Violence Against

Women

UN Special Rapporteur on
Violence against Women

The Universal phenomenon of

violence against women is the
result 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 womens full advancement

CEDAW Gen Rec. # 19

Lack of economic independence

forces many women to stay in violent
relationships, unable to divorce and
maintain custody of children
Costa Rica, Honduras, Uruguay and
Brazil have laws on economic
violence: aggressor wipes out the
victims economic means of
subsistence or property

UN Declaration on Violence
against Women

Article 1 For the purposes of this

Declaration, the term "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.

UN Declaration on
Violence Against Women

Article 2
Violence against women shall be
understood to encompass, but not
be limited to, the
following:
(a) Physical, sexual and psychological
violence occurring in the
family, including battering,
sexual abuse of female children in the
household,
dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital
mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to
women, non-spousal
violence and violence related to
exploitation;
(b) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring
within
the general community, including rape, sexual
abuse, sexual harassment
and intimidation at work, in
educational institutions and elsewhere,
trafficking in
women and forced prostitution;
(c) Physical, sexual and psychological violence
perpetrated or
condoned by the State, wherever it
occurs.

Article 3

Women are entitled to the equal enjoyment and protection

of all
human rights and fundamental freedoms in the
political, economic,
social, cultural, civil or any other
field. These rights include, inter
alia:
(a) The right to life;
(b) The right to equality;
(c) The right to liberty and security of person;
(d) The right to equal protection under the law;
(e) The right to be free from all forms of discrimination;
(f) The right to the highest standard attainable of
physical and
mental health;
(g) The right to just and favourable conditions of work;
(h) The right not to be subjected to torture, or other
cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 4

States should condemn violence

against women and should not
invoke
any custom, tradition or
religious consideration to avoid their
obligations with respect to its
elimination. States should pursue by
all appropriate means and without
delay a policy of eliminating violence

Inter-American Convention on the Prevention,

Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women
(Convention of Belem do Para)

Article 2:
Violence against women shall be understood to
include physical, sexual and psychological violence:
that occurs within the family or domestic unit or
within any other interpersonal relationship, whether
or not the perpetrator shares or has shared the same
residence with the women, including, among others,
rape, battery and sexual abuse,
that occurs in the community and is perpetrated by
any person, including, among others, rape, sexual
abuse, torture, trafficking in persons, forced
prostitution, kidnapping and sexual harassment in the
workplace, as well as in educational institutions,
health facilities or any other place; and
that is perpetrated or condoned by the state or its
agents regardless of where it occurs.

Article 3

Every woman has the right to

be free from violence in both
the public and the private
spheres.

Article 4

Right to life
Physical, Mental and Moral integrity respected
Personal liberty and security
Right not to be subjected to torture
Inherent dignity of her person and protection of
family
Equal protection before the law and of the law
Simple and prompt recourse to a competent
court for protection against acts that violate her
rights
Right to associate freely
Freedom of religion and beliefs within the law
Equal access to public service

Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples

Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa

Article 1 (j)
Violence against women means all
acts perpetrated against women
which cause or could cause them
physical, sexual, psychological, and
economic harm, including the threat
to take such acts; or to undertake the
imposition of arbitrary restrictions on
or deprivation of fundamental
freedoms in private or public life in
peacetime and during situations of
armed conflicts or of war.

Art 3 (4)

States parties shall protect

women from all forms of
violence, particularly sexual
and verbal violence

Art 4 (2)

State parties shall take

appropriate and effective
measures to enact and enforce
laws to prohibit all forms of
violence against women including
unwanted or forced sex whether
the violence takes place in private
or public

Art 11

States parties undertake to protect

asylum seeking women, refugees,
returnees and internally displaced
persons, against all forms of
violence, rape and other forms of
sexual exploitation, and to ensure
that such acts are considered war
crimes, genocide, and/or crimes
against humanity and that their
perpetrators are brought to justice
before a competent jurisdiction.

Context of Social Discrimination

Gender: Subordinate role in family and community,

women define themselves through their relation
with a dominant man, family (including other
women, uphold norms of conduct upon the
woman). Victim blames mans violent childhood,
substance abuse, etc. for violence, not socially
imposed codes of behaviour.
Ethnicity
Socio-Economic Status: high correlation between
poverty and violence
Migrant/Displaced Status
Rural status
Lack of education as pertaining human rights and
protection procedures, Fear of social stigmatization
in going public, or stigmatization of children

Location of Violence: Public/Private Dichotomy

Violence in home seen as normal or

mere crime of passion, Private matter
Community
Workplace
En route during migration,
smuggling, in IDP or refugee camps
War- rape of female civilians due to
ethnicity, female soldiers exposed to
sexual abuse (institutionalized sexual
violence)

Proof of violence

Sexual violence occurs in private, no

witnesses and leave no physical evidence
ICC Force, threat of force, coercion or
coercive enviroment may undermine
victims ability to give voluntary and
genuine connsent
ECHR, MC v. Bulgaria, Coercive
enviroment means absence of direct proof
or witnesses of the sexual aggression

De jure and de facto access to justice

Chiapas penal code Permits husbands to correct wife via

physical abuse (if injuries take less than two weeks to heal)
Rapist redeems chastity, decency and honour of his victim if
he marries her
Domestic Violence: State tolerates or condones de facto
oppression of women within the home
Lack of Restraining orders, do not take husbands into custody,
or do not monitor or enforce order when given. Consider
danger of aggressor to society, not safety of the victim
Over- use of mediation- woman and man have unequal power
relationship, agreement does not address the causes and
consequences of the violence
Property rights: male tends to retain ownership and control of
property, women trapped in situations of domestic violence.
Widows may be evicted by family members.

De jure and de facto access to justice

Failure to launch immediate search for the victim, low priority in relation to other crimes,
Lack of human, technical, or financial resource

Limited Intervention by police and prosecutors- women do not trust corrupt, dysfunctional
judicial system
Limited access to justice by women (language, costs, bias against women, geographic
distance, lack of judicial protection during proceedings)
Focus on physical evidence and testimony to the exclusion of other types of evidence
Victim not considered credible
Authorities are not impartial in investigation
Authorities blame the victim for what happened
Victim will not testify because of fear of reprisal, fear of loss of economic support
Judges are biased, fear of being labelled feminist or effeminate
Prosecutor will not seek indictment unless sure case will win, based on strong evidence not
seriousness of facts
Limited statistics on rape, murder, etc
Impunity for sexual violence
Lenient sentencing
Little compensation to survivors, No access to Counselling
Sparse availability of Shelters

Traditional practices:

Informal community justice, may use

traditional sanctions, such as honor killingscultural relativist arguments
Honour crimes: women protest forced
marriage and leaves, accused of infidelity and
killed to restore family honour
Female genital mutilation
Dowry practices
Forced marriage/child marriage
Woman ceded from one family to another in
order to settle a dispute

Due Diligence Standard

Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against

Women (1993)
State has duty to prevent, investigate, punish acts of
violence against women by State or private persons
Inter American Convention on the Prevention,
Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against
Women apply due diligence
Traditional perspective has been response to acts of
violence. Now we focus on prevention, duty to change
patriarchal gender structures which promote violence
against women.

Velasquez Rodriguez v.
Honduras
(disappearance)

State is responsible for act of

private person when failed to
exercise due diligence to prevent
the violation or respond to it.
Legal, political, administrative,
and cultural measures to promote
the protection of human rights.

CEDAW AT v. Hungary 2005 State

failed to prevent domestic
violence
Extraterritorial obligation for
States exercising jurisdiction and
effective control abroad
UN peacekeepers- sexual violence

Due diligence

Ratification of human rights instruments

Constitutional guarantees of equality for women
National legislation and or administrative sanctions
providing adequate redress for women victims of
violence
Policies or plans of action that deal with the issue of
violence against women
Gender sensitivity of the criminal justice system and
police
Accessibility and availability of support services
Existence of measures to raise awareness and modify
discriminatory policies in the field of education and the
media
The collection of data and statistics concerning violence
against women