WUNRN
http://www.ishr.ch/news/violence-against-women-barrier-effective-exercise-all-human-rights
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IS
A BARRIER TO THE EFFECTIVE EXERCISE OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS
By
Rashida Manjoo, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls
10.11.2014
- This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the mandate
of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences. Thus it provides an opportunity to reflect on global developments
towards the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, and
to also identify new and remaining gaps and challenges.
Violence
against women and girls is a pervasive and widespread human rights violation
that is experienced by women across the globe. It has reached epidemic
proportions in some parts of the world and no country is succeeding in
eliminating this human rights violation. A recent WHO report indicates that
violence against women is the foremost cause of death and disability among
women.
Although
progress has been achieved in advancing women and girl’s human rights and also
gender equality at the national, regional and international level, there are
gaps and challenges that have not been addressed adequately. Continuing and new
sets of challenges that hamper efforts to promote the human rights of women and
girls can be linked largely to the lack of a holistic approach that addresses
individual, institutional and structural factors which are a cause and a consequence
of violence against women and girls. Moreover, through the work of the mandate,
my predecessors and I have observed that a culture of impunity persists and
this contributes to the impossibility of achieving the goal of a life free of
violence for women and girls.
My
recent report to the General Assembly addressed an often-overlooked impact of
violence against women and girls, i.e. its role in obstructing the realization
of their citizenship rights, thereby precluding participation, autonomy and
agency of women and girls as full citizens in their communities. Human dignity
and the rights to freedom, non-discrimination and equality lie at the heart of
the human rights regime and provide the necessary conditions for human agency
in exercising citizenship rights. Violence against women and girls, whether in
the public or private spheres, contributes to impeding the realization and
enjoyment of a broad range of human rights that are essential to the exercise
of full, inclusive and participatory citizenship of women and girls.
My
2013 report to the Human Rights Council reiterates that State responsibility to
act with due diligence requires that there is a framework for discussing the
responsibility of States through a dual lens of individual due diligence and
systemic due diligence. Individual due diligence refers to the obligations that
States owe to particular individuals, or groups of individuals, including to
prevent, protect, punish and provide effective remedies. Individual due
diligence places an obligation on the State to assist victims in rebuilding
their lives and moving forward, and also requires States to punish not just the
perpetrators, but also those who fail in their duty to respond to the
violation. Systemic due diligence refers to the obligations that States have to
ensure a holistic and sustained model of prevention, protection, punishment and
reparations for acts of violence against women and girls.
My
2014 reports to the Human Rights Council and to the General Assembly also raise
concerns about the continuing challenges in the quest for elimination of
violence against women, including: the shift to gender neutrality; the
persisting public-private dichotomy in responses to violence against women; the
failure of States to act with due diligence in eliminating violence against
women; the lack of transformative remedies that address the root causes of
violence against women, including individual, institutional and structural
aspects; the financial crisis, austerity measures and cuts in social services
spending; the shift in the understanding of gendered responses and the move
towards a focus on men and boys; and the lack of a legally binding instrument
to hold both States and non-state actors accountable for this human rights
violation, as a violation in and of itself.
On
the latter point, due to my concerns about the normative gap under
international human rights law in respect to violence against women and girls,
I have recommended that there needs to be an enquiry by the Human Rights Council
and the General Assembly. The approach of States is one of ‘normativity without
legality’ and is reflected in the endorsement of principles by States, through
resolutions, but without the development and adoption of specific binding legal
commitments as regards violence against women. This issue raises crucial
questions about State responsibility to act with due diligence, and also the
responsibility of the State as the ultimate duty bearer to protect women and
girls.
Concerns
raised more than two decades ago reaffirm my view that it is time to consider
the adoption of a United Nations binding international instrument on violence
against women and girls, with its own universal monitoring body. Such an
instrument would ensure that States are held accountable to standards that are
legally binding; it would provide a globally applicable comprehensive normative
framework for the protection of women and girls from all forms of violence; it
would have a specific monitoring body to substantively provide in-depth
analysis of both general and country-level developments; and it would serve an
educative function.
Transformative change requires a shift in thinking as regards normativity and it requires commitment, courage and an ethic of care that supersedes vested interests, entrenched positions, and also the challenging of the status quo, including the continued use of arguments that were used twenty years ago to avoid addressing the normative gap under international human rights law as regards violence against women.