Background and objectives

At the invitation of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Ms. Reem Alsalem, will conduct an official visit to the country from 12 to 21 February 2024.

Country visits are undertaken following an invitation by the Government and are prepared and conducted in the spirit of cooperation and dialogue with the State concerned. The objective of the country visit is for the Special Rapporteur to gain a first-hand understanding of issues related to her mandate, and in particular in relation to measures taken to prevent, combat and eliminate violence against women and girls, and to provide redress for victims. Following a country visit, the Special Rapporteur presents a report to the UN Human Rights Council outlining her findings, conclusions and recommendations to the State concerned. The conclusions and recommendations provided by the Special Rapporteur are a useful tool to guide States when adopting measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women. They also serve as a roadmap for other stakeholders working on gender-based violence issues in the country, such as civil society, women’s organisations, as well as UN agencies.

The visit of the Special Rapporteur will commence in London, and she will also undertake field visits, to both urban and rural areas in the different regions, in order to gain a first-hand understanding of the issues related to violence against women and girls as experienced by various segments of the population. During her visit, and as a means of gathering information from all relevant stakeholders, the Special Rapporteur intends to convene meetings with Government officials; representatives from civil society organizations; women’s organisations; community leaders; groups of women and girls; UN agencies; and other relevant stakeholders working towards the elimination of violence against women and girls in the country.

At the end of the visit on 21 February 2024, the Special Rapporteur will debrief relevant Government officials on her preliminary findings, and in line with established practice, she will also hold a press conference in order to share the preliminary findings with the broader public. Additional information on the venue and time of the press conference will be shared prior to the visit.

Key questions and types of input/comments sought

In preparation for the visit, the Special Rapporteur invites all interested individuals and organizations, including civil society organizations, women’s rights activists, and academics to provide inputs on:

1. Issues related to violence against all women and girls, based on intersecting grounds and including its different manifestations;
2. Information on groups of women and girls particularly at risk of being exposed to gender based violence;
3. Policies and legislation in place or being considered with a view to preventing and combating violence against women and girls.

While all submissions are welcome, the Special Rapporteur is particularly interested in receiving information on the following issues (the list is not exhaustive):

• Legal, institutional and policy frameworks related to violence against all women and girls and the extent to which relevant international and regional human rights obligations of the UK are adhered to;
• The adequacy of the legal and normative framework, including on
  • femicide and honour killings;
  • domestic violence including coercive control;
  • rape and sexual violence;
  • trafficking and sexual exploitation;
  • parental alienation and child custody;
  • exploitation of prostitution;
  • sexual harassment in public spaces and at work;
  • gender sensitive reception and asylum procedures;
  • online violence;
  • female genital mutilation;
  • access to sexual and reproductive health;
• The implementation of constitutional guarantees, legal provisions and programmes aimed at eliminating violence against women and girls through strengthened capacity of municipal, regional and national representatives;
• Measures undertaken to increase the transparency, accountability, and effective participation by women and women’s organizations in the design of laws and policies related to ending discrimination and violence against women and girls the allocation and monitoring of the spending of relevant budget, as well as the provision of effective assistance and protection for victims of gender-based violence;
• The design and implementation of policies to ensure coordinated, gender-sensitive and comprehensive essential services for the survivors of gender-based violence against women;
• Access to effective justice mechanisms and guarantees of non-repetition to ensure that perpetrators of violence are brought to justice;
• Management shelters, protection orders and other integrated services for victims of gender-based violence against women and girls;
• Equal treatment and access to services for all women and girls who are in the UK and who may be victims of violence, irrespective of their origin, legal status, and other grounds;
• The capacity of stakeholders to collect and analyse and use data disaggregated by sex, gender, social group, disability, marital status, age, profession etc.;

Priority groups of women and girls

• Women and girl migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers;
• Stateless women and girls, or those who are at risk of statelessness;
• Lesbian, bisexual women or transgender;
• Members of racial, ethnic or religious minority communities;
• Women active in politics and public life (including sports);
• Women human rights defenders;
• Women and girls active in exercising their freedom of speech, thought and freedom of assembly;
• Mothers or daughters involved in child custody procedures.

Type of submissions and how inputs will be used

All inputs will be treated confidentially by the Special Rapporteur and her team and for the sole purpose of preparing for the county visit. The Special Rapporteur greatly appreciates the effort that goes into making such contributions and looks forward to reading the submissions.