41st session of the Human Rights Council, Statement by Ms. Dubravka Šimonović, Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its causes and consequences

Geneva, 27 June 2019

Mr. President,
Distinguished members of the Human Rights Council,
Excellencies, representatives of NGOs, NHRIs 
Ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you very much for this opportunity to engage in this constructive dialogue withyou in my capacity as Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and to present my annual thematic report which analyses 25 years of the mandate, the current challenges it faces and the way forward; along with my two country visit reports on Canada and Nepal.

Let me begin by presenting my thematic report.

Distinguished delegates,

When this mandate was established 25 years ago, by the then Human Rights Commission, on the initiative of Canada, the issue of violence against women was new on the human rights agenda, and was not recognised as a human rights violation. Today at the normative level violence against women is recognised as a violation of women’s human rights and as a form of discrimination against women and this mandate played an important role in the process of standard setting and reminding States of their due diligence obligation to combat and prevent violence against women and girls and provide remedies to survivors.

Over the last 25 years the mandate has evolved, including through its increased reporting opportunities: to the General Assembly since 2004; to the Commission on the Status of Women since 2008, and to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice since 2017.  Such engagement has increased the visibility of the mandate and enabled it to develop a more comprehensive and holistic approach to addressing violence against women and to address current challenges.

The current global context of women rights is marked by a rise in various women’s moments, such as #MeToo, #Ni Una Menos and Break the Silence, and their various manifestations across the world, that have been calling for an end to gender based violence against women and girls.  We are however also witnessing a mounting  backlash against women rights and a rise in retrogressive movements, both confirming the endemic and widespread nature of violence against women and its normalisation in all areas of public and private life.

The report provides progressive recommendations on strengthening the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and other independent mechanisms, including the need for the establishment of a more coordinated system wide approach on violence against women.  As such it also aims to contribute to the forthcoming 25 year review of the Beijing Platform for Action and other relevant review processes.

Ladies and gentlemen,

At the time of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur had only been in place for one year, yet even at that, the Beijing Platform for Action called for strong support for the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. I believe that the Beijing + 25 review process, and other relevant reviews, should also include an assessment of the indispensable role played by the mandate, the CEDAW Committee and other independent monitoring mechanisms, in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action and other relevant UN and regional women’s human rights instruments.

My report also outlines the shortcomings and fragmentation of the current system and calls for the development of a system wide approach to eliminate violence against women, including through the establishment of an institutional platform for cooperation between independent monitoring mechanisms aimed at accelerating implementation of the international and regional standards for the elimination of violence against women and girls.

In this regard, in 2017, I initiated the establishment and institutionalisation of a Platform of  international and regional independent mechanisms on women’s rights and violence against women (along with the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, the Platform includes: the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women; the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice; the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa; the Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention; and the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

To date the Platform has met during the Commission on the Status of Women, within the margins of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, and most recently before the Council of Europe Conference on Women’s Rights at the Crossroads, at which all mechanisms participated. We are planning to hold our next meeting in Africa.

The Platform has issued a number of joint statements, including on the International Day on the Elimination of Violence against Women; on the current push back against women’s rights; on the draft ILO Convention on violence against women and harassment in the work place; and most recently on Intimate partner violence against women as an essential factor in the determination of child custody.

The Platform initiative is currently supported by Switzerland, the Republic of Korea and Spain, and I would like to encourage other countries to also extend their support to this initiative.

In my report, I call for the adoption of a General Assembly resolution, or other appropriate measures, to institutionalise this Platform. This could perhaps include an initiative to invite the Platform of independent women human rights mechanisms to participate in an official panel at the Human Rights Council, on an issue of joint concern, during its Annual Discussion on violence against women. 

Distinguished delegates,

The report also addresses the current disconnect between the United Nations Trust Fund on violence against women and this mandate, and calls for the establishment of cooperation between the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and the UN Trust Fund as envisaged in its founding General Assembly resolution (50/166) of 1996 that requests the Fund to cooperate closely, among others, with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women (para 3).

Distinguished delegates

Strong cooperation exists between the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and the CEDAW Committee, and this cooperation was strengthened through the participation of the mandate in the elaboration of the Committee’s General Recommendation No. 35 on gender based violence against women in 2017; and the adoption of a framework of cooperation between the mandate and the Committee in which it is envisaged to develop a joint programme of work to promote and support the implementation of general recommendation No. 35 including through the development of further guidelines for its implementation at the national level. The collaboration between the two mandates could contribute to closing gaps in combating and preventing violence against women worldwide, and could lead to the adoption of an Optional Protocol to CEDAW on violence against women, in the future.  My mandate would also appreciate your support for such an initiative.

Distinguished delegates, 

As we are heading towards the Beijing +25 review and the five-year review of the Sustainable Development Goal No. 5, I believe that we must use this momentum to develop a new global system wide approach to eliminate violence against women and girls, and to exert more energy and resources on bridging the gap between international and national laws and policy and ensuring the implementation of such laws.  More support should also be extended to existing global and regional independent mechanisms on violence against women, including the aforementioned Platform, as a way forward for every woman and every girl.

Mr President, allow me to turn now to my two country reports,

Let me begin by expressing my appreciation to the Governments of Canada and Nepal for accepting my visit requests and for the excellent support provided throughout these visits.

Canada

I commend the considerable efforts made by the Government of Canada to introduce an array of policy initiatives on violence against women at the different federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions.  I observed a variety of good initiatives and policies that could be flagged out as examples of good practices that could be replicated in other provinces and territories of Canada and at the global level.

The report examines gaps and challenges in fulfilling the obligations of the State to eliminate violence against women, its causes and consequences, and recommends measures for preventing and combating violence against women in the country, especially concerning the situation of indigenous women and girls and other categories of women who encounter multiple forms of discrimination.

Canada’s federal structure and division of competencies concerning the protection of women’s rights among the federal, state and territory governments’, combined with the absence of strict obligations to apply the CEDAW provisions, results in different levels of protection for women across the territories.

For that reason I recommend the harmonisation of its laws, at all levels of the national jurisdiction, with the CEDAW Convention; as well as the enactment of a federal law on combating and preventing violence against women and domestic violence, and the ratification of the Belem do Para Convention along with the establishment of femicide observatories. 

Particularly worrisome is the situation of Indigenous women in the country. During the visit I witnessed the ongoing National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous women and girls and welcome its final report as a healing step forward that should be continued through the implementation of its findings, as well as the remaining recommendations outlined in the CEDAW Committees Inquiry report.  I also call for an urgent repeal of any remaining discriminatory provisions in the Indian act.

I would also like to highlight the recommendation to elaborate a comprehensive human rights based national action plan that addresses the structural factors causing persistent inequalities, including intersecting forms of discrimination against women and girls, with particular focus on disadvantaged groups of women and girls, including First Nations, Inuit, Métis, Afro-Canadian, disabled, migrant, refugee, asylum-seeking, single parent, and LGBTQ2S. 

There are many other important recommendations outlined in my report and I hope that the Government will follow up on them in a spirit of constructive dialogue that was initiated   during this visit.

Nepal

Over the past 20 years Nepal has experienced profound political change, with the successful completion of local, provincial, and federal elections in 2018 representing a significant turning point in the country’s recent political history and resulted in a record number of women representatives elected to office, including women from Dalit and indigenous communities. 

The new Constitution of 2015 contains a specific article on violence against women (art. 38 (3)), according to which no woman shall be subjected to physical, mental, sexual, psychological or other forms of violence or exploitation on the grounds of religion or social or cultural tradition or practice, or on any other grounds.

Despite these positive steps, my visit highlighted the major challenges that the country still faces in eliminating violence against women, and attaining gender equality in line with its new Constitutional and international commitments. Patriarchal social norms, as well as the persistence of discriminatory harmful practices like chhaupadi, child marriage, witchcraft, as well as dowry and cases of polygamy, are entrenched in the prevailing patriarchal and social stereotypes that contribute to the normalisation of violence that disproportionately affects women and girls, particularly those from marginalised groups, who face intersecting forms of discrimination.

Although I am not able to discuss in detail all of the issues addressed in my report, I wish to highlight some of my recommendations to the Government, such as: to enact a federal law on combating and preventing violence against women and domestic violence; expanding the definitions of family and domestic violence; expediting the adoption of the national strategy and action plan on gender empowerment and ending gender-based violence and the allocation of adequate resources for its implementation; the adoption of a specific national action plan on violence against Dalit and indigenous women; and the establishment of a femicide watch or observatories on violence against women.

During my visit I expressed my grave concern about reports suggesting that a number of cases related to sexual violence against women and girls, have resulted in impunity for the perpetrators. I recommend that full and comprehensive investigations are conducted into cases of gender-related killings, such as the case of 13 year old Nirmala Panta, and that perpetrators are brought to justice.

The current statute of limitation for initiating any legal proceedings with regard to the rape and sexual violence of women and girls, including victims of sexual violence during the conflict, also represents an obstacle to reporting such cases and I have recommended legislative changes in this regard.  In relation to victims of sexual violence during the conflict,   I recommend that access to adequate interim relief measures, including immediate access to medical and psychosocial care, as well as the provision of full and effective reparations, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation and guarantees of non-recurrence be granted as a matter of urgency.

There are many other important recommendations outlined in my report and I hope that the Government will follow up on them in sprit of constructive dialogue that we had during this visit.

Thank you.