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Attached is the Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women to the UN Human Rights Commission 2006: THE DUE DILIGENCE STANDARD AS A TOOL FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.

From Report Summary: "The failure of international human rights law to adequately reflect and respond to the experiences and needs of women has stimulated much debate on the mainstream application of human rights standards. This has resulted in the transformation of the conventional understanding of human rights and the doctrine of State responsibility....The potential of the due diligence standard is explored at different levels of intervention: individual women, the community, the State and the transnational level....The report concludes that if we continue to dare to push the boundaries of due diligence in demanding the full compliance of States with international law, including to addresss the root causes of violence against women, and to hold non-State actors accountable for their acts of violence, then we will move towards a conception of human rights that meets our aspirations for a just world free of violence."

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Amnesty International

http://www.amnesty.org/en/campaigns/stop-violence-against-women/issues/state-perpetrators

Violence Against Women Perpetrated By a State & Its Agents

Despite the obligation of the states to act with due diligence to prevent violence against women - violence against women and girls in many societies is met with governmental silence or apathy or lack of interest.

The violence against women by agents of the state goes largely unreported and unscrutinized.

Women continue to face violence at the hands of state agents.

Key points

All governments have the responsibility under international human rights law to:

• Prevent, investigate and punish acts of all forms of violence against women whether in the home, workplace, the community or society, in custody or in situations of armed conflict.
• Take all measures to empower women.
• Condemn violence against women and not invoke customs, traditions or practices in the name of religion or culture to avoid their obligations to eliminate violence against women.
• Develop and/or utilize legislative, educational, social and other measures aimed at the prevention of violence against women.

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