Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
against Women
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Proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 48/104 of
20 December 1993
The General Assembly ,
Recognizing the urgent need for the universal application to
women of the rights and principles with regard to equality,
security, liberty, integrity and dignity of all human beings,
Noting that those rights and principles are enshrined in
international instruments, including the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women and the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
Recognizing that effective implementation of the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women would
contribute to the elimination of violence against women and that the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, set forth
in the present resolution, will strengthen and complement that
process,
Concerned that violence against women is an obstacle to the
achievement of equality, development and peace, as recognized in the
Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, in
which a set of measures to combat violence against women was
recommended, and to the full implementation of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
Affirming that violence against women constitutes a violation of
the rights and fundamental freedoms of women and impairs or
nullifies their enjoyment of those rights and freedoms, and
concerned about the long-standing failure to protect and promote
those rights and freedoms in the case of violence against women,
Recognizing that violence against women is a manifestation 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 the full advancement of women, and that
violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by
which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with
men,
Concerned that some groups of women, such as women belonging to
minority groups, indigenous women, refugee women, migrant women,
women living in rural or remote communities, destitute women, women
in institutions or in detention, female children, women with
disabilities, elderly women and women in situations of armed
conflict, are especially vulnerable to violence,
Recalling the conclusion in paragraph 23 of the annex to Economic
and Social Council resolution 1990/15 of 24 May 1990 that the
recognition that violence against women in the family and society
was pervasive and cut across lines of income, class and culture had
to be matched by urgent and effective steps to eliminate its
incidence,
Recalling also Economic and Social Council resolution 1991/18 of
30 May 1991, in which the Council recommended the development of a
framework for an international instrument that would address
explicitly the issue of violence against women,
Welcoming the role that women's movements are playing in drawing
increasing attention to the nature, severity and magnitude of the
problem of violence against women,
Alarmed that opportunities for women to achieve legal, social,
political and economic equality in society are limited, inter alia ,
by continuing and endemic violence,
Convinced that in the light of the above there is a need for a
clear and comprehensive definition of violence against women, a
clear statement of the rights to be applied to ensure the
elimination of violence against women in all its forms, a commitment
by States in respect of their responsibilities, and a commitment by
the international community at large to the elimination of violence
against women,
Solemnly proclaims the following Declaration on the Elimination
of Violence against Women and urges that every effort be made so
that it becomes generally known and respected:
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.
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 against women and, to this end, should:
( a ) Consider, where they have not yet done so, ratifying
or acceding to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women or withdrawing reservations to that
Convention;
( b ) Refrain from engaging in violence against women;
( c ) Exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in
accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence
against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by
private persons;
( d ) Develop penal, civil, labour and administrative
sanctions in domestic legislation to punish and redress the wrongs
caused to women who are subjected to violence; women who are
subjected to violence should be provided with access to the
mechanisms of justice and, as provided for by national legislation,
to just and effective remedies for the harm that they have suffered;
States should also inform women of their rights in seeking redress
through such mechanisms;
( e ) Consider the possibility of developing national plans
of action to promote the protection of women against any form of
violence, or to include provisions for that purpose in plans already
existing, taking into account, as appropriate, such cooperation as
can be provided by non-governmental organizations, particularly
those concerned with the issue of violence against women;
( f ) Develop, in a comprehensive way, preventive approaches
and all those measures of a legal, political, administrative and
cultural nature that promote the protection of women against any
form of violence, and ensure that the re-victimization of women does
not occur because of laws insensitive to gender considerations,
enforcement practices or other interventions;
( g ) Work to ensure, to the maximum extent feasible in the
light of their available resources and, where needed, within the
framework of international cooperation, that women subjected to
violence and, where appropriate, their children have specialized
assistance, such as rehabilitation, assistance in child care and
maintenance, treatment, counselling, and health and social services,
facilities and programmes, as well as support structures, and should
take all other appropriate measures to promote their safety and
physical and psychological rehabilitation;
( h ) Include in government budgets adequate resources for
their activities related to the elimination of violence against
women;
( i ) Take measures to ensure that law enforcement officers
and public officials responsible for implementing policies to
prevent, investigate and punish violence against women receive
training to sensitize them to the needs of women;
( j ) Adopt all appropriate measures, especially in the
field of education, to modify the social and cultural patterns of
conduct of men and women and to eliminate prejudices, customary
practices and all other practices based on the idea of the
inferiority or superiority of either of the sexes and on stereotyped
roles for men and women;
( k ) Promote research, collect data and compile statistics,
especially concerning domestic violence, relating to the prevalence
of different forms of violence against women and encourage research
on the causes, nature, seriousness and consequences of violence
against women and on the effectiveness of measures implemented to
prevent and redress violence against women; those statistics and
findings of the research will be made public;
( l ) Adopt measures directed towards the elimination of
violence against women who are especially vulnerable to violence;
( m ) Include, in submitting reports as required under
relevant human rights instruments of the United Nations, information
pertaining to violence against women and measures taken to implement
the present Declaration;
( n ) Encourage the development of appropriate guidelines to
assist in the implementation of the principles set forth in the
present Declaration;
( o ) Recognize the important role of the women's movement
and non-governmental organizations world wide in raising awareness
and alleviating the problem of violence against women;
( p ) Facilitate and enhance the work of the women's
movement and non-governmental organizations and cooperate with them
at local, national and regional levels;
( q ) Encourage intergovernmental regional organizations of
which they are members to include the elimination of violence
against women in their programmes, as appropriate.
Article 5
The organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations system
should, within their respective fields of competence, contribute to
the recognition and realization of the rights and the principles set
forth in the present Declaration and, to this end, should, inter
alia :
( a ) Foster international and regional cooperation with a
view to defining regional strategies for combating violence,
exchanging experiences and financing programmes relating to the
elimination of violence against women;
( b ) Promote meetings and seminars with the aim of creating
and raising awareness among all persons of the issue of the
elimination of violence against women;
( c ) Foster coordination and exchange within the United
Nations system between human rights treaty bodies to address the
issue of violence against women effectively;
( d ) Include in analyses prepared by organizations and
bodies of the United Nations system of social trends and problems,
such as the periodic reports on the world social situation,
examination of trends in violence against women;
( e ) Encourage coordination between organizations and
bodies of the United Nations system to incorporate the issue of
violence against women into ongoing programmes, especially with
reference to groups of women particularly vulnerable to violence;
( f ) Promote the formulation of guidelines or manuals
relating to violence against women, taking into account the measures
referred to in the present Declaration;
( g ) Consider the issue of the elimination of violence
against women, as appropriate, in fulfilling their mandates with
respect to the implementation of human rights instruments;
( h ) Cooperate with non-governmental organizations in
addressing the issue of violence against women.
Article 6
Nothing in the present Declaration shall affect any provision
that is more conducive to the elimination of violence against women
that may be contained in the legislation of a State or in any
international convention, treaty or other instrument in force in a
State.
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