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Distr. GENERAL A/HRC/7/6/Add.3 Original: ENGLISH |
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Seventh session
Agenda item 3
This report contains my findings as
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences,
following my official mission to
The formal State institutions
coexist with a customary system of traditional authorities. While traditional
authorities are also fully bound by
Violence against women remains
widespread and some groups of women are particularly vulnerable. The girl child
may be sexually abused in the family, subjected to early or child marriage or
exploited as a kayaye (porter) or domestic worker. Female genital
mutilation and the ritual servitude of trokosi
also remain prevalent in some parts of the country, even though these practices
have been criminalized and are on the decrease. Women accused of
witchcraft are often violently driven from their communities and forced to take
refuge in “witch camps”. Many widows are subjected to violent evictions from
their homes and loss of inheritance, leaving them destitute.
The police, courts, social services
and the health sector are not sufficiently equipped and trained to effectively
protect women facing violence. The Domestic
Violence Victims Support Unit, which is tasked to investigate crimes involving
domestic violence against women, is under‑resourced and often
inadequately trained.
The Domestic Violence Act, which was
adopted in 2007, marks an important step forward, but needs to be swiftly
followed by the adoption of a gender-sensitive domestic violence action plan
and an earmarked budget to implement the Act.
High and extreme levels of poverty
and the external debt burden limit the Government’s ability to allocate
sufficient resources for universal basic education, gender parity in education
and the socio-economic development of marginalized regions and districts. The
international community has an obligation to support the Government through
targeted aid, debt relief and fairer terms of trade.
Based on my findings, I call on the
Government to enact legislation to strengthen women’s protection and equality;
support women’s social, political and economic empowerment; ensure that
traditional authorities comply with national and international commitments to
women’s rights; and sufficiently fund and implement the Domestic Violence Act
and corresponding action plan.
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