أذربيجان: خبير حقوق في الأمم المتحدة يجري تقييماً لحالة العنف ضد المرأة

GENEVA (21 November 2013) – United Nations Special Rapporteur Rashida Manjoo will visit Azerbaijan from 25 November to 5 December 2013 to examine the issue of violence against women in the country. This is the first visit to Azerbaijan by an independent expert charged by the UN Human rights Council to monitor and report on violence against woman worldwide.

“Violence against women is one of the most pervasive violations of human rights in the world, and it strongly hinders women’s full enjoyment of their fundamental freedoms and rights,” Ms. Manjoo said. “During my mission, I will meet with national stakeholders involved in the fight against it, with a view to assessing the phenomenon in the country.”

The Special Rapporteur will look at violence against women broadly, studying the main manifestations in the family, in the community, in State settings, and in the transnational sphere, and underlying causes and consequences, taking into account all relevant issues contributing to incidences in Azerbaijan.

During her ten-day visit, Ms. Manjoo will meet with Government officials in Baku, Khachmaz, Ganja, Lankaran and Sumgayit. She will also meet with representatives of civil society and service providers.

“Most especially,” Ms. Manjoo said, “I will visit shelters and a women’s prison to obtain first-hand information from individual survivors of gender-based violence.”

The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference at the UN House on the initial findings of her visit on Thursday 5 December.

Based on the information obtained during the mission, Ms. Manjoo will present a report with her final findings and recommendations to a forthcoming session of the Human Rights Council.

Ms. Rashida Manjoo (South Africa) was appointed Special Rapporteur on Violence against women, its causes and consequences in June 2009 by the UN Human Rights Council. As Special Rapporteur, she is independent from any government or organization and serves in her individual capacity. Ms. Manjoo also holds a part-time position as a Professor in the Department of Public Law of the University of Cape Town. Learn more, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/SRWomen/Pages/SRWomenIndex.aspx

UN Human Rights Country Page – Azerbaijan: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/ENACARegion/Pages/AZIndex.aspx

Check the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CEDAW.aspx

For more information and press inquiries, please contact:
In Azerbaijan: Kamran Baghirov (+ 994 124970569 / kamran.baghirov@ohchr.un-az.org), or Bernadette Arditi (+4179 752 0484 / barditi@ohchr.org)
In Geneva: Mariannick Koffi (+ 41 22 917 96 53 / mkoffi@ohchr.org), or Gabriela Guzmán (+41 22 917 9412/ gguzman@ohchr.org), or vaw@ohchr.org

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)

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