WUNRN
UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SESSION 20
STOP
STONING GLOBALLY
Panel June
26th, 2012 - Geneva
Palais
des Nations – Room VIII
Statement by Rashida Manjoo
UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
At the outset,
I would like to thank the Worldwide Organization for Women, Justice for
This event is
very timely as this year I devoted my annual thematic report to the issue of
gender related killings of women, among which death by stoning is a severe and
cruel manifestation.
My thematic
report addresses the killings of women whether they occur in the family, the
community, or are perpetrated or condoned by the State. Rather than a new form
of violence, gender-related killings are the extreme manifestation of existing
forms of discrimination and violence against women. Such killings are not
isolated incidents which arise suddenly and unexpectedly, but are the ultimate
act of violence which is experienced in a continuum of violence. My report
argues that the lack of accountability for such crimes is the norm.
My report
provides an overview of the global trends and manifestations of gender related
killings of women, which are currently reaching alarming proportions. These
include: killings of women as a result of intimate partner violence; killings
of women due to accusations of sorcery/witchcraft; killings of women and girls
in the name of “honour”; killings in the context of armed conflict; killings of
indigenous women; extreme forms of violent killings of women, such as those
related to gangs, organised crime, drug dealers, and human and drug trafficking
chains; killings as a result of sexual orientation and gender identity;
and other forms of gender-related
killings of women and girls, such as female infanticide.
With regard to
stoning, it is a method of capital punishment primarily used for crimes of
adultery and other related offences linked to honour, of which women are
disproportionately found guilty. The prevalence of these killings has resulted
in 23 joint communications by UN mandate holders sent between 2004 and 2011, in
respect of more than 30 women sentenced to death by stoning. Other
communications to governments relate to “honour crimes” or to the
action/inaction of the State with regard to flogging or death by hanging of
women for suspected premarital sex, for adultery, for failing to prove rape,
and for acts deemed incompatible with chastity.
These violent
killings of women are also linked to other forms of violence that are used as a
means of controlling women’s sexual choices and limiting their freedom of
movement. These punishments usually have a collective dimension, with families
and communities as a whole believing to be injured by a woman’s actual or
perceived behaviour, and are often public in character. The visibility of the
issue and the punishment also serves a social objective, namely, influencing
the conduct of other women.
This is an
issue I have noted during some of my country missions, where violence against
women is sometimes perpetrated when women act in ways that are considered
“dishonourable” in the eyes of society. In my recommendations, I have stressed
the need to design and launch targeted awareness-raising campaigns to educate
and change societal attitudes, particularly those that view women’s bodies as
repositories of family honour, and which place women under extreme scrutiny by
the family and society.
All over the
world, the manifestations of gender related killings of women are culturally
and socially embedded, and continue to be accepted, tolerated or justified -
with impunity as the norm. States’ responsibility to act with due diligence in
the promotion and protection of women’s rights, is largely lacking.
While some
steps have been taken States to comply with their due diligence obligation to
prevent violence against women, there are still numerous gaps in these efforts.
A holistic approach in preventing gender-related killings must be emphasized in
all the measures taken by States to investigate and sanction violence.
My thematic
report recalls how international and regional human rights systems have
interpreted the due diligence obligations of States in cases involving
gender-related killings. These include ensuring effective investigations,
prosecution and sanctions; guaranteeing de jure and de facto access to adequate
and effective judicial remedies; treating women victims and their relatives
with respect and dignity throughout the legal process; ensuring comprehensive
reparations to victims and their relatives; identifying certain groups of women
as being at particular risk for acts of violence, due to multiple forms of
discrimination, when adopting measures to prevent all forms of violence; and
modifying the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women as well
as eliminating prejudices, customary practices and other practices based on the
idea of the inferiority or superiority of either of the sexes, and on
stereotyped roles for men and women.
Violence
against women has been affirmed in many human rights instruments and by human
rights bodies, as a violation of the rights and fundamental freedoms of women.
The killing of women constitutes a violation of amongst others the right to
life, equality, dignity and non-discrimination, and the right not to be
subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or
punishment. States have, therefore an obligation to prevent, investigate and
punish all cases of gender related killings of women, as well as provide
redress to surviving victims and their families.