private actors) and investigate crimes against them;
-Ensure that the media do not promote stereotypes and gender-based violence, and raise their awareness on violence against women and human rights defenders;
- Provide the necessary support to women candidates, address political violence against women and promote women’s participation in political life;
- Conduct sustainable awareness-raising campaigns to prevent violence against women in politics and effectively investigate cases;
- End the criminalization and judicial harassment of women human rights defenders, protect them from violence (including by private actors) and investigate crimes against them;
- Ensure that human rights education is taught in all public schools, covering women’s rights and gender equality, with a focus on prevention of gender-based violence;
- Regarding indigenous and Afro-Honduran women (including Garífuna) guarantee their access and full participation in decision-making; prevent and combat violence against them;
- Eliminate violence, discrimination and stigmatization against lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex women, women with disabilities, women engaged in sex work/prostitution and women living with HIV and ensure their effective participation in political, civil, economic and social life and access to quality health services.
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.