Measures

OHCHR supported the Special Rapporteur on violence against women in producing legal and policy recommendations through the country visit reports: United Kingdom—2014 (A/HRC/29/27/Add.2); Honduras—2014 (A/HRC/29/27/Add.1);  Afghanistan—2014 (A/HRC/29/27/Add.3) ; Sudan—2015; South Africa—2015; (6) Georgia—2016.

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 continued strengthening national capacities to investigate sexual gender-based violence in Afghanistan, the DRC, Liberia, and Sudan.

In 2014, OHCHR continued to undertake efforts to strengthen capacities of human rights components of peace missions and fact-finding bodies to investigate sexual and gender-based violence. OHCHR's three-day training on investigating conflict-related sexual violence was delivered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan (Darfur), and Mali.

In August 2014, OHCHR and UN Women launched the Latin American Protocol for the investigation of Gender-Motivated Killings of women, which provides guidance for investigations to comply with due diligence standards (promoted in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, and Peru).

OHCHR has continued to support the Human Rights Council’s work on women’s human rights. OHCHR submitted various reports to HRC, including a report on early, child and forced marriages (A/HRC/26/22), a report on sexual and gender-based violence in the context of transitional justice (A/HRC/27/21), and a report on the implementation of the technical guidance on the human rights-based approach to preventable maternal mortality and morbidity (A/HRC/27/20).

In 2014-2015, OHCHR continued supporting the mandate of the Rapporteur on violence against women, in its active engagement with civil society organizations, including through participation in regional consultations. She participated in three regional consultations, held in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, on the topic of “closing the normative gap” in addressing violence against women at the international level.

OHCHR advised states on reforming laws and supported the formulation and implementation of laws to ensure compliance with international human rights standards. In 2015, OHCHR supported the elaboration and implementation of laws on sexual violence (in Afghanistan, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Nigeria), promoting victims’ and witnesses’ participation in peace processes and reconciliation (in Sudan, Darfur and the Central African Republic), and assisting victims of sexual violence (in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Sudan, Tunisia). In Moldova, OHCHR assisted in the development and implementation of a project seeking to revise the prosecutorial guidance for rape investigations to ensure they are free from harmful stereotypes and in line with international standards.Through joint United Nations programming, OHCHR supported the development of a draft regulation in Kosovo on the verification of status of victims of sexual violence that occurred during the conflict. Also, technical advice was provided in Guatemala on reparations for victims of sexual violence with a view to influence the new national reparation scheme.OHCHR further assisted States in developing or revising family laws and legislation on issues such as violence against women (in Belarus, the Gambia, Myanmar, Senegal, Tunisia and Yemen).

OHCHR provided technical assistance and capacity-development to states and civil society groups on using a human rights-based approach to address trafficking in persons in Belarus, Thailand and other countries in South East Asia.

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.