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23
November 2007
On the occasion of the International Day on the
Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November), the Special Rapporteur
of the United Nations Human Rights Council on violence against women, its
causes and consequences, Yakin Ertürk, and the Special Rapporteur of the
United Nations Human Rights Council on torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, issued the following press
statement:
Over the years there has been considerable progress in
making the scale of violence against women widely known and in developing
legal and practical instruments to strengthen the protection of women from
violence. Yet significant gaps in protection remain. Many countries fail to
recognize some forms of violence against women as crimes. Cultural or
religious paradigms are still invoked to condone female genital mutilation,
the execution and murder of women, marital rape and other forms of violence.
On the other hand, the application of international instruments and the
development of strategies to condemn and punish torture have been slow to
take into account gender-based aspects of torture, such as sexual violence,
and have treated severe pain or suffering inflicted on women in the private
sphere as a "domestic affair". Consequently, avenues for redress
have been limited and women have not been adequately protected from all forms
of violence against them.
In recent years, there have been an increased and explicit
recognition of some forms of violence against women in international and
national courts as amounting to torture and ill-treatment, the best known
examples being rape by private or public actors in conflict or in custodial
settings. Other forms of violence against women, such as physical or sexual violence
in an intimate relationship or female genital mutilation, if committed with
the acquiescence of the State, may qualify as torture or cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment as well.
The term "torture" carries a strong protection
potential since it brings with it a considerable stigma and triggers
well-established international legal obligations for the State, derived
notably from the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment. These include obligations to criminalize
acts of torture, prosecute perpetrators and provide reparation to victims.
International standards to combat violence against women,
including the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women,
contain an obligation to condemn and prevent all forms of violence against
women, independently of whether acts are perpetrated by the State or a
private person, and give specific guidance on how obstacles to gender based
violence can be overcome.
These sets of instruments and standards should be used
more systematically to inform and strengthen one another. If taken together
they will considerably reinforce women's protection from violence and render
it more effective, as well as contribute towards transforming unequal
patriarchal values and structures that underlie acts of violence and
discrimination against women.
In our capacities of Special Rapporteurs on Violence
against Women and Torture, we appeal to the international community, to
States, and civil society to make full use of all existing instruments and
mechanisms in a comprehensive fashion, in order to ensure women the full
protection from all forms of violence against them and their access to all
available remedies.
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