Background and objectives

At the invitation of the Government of Libya, 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 11 to 20 December 2022.

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 Tripoli, and she will also undertake field visits, to both urban and rural areas in different provinces, 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 and other relevant authorities; representatives from civil society organizations; women’s organisations; community and religious leaders (where relevant); groups of women and girls; relevant UN agencies; and international development and donor agencies working towards the elimination of violence against women and girls in the country.

At the end of the visit on 20 December 2022, 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 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 women and girls in all their diversity, including on domestic violence; and the extent to which international and regional human rights frameworks on women’s rights and the elimination of violence against women and girls are adhered to, in accordance with Libya’s human rights obligations;
• Cultural, religious and traditional legal frameworks in place to promote the rights of women and girls and protect them from all forms of gender-based violence;
• Efforts to prevent femicide, or gender-related killings, particularly with respect to protection measures, data collection and prevention strategies, including those related to gender-based killings of women and girls by family members;
• Violence against women of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, including in places of detention;
• Manifestations of violence (including online violence) against women activists, particularly women human rights defenders, women journalists and women politicians;
• Manifestations of violence, including sexual violence, against women and girls, who may be nationals of Libya, stateless persons, refugee, asylum seeker and other migrant women and girls in Libya;
• Sexual exploitation and trafficking of Libyan and foreign women and girls, including access by victims to essential services;
• Gender stereotyping and biases in judicial processes, including in sexual violence and child custody cases;
• Measures taken to support victims of violence from the conflict, including victims of sexual and gender-based violence;
• The impact of the conflict on women and girls, including restrictions on freedom of movement, access to services, forced displacement, impact of killings and enforced disappearances on women who become heads of households;
• Women’s enjoyment of their sexual and reproductive health and rights and access to sexual and reproductive health care;
• Coordination of essential services for women victims of violence or those at risk of violence, including shelters, one stop service centres, protection orders and other integrated services for victims of gender-based violence against women and girls.