I. Background
On 22 December 2003, the General
Assembly of the United Nations adopted by consensus a resolution
entitled “In-depth study on all forms of violence against women” (A/RES/58/185).
The resolution requests the Secretary-General to conduct an in-depth
study on all forms and manifestations of violence against women (the
full text of the resolution is attached in the annex).
The resolution spells out five areas to be addressed
in the study:
(i) A statistical overview on all forms of violence
against women, in order to evaluate better the scale of such
violence, while identifying gaps in data collection and formulating
proposals for assessing the extent of the problem;
(ii) The causes of violence against women, including
its root causes and other contributing factors;
(iii) The medium and long-term consequences of
violence against women;
(iv) The health, social and economic costs of
violence against women;
(v) The identification of best practice examples in
areas including legislation, policies, programmes and effective
remedies, and the efficiency of such mechanisms to the end of
combating and eliminating violence against women.
The in-depth study will build on work that has been
undertaken so far, synthesize and evaluate findings, and identify
good practices and effective strategies, along with gaps and
challenges. The study is intended to give a global picture of all
forms of violence against women, the scale and prevalence of
different forms of violence against women, its causes and
consequences, as well as the costs of such violence. The study will
identify gaps in knowledge and data collection, and give particular
attention to good practice examples to highlight successful
strategies to combat violence against women. Importantly, the study
will include action-oriented recommendations that encompass
effective remedies and prevention and rehabilitation measures. It
will also aim to make recommendations for strengthening
collaboration between producers and users of data and statistics on
violence against women. The study will be submitted to the General
Assembly at its sixtieth session in September 2005.
General
Recommendation 19 (1992) on violence against
women of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women noted that gender-based violence is discrimination within the
meaning of article 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women. The United Nations
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence against
Women (1993) identified three main areas where violence against
women occurs, namely in the family, the general community, and
perpetrated or condoned by the State, clarifying that such violence
can take physical, sexual and psychological forms. Policy documents
such as the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World
Conference on Women (1995), the outcome document of the twenty-third
special session of the General Assembly of June 2000, entitled
“Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the
twenty-first century”, and various other United Nations resolutions
and outcomes elaborated further the forms of violence against women
and the sites where it takes place, and actions to combat and
prevent its occurrence. These documents also highlighted the ways in
which violence against women intersects with, and impacts on, other
aspects of women’s well-being and their enjoyment of their human
rights.
Data collection on violence against
women As increased
attention has been paid to the issue of gender based violence,
substantial work has been done by Governments, United Nations
entities and other international and regional organizations,
non-governmental organizations and researchers to strengthen survey
methodologies, develop common indicators and address the challenges
of comparing data over time, and between different countries and
regions. However, the lack of data on the nature, prevalence and
incidence of the various types of violence against women is
regularly highlighted as a major concern and barrier to effective
policy making. In March 2004, participants at a high-level round
table of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) noted that:
“In certain areas, such as violence against women,
methodological shortcomings and lack of reporting, or
under-reporting, led to inaccurate data collection, and such
unreliable or misleading information could lead to poor policies.
Outdated data sometimes limit the usefulness of the information as
a basis for policy-making. At times, there is a discrepancy
between the types of statistics produced and the needs of policy
makers.”
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women regularly addresses the issue of data collection,
urging reporting States in its concluding comments to strengthen and
systematize efforts to gather statistics on the various forms of
violence against women, including for example on domestic violence,
on trafficked, migrant and refugee women, on sexual exploitation,
forced marriages and harmful traditional practices. Governments
likewise recognize the need for adequate data on violence against
women. For example, in their responses to the Secretary-General’s
request for information on implementation of General Assembly
resolution 57/179 and 57/181 related to the elimination of all forms
of violence against women and crimes committed against women in the
name of honour, Member States underlined the importance of data
collection and compilation of statistics for policy making.
Given the concerns expressed with the lack of
reliable, comprehensive and comparable data on various forms of
violence against women, and the importance of the availability of
such data to policy makers and professionals working to combat such
violence and/or support its victims, the study will endeavour to
assess the current situation in the field of data collection
regarding violence against women. This will include provision of an
overview and evaluation of the quality of available data, an
overview of the status of data collection on the different types of
violence against women, an analysis of the methodology(ies)
currently used, as well as an assessment of the remaining gaps and
challenges in improving the availability, reliability,
comprehensiveness and comparability, in all parts of the world, of
such data collection.
II. Objectives of
the expert group meeting The development and implementation
of an effective, comprehensive and multidisciplinary strategy to
combat violence against women requires complete, accurate, and
up-to-date information on the incidence of such violence and its
various manifestations. With this in mind, the expert group will
assess the data and statistics currently available regarding the
extent and prevalence of all forms of violence against women,
evaluate the quality of the data, and identify remaining gaps in
data collection. Participants will review initiatives currently
being spearheaded by international and regional organizations,
non-governmental organizations and other entities, and tested in
various countries, including national level surveys and the
development of common indicators.
The meeting will put forward recommendations on
enhancing ways for assessing the extent of the problem, especially
through improved and more systematic data gathering. The meeting
will be an opportunity for producers and users of data to discuss
the constraints in collecting data, as well as the needs of
practitioners for better information to serve as a solid basis for
effective policy making. Issues expected to be raised include but
are not limited to:
a) Assessment of the types of data
currently available and collected, including issues such as:
- The types of violence against women on which data
are collected
- The scope of data collection (at national/local
level, regional or sub-regional coverage) and its extent
(systematic, ad hoc)
- The entity(ies) responsible for, or contributing
to data collection (independent entities, government entities,
NGOs
- The methodology(ies) used to collect and analyze
the data (surveys, analysis of secondary data, analysis of
collated crime or health statistics, etc.)
b) Assessment of the gaps and
challenges, including issues such as:
- The challenge of under- and non reporting of
violence against women
- Lack of data collection on certain types of
violence against women, and by geographical region
- Methodological problems
c) Assessment of needs of policy
makers and professionals working to prevent violence against women:
- Constraints faced by data producers
- Needs of users
d) Recommendations for improved
data collection and proposals for better assessing the extent of the
problem.
III. Expected outcome The expert
group meeting will prepare a report and recommendations that will
give an overview of the scale of violence against women, based on
available data and knowledge, identify gaps and challenges in
assessing the scale of the various forms of violence against women,
including methodological challenges, and gaps and challenges in data
collection, and make proposals on how better to assess the extent of
the problem. Experts will prepare papers and case studies on the
topics of the meeting, with a thematic or geographical focus, that
will also include recommendations for further action. The meeting’s
report will form the basis for the chapter, in the
Secretary-General’s study, on statistics and data collection
(sub-paragraph I (a) of resolution 58/185). Particular attention
will be paid to reflect the perspectives of both producers and users
of data.
Experts will prepare and finalize their report by the
end of the four-day meeting. It will consist of an analytical
summary of the discussions as well as recommendations for further
action.
IV. Method of work Experts will
present their papers and case studies which will form the basis for
discussion in plenary. The themes presented will then be further
developed in working groups which will also develop recommendations
in regard to each of the topics of the meeting.
V. Profile of participants The
expert group meeting will be attended by approximately fifteen (15)
experts in the fields of data collection and violence against women,
including statisticians, practitioners, researchers and academics
with extensive experience in assessing the scale of violence against
women, data collection and analysis of such data. A small number of
observers from United Nations entities will also attend. Staff of
the Division for the Advancement of Women will support the meeting.
In selecting experts, attention will be paid to
geographic and gender balance, as well as a range of expertise in
data collection and analysis covering all forms of violence against
women. The Division for the Advancement of Women will provide
travel, accommodation and daily subsistence allowance for invited
experts.
VI.
Documentation The documentation for the meeting
will include the papers and case studies prepared by the experts.
The expert group meeting will be conducted in English
only.
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