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The mandate of the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its
causes and consequences (SRVAW) must be strengthened if the elimination of all
forms of violence against women is to become a reality.
This was a key recommendation from the parallel event
‘15 years of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women: gains,
challenges and the way forward’ held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland on June 5, 2009, in
parallel to the 11th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).
Organised by the Asia Pacific Forum on
Women Law and Development (APWLD), together with the World Organisation Against
Torture (OMCT) and World YWCA representing the Geneva NGO Working Group on
Violence against Women and Girls, the event reviewed the 15 years of the SRVAW to
guide and strengthen the mandate of the SRVAW and other stakeholders, including
the UN, member states, civil society and international and regional
institutions in pursuing and intensifying their efforts to eliminate violence
against women as well as to protect, promote and realise all human rights of
women.
Ms. Yakin Ertürk, appointed as the SRVAW in
2003, spoke about her experience in the position as “incredible” and one that
requires a constructive balancing of rage and courage”.
Rage, contained within the word courage symbolizes
this balance. The rage against the enormity of violence in DRC, for instance,
had to be addressed through effective recommendations. “We need to develop more
effective mechanisms at the international level to immediately respond. Our generation does not have the excuse of
our parents’. We need to have the courage and rage to act. The [UN Special Procedures] mandates are
important and need to be strengthened to make a greater difference.”
Ms. Ertürk stated that at the beginning of her term
there were many states that described women as ‘poor victims’ only. She
asserted that there is no question there are victims of violence against women
who need healing but the mandate is ultimately about empowerment. If we do not
tackle it in that vein, it is only superficial.
Ms. Madeleine Rees, Head of the Women’s Rights and
Gender Unit at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, spoke
of how state understanding and state responsibility around violence against
women has evolved in the last 15 years. She highlighted that many states have a
more comprehensive sense of such violence and recognise the intersectionality.
“We must look at rights as part of empowerment.
The special rapporteurs have met, listened and interacted with women as
part of their work,” she underlined.
The significance of the mandate has also been
highlighted by Ms. Renu Rajbhandari, chairperson of Women’s Resource Centre in
Ms. Madhu Mehra, researcher and drafter of the
critical review on “15 Years of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on
Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences (1994-2009)” and member of
APWLD stressed the importance of the SRVAW report on the cultural discourses
that justify certain forms of gender-based violence. “The report has
legitimised the advocacy work of women’s rights activists to question the
hegemonic cultural values that represent an obstacle to the fight against
gender-based violence,” she stated.
Key recommendations for the way forward for the SRVAW
included:
·
The SRVAW mandate is
vitally important and needs to be strengthened to make a greater difference,
including by an increase in human and financial resources;
·
For the purpose of
implementation, there is a need to further consolidate issues dealt with across
the SRVAW mandate’s reports;
·
Ways must be explored
to channel the recommendations of the SRVAW into concrete action at country
level, including through a follow-up funding mechanism such as the United
Nations Trust Fund on Violence against Women
·
There needs to be a
reduction in the fragmentation of human rights mechanisms. The SRVAW mandate,
along with other mandates must undertake systematic cross-fertilisation and
ultimately feed into the Universal Periodic Review and into the work of the UN Treaty
Bodies.
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