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http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15377&LangID=E
Violence Against Women – A Pervasive Human Rights Violation Calls
for a Binding Standard of Accountability at the International Level
GENEVA (3
December 2014) – The absence of a legally binding agreement at the
international level represents one of the obstacles to the promotion and
protection of women’s rights and gender equality, the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Rashida
Manjoo, reiterated today.
More than
half-way through the international campaign against violence against women and
in anticipation of Human Rights Day on 10 December, Ms. Manjoo reminded the
international community that violence against women continues to be a
widespread and pervasive human rights violation, and called for the adoption of
different norms and measures to fight it around the world.
“Last
week, we commemorated the international day for the elimination of violence
against women, which is also the start of the 16 days of activism campaign on
violence against women. The time has come to move beyond awareness-raising
campaigns and the highlighting of statistics.
Violence
against women has to be acknowledged as a barrier to the realization of all
human rights, and consequently to the effective exercise of citizenship rights.
Elimination of violence against women is critical to women’s ability to
participate in the civil, political, economic, developmental, social and
cultural spheres of their communities as full and equal citizens.
With
global estimates reaching epidemic proportions, it is deplorable that
combatting violence against women has not yet attracted the same level of
focus, commitment and resources as non-gendered crimes.
In spite
of the significant milestones achieved in advancing women’s rights and gender
equality, at the national, regional and international levels, there remains
both continuing and new sets of challenges that hamper efforts to promote and
protect the human rights of women. This is largely due to the lack of a
holistic approach that addresses individual, institutional and structural
factors that are a cause and a consequence of violence against women.
I have
identified some of the continuing challenges and called for the adoption of
different norms and measures to fight violence against women around the world
in my latest reports* to the Human Rights Council and General Assembly. I will
continue to raise the matter of the normative gap under international law as
regards violence against women.
A different set of legally binding standards with a specific monitoring body
negotiated by all members of the United Nations is urgently needed to ensure
effective examination and accountability of States’ responses to the systemic
and pervasive human rights violation experienced largely by women and girls.
Transformative
change requires that the words and actions of States’ reflect an
acknowledgement that violence against women is a human rights violation, in and
of itself; and more importantly it requires a commitment by States’ to be bound
by specific legal obligations in the quest for elimination of this widespread
human rights violation.”
(*) Check all
the Special Rapporteur’s reports: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/SRWomen/Pages/AnnualReports.aspx
Rashida
Manjoo (South Africa) was appointed Special Rapporteur on Violence
against women, its causes and consequences in June 2009 by the UN Human Rights
Council. Ms. Manjoo is a Professor in the Department of Public Law of the
University of Cape Town. Learn more, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/SRWomen/Pages/SRWomenIndex.aspx
The
Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the
Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent
experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s
independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific
country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special
Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not
receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or
organization and serve in their individual capacity.