In Depth UN CSW Declaration End Violence against Women prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls

In Depth  UN CSW  Declaration End Violence against Women  prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls

The ongoing session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York seeks to ratify a declaration euphemistically entitled ‘End Violence against Women’,

8 February 2013  - Draft presented by CSW Bureau

Commission on the Status of Women
57th   session 4 – 15 March 2013

The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls

Draft agreed conclusions

1.
The Commission on the Status of Women reaffirms the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action, the outcome documents of the twenty-third special session of the
General Assembly, and the declarations adopted by the Commission on the occasion
of the tenth and fifteenth anniversaries of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

The Commission also reaffirms the  international  commitments made in the Programme of Action at the International Conference on Population and Development and the key actions for its further implementation

2.
The Commission reiterates that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms  of
Discrimination against Women  and its Optional Protocol,  the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities  and  the
relevant conventions of the International Labour Organization,  provide a legal
framework for the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women
and girls

3.
The Commission reaffirms the commitment to the full and effective implementation
of and follow-up to all relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, in particular the
Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence Against Women,  and the
Economic and Social Commission  and its subsidiary bodies on the elimination and
prevention of all forms of  violence against women  and girls
It also reaffirms its previous sets of
agreed conclusions on violence against women and the girl child, as well as relevant
Security Council and Human Rights Council resolutions

4.
The  Commission stresses  that  “violence against women” means any act  of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or
psychological harm or suffering to women  and girls, including  threats of such acts,
coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private
life

5.
The Commission  condemns  all  forms of  violence against women and girls. It
recognizes  their changing manifestations and contexts  and  that intimate partner
violence and domestic violence remain  the most prevalent forms. It also notes that
particular groups of women and girls who face multiple  and intersecting  forms of
discrimination are exposed to increased risk of violence

6.
The Commission recognizes that  violence against women and girls occurs  in all
countries, contexts and settings and is one of the most pervasive violations of human
rights. Violence against women and girls is a manifestation of the historically unequal
power relations between men, women, and systemic gender-based discrimination

7.
The Commission  urges States to strongly  condemn all forms of violence against
women  and girls  and  to  refrain from invoking any custom, tradition or religious
consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination as set out in the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women
8.
The Commission urges all States to  meet their obligations  at all levels,  using all
appropriate means of a legal, political, administrative, and social nature,  to promote
and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, including women and
girls, and to exercise due diligence to  prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish the
perpetrators of violence against women and girls and eliminate impunity

9.
The Commission  stresses that the  achievement  of gender equality and the
empowerment of women in all its  dimensions  is  essential for addressing the root
causes of violence against women and girls. It also recognizes that the prevention of
and response to violence  are interlinked,  requiring  States  to  act at each and every
opportunity  and  to  adopt  a  comprehensive  and holistic  approach  that ensures
accountability

10.
The Commission welcomes the progress made in addressing violence against women
and girls such as the adoption of laws and policies, the implementation of prevention
measures, the establishment of support services for survivors and improvements in
data collection, analysis,  and research.  The Commission also welcomes the
contributions and participation by all stakeholders including  governments, women’s
and other civil society organizations and survivors in efforts to address violence
against women and girls

11.
The Commission recognizes  that despite  progress made,  significant gaps and
challenges remain  in ending the scourge  of violence  against women and girls.  It is
concerned about the gap between commitments  and action;  the  inadequate
implementation of legal and policy frameworks; the insufficient allocation of funding
and resources; and that existing efforts are not comprehensive, coordinated, consistent,
sustained or adequately monitored and evaluated

 
12.
The Commission stresses that ending violence against women and girls  is an
imperative for the achievement of gender equality, human rights, peace and security,
development and the internationally agreed development goals, in particular the
Millennium Development Goals

13.
The Commission urges  governments, the relevant entities of the United Nations
system, international and regional organizations,  women’s  and other civil society
organizations,  and  the private sector,  to take the following actions  at the national,
regional, and global levels as relevant:

A.  Strengthening implementation of legal and policy frameworks and accountability

a)  Ratify and  fully  implement  the  Convention  on the  Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination against Women, withdraw all reservations to the Convention, and
ratify or accede to its Optional Protocol;  and  include detailed information on
measures taken to end violence against women and girls in reports to  the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women so as to increase
accountability

b)  Adopt and accelerate the  effective  implementation  of comprehensive  legal
frameworks that criminalize violence against women and girls;  mandate
protection and support services and  prevention  measures;  and  cover  the
prosecution  and punishment  of  perpetrators to end impunity

c)  Implement  multisectoral  national  action plans  and  policies , which include
measures for prevention, services, and responses, data collection,  research,
monitoring and evaluation;  the establishment of coordination mechanisms;  the
allocation of resources; and  clear  timelines and  benchmarks  for results to be
achieved

d)  Ensure that in conflict, post-conflict, transitional, and other humanitarian settings,
the prevention and response  to all  forms of violence against women and girls,
including sexual violence,  are  adequately  addressed, including through  the
provision of reparations and the meaningful involvement of women and women’s
organizations

e)  Strengthen bilateral, sub-regional, regional, and international cooperation
mechanisms and initiatives, including information exchanges on best practices, of
governments  and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations,  to
address the transnational organized crime problem of trafficking in persons,
especially women and children

f)  Strengthen  governance and  coordination and  oversight  mechanisms to ensure
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of laws, national action plans  and
policies
 
g)
Allocate  dedicated  and sufficient  resources for the full implementation of laws,
national action plans and policies to address violence against women and girls
including through the expanded use of gender-responsive budgeting

h)
Ensure that efforts to end violence against women and girls are a priority area in
aid allocation and development cooperation.

i)  Encourage private sector investment in programmes and strategies to prevent and
respond to violence against women and girls.

j)  Institutionalize  mandatory  and ongoing  capacity  building  for  public officials
working in the areas of education, health, social welfare, justice and immigration,
as well as the  judiciary, police and military,  to  adequately address  violence
against women and girls  in a gender-sensitive manner;  and  put in place
accountability mechanisms to ensure compliance of public officials with laws and
regulations

k)  Enhance consultation  and participation among all stakeholders in all efforts to
address violence against women and girls,  especially with survivors of violence
and their  organizations, so that their knowledge and experience can fully inform
policies and programmes

B.  Addressing structural causes and risk factors to prevent violence against women
and girls

l)
Accelerate efforts to eliminate discrimination against women and girls and ensure
women’s equal enjoyment of  all human rights and fundamental freedoms,
including  the  right to  education,  health,  social security, land, property,
inheritance, employment, participation, and decision-making in all spheres of life

m)  Accelerate efforts to address social and economic  inequalities,  the poverty of
women  and girls  and  their  lack of  empowerment to reduce their  vulnerability to
discrimination and violence

n)  Promote and protect the human rights of all women and girls, including their right
to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their
sexuality free of coercion, discrimination, and violence,  their right to the highest
standard of health,  including sexual and reproductive health,  and their
reproductive rights

o)  Adopt and accelerate the implementation of laws, policies and programmes which
protect and enable the enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms,
including their reproductive rights,  by all women and girls

p)  Prohibit and take action to eliminate harmful  practices, including  harmful
customary practices and all other practices based on the idea of the inferiority or
superiority of either of the sexes; and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviours that
generate,  foster and  perpetuate  discrimination and violence against women and
girls  such as  child, early  and  forced marriage, sex  selection, female genital
mutilations  and  crimes committed in the name of honour

q)  Mobilize communities and engage every individual  at  all levels of society,
including  religious and traditional leaders through the special role they play in
communities, to change behaviours and practices that  perpetuate and  condone
discrimination and violence in all spaces (based on E/CN.6/2013/4 para.89 (n)).

r)  Carry out awareness-raising  campaigns  through different means of
communication, which target the general public, young people and men and boys,
address the  structural  causes of all forms of violence against women and girls,
promote zero tolerance for such violence and remove the stigma of being a victim
of violence

s)  Encourage the media to develop self-regulatory  guidelines  that  promote gender-sensitive reporting of violence against women

t)  Develop educational programmes, including  comprehensive evidence-based
sexuality education, that promote  and build skills for  respectful relationships
based on gender equality and human rights, at all levels of formal and non-formal
education  with  the involvement of  adolescents, youth,  parents, and communities

u)  Implement strategies and programmes  to support and enable  men  and boys  to
adopt  attitudes  and behaviours  that are based on gender equality and respectful
relationships

v)  Implement programmes and measures which  encourage the equal sharing of
responsibilities between men and women in child rearing and parenting, domestic
work and caregiving

w)  Work with and engage  men and boys to take  responsibility for their sexual and
reproductive behavior, refrain from all forms  of  violence against women and
girls  and act to stop and to prevent such violence

x)  Develop  targeted programmes for children and young people who have
experienced or witnessed violence to reduce the risk of their possible future
perpetration of violence or victimization

y)  Ensure that  public and private  sector  workplaces are  free from violence,
especially sexual harassment;  and  that they  address  violence against women  and
girls through regulatory and oversight frameworks and reforms, codes of conduct,
protocols and procedures, as well as awareness raising and capacity building,  in
collaboration with employers and workers

z)  Increase women’s and girls’ safety from violence and harassment in public spaces
through  awareness raising and the involvement  of  local communities, enhancing
crime prevention,  and  improved  urban planning,  infrastructures  and public
transport

     C. Strengthening multisectoral services and responses to violence against women
and girls –
 
aa)
Establish  the full range of multisectoral services and responses  for  all forms of
violence  against  women and girls  that  are sustained  and  include  responses from
police and the justice sector, shelters, legal aid, health-care  services,  including
services  for  sexual and reproductive health, psycho-social counseling and
support, 24-hour hotlines,  and services for  accompanying children at shelters,  as
well as long-term assistance and support

bb)
Take measures to ensure universal access to multisectoral services and responses
for all women and girls subjected to violence including adolescent girls, those in
rural areas and urban slums and those who suffer multiple and intersecting forms
of discrimination such women and girls with disabilities, women and girls living
with HIV, widows,  and indigenous and migrant women and girls;  and establish
benchmarks and timelines towards this end

cc) Expand  referral mechanisms  between multisectoral services  and implement
information sharing protocols that respect the confidentiality and safety of
survivors to ensure adequate integration and coordination 
59 (m, n)).

dd)
Address the health consequences, including the physical, mental and sexual and
reproductive health consequences,  of violence against women and girls  by
providing services that include first line support, treatment of injuries and
psychosocial and mental health support, also emergency contraception, safe
abortion where such services are permitted by the law, prophylaxis for   sexually
transmitted infections,  as well as forensic examinations by appropriately trained
professionals for those women  who wish to pursue legal action  (based on the
WHO guidelines (2003) and forthcoming WHO clinical and policy guidelines
on “Responding to intimate partner violence and sexual violence against
women”).

ee)
Expand the availability of services and opportunities, especially free legal advice
and economic support, including housing and employment, for survivors and their
children  to ensure  their empowerment,  recovery, and reintegration into society

ff)
Work towards a set of global standards to ensure the  quality and consistency of
services and responses, beginning with those required in the immediate aftermath
of violence and progressively including those required for longer term recovery of
survivors (E/CN.6/2013/3 para.59 (q)).

D.     Improving the evidence-base

gg)
Carry out research and analysis on the structural causes  of, and  risk factors for
violence against women and girls and its prevalence in order to inform the
development of laws, national action plans, strategies and policies and make such
information public to  support  awareness raising 

hh)
Collect, analyse and disseminate  reliable data on a regular basis,  at  the  national
and local  levels, on different forms of violence against women and girls, its
causes and consequences, disaggregated by sex, age and other relevant factors, to
inform  the  formulation, monitoring  and evaluation of laws, policies and
programmes

ii)
Collect data  on a regular basis,  in accordance with the  indicators on  violence
against women,  endorsed by the Statistical Commission,  and in accordance with
global ethical and safety standards

jj)
Monitor and evaluate  measures and programmes to address violence against
women and girls  and  the feasibility of scaling up  such measures,  including
through the development of indicators and evaluation tools,  which  are  also
practical and feasible for small organizations and low-income countries

14.
The Commission emphasizes that ending of violence against women and girls is not
an  option but  must be  a priority for  the achievement  of  sustainable development,
peace and security, human rights, economic growth and social cohesion. The
Commission  strongly recommends  that  the elimination of violence against women
and girls be reflected as a priority area in the post-2015 development framework with
clear targets  and  indicators  for the  realization  of gender equality

The above documents and demands will face lot of opposition because of selfish interest of humans particularly males

The excellent charter or demands by CSW

Reality views by sm –

Friday, March 15, 2013

Tags – Freedom Human Rights Women Rights