International Human Rights Law

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

I. Introduction🔗

The Committee’s outstanding achievements in facilitating international standard setting for women’s human rights, including through its concluding observations, the elaboration of general recommendations and jurisprudence stemming from individual complaints and inquiries under the Optional Protocol, is highly valued and critical to the realization of the fundamental human rights of women in all corners of the globe. Although much has been accomplished, much remains to be done for the human rights of women.

Silvia Pimentel, Chair of the CEDAW Committee (2011-12)¹

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 18 December 1979. The Convention entered into force on 3 September 1981 ‘as the first global and comprehensive legally binding international treaty aimed at the elimination of all forms of sex- and gender-based discrimination against women’.² The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women monitors States’ implementation of the CEDAW.³

Note to reader

For an explanation of the Committee’s powers and other international legal mechanisms that may be available to enforce a State’s obligations under the CEDAW, please consult the “Ratification and Enforcement of Treaties” chapter, “International Human Rights Law” section.

I.1 Sexual Violence under the CEDAW🔗

Under article 1, ‘discrimination against women’ means any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of denying women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, their human rights and fundamental freedoms ‘in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field’. Discrimination against women includes gender-based violence.⁴

While gender-based violence typically describes violence committed against any persons because of their sex and socially constructed gender roles, under the CEDAW the term takes on a more woman-centric focus: the Committee has defined it as ‘violence which is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately’.⁵ Its prohibition has evolved into a principle of customary international law.⁶

‘Gender-based violence’ makes explicit the gendered causes and impacts of violence against women. It strengthens the understanding of such violence as a social rather than an individual problem, which is ‘affected and often exacerbated by cultural, economic, ideological, technological, political, religious, social and environmental factors’.⁷ It requires comprehensive responses, beyond those to specific events (including conflicts), individual perpetrators and victims/survivors.⁸ Sexual violence is a manifestation of gender-based violence.⁹

All acts of sexual violence may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Committee has quoted with approval the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ statement that ‘severe suffering of the victim is inherent in rape, even when there is no evidence of physical injuries or disease’.¹⁰ It has affirmed that the purpose and intent requirements for classifying acts of gender-based violence as torture ‘are satisfied when acts or omissions are gender-specific or perpetrated against a person on the basis of sex’. In determining whether gender-based violence amounts to torture or ill-treatment, ‘a gender-sensitive approach is required to understand the level of pain and suffering experienced by women’.¹¹

I.2 When Is Sexual Violence Conflict-Related?🔗

The CEDAW’s focus on women and girls is motivated by the fact that, unlike other sections of the population, they are primarily and increasingly targeted by the use of sexual violence, ‘including as a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instil fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group’. Sexual violence persists even after the cessation of hostilities: for most women in post-conflict environments, the violence does not stop with the official ceasefire or the signing of the peace agreement and often increases in the post-conflict setting.¹² As the higher exposure of women and girls to CRSV are due to gender inequalities which have been and are economically, socially and culturally constructed, the CEDAW requires that States address them holistically.

Conflicts intensify existing gender inequalities. Growing gender inequalities place women at a heightened risk of sexual violence by both State and non-State actors;¹³ sexual violence is indeed common in humanitarian crises.¹⁴ It ‘happens everywhere, such as in homes, detention facilities and camps for internally displaced women and refugees; it happens at any time, for instance, while performing daily activities such as collecting water and firewood or going to school or work’.¹⁵ In the absence of social protection schemes and in situations in which there is food insecurity combined with impunity for gender-based violence, ‘women and girls are often exposed to sexual violence and exploitation as they attempt to gain access to food and other basic needs for family members and themselves’.¹⁶

The Committee has stated that the term ‘conflict’ can be interpreted to include a variety of circumstances: ‘conflict prevention, international and non-international armed conflicts, situations of foreign occupation and other forms of occupation and the post-conflict phase’.¹⁷ The meaning of ‘conflict’ under the CEDAW is more extensive than in IHL, as it may also cover ‘internal disturbances, protracted and low-intensity civil strife, political strife, ethnic and communal violence, states of emergency and suppression of mass uprisings, war against terrorism’ and organised crime.¹⁸

As a rule, ‘a backdrop of high levels of violence against women’ should raise suspicion.¹⁹ The Committee has recognised that the transition from conflict to post-conflict ‘is often not linear and can involve cessations of conflict and then slippages back into conflict, a cycle that can continue for long periods’.²⁰ Nevertheless, the CEDAW continues to apply just as it does in peacetime. In situations that meet the threshold definition of international and non-international armed conflict, the CEDAW and IHL ‘apply concurrently and their different protections are complementary’.²¹

II. Legal Framework🔗

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
1. General Recommendations
2. Decisions
3. Reports
4. Concluding Observations

Note to reader

On the authoritativeness and the question of bindingness of the Committee’s work, consult the “International Human Rights Law” chapter, “Introduction” section, and the “Introduction” chapter, “Methodology” section.

III. Obligations🔗

Prevention🔗

III.1 States must criminalise CRSV🔗

Under article 2, States must adopt legislative and other measures prohibiting all forms of discrimination against women. States have a due diligence obligation ‘to prevent violence or violations of human rights, protect victims and witnesses from violations, investigate and punish those responsible, including private actors, and provide access to redress for human rights violations’.²² Criminalising sexual violence in all its forms is an important step in ending CRSV.²³

To do so successfully, States should:

Establish an effective and accessible legal framework to address all forms of gender-based violence against women committed by State agents, whether inside or outside their territory;²⁴
Characterise sexual violence, including rape, as a crime against the right to personal security and physical, sexual and psychological integrity. The definition of sexual crimes, ‘including marital and acquaintance or date rape’, should be based on the lack of freely given consent and take into account coercive circumstances;²⁵
Establish such measures ‘without delay’.²⁶ This language is unqualified, and does not allow for any delayed or purposely incremental implementation of the CEDAW. States cannot justify delays on any grounds, including political, social, cultural, religious, economic, resource or other constraints.²⁷

Forced marriage. During conflict, girls are particularly susceptible to forced marriage, a harmful practice that is increasingly used by armed groups. Families force girls into marriage for financial security and/or under the misconception that it may protect them against sexual violence from armed groups.²⁸ To safeguard women and girls’ rights to choose a spouse and enter freely into marriage,²⁹ States should:

Legislate that the minimum legal age of marriage, with or without parental consent, is 18 for both women and men. When a marriage at an earlier age is allowed in exceptional circumstances, the absolute minimum age must not be below 16, and the grounds for obtaining permission must be strictly defined by law. Further, the marriage must be permitted only by a court of law upon the full, free and informed consent of the child or both children, who must appear in person before the court;³⁰
Establish mechanisms to prevent, monitor and address early and forced marriages in partnership with women’s associations and other stakeholders, and in a confidential, gender-sensitive and child-friendly manner.³¹

III.2 States must incorporate the CEDAW in domestic law🔗

To eliminate all forms of gender-based violence, State should incorporate the CEDAW in domestic law and make it ‘directly applicable’.³² States should:³³

Embody the principle of equality of men and women in their national constitutions or other legislation;
Apply the principle of equality in the public and private spheres and across all areas of law;³⁴
Recognise women as right-holders, with particular consideration for victims/survivors of gender-based violence;³⁵
Ensure that constitutions provide for temporary special measures and apply to citizens and non-citizens;
Ensure that women’s human rights are not subject to derogation (i.e., suspended) in states of emergency;³⁶
Ensure that laws, policies, programmes and procedures do not discriminate against women;³⁷
Include gender-sensitive rather than gender-neutral language in their legislation, policies and programmes. Use of gender-neutral language ‘may lead to inadequate protection of women from direct and indirect discrimination, impede the achievement of substantive equality of women and men’³⁸ as well as result in ‘a fragmented approach to the recognition and enforcement of the human rights of women’.³⁹

Reservations. Reservations that are incompatible with the object and purpose of the CEDAW should be withdrawn.⁴⁰ Examples of incompatible reservations are reservations to article 2, concerning the implementation of the CEDAW at the domestic level, or article 16, concerning the equality of women with men in all matters relating to marriage and family relations, the compliance with which is crucial in efforts to eliminate gender-based violence against women.⁴¹

Temporary special measures. It is not enough to guarantee women treatment ‘that is identical to that of men’. Rather, States should consider biological as well as socially and culturally constructed differences between women and men. Under certain circumstances, non-identical treatment of women and men is required to address such differences.⁴²

States Parties should include, in their constitutions or in their national legislation, provisions that allow for the adoption of temporary special measures,⁴³ ‘in particular in the areas of employment, education and participation in political and public life’.⁴⁴ Temporary special measures are temporary measures aimed at accelerating equality between men and women in practice (such as quotas)⁴⁵ that must be immediately discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been achieved. States should:

Analyse women’s situation in both the private and public spheres of life, as well as in the specific, targeted area, when applying temporary special measures;⁴⁶
Explain the reasons for choosing one type of measure over another;⁴⁷
Provide explanations on any failure to adopt temporary special measures.⁴⁸

III.3 To protect women and girls from CRSV effectively, States must consider other instruments of international law when implementing their obligations under the CEDAW🔗

III.4 States’ obligations under the CEDAW must be fulfilled both within and outside their territory🔗

III.5 Decentralisation of power does not negate or reduce States’ obligations concerning CRSV🔗

III.6 States must address CRSV committed by private actors🔗

III.7 Special protection against CRSV is owed to women facing multiple, intersecting forms of discrimination🔗

The definition of discrimination contained in article 1 applies to all women and concerns all forms of discrimination.⁶³ States should pay particular attention to women who face multiple, intersecting forms of discrimination: the discrimination of women based on sex and gender ‘is inextricably linked with other factors that affect women, such as race, ethnicity, religion or belief, health, status, age, class, caste and sexual orientation and gender identity’.⁶⁴

Sexual violence may affect women belonging to such groups to a different degree or in different ways to men. States should:

Legally recognise and prohibit intersecting forms of discrimination and their compounded negative impact on women;
Adopt and pursue policies and programmes designed to eliminate intersectional discrimination, including temporary special measures.⁶⁵

Women and girls that are at particular risk of violence, especially sexual violence, during and after conflict, are ‘lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LBTI)’ women,⁶⁶ ‘internally displaced and refugee women; women’s human rights defenders; women of diverse caste, ethnic, national or religious identities, or other minorities, who are often attacked as symbolic representatives of their community; widows; and women with disabilities’. Female combatants and women in the military are also at risk of sexual assault and harassment by State and non-State armed groups and resistance movements.⁶⁷

Mothers and children born of rape. States have specific obligations as concerns mothers (whether women or girls) and children born of rape. To prevent the (re)occurrence of human rights violations, States should:

In the distribution of relief aid, prioritise ‘expectant mothers, maternity cases and nursing mothers in the context of conflict’;
Abolish the death penalty for pregnant women or mothers of dependent or young children;
Integrate child protection systems in the justice system to support mothers with subsidies for the upbringing of their child;
Provide mothers and children born of rape who wish to seek redress through justice mechanisms with free legal aid;
Recognise and treat children born of rape ‘as victims of conflict’, and include them ‘in all considerations regarding humanitarian aid, justice initiatives and diplomatic relations’;
Register children born of rape and ensure their right to a nationality. States should provide abandoned children with access to care services, birth certificates and the right to acquire a nationality. States should implement Identification programmes in a non-arbitrary and non-discriminatory manner ‘within a reasonable time-frame’;
Keep children born of conflict-related rape and their mothers informed and consulted on any decisions affecting them. States should involve them in conflict prevention, peace building and post-conflict reconstruction;
Provide children born of rape with ‘equal access to vocational training, life skills and socioeconomic support, sports and leisure activities, religion and cultural activities by means of an individualized plan that is adapted to the child’s needs’, and ‘psychosocial support and counselling, including to families’;
Develop and implement strategies ‘to identify young women and girls who are or have been used as soldiers and their children to provide them with effective reintegration assistance’. States should ensure that these strategies do not increase the stigma and exclusion faced by former girl soldiers;
Combat stigmatisation and social isolation of children born of rape through public awareness raising and education campaigns directed at State agencies, NGOs, communities and traditional and religious leaders. States should establish peer support groups and platforms ‘to enable women and children to share their experiences and provide mothers with parenting skills’.⁶⁸

Forcibly transferred women. Forced transfer covers the treatment of both internally displaced persons (i.e., persons who have been forced to flee their homes as a result of armed conflict)⁶⁹ and persons who have crossed an international border (asylum-seekers and refugees).⁷⁰ Forcibly transferred women are often subjected to gross human rights violations (including sexual violence, trafficking and the recruitment of girls into armed forces and rebel groups) during flight and displacement within conflict-affected areas, as well as within and outside camp settings.⁷¹

Under article 2, States should:

Ensure protection against forced transfer and protection of forcibly transferred women and girls’ human rights, including access to basic services, during flight, displacement and in the context of durable solutions;
Provide protection and assistance for internally displaced and refugee women and girls in all displacement settings, whether in camps, settlements or out-of-camp settings;
Ensure their equal access to services and health care and full participation in the distribution of supplies, as well as in the development and implementation of assistance programmes that take into account their specific needs;
Provide protection against the forcible transfer of Indigenous, rural and minority women with special dependency on land;
Make education and income-generation and skills training activities available.⁷²

Refugee and asylum-seeking women. Asylum seekers seek international protection because ‘they have a well-founded fear of persecution or are at risk of being ill-treated or subjected to other serious harm’ in their country of origin.⁷³ Under article 1(a)(2) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, persecution must be linked to one of the five grounds listed therein: race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. While gender-based violence is one of many factors determining women’s migration,⁷⁴ it is not an express ground according to which persecution may lead to refugee status.

As the CEDAW applies at every stage of the displacement cycle⁷⁵ in countries of origin, transit and destination,⁷⁶ in granting refugee status States should:

Use gender as a factor in recognising membership of a particular social group for the purpose of granting refugee status under the 1951 Convention;
Introduce other grounds of persecution, namely sex and/or gender, into national legislation and policies relating to refugees and asylum seekers;⁷⁷
Respect the principle of non-refoulement. States should not extradite, deport, expel or otherwise remove a person from their territory where there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk of irreparable harm in the country to which the person may subsequently be removed. Gender-based violence constitutes irreparable harm if it is serious. Gender-based violence, as a form of violence that might amount to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment, is frequently serious;⁷⁸
On a case-by-case basis, consider providing protection to a relative who may be accompanying the girl or woman seeking asylum.⁷⁹

Stateless women. Article 9 concerns women’s rights to acquire, change or retain their nationality. While human rights are to be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of nationality status, ‘in practice nationality is frequently a prerequisite’. Without nationality, girls and women ‘are subject to compounded discrimination as women and as non-nationals or stateless persons’,⁸⁰ as in the case of laws that require women to change nationality upon marriage or its dissolution, or that deny them the ability to pass on their nationality to their children.

In times of conflict, stateless women and girls face heightened risks of abuse because they do not enjoy the protections of citizenship, and because many are undocumented and/or belong to ethnic, religious or linguistic minority populations. Statelessness results in the ‘denial of fundamental human rights and freedoms in post-conflict periods’. For example, women may be denied access to health care, employment and other socioeconomic and cultural rights as States restrict services to nationals.⁸¹

States should:

Apply measures to prevent statelessness for women and girls, and address groups that are particularly susceptible to being rendered stateless by conflict, such as internally displaced, refugee, asylum seeker and trafficked women;
Keep measures to protect stateless women and girls in place before, during and after conflict;
Provide conflict-affected women and girls with identity documents issued in their own names.⁸²

Older women. The CEDAW is applicable at all stages of a woman’s life.⁸³ States should ensure the full development and advancement of women ‘throughout their life cycle in times of both peace and conflict’.⁸⁴ They should:

Ensure that all legal provisions, policies and interventions aimed at the full development and advancement of women do not discriminate against older women;⁸⁵
Pay special attention to the violence suffered by older women in times of armed conflict, the impact of armed conflicts on the lives of older women, and the contribution that older women can make to the peaceful settlement of conflicts and to reconstruction processes.⁸⁶

Rural women. Systematic discrimination, poverty and exclusion place rural women at higher risk of sexual violence.⁸⁷ Conflict causes the breakdown of already meagre services, resulting in further ‘food insecurity, inadequate shelter, deprivation of property and lack of access to water’. In such situations, States should coordinate all activities with stakeholders from the humanitarian and development communities to ensure a comprehensive approach that ‘reaches disadvantaged populations, including in remote and rural areas’.⁸⁸

Indigenous women. Indigenous women and girls are disproportionately at risk of gender-based violence. State action to prevent and address discrimination against Indigenous women and girls must integrate a ‘gender, Indigenous women and girls, intersectional, intercultural, and multi-disciplinary perspective throughout their lifespan’. This means:

A gender perspective considers the discriminatory norms, harmful social practices, stereotypes, and inferior treatment that have affected Indigenous women and girls historically, and still affect them in the present;
An intersectional approach requires a State to consider the multitude of factors which combine to increase the exposure of and exacerbate the consequences for Indigenous women and girls of unequal and arbitrary treatment;
An Indigenous women and girls’ perspective entails understanding the different experiences and needs of Indigenous women and men related to human rights protection. It also involves considering the status of Indigenous girls ‘as developing women, which requires interventions appropriate to their age, development and condition’;
An intercultural perspective considers the cultural diversity of Indigenous peoples;
A multidisciplinary approach appreciates the multifaceted identity of Indigenous women and girls, and how different disciplines ‘related to law, health, education, culture, spirituality, anthropology, economy, science, and work’ and promote discrimination against Indigenous women and girls.⁸⁹

Women detainees. Women are disproportionately criminalised owing to their situation or status, ‘such as being involved in prostitution, being a migrant, having been accused of adultery, identity as a lesbian, bisexual or transgender woman or intersex person, having undergone an abortion or belonging to other groups that face discrimination’,⁹⁰ and are frequently detained as a result.

States should pay special attention to the situation of women detainees and:

Monitor places of detention;
Apply international standards on the treatment of women in detention such as the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) and also the Guidelines on Justice in Matters involving Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime;⁹¹
Provide women with separate facilities (unless in family units) and materials to meet their specific hygiene needs;
Promote the use of female guards and warders. All staff assigned to work with women detainees should receive training relating to the needs and human rights of women;
Ensure the respectful treatment of detained women asylum seekers;⁹²
Refrain from detaining pregnant women and nursing mothers asylum seekers, who both have special needs;
Make alternatives to detention available to asylum seekers;⁹³
Use preventive detention as a last resort and for as short a time as possible, and avoid preventive or post-trial detention for petty offences and for the inability to pay bail in such cases.⁹⁴

III.8 States must address the underlying causes of CRSV and educate society on it🔗

Women’s exposure to gender-based violence will not be improved as long as the underlying causes of discrimination against women, and of their inequality, are not effectively addressed. States should adopt measures to transform opportunities, institutions and systems ‘so that they are no longer grounded in historically determined male paradigms of power’.⁹⁵ With the active participation of all relevant stakeholders, including women’s organisations and marginalised women and girls,⁹⁶ States must take measures to eliminate prejudices and customary practices ‘which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women’.⁹⁷ They should challenge and change patriarchal ideologies that limit girls and women from freely and fully’⁹⁸ enjoying their rights.⁹⁹

Appropriate measures include:

Integration of content on gender equality into curricula at all levels of education, both public and private, with a human rights approach. The content should target stereotyped gender roles and promote the values of gender equality and non-discrimination, including non-violent masculinities, and ensure accurate comprehensive sexuality education for all;
Awareness-raising programmes that:
1. Promote an understanding of gender-based violence against women as unacceptable and harmful;
2. Provide information about available legal recourses against gender-based violence and ‘encourage the reporting of such violence and the intervention of bystanders’;
3. Address the stigma experienced by victims/survivors of such violence;
4. Dismantle the commonly held victim-blaming beliefs under which women are responsible for their own safety ‘and for the violence that they suffer’;
5. Target women and men at all levels of society’ to prevent repeat offending.¹⁰⁰

Training. States should ‘provide mandatory, recurrent and effective capacity-building, education and training’ to adequately prevent and address gender-based violence against women for:¹⁰¹

Members of the judiciary, lawyers and law enforcement officers, including forensic medical personnel, individuals involved in alternative dispute resolution and traditional justice systems, all officials in rural areas and legislators;
Health-care professionals, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health;
All education, social and welfare personnel, including those working with women in institutions;
The police and military, including peacekeepers. States should adopt codes of conduct and protocols,¹⁰² ‘expressly prohibiting rape and all forms of sexual violence and that reports of alleged violations will result in a credible investigation, fair trial and appropriate sanctions’.¹⁰³

Education and training should promote understanding of the following:

How gender stereotypes and bias lead to gender-based violence against women and inadequate responses to it;
‘Trauma and its effects’, the power dynamics that characterise intimate partner violence, the varying situations of women experiencing intersecting forms of discrimination, and eliminating factors that lead to their revictimisation;
National legal provisions and national institutions on gender-based violence against women, the legal rights of victims/survivors and international standards;
The importance of women’s privacy and right to confidentiality, and victims/survivors’ free and informed consent.¹⁰⁴

Dissemination. States should translate the CEDAW, its Protocol and the Committee’s General Recommendations into national and local languages, including Indigenous and minority languages, and disseminate them widely to all branches of government and civil society.¹⁰⁵ Information should also be made available for women and girls with disabilities in formats such as braille, sign language, and other modes.¹⁰⁶

Media. States should adopt and implement effective measures to encourage the media to eliminate discrimination against women (including the harmful and stereotypical portrayal of women or specific groups of women such as women human rights defenders) from their activities, ‘including in advertising, online and in other digital environments’. Appropriate measures include:

Measures to encourage the creation or strengthening of self-regulatory mechanisms by media organisations, including online or social media organisations, to address gender-based violence against women ‘that takes place through their services and platforms’;
Guidelines for the appropriate coverage by the media of cases of gender-based violence against women;
Measures to establish or strengthen national human rights institutions’ capacity to monitor or consider complaints regarding any media that portray gender-discriminatory content;¹⁰⁷
Banning the sale of videogames or cartoons involving sexual violence against women which normalise and promote sexual violence against women and girls. When necessary, States should ensure they fall within the legal definition of child pornography.¹⁰⁸

III.9 States must provide girls with safe access to education🔗

III.10 States must provide women with access to safe employment🔗

III.11 States must eradicate trafficking🔗

Trafficking, as a form of sexual violence, is a human rights violation and can be a threat to international peace and security. Conflict and post-conflict situations can create demand for women’s exploitation. Conflict-affected regions are frequently areas of origin, transit and destination. Third-party countries facilitate trafficking when they restrict migrant influxes out of conflict-affected areas. Restrictive, sex-specific or discriminatory migration policies that limit opportunities for women and girls fleeing conflict zones heightens their vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking.¹¹⁷

Under article 6, States must take all appropriate measures to combat all forms of trafficking in women and exploitation of prostitution of women.¹¹⁸ They should:

Support increased access to pathways for safe and regular migration in women’s countries of origin and destination;¹¹⁹
Adopt and implement ‘comprehensive, victim-centred, child-sensitive and gender-sensitive anti-trafficking legislation’ criminalising trafficking at all jurisdiction levels;¹²⁰
Prevent trafficking and related human rights violations that occur under their jurisdiction, ‘whether perpetrated by public authorities or private actors’, and adopt specific protection measures for women and girls, including those who are internally displaced or refugees;
Supervise recruitment agencies and training centres due to their role in facilitating migration. States should monitor human rights abuses such as ‘illegal recruitment processes, including the traffickers of migrant women for forced labour and sexual exploitation’, and impose substantial penalties on companies ‘that fail to respect the rights of the employees they recruit’;¹²¹
Ensure that the national legal and policy framework does not adversely affect victim identification, assistance, protection, social inclusion and reintegration.¹²² Anti-trafficking efforts should not lead to innocent women and girls being:
1. Arbitrarily arrested, abused or falsely charged, in particular women belonging to marginalised groups and women in prostitution;¹²³
2. Punished for irregular entry or stay in countries of transit and destination for lack of documentation or for their involvement in unlawful activities as a direct consequence of their status as victims of trafficking;¹²⁴
Discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, ‘that leads to trafficking’;¹²⁵
Ensure that visa schemes do not discriminate against women or facilitate or result in their trafficking;
Adopt bilateral or regional agreements and other forms of cooperation to protect the rights of trafficked women and girls;
Adopt a comprehensive, gender-sensitive and rights-based migration policy to protect women and girls coming from conflict-affected areas against trafficking.¹²⁶ Trafficking in women and girls breaches the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and should be recognised as a legitimate ground for international protection;¹²⁷
Provide women seeking asylum and women refugees with education, health care, proper accommodation, training and/or job opportunities to facilitate their integration.¹²⁸ States should grant women whose asylum applications are denied ‘dignified and non-discriminatory return processes’.¹²⁹

Use of digital technology in trafficking. Digital technology ‘exposes potential victims to an increased risk of being trafficked’.¹³⁰ States should:

Call for social media and messaging platform companies to take responsibility ‘for exposing women and girls to trafficking and sexual exploitation through use of their services’;
Require that companies establish procedures to address trafficking ‘and provide the necessary level of information to the relevant authorities’;
Require that companies also use their capabilities to identify any pattern that could lead to trafficking and the involved parties, including on the demand side;
Call on digital technology companies to increase transparency;
Disincentivise the use of electronic currencies based on user anonymity;
Call for information-sharing between digital platforms to facilitate international cooperation in combating trafficking and sexual exploitation and to assist with law enforcement efforts;
Improve data collection, ensure that data is up to date and provide for reliable information-sharing;¹³¹
Penalise with financial sanctions providers of online platforms and online distributors ‘that fail to delete or block criminal content from their platforms’.¹³²

III.12 States should regulate the arms trade🔗

III.13 States must collect data on CRSV🔗

III.14 States must include women, including victims/survivors of CRSV, in political decision-making and development planning🔗

Under articles 7, 8 and 14, States must provide all women with meaningful opportunities to participate in political decision-making and development planning at all levels and in all sectors.

Participation in conflict-prevention processes. ‘[G]ender-blind conflict prevention measures cannot adequately predict and prevent conflict’. It is only by including female stakeholders and using a gendered analysis of conflict that States Parties can design appropriate responses.¹³⁹ States should:

Reinforce and support women’s formal and informal conflict prevention efforts;
Equally involve women in national, regional and international organisations, as well as in informal, local or community-based processes charged with preventive diplomacy;¹⁴⁰
Develop and evaluate all legislation, policies and programmes in consultation with civil society organisations, in particular women’s organisations, ‘including those that represent women affected by intersecting forms of discrimination’. States parties should encourage cooperation among all levels and branches of the justice system and the organisations that work to protect and support victims/survivors of gender-based violence against women;¹⁴¹
Meaningfully involve women, including marginalised women, ‘in monitoring attacks and in developing preventive, protective and peacebuilding measures’.¹⁴²

Participation in peace-making and post-conflict processes. Women’s equal, meaningful and effective participation in government, their appointment to leadership positions in government sectors and their participation as active members of civil society ‘are prerequisites for creating a society with lasting democracy, peace and gender equality’.¹⁴³ States should:

Adopt legislative and policy measures to eliminate discrimination against women in political and public life. States should ensure that women, civil society organisations focused on women’s issues and representatives of civil society from all backgrounds participate in the new, post-conflict structures of governance. States should provide women with leadership training to ensure their effective participation;¹⁴⁴
Adopt measures, including temporary special measures, to address the ‘broader context of gender discrimination and inequality in conflict-affected areas’, including conflict-related barriers linked to restrictions on mobility, security, fundraising, campaigning and technical skills;¹⁴⁵
Lay the foundations for gender equality in the transition period and beyond through post-conflict electoral reform and constitution-building processes;¹⁴⁶
Ensure that electoral reform and constitution-drafting processes:
1. Involve women equally;
2. Include women’s human rights under the CEDAW;
3. Adopt a proportional representation electoral system;
4. Regulate political parties;
5. Mandate electoral bodies to ensure compliance through sanctions;
6. Ensure the registration and voting of women voters;
7. Adopt a policy of zero tolerance towards all forms of violence that undermine women’s participation, including targeted violence by State and non-State groups against women campaigning for public office or women exercising their right to vote.¹⁴⁷

Participation in security sector reform and disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration. Post-conflict, women, especially female ex-combatants and women and girls associated with armed groups, face particular challenges. Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes often do not respond to their distinct needs. Many female ex-combatants have suffered gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence, ‘resulting in children born of rape, high levels of sexually transmitted diseases, rejection’ or stigmatisation by families and other trauma. Women’s social stigma, isolation and economic disempowerment can force some to remain in exploitative situations, such as with their captors, or turn them to illicit activities to survive.¹⁴⁸

States should:

Reform the security sector in a gender-sensitive and gender-responsive manner ‘that results in representative security sector institutions that address women’s different security experiences and priorities’;
Strengthen gender expertise and women’s roles in oversight of the security sector;
Equally involve women in all stages of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, ‘from negotiation of peace agreements and establishment of national institutions to the design and implementation of programmes’;
Ensure that disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes ‘specifically target female combatants and women and girls associated with armed groups as beneficiaries’, and address barriers to their equitable participation;
Provide age- and gender-specific disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration support;¹⁴⁹
Ensure that no perpetrator of gender-based violence ‘is maintained in the army and the police or is integrated into the army’.¹⁵⁰

Participation in migration policies. To develop effective, gender-sensitive migration policies, States should:

Promote the meaningful inclusion and participation of internally displaced and refugee women in all decision-making processes at all phases of migration, including in the planning and implementation of assistance programmes, camp management, and the choice of durable solutions;¹⁵¹
Involve migrant women in designing appropriate services, including mental health and psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive health, education and training, employment, housing and access to justice;¹⁵²
Design human rights-based and gender-sensitive anti-trafficking legislation, policy and programmes;
Continuously implement the CEDAW and the Trafficking in Persons Protocol in peace-making, stabilisation and reconstruction processes in line with UNSC resolutions.¹⁵³

Participation in law enforcement mechanisms. States should ensure the equal representation of women from all backgrounds at all decision-making levels in the armed forces, police, justice institutions and transitional justice mechanisms (judicial and non-judicial) ‘dealing with crimes committed during the conflict’.¹⁵⁴

States should ensure that women are equally represented in the judiciary and other law implementation mechanisms ‘as magistrates, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, lawyers, administrators, mediators, law enforcement officials, judicial and penal officials and expert practitioners, as well as in other professional capacities’.¹⁵⁵

With regard to transitional justice mechanisms, States should:

Involve women in the design, operation and monitoring of transitional justice mechanisms and all reparations programmes;
Facilitate and encourage women’s full collaboration and involvement in transitional justice mechanisms, including by ensuring that their identity is protected during public hearings and their testimony is taken by female professionals.¹⁵⁶

Participation in plural justice systems. Indigenous women and girls tend to be excluded from decision-making in local, national, and international processes, as well as in their own communities and Indigenous systems.¹⁵⁷ States should:¹⁵⁸

Promote the participation of Indigenous women and girls through measures, including temporary special measures,¹⁵⁹ in:
1. Decision-making within their communities, ancestral and other authorities;
2. Consultation processes over economic activities by State and private actors in Indigenous territories;
3. Public service and decision-making positions at the local, national, regional, and international levels;
4. Their work as human rights defenders;¹⁶⁰
In line with Security Council resolutions, ensure and create spaces for Indigenous women and girls to participate as decision-makers and actors in peacebuilding efforts and transitional justice processes;¹⁶¹
Ensure the equal participation of Indigenous women and girls at all levels ‘in the bodies established to monitor, evaluate and report on the operations of plural justice systems’.¹⁶²

III.15 States must report to the Committee on the measures they have adopted to eliminate CRSV🔗

III.16 States should ratify all international instruments relevant to the protection of women and girls🔗

States Parties are encouraged to ratify all international instruments ‘relevant to the protection of women’s rights in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict’, including:

The Optional Protocol to the CEDAW (1999);
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (2000);
The Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949;
The Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and its Protocol (1967);
The Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954) and Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961);
The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000);
The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance;¹⁶⁶
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998);¹⁶⁷
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.¹⁶⁸

Trafficking. Other instruments that are relevant to trafficking include:

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families;
The Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), and the Domestic Workers Recommendation, 2011 (No. 201);
The Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190);
The Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) and the Protocol thereto, the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), and the Forced Labour (Supplementary Measures) Recommendation, 2014 (No. 203);
The Slavery Convention and the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery;
The Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others;
The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the global compact on refugees.¹⁶⁹

III.17 States should rely on international cooperation to eliminate CRSV🔗

Justice and Accountability🔗

III.18 States must investigate and prosecute CRSV effectively🔗

Under article 2, States must investigate all instances of gender-based discrimination. To do so effectively, they should:

Ensure that the investigation is carried out without delay and with the victim/survivor’s participation. The authorities should provide the victim/survivor with information on progress in the investigation and the likelihood of a trial and its expected timeframe;¹⁷³
Use culturally and gender-sensitive procedures and practices, including the use of female police officers, in the investigation of violations during and after conflict to identify and address violations by State and non-State actors;¹⁷⁴
Avoid the revictimisation and stigmatisation of victims/survivors by:
1. Establishing special protection units and gender desks in police stations ‘to create supportive environments that encourage women to claim their rights’ and report crimes committed against them;¹⁷⁵
2. Ensuring that police officers take all reports seriously and treat victims/survivors with respect and dignity;¹⁷⁶
3. Undertaking investigations confidentially and sensitively; and
4. Giving equal weight to the testimony of women and girls as to that of men during investigations and trials;¹⁷⁷
Implement a policy of zero tolerance,¹⁷⁸ no matter the perpetrator. In cases involving UN peacekeepers, States should call for the UN to return peacekeepers suspected of committing sexual violence to the sending State(s) with a request to initiate domestic investigations and prosecutions;¹⁷⁹
Enhance criminal accountability, including by:
1. Ensuring the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judicial system;
2. Strengthening the capacity of security, medical and judicial personnel to collect and preserve forensic evidence relating to sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict contexts. Evidence should be collected in cooperation with civil society organisations and international investigative bodies, ‘including for prosecution before international courts, and in line with the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict‘;¹⁸⁰
3. Collaborating with other justice systems, including the International Criminal Court and international investigative bodies.¹⁸¹

III.19 States must ensure that victims/survivors of CRSV have access to justice🔗

In conflict, existing justice systems may be more likely to violate women’s rights than to protect them, which can deter victims from seeking justice. In the aftermath of conflict, transitional justice mechanisms frequently fail to fully address ‘the gendered impact of conflict’: the most egregious and pervasive conflict-related violations often remain unpunished.¹⁸²

Under article 5(a), States must expose and remove barriers that prevent women from exercising and claiming their rights and impede their access to effective remedies. They should:

Minimise conflict-related disruptions to legal and justice systems by developing response plans for the deployment of mobile or specialised reporting mechanisms, investigative teams and (specialised) courts, including in camps and settlement settings and for remote areas;¹⁸³
Incorporate both judicial and non-judicial mechanisms in transitional justice systems, including truth commissions and reparations ‘which are gender sensitive and promote women’s rights’;
Mandate transitional justice mechanisms to address all gender-based violations;
Reject amnesties for gender-based violence. Amnesties are impermissible if they interfere with victims/survivors’ right to an effective remedy, including reparation, or if they restrict victims’ and societies’ right ‘to know the truth about violations of human rights and humanitarian law’;¹⁸⁴
Reject statutory limitations for the prosecution of gender-based violence;¹⁸⁵
Ensure compliance with the recommendations and/or decisions issued by transitional justice mechanisms.¹⁸⁶

Accessible justice. Accessibility requires that all justice systems, both formal and quasi-judicial, ‘be secure, affordable and physically accessible to women, and be adapted and appropriate to the needs of women, including those who face intersecting or compounded forms of discrimination’.¹⁸⁷ To make justice accessible, States should:

Remove economic barriers to justice by providing legal aid and reducing fees for issuing and filing documents, as well as court costs, for women with low incomes;¹⁸⁸
Institutionalise systems of legal aid and public defence that are accessible, sustainable and responsive to the needs of women. States should provide such services ‘in a timely, continuous and effective manner at all stages of judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings’, including alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and restorative justice processes;¹⁸⁹
Remove linguistic barriers by providing independent and professional translation and interpretation services, and provide illiterate women with individualised assistance ‘to guarantee their full understanding of judicial and quasi-judicial processes’;¹⁹⁰
Ensure that all legal proceedings, protective and support measures and services concerning victims/survivors respect and strengthen their autonomy. Protective measures should consider the specific needs of women and their children and other dependants, and be provided irrespective of residency status or ability or willingness to cooperate in legal proceedings against the alleged perpetrator;
Develop and disseminate accessible information, ‘through diverse and accessible media and community dialogue’, aimed at women, in particular those affected by intersecting forms of discrimination, on the legal and social resources available to victims/survivors;¹⁹¹
Ensure access to the Internet and other information and communications technology (ICT) to improve women’s access to justice systems at all levels;
Ensure that the physical environment and location of judicial and quasi-judicial institutions and other services are ‘welcoming, secure and accessible to all women’, including financially;
Establish justice access centres, such as ‘one-stop centres’, which include a range of legal and social services. Centres should be accessible to all women, including those living in poverty and/or in rural and remote areas.¹⁹²

Quality justice. Justice systems should be of good quality to address gender-based violence effectively. States should ensure that they:

Adhere to international standards of ‘competence, efficiency, independence and impartiality, as well as to international jurisprudence’. States should widely distribute reports of court decisions applying the CEDAW;¹⁹³
Adopt indicators to measure women’s access to justice, including the United Nations indicators on violence against women;¹⁹⁴
Apply the principle of equality and interpret the law, to the maximum extent possible, in line with States’ CEDAW obligations.¹⁹⁵ States should never use domestic laws as justification for failures to carry out their international obligations.¹⁹⁶

Accountable justice. The accountability of justice systems refers to the monitoring of the actions of justice system professionals and of their legal responsibility when they violate the law.¹⁹⁷ To ensure that justice is accountable, States should:

Combat corruption and reform and strengthen the judicial system,¹⁹⁸ and ‘ensure its independence, impartiality and integrity’;¹⁹⁹
Ensure that judicial bodies do not apply ‘preconceived and stereotypical notions of what constitutes gender-based violence against women’ and what women’s responses to violence should be.²⁰⁰ These practices affect women’s rights to equality before the law, a fair trial and effective remedy;²⁰¹
Develop effective and independent mechanisms to observe and monitor women’s access to justice;
Effectively address identified discriminatory practices and acts by justice professionals ‘through disciplinary and other measures’;
Create a specific entity to receive complaints, petitions and suggestions with regard to all personnel supporting the justice system, ‘including social, welfare and health workers as well as technical experts’.²⁰²

Child-friendly justice. States should establish ‘independent, safe, effective, accessible and child-sensitive complaint and reporting mechanisms’ for children, particularly girls. Mechanisms should be in conformity with international norms, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and staffed by appropriately trained officials, in accordance with General Comment No. 14 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The best interests of the girl should be taken as a primary consideration.²⁰³ Failure to regard a girl’s interests as paramount constitutes gender-based violence.²⁰⁴

States should also ensure that children participating in legal processes have access to child-sensitive services to safeguard their rights and safety, and to limit the proceedings’ possible negative impacts. Protective action may include:

Limiting the number of times that a victim/survivor is required to give a statement, and not requiring them to face the perpetrator or perpetrators;
Appointing a guardian ad litem (i.e., for the purposes of legal proceedings, ‘especially where the perpetrator is a parent or legal guardian’);
Ensuring that child victims/survivors have access to adequate child-sensitive information about the process and fully understand what to expect.²⁰⁵

Plural justice systems. State laws, regulations, procedures and decisions can sometimes coexist with religious, customary, Indigenous or community laws and practices. This results in the existence of plural justice systems: therefore, multiple sources of law may be formally recognised as part of the national legal order or operate without an explicit legal basis.²⁰⁶

The presence of plural justice systems can limit women’s access to justice by perpetuating and reinforcing discriminatory social norms. Further, women may not be as familiar with all systems or know which system applies to them.²⁰⁷ States must ensure that women are protected against violations of their human rights by plural justice systems.²⁰⁸ States should:

Enact legislation to regulate the relationships between plural justice systems’ mechanisms to reduce the potential for conflict;
In cooperation with non-State actors, ensure that ‘religious, customary, Indigenous and community justice systems’ harmonise their norms, procedures and practices with the CEDAW and other international human rights instruments;
Provide safeguards against violations of women’s human rights. States should allow State courts or administrative bodies to review plural justice systems’ activities, ‘with special attention to village courts and traditional courts’;
Ensure that women have a real and informed choice concerning the applicable law and the judicial forum ‘within which they would prefer their claims to be heard’;
Ensure the availability of legal aid services for women to enable them to claim their rights within the various plural justice systems;
Foster constructive dialogue and formalise links between plural justice systems, ‘including through the adoption of procedures for sharing information among them’;²⁰⁹
Respect the different conceptions of justice and processes that non-Indigenous and Indigenous systems have, and ‘actively listen to and collaborate with Indigenous peoples’;
Have interpreters, translators, anthropologists, psychologists, cultural mediators with experience, Indigenous spiritual and medicinal authorities available during proceedings.²¹⁰

Alternative justice mechanisms. While alternative justice mechanisms such as mediation and conciliation ‘often provide women survivors with an opportunity to deal with their past in a safe setting and constitute official historical records’,²¹¹ States should:

Ensure that gender-based violence against women is not mandatorily referred to alternative dispute resolution procedures. Such procedures should be strictly regulated and allowed only when a specialised team has evaluated the free and informed consent of victims/survivors and that ‘there are no indicators of further risks to the victims/survivors or their family members’;
Ensure that procedures empower victims/survivors and are provided by professionals ‘specially trained to understand and adequately intervene in cases of gender-based violence against women’ without the stereotyping or revictimisation of women;²¹²
Ensure that processes such as truth and reconciliation commissions are not used as a substitute for investigations into and prosecutions of perpetrators for human rights violations committed against women and girls.²¹³ States should prohibit their use in home protection cases;²¹⁴
Ensure that support for reconciliation processes does not result in blanket amnesties for any human rights violations, especially sexual violence against women and girls.²¹⁵

III.20 States should abolish all practices and legal provisions that are discriminatory against women🔗

Under article 2(a), States should ensure that laws and policies, including in customary, religious and Indigenous systems, do not create or perpetuate existing inequalities, and repeal or modify them if necessary.²¹⁶ States should repeal:

‘Provisions that allow, tolerate or condone forms of gender-based violence against women’;
Provisions allowing medical procedures to be performed on women with disabilities without their informed consent;²¹⁷
Provisions that criminalise forms of behaviour that can be performed only or primarily by women, such as abortion;²¹⁸
Discriminatory evidentiary rules and procedures, including procedures allowing for the deprivation of women’s liberty to protect them from violence, practices focused on virginity and legal defences or mitigating factors based on culture, religion or male privilege, such as ‘traditional apologies, pardons from the families of victims/survivors or the subsequent marriage of the victim/survivor of sexual assault to the perpetrator’;
Judicial practices that disregard a history of gender-based violence to the detriment of women defendants;²¹⁹
Corroboration rules that discriminate against women as witnesses, complainants and defendants by requiring them to discharge a higher burden of proof than men ‘to establish an offence or seek a remedy’;²²⁰
Lack of measures to ensure equal conditions between women and men ‘during the preparation, conduct and aftermath of cases’;
Inadequate case management and evidence collection in cases brought by women, ‘resulting in systematic failures in the investigation of cases’;
Obstacles faced in the collection of evidence relating to emerging violations of women’s rights ‘occurring online’.²²¹

States should review and abolish all laws and practices that prevent or deter women from reporting gender-based violence, such as:

Practices causing stigmatisation of women who are fighting for their rights;
Guardianship laws that deprive women of legal capacity or restrict the ability of women with disabilities to testify in court by requiring permission from family or community members ‘before beginning legal action’;²²²
The practice of protective custody;
Requiring a medical certificate to initiate criminal proceedings for rape;²²³
Provisions that criminalise ‘being lesbian, bisexual or transgender, women in prostitution and adultery, or any other criminal provisions that affect women disproportionally’, including procedures ‘that result in the harshest penalties, including stoning, lashing and death’;
Restrictive immigration laws that discourage women, including migrant domestic workers, from reporting such violence;
Laws allowing for dual arrests in cases of domestic violence or for the prosecution of women ‘when the perpetrator is acquitted’;²²⁴
The issue of the disproportionately high number of Indigenous children institutionalised by child welfare authorities. Indigenous women victims/survivors of violence are reluctant to seek help from authorities for fear that their children will be taken away.²²⁵

III.21 States must protect and assist women complainants of and witnesses to CRSV before, during and after legal proceedings🔗

In the absence of protection, women complainants of and witnesses to gender-based violence may be afraid of resorting to justice for fear of retaliation. Under article 15, States must accord to women a legal capacity identical to that of men and the same opportunities to exercise that capacity. In particular, they must treat them equally ‘in all stages of procedure in courts and tribunals’.

To do so effectively, States should protect and assist women complainants of and witnesses to gender-based violence before, during and after legal proceedings, and:

Protect their privacy and safety, ‘including through gender-sensitive court procedures and measures’;²²⁶
In accordance with due process and fair trial, hold legal proceedings privately in whole or in part, or allow testimony to be given remotely or using communications equipment;²²⁷
Establish appropriate and accessible protective mechanisms to prevent further or potential violence, and refrain from requiring victims/survivors to initiate legal action. Mechanisms should include the issuance and monitoring of eviction, protection, restraining or emergency barring orders against alleged perpetrators, including adequate sanctions for non-compliance. Protective measures should avoid imposing an undue financial, bureaucratic or personal burden on women who are victims/survivors.
Determine the rights or claims of perpetrators or alleged perpetrators during and after judicial proceedings, ‘including with respect to property, privacy, child custody, access, contact and visitation’, in the light of women’s and children’s human rights to life and physical, sexual and psychological integrity, and the best interests of the child;²²⁸
Provide women in institutions, ‘including residential care homes, asylum centres and places of deprivation of liberty’, with protective and support measures against gender-based violence;
Establish and implement appropriate multisectoral referral mechanisms to ensure effective access to comprehensive services for survivors of gender-based violence, ‘ensuring the full participation of and cooperation with’ non-governmental women’s organisations;²²⁹
Ensure that persons and organisations fighting for women’s rights and representing victims/survivors are protected against threats, harassment and reprisal.²³⁰

Humanitarian Response🔗

III.22 States must provide victims/survivors of CRSV with appropriate care🔗

In conflict-affected areas, access to essential services such as health care, including sexual and reproductive health services, is disrupted. Consequently, women and girls are at a greater risk of unplanned pregnancy, severe sexual and reproductive injuries, contracting sexually transmitted infections and suffering other physical and psychological injuries following CRSV. The breakdown or destruction of health services, combined with restrictions on women’s mobility and freedom of movement, further undermines women’s equal access to health care, enshrined in article 12(1).²³¹

States must take measures to provide women of all ages and backgrounds with adequate protection and health services,²³² paying particular attention to ‘the physical and mental health needs of, including psychological support to, victimized women and children born of rape’.²³³ Adequate services include:

‘Universal and affordable’²³⁴ access to sexual and reproductive health and rights information;
Psychosocial support;
Family planning services, including emergency contraception ‘to reduce maternal mortality from unsafe abortions’;²³⁵
Maternal health services, including antenatal care, skilled delivery services, prevention of vertical transmission and emergency obstetric care;
Abortion services, particularly in the case of sexual violence.²³⁶ Abortion should be safe and occur in conditions ‘that protect women’s physical and mental health’;²³⁷
A patient privacy policy to ensure doctor-patient confidentiality, ‘specifically when treating women for abortion-related complications’;²³⁸
Post-abortion care;
Prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including post-exposure prophylaxis;
Treatment of injuries arising from sexual violence, complications of delivery or other reproductive health complications.²³⁹

Beyond the prompt provision of medical care to victims/survivors of sexual violence, States should also:

Provide women, their children and other family members with access to ‘financial aid, crisis centres’ and shelters;²⁴⁰
Establish a free, 24-hour hotline staffed by trained counsellors, to enable victims/survivors to report harmful practices, and to provide ‘referral to needed services and accurate information about harmful practices’;²⁴¹
Invest in technical expertise and allocate resources to address the distinct needs of women and girls subject to violence;²⁴²
Refrain from delegating responsibility or powers in the area of health care to private sector agencies.²⁴³

HIV. There is a strong association between gender-based violence and HIV, including the deliberate transmission of HIV, as a weapon of war, through rape.²⁴⁴ States should:

Ensure, without prejudice or discrimination, the right to sexual health information, education and services for all women and girls, even if not legally resident in the country. States Parties should provide adolescents with sexual and reproductive health education by properly trained personnel in programmes ‘that respect their right to privacy and confidentiality’;²⁴⁵
Provide women and girls, including those particularly at risk of HIV (for example, as a result of sexual exploitation), with access to ‘basic health services and information, including HIV prevention, treatment, care and support’;²⁴⁶
Provide post-exposure prophylaxis against HIV.²⁴⁷

Victims/survivors of trafficking. Victims/survivors of trafficking ‘are in need of high-quality support services with immediate availability’, which should be inclusive and accessible, include access to information on their rights, the medical, psychological, social and legal services available to them, as well as to safe and appropriate accommodations.²⁴⁸ States should:

Provide victims/survivors of sexual violence with immediate access to sufficient, adequately funded, well-equipped shelters and separate units within shelters and crisis centres ‘which are safe, accessible and appropriate for trafficked women and girls’, including women accompanied by children;²⁴⁹
Create regularly updated national guidelines for the early identification and referral of, and the provision of services to, victims/survivors or presumed victims. The guidelines should integrate a ‘rights-based, victim-centred, age-appropriate, gender-sensitive and trauma-informed approach;
Have multidisciplinary teams identify victims/survivors and refer them to assistance services. Teams should include professionals from all relevant fields and not be exclusively led by law enforcement or immigration authorities or be linked to the initiation or outcome of criminal proceedings;²⁵⁰
Strengthen healthcare systems’ capacities for the early identification of and intervention for women and girls who are at risk of being trafficked and victims/survivors of trafficking, irrespective of migration status, ‘ensuring confidential and safe access to free health care’;
Collaborate with civil society organisations, ‘including through strengthening their human, technical and financial resources’, to identify, assist and protect victims/survivors of trafficking at an early stage, ‘including through the operation of mobile units’, safe disclosure procedures and safe spaces;²⁵¹
Provide individualised, gender-sensitive, child-sensitive and trauma-informed emergency and longer-term access to ‘accommodations, welfare benefits, educational and employment opportunities, high-quality medical care, including sexual and reproductive health services and counselling, the issuance of official identification documents free of charge, family reunification measures and asylum procedures’. States should grant girl victims/survivors residence permits for an indefinite duration, in line with their best interests, ‘to enable access to a durable solution that is sustainable and secure in the long-term’.²⁵²

Training for health workers. Beyond the requirements of obligation III.8, States should incorporate comprehensive, mandatory, gender-responsive courses on women’s health and human rights, in particular gender-based violence, into training curricula for health workers, ‘including in emergency services’.²⁵³ States should ensure that the training of health workers includes information on the rights of women with disabilities and women belonging to Indigenous, minority and other marginalised groups.²⁵⁴

Reparations🔗

III.23 States must provide victims/survivors of CRSV with remedies🔗

For women to be truly equal with men before the law,²⁵⁵ States must give women remedies in the case of gender-based violence, whether committed by a State or non-State actor.²⁵⁶

States should provide and enforce appropriate and timely remedies for discrimination against women, and provide women, including their families,²⁵⁷ with access to ‘all available judicial and non-judicial remedies’. Appropriate remedies are ‘adequate, effective, promptly attributed, holistic and proportional to the gravity of the harm suffered’,²⁵⁸ including moral harm and prejudice.²⁵⁹

Remedies should include, as necessary, restitution (reinstatement), compensation (whether provided in the form of money, goods or services) and rehabilitation (medical and psychological care and other social services, ‘including sexual, reproductive and mental health services for a complete recovery’). Remedies for civil damages and criminal sanctions should not be mutually exclusive.²⁶⁰

In the provision of remedies, States should:

Ensure that non-judicial remedies, ‘such as public apologies, public memorials and guarantees of non-repetition granted by truth, justice and reconciliation commissions’, are not used as substitutes for investigations and prosecutions of perpetrators of human rights violations in conflict or post-conflict contexts;²⁶¹
Consider the unremunerated domestic and caregiving activities of women to determine appropriate compensation for harm ‘in all civil, criminal, administrative or other proceedings’, and contextualise harm in its ‘gender dimension’;
Ensure that remedies, rather than re-establishing the situation that existed before the violations of women’s rights, ‘seek to transform the structural inequalities that led to the violations of women’s rights, respond to women’s specific needs and prevent their reoccurrence’;
Establish specific funds for remedies, such as ‘a nationwide reparation scheme’,²⁶² or include allocations in the budgets of existing funds, including under transitional justice mechanisms, for reparations to victims/survivors of gender-based violence against women.²⁶³ States should create women-specific funds to provide women with adequate reparation in situations ‘in which the individuals or entities responsible for violating their human rights are unable or unwilling to provide such reparation’;²⁶⁴
Implement administrative reparations schemes without depriving victims/survivors of their right to seek judicial remedies. States should prioritise ‘the agency, wishes, decisions, safety, dignity and integrity’ of victims/survivors.²⁶⁵

Victims/survivors of trafficking. Victims/survivors of trafficking often encounter significant difficulties in claiming compensation and other forms of reparation, including damages, for the harm suffered at the hands of either public or private actors.²⁶⁶ States should:

Refrain from making redress conditional upon cooperation with law enforcement authorities;
Provide victims/survivors with access to ‘high-quality, gender-sensitive, trauma-informed legal aid and representation’;
Refrain from linking residency permits to criminal justice processes. Repatriation should not occur prior to seeking or obtaining civil remedies;
Ensure that the victim/survivor does not bear the burden of proof in civil claims;
Identify victims/survivors of trafficking as victims of a crime for the purpose of reparations owed under law;
Make monetary compensation available, or redistribute the proceeds of crimes to victims/survivors.²⁶⁷

Note to reader

Due to the interrelatedness and interdependency of all human rights, readers should refer to the “International Human Rights Law” chapter, subchapter on the “Convention against Torture” to find a detailed explanation of the various forms of reparations, when they are appropriate, and how they are intended to remedy the harms caused in direct favour of victims/survivors. Additional resources on reparations are available in the “Further Readings” chapter.

Previous3. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)Next5. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)

Footnotes

S Pimentel, 'Statement by Ms. Silvia Pimentel, Chair of the CEDAW Committee on the 30^th Anniversary of the Committee' (OHCHR, November 2012) <www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/CEDAW/30thAnniversaryCEDAW/StatementByChairForAnniversaryEvent.pdf> accessed 6 March 2023.
D Šimonović, 'Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Introductory Note' (UN Audiovisual Library of International Law, December 2008) <https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/cedaw/cedaw.html> accessed 14 March 2023.
Established under CEDAW, art 17.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 19: Violence against Women' (Eleventh Session, 1992) UN Doc A/47/38 para 6 and ‘General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19’ (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 2.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 19: Violence against Women' (Eleventh Session, 1992) UN Doc A/47/38 para 6 and ‘General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19’ (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 2.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 2.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 14.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 23 and 28(b).
Fernández Ortega et al v Mexico (Judgment) IACtHR (30 August 2010) para 124; CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 footnote 24.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 17.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 35.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 34.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 37 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Disaster Risk Reduction in the Context of Climate Change' (13 March 2018) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/37 para 56; CEDAW Committee, 'Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Forty-Fourth Session (20 July-7 August 2009) and Forty-Fifth Session (18 January-5 February 2010)' (30 April 2010) UN Doc A/65/38 para 6.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 34.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 37 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Disaster Risk Reduction in the Context of Climate Change' (13 March 2018) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/37 para 5.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 4.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 4.
Communication No. 75/2014 Reyna Trujillo Reyes and Pedro Arguello Morales v Mexico, Views Adopted by the CEDAW Committee under Article 7, Paragraph 4 of the Optional Protocol (29 August 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/67/D/75/2014 para 2.6.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 4.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 20.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Harmful Practices' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18 footnote 6.
CEDAW, art 2(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 22.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 29(e).
CEDAW, art 2.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/28 para 29.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 62.
CEDAW, arts 16(1)(a)-(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Harmful Practices' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18 para 55(f).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Harmful Practices' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18 para 55(i).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Liberia' (7 August 2009) UN Doc CEDAW/C/LBR/CO/6 para 13; CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Montenegro' (4 November 2011) UN Doc CEDAW/C/MNE/CO/1 para 9(b).
CEDAW, arts 2(a) and 15.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 paras 42(a)-(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 26(a).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 73(c)
CEDAW, arts 2(c) and (g); CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 22
CEDAW 'Committee, Concluding Observations on the Ninth Periodic Report of Denmark' (9 March 2021) UN Doc CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/9 paras 14(c) and 15(c).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Azerbaijan' (12 July 2022) UN Doc CEDAW/C/AZE/CO/6 para 9.
CEDAW, art 28(2).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 13.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 25: Article 4, Paragraph 1, of the Convention (Temporary Special Measures)' (Thirtieth Session, 2004) para 8.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 25: Article 4, Paragraph 1, of the Convention (Temporary Special Measures)' (Thirtieth Session, 2004) para 31.
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Guyana' (7 August 2012) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GUY/CO/7-8 para 19.
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Seventh and Eighth Periodic Reports of Austria' (22 March 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/AUT/CO/7-8 para 31.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 25: Article 4, Paragraph 1, of the Convention (Temporary Special Measures)' (Thirtieth Session, 2004) para 27.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 25: Article 4, Paragraph 1, of the Convention (Temporary Special Measures)' (Thirtieth Session, 2004) para 28.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 25: Article 4, Paragraph 1, of the Convention (Temporary Special Measures)' (Thirtieth Session, 2004) para 29.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 23-24.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 13.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 25.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 26 and 28(a).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 13-14.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 12(a) and (c).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/28 para 39; CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Seventh and Eighth Periodic Reports of Germany' (9 March 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/DEU/CO/7-8 para 12.
CEDAW, art 2.
CEDAW Committee, ‘Report on Mexico Produced by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, and Reply from the Government of Mexico’ (27 January 2005) UN Doc CEDAW/C/2005/OP.8/MEXICO para 272.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/28 para 39.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 13.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 24(a); Communication No. 116/2017 S.H. v Bosnia and Herzegovina, Views Adopted by the CEDAW Committee under Article 7 (3) of the Optional Protocol (26 August 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/76/D/116/2017 para 8.3.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 24(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 17(b)-(c).
CEDAW, art 2.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/28 para 18.
CEDAW, art 4(1); CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/28 para 18
CEDAW Committee, 'General recommendation No. 39 on the Rights of Indigenous Women and Girls' (26 October 2022) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/39 para 22.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 36.
CEDAW and CRC Committees, 'Ensuring Prevention, Protection and Assistance for Children Born of Conflict Related Rape and Their Mothers: Joint Statement by CEDAW and CRC' (19 November 2021) pp 3-6.
UN Economic and Social Council, 'Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement' (11 February 1998) UN Doc E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2.
See J M Henckaerts and L Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Volume I: Rules (ICRC and Cambridge University Press 2005) rule 129; CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 53.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 53.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 57.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 32 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Refugee Status, Asylum, Nationality and Statelessness of Women' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/32 para 13.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 26 on Women Migrant Workers' (5 December 2008) UN Doc CEDAW/C/2009/WP.1/R para 8.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 32 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Refugee Status, Asylum, Nationality and Statelessness of Women' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/32 para 11.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 26 on Women Migrant Workers' (5 December 2008) UN Doc CEDAW/C/2009/WP.1/R para 9.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 32 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Refugee Status, Asylum, Nationality and Statelessness of Women' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/32 paras 13 and 23. ↩
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 32 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Refugee Status, Asylum, Nationality and Statelessness of Women' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/32 paras 13 and 23; Communication No. 33/2011 M. N. N. v Denmark, Decision Adopted by the CEDAW Committee at Its Fifty-Fifth Session, 8-26 July 2013 (15 August 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/55/D/33/2011 para 8.9
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Harmful Practices' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18 para 55(m).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 32 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Refugee Status, Asylum, Nationality and Statelessness of Women' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/32 para 51.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 58-60.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 61.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 27 on Older Women and Protection of Their Human Rights' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/27 para 15.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 27 on Older Women and Protection of Their Human Rights' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/27 para 30.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 27 on Older Women and Protection of Their Human Rights' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/27 para 30.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 27 on Older Women and Protection of Their Human Rights' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/27 para 38.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 34 (2016) on the Rights of Rural Women' (7 March 2016) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/34 paras 5-6.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 51 and 52(e).
CEDAW Committee, 'General recommendation No. 39 on the Rights of Indigenous Women and Girls' (26 October 2022) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/39 paras 4-5 and 9.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 49.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 51(n).
See CEDAW, arts 1, 2, 5(a) and 12.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 32 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Refugee Status, Asylum, Nationality and Statelessness of Women' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/32 para 34.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 51(p).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 25: Article 4, Paragraph 1, of the Convention (Temporary Special Measures)' (Thirtieth Session, 2004) para 10.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 30(b).
CEDAW, art 5.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 36 on the Right of Girls and Women to Education' (27 November 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/36 para 27(a).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 para 21.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 paras 30(b)(i)-(ii).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 30(e).
CEDAW Committee, 'Report of the Inquiry Concerning Canada of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (30 March 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/OP.8/CAN/1 para 217; CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 38(c).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Report of Myanmar Submitted under the Exceptional Reporting Procedure' (18 March 2019) UN Doc CEDAW/C/MMR/CO/EP/1 para 36.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 paras 30(e)(i)-(iii).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/28 para 1.
CEDAW Committee, 'General recommendation No. 39 on the Rights of Indigenous Women and Girls' (26 October 2022) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/39 para 23(f).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 paras 30(d)(i)-(iii).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Japan' (7 August 2009) UN Doc CEDAW/C/JPN/CO/6 para 36.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 36 on the Right of Girls and Women to Education' (27 November 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/36 paras 47-48.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 36 on the Right of Girls and Women to Education' (27 November 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/36 paras 50(a)-(b) and (d).
CEDAW and CRC Committees, 'Ensuring Prevention, Protection and Assistance for Children Born of Conflict Related Rape and Their Mothers: Joint Statement by CEDAW and CRC' (19 November 2021) p 3.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 52(a).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 36 on the Right of Girls and Women to Education' (27 November 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/36 para 50(c).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Indonesia' (7 August 2012) UN Doc CEDAW/C/IDN/CO/6-7 30(a).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Eighth Periodic Report of Ukraine' (9 March 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/UKR/CO/8 para 37(g).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 52(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 para 40.
CEDAW, art 6.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 paras 56(a)-(e).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 paras 112(a)-(f)
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Indonesia' (7 August 2012) UN Doc CEDAW/C/IDN/CO/6-7 para 44(e).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 para 82.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 para 76.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 para 98.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 para 30; see Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, art 9(5).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 paras 56-58.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 para 24.
CEDAW, arts 3, 10 and 13.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 32 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Refugee Status, Asylum, Nationality and Statelessness of Women' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/32 para 24.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 para 30.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 paras 71-72 and 74.
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Eighth Periodic Report of the Republic of Korea' (14 March 2018) UN Doc CEDAW/C/KOR/CO/8 para 23(d).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 29.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 33(e).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Harmful Practices' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18 para 37.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 38(d).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 paras 34(b) and (e).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 34(c)-(d).
CEDAW Committee, ‘General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations’ (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 30.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 33(a)-(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 paras 34(a).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 36 on the Right of Girls and Women to Education' (27 November 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/36 para 50(e).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 42.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 46(c)-(d).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 43-44.
See Security Council resolution 1325 (2000); CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 70.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 73(a)-(f).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 67-68.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 69(b)-(f)
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Sixth and Seventh Periodic Reports of the Democratic Republic of the Congo' (30 July 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/COD/CO/6-7 para 10(e).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 57(c).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 37 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Disaster Risk Reduction in the Context of Climate Change' (13 March 2018) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/37 para 78(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 para 48.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 46(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 15(f).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 81(e)-(f).
CEDAW Committee, 'General recommendation No. 39 on the Rights of Indigenous Women and Girls' (26 October 2022) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/39 para 43.
CEDAW, art 7.
CEDAW Committee, 'General recommendation No. 39 on the Rights of Indigenous Women and Girls' (26 October 2022) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/39 para 46(a).
CEDAW Committee, 'General recommendation No. 39 on the Rights of Indigenous Women and Girls' (26 October 2022) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/39 para 43.
CEDAW Committee, 'General recommendation No. 39 on the Rights of Indigenous Women and Girls' (26 October 2022) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/39 para 46(g).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 64(f).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 83.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/28 para 23.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 27 and 84.
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Kenya' (5 April 2011) UN Doc CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/7 para 52.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 87(a)-(g).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Eighth Periodic Report of Ukraine' (9 March 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/UKR/CO/8 para 29(a).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 paras 121-122.
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Kenya' (5 April 2011) UN Doc CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/7 para 54.
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Kenya' (5 April 2011) UN Doc CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/7 para 54.
CEDAW Committee, ‘Concluding Observations on the Report of Myanmar Submitted under the Exceptional Reporting Procedure’ (18 March 2019) UN Doc CEDAW/C/MMR/CO/EP/1 para 48.
Communication No. 116/2017 S.H. v Bosnia and Herzegovina, Views Adopted by the CEDAW Committee under Article 7 (3) of the Optional Protocol (26 August 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/76/D/116/2017 para 8.4.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 17(d).
Communication No. 116/2017 S.H. v Bosnia and Herzegovina, Views Adopted by the CEDAW Committee under Article 7 (3) of the Optional Protocol (26 August 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/76/D/116/2017 para 8.4.
CEDAW Committee, 'Report of the Inquiry Concerning Canada of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (30 March 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/OP.8/CAN/1 para 217(c)(ii).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 81(h).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 38(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Côte d'Ivoire' (8 November 2011) UN Doc CEDAW/C/CIV/CO/1-3 para 29(b); CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Eighth and Ninth Periodic Reports of Haiti' (4 March 2016) UN Doc CEDAW/C/HTI/CO/8-9 para 24(f).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Ninth Periodic Report of Ukraine' (31 October 2022) UN Doc CEDAW/C/UKR/CO/9 para 16 (c)(i).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 81(j); CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Report of Myanmar Submitted under the Exceptional Reporting Procedure' (18 March 2019) UN Doc CEDAW/C/MMR/CO/EP/1 para 28.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 76.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 81(k).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Eighth Periodic Report of Ukraine' (9 March 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/UKR/CO/8 para 11(d).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 19(f).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 81(a)-(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 14(c).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 17(a).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 37(a).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 17(b)
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 31(d).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 paras 17(c)-(f).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (16 December 2010) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/28 para 38(c).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 paras 18(a)-(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Montenegro' (4 November 2011) UN Doc CEDAW/C/MNE/CO/1 para 9(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 32 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Refugee Status, Asylum, Nationality and Statelessness of Women' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/32 para 33.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 14(f).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Eighth Periodic Report of Ukraine' (9 March 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/UKR/CO/8 para 19(a).
See CEDAW, arts 2(d) and (f) and 5(a); CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 38(c).
D Šimonović, 'Rape as a Grave, Systematic and Widespread Human Rights Violation, a Crime and a Manifestation of Gender-Based Violence against Women and Girls, and Its Prevention: Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes And Consequences' (19 April 2021) UN Doc A/HRC/47/26 para 33.
CEDAW, arts 2 and 15; CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 26(c); Communication No. 65/2014 S.T. v Russian Federation, Views Adopted by the CEDAW Committee under Article 7 (3) of the Optional Protocol (8 April 2019) UN Doc CEDAW/C/72/D/65/2014 para 9.5.
CEDAW Committee, ‘General Recommendation No. 33 on Women’s Access to Justice’ (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 paras 20(a)-(c).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 25(b).
Communication No. 32/2011 Isatou Jallow v Bulgaria, Views Adopted by the CEDAW Committee at Its Fifty-Second Session, 9-27 July 2012 (28 August 2012) UN Doc CEDAW/C/52/D/32/2011 para 8.6.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Harmful Practices' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18 para 87(d).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 paras 61-62.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 paras 61-62.
CEDAW, arts 2, 5(a) and 15.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 paras 64(a)-(e) and (g).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 39 on the Rights of Indigenous Women and Girls' (26 October 2022) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/39 para 27.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 78.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 32(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 78.
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Eighth Periodic Report of the Republic of Korea' (14 March 2018) UN Doc CEDAW/C/KOR/CO/8 para 23(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 81(c).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Liberia' (7 August 2009) UN Doc CEDAW/C/LBR/CO/6 para 15.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 29(c)(i).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 47(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 29(c)(ii).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 25(a)(iii).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 paras 25(a)(i)-(vii).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 paras 25(a)(i).
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Eighth and Ninth Periodic Reports of Haiti' (4 March 2016) UN Doc CEDAW/C/HTI/CO/8-9 para 22(d).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 paras 29(c)(i)-(iii).
CEDAW Committee, 'Report of the Inquiry Concerning Canada of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (30 March 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/OP.8/CAN/1 para 218(d).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 31(a)(i).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 18(f).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 31(a)(ii).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 paras 31(a)(iv)-(v).
CEDAW Committee, 'Report on Mexico Produced by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, and Reply from the Government of Mexico' (27 January 2005) UN Doc CEDAW/C/2005/OP.8/MEXICO para 282.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 50.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 24: Article 12 of the Convention (Women and Health)' (Twentieth session, 1999) UN Doc A/54/38/Rev.1 paras 16 and 25.
CEDAW and CRC Committees, 'Ensuring Prevention, Protection and Assistance for Children Born of Conflict Related Rape and Their Mothers: Joint Statement by CEDAW and CRC' (19 November 2021) p 3.
CEDAW Committee, 'Summary of the Inquiry Concerning the Philippines under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (22 April 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/OP.8/PHL/1 para 52(a).
CEDAW Committee, 'Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Twenty-Second Session (17 January-4 February 2000) and Twenty-Third Session (12-30 June 2000)' (17 Augusto 2000) UN Doc A/55/38 para 130.
Communication No. 22/2009 L.C. v Peru, Views Adopted by the CEDAW Committee at Its Fiftieth Session, 3 to 21 October 2011 (25 November 2011) UN Doc CEDAW/C/50/D/22/2009 para 8.18.
Communication No. 22/2009 L.C. v Peru, Views Adopted by the CEDAW Committee at Its Fiftieth Session, 3 to 21 October 2011 (25 November 2011) UN Doc CEDAW/C/50/D/22/2009 para 9.2.
CEDAW Committee, 'Summary of the Inquiry Concerning the Philippines under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women' (22 April 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/OP.8/PHL/1 para 52(e).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 52(c).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 16(b); CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 31(a)(iii).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Harmful Practices' (14 November 2014) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18 para 87(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 paras 38(f)-(g).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 24: Article 12 of the Convention (Women and Health)' (Twentieth session, 1999) UN Doc A/54/38/Rev.1 para 17.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 24: Article 12 of the Convention (Women and Health)' (Twentieth session, 1999) UN Doc A/54/38/Rev.1 para 18.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 24: Article 12 of the Convention (Women and Health)' (Twentieth session, 1999) UN Doc A/54/38/Rev.1 para 18.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 52(d).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 31(a)(iii).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 para 40.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 paras 93-95.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 paras 77-78.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 paras 80-81.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 paras 93-95.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 37 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Disaster Risk Reduction in the Context of Climate Change' (13 March 2018) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/37 para 68(g).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 37 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Disaster Risk Reduction in the Context of Climate Change' (13 March 2018) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/37 para 68(g).
CEDAW, art 15(1).
CEDAW, art 2(c); Communication No. 22/2009 L.C. v Peru, Views Adopted by the CEDAW Committee at Its Fiftieth Session, 3 to 21 October 2011 (25 November 2011) UN Doc CEDAW/C/50/D/22/2009 para 8.16; CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 37 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Disaster Risk Reduction in the Context of Climate Change' (13 March 2018) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/37 para 51(d).
CEDAW Committee, 'Report on Mexico Produced by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, and Reply from the Government of Mexico' (27 January 2005) UN Doc CEDAW/C/2005/OP.8/MEXICO para 280 and 292.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 paras 19(a)-(b).
Communication No. 119/2017 O.N. and D.P. v Russian Federation, Views Adopted by the CEDAW Committee under Article 7 (3) of the Optional Protocol (3 April 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/75/D/119/2017 para 7.11.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 paras 19(a)-(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 19(f).
Communication No. 116/2017 S.H. v Bosnia and Herzegovina, Views Adopted by the CEDAW Committee under Article 7 (3) of the Optional Protocol (26 August 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/76/D/116/2017 para 10.
CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Bosnia and Herzegovina' (12 November 2019) UN Doc CEDAW/C/BIH/CO/6 para 16(e); CEDAW Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Ninth Periodic Report of Ukraine' (31 October 2022) UN Doc CEDAW/C/UKR/CO/9 para 44(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 33 on Women's Access to Justice' (3 August 2015) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/33 para 19(d).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19' (26 July 2017) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/35 para 33(b).
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations' (1 November 2013) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/30 para 15.
CEDAW Committee, 'General Recommendation No. 38 on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration' (20 November 2020) UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/38 para 43.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

I. Introduction🔗

I.1 Sexual Violence under the CEDAW🔗

I.2 When Is Sexual Violence Conflict-Related?🔗

II. Legal Framework🔗

III. Obligations🔗

Prevention🔗

III.1 States must criminalise CRSV🔗

III.2 States must incorporate the CEDAW in domestic law🔗

III.3 To protect women and girls from CRSV effectively, States must consider other instruments of international law when implementing their obligations under the CEDAW🔗

III.4 States’ obligations under the CEDAW must be fulfilled both within and outside their territory🔗

III.5 Decentralisation of power does not negate or reduce States’ obligations concerning CRSV🔗

III.6 States must address CRSV committed by private actors🔗

III.7 Special protection against CRSV is owed to women facing multiple, intersecting forms of discrimination🔗

III.8 States must address the underlying causes of CRSV and educate society on it🔗

III.9 States must provide girls with safe access to education🔗

III.10 States must provide women with access to safe employment🔗

III.11 States must eradicate trafficking🔗

III.12 States should regulate the arms trade🔗

III.13 States must collect data on CRSV🔗

III.14 States must include women, including victims/survivors of CRSV, in political decision-making and development planning🔗

III.15 States must report to the Committee on the measures they have adopted to eliminate CRSV🔗

III.16 States should ratify all international instruments relevant to the protection of women and girls🔗

III.17 States should rely on international cooperation to eliminate CRSV🔗

Justice and Accountability🔗

III.18 States must investigate and prosecute CRSV effectively🔗

III.19 States must ensure that victims/survivors of CRSV have access to justice🔗

III.20 States should abolish all practices and legal provisions that are discriminatory against women🔗

III.21 States must protect and assist women complainants of and witnesses to CRSV before, during and after legal proceedings🔗

Humanitarian Response🔗

III.22 States must provide victims/survivors of CRSV with appropriate care🔗

Reparations🔗

III.23 States must provide victims/survivors of CRSV with remedies🔗

Footnotes

Partners

In collaboration with