III. ISSUES OF CONCERN TO THE MANDATE ...................................        

                        A.        Vulnerable situation of women

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III.  ISSUES OF CONCERN TO THE MANDATE

A.  Vulnerable situation of women

34.       Since 1996, the Commission on Human Rights has persistently stressed in its resolutions the need for the Special Rapporteur to apply a gender perspective, inter alia, through the identification of gender-specific abuses in the reporting process, including in information collection and recommendations.  Although some countries initially have been reluctant to see the nexus between the discrimination of women and the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, it is now accepted that the mandate-holder will raise cases or highlight situations that relate to the status of women.  Furthermore, resolution 2005/40 of the Commission on Human Rights explicitly invited the Special Rapporteur to address “the situations of violations and discrimination that affect many women as a result of religion or belief”. 

35.       The Special Rapporteur regularly sends joint urgent appeals and allegation letters on this issue together with other special procedures holders, such as the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences as well as the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children.  The above-mentioned framework for communications contains a subcategory devoted to the vulnerable situation of women.  This subcategory details the applicable international human rights standards, e.g. articles 2 and 3 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Human Rights Committee general comment No. 28 (2000) on the equality of rights between men and women. 

36.       In practice, intolerance and discrimination is often applied with regard to multiple identities of the victim or group of victims.  Many of the Special Rapporteur’s communications and urgent appeals concern cases where women suffer from aggravated discrimination with regard to their religious, ethnic and sexual identities.  Women in many countries appear to be victims of double or triple forms of aggravated discrimination, owing to serious restrictions in the areas of education and employment.  Citizenship laws in a number of countries discriminate against women and their children because these regulations stipulate that mothers have fewer rights than fathers to transmit nationality.  Denying girls and women the right to wear religious symbols when they freely choose to do so may pose a problem in terms of international human rights law as well as does the forcible imposition of religious dress codes.  Discrimination and practices that are harmful to the health of women and girls are also applied within their religious communities for reasons of religious traditions or those ascribed to religion.  Furthermore, there have been reports of arrests, flogging, forced conversion and even murders targeted specifically at women in the context of intolerance based on religion or belief.  Female members of minority religions also tend to be prone to become victims of rape and violence stirred up by organized groups. 

37.       The freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right of a non-derogable character which can be limited only under restricted conditions.  Nevertheless, this right, like other human rights, cannot be used to justify the violation of other human rights and freedoms.  That clause is, inter alia, provided by article 5 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and may, in certain cases, address situations of abuses committed in the name of religion.  The Human Rights Committee in its general comment No. 28 states that “Article 18 [of the ICCPR] may not be relied upon to justify discrimination against women by reference to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; States parties should therefore provide information on the status of women as regards their freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and indicate what steps they have taken or intend to take both to eliminate and prevent infringements of these freedoms in respect of women and to protect their right not to be discriminated against.”  (para. 21)

38.       The States’ capacity and willingness to guarantee and protect de jure and de facto freedom of religion of all individuals within its jurisdiction is often the key to developing an appropriate framework for the protection of all human rights, including women’s rights.  It ensures that individuals can express themselves fully and dissent, even within their own religion; or, indeed, that they can choose not to have any religion at all.  No right should be protected at the expense of others.  Measures adopted to protect women’s rights, the right to freedom of religion or belief and other human rights should take into account all individuals in society.  The Special Rapporteur would like to reiterate the importance of ensuring that the right to freedom of religion or belief adds to the values of human rights and does not unintentionally become an instrument for undermining freedoms.  In this regard she welcomes recent statements and conference recommendations[i] which clarify religious views on female genital mutilation.

39.       In 2002, the previous mandate-holder presented his thematic study entitled “Étude sur la liberté de religion ou de conviction et la condition de la femme au regard de la religion et des traditions” to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2).  It lists the different types of discrimination against women, such as practices that are harmful to the health of women, discrimination against women within the family, attacks on the right to life, honour killings, and attacks on their dignity, such as restrictions on the education of women or their exclusion from certain functions.  The document is so far only available in the original French language version and the Special Rapporteur would like to reiterate the request by the Commission on Human Rights in resolution 2004/36 that “from existing available resources and if necessary supplemented by voluntary contributions, the [study should] be translated into the other official languages of the United Nations and published as an official document”.

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IV.  CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

52.       As many women suffer from aggravated discrimination with regard to their religious, ethnic and sexual identities, national and international action is required to prevent such aggravated discrimination and to improve the protective efforts.  Prevention requires first of all identifying cultural practices that are harmful for women and girls; States should then prepare strategies, e.g. through educative, legislative and health-related measures, in order to eliminate prejudicial practices especially where they are deeply rooted in society.  Protection necessitates effective application of existing national laws and international human rights standards; Governments should therefore reinforce domestic structures of control and official bodies for the protection of all human rights.  The Special Rapporteur hopes that her predecessor’s study entitled “Étude sur la liberté de religion ou de conviction et la condition de la femme au regard de la religion et des traditions” (E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2) will be translated into the other official languages of the United Nations.