Dear colleagues,
Please find below a request for information from the Special Rapporteur on
violence against women, its causes and consequences (SRVAW) and myself, in
the context of the preparation of her final report to the 59th session of
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
***************************************************************************
I would like to inform you that Ms.Radhika Coomaraswamy will complete her
term of office as Special Rapporteur on violence against women in 2003. In
this context, the Special Rapporteur's report to the fifty-ninth session of
the Commission on Human Rights will be a follow-up report to evaluate how
effective the mechanism has been. The report will be divided into different
geopolitical regions, and will contain an analysis of how states have
implemented all of her previous recommendations, including those contained
in mission reports, to give an overview of the progress made in eliminating
violence against women since 1994.
The report will focus on a review of developments during the last 10 years
(1994-2003) in the following areas covered by the mandate:
- Violence against women in the family (eg domestic violence,
traditional practices.)
- Violence against women in the community (eg rape, sexual harassment,
trafficking)
- Violence against women perpetrated or condoned by the state (eg.
violence against women in detention and custodial violence, violence
against women in situations of armed conflict.)
Therefore we would like to request your kind assistance in preparing an
analysis (maximum 5 pages per country) of how recommendations, made by the
Special Rapporteur, to eliminate gender-based violence, in regards to the
three areas above, have been implemented by states and areas where there is
still need for action.
For example, it would be useful to include relevant country information on:
- The current status of ratification of the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Violence against Women, its Optional Protocol and other
relevant international instruments.
Please mention whether States when reporting to CEDAW or other
committees have referred to the work/recommendations of the Special
Rapporteur
- Any regional or national initiatives to strengthen the legislative and
policy framework to prevent, eliminate and prosecute violence against
women
- Any executive policies or plans of action that attempt to deal with the
question of violence against women
- Any relevant constitutional amendments that have been enacted. Is there
constitutional authority guaranteeing equality for women or the
prohibition of violence against women?
- Any relevant legislation that has been passed/amended in accordance with
international standards
- Has the Special Rapporteurs framework for model domestic violence
legislation been used?
- Is there national legislation and/or administrative sanctions providing
adequate redress for women victims of violence?
- Any specific directives with regard to the development of legal and
administrative mechanisms to ensure effective justice for victims of
violence
- Is the criminal justice system sensitive to the issues of violence
against women? In this regard, what is police practice? How many cases
are investigated by the police? How are victims dealt with by the
police? How many cases are prosecuted? What type of judgements are given
in such cases? Are the health professionals who assist the prosecution
sensitive to issues of violence against women?
- Is there gender training for the criminal justice system to ensure the
appropriate handling of cases of violence against women?
- Any important court cases
- Any statistical data on the incidence of gender-based violence
- Any support services for women victims of violence. Do women who are
victims of violence have support services such as shelters, legal and
psychological counselling, specialized assistance and rehabilitation
provided either by the Government or by non-governmental organizations?
- Have appropriate measures been taken in the field of education and the
media to raise awareness of violence against women as a human rights
violation and to modify practices that discriminate against women?
Please give examples of how the Special Rapporteur on violence against
women mechanism has been successfully used at the regional/national
level in efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women.
Where appropriate please include country specific factors and
difficulties facing implementation of the Special Rapporteurs
recommendations and principal areas of concern and recommendations for
future action to eliminate all forms of violence against women.
The Special Rapporteur will also follow up on all of her fact-finding missions
since 1994 (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and
Japan; Poland; Brazil; South Africa; Rwanda; USA; Indonesia and East Timor;
Cuba; Haiti; Afghanistan; Bangladesh, Nepal and India; Sierra Leone and
Colombia.) We welcome any up to date information/analysis (maximum 3 pages
per country) in regards to the state of implementation of her specific
recommendations to the countries named above.
Any information, recommendations or comments you can provide will
contribute significantly to the preparation of the Special Rapporteur's
report to the Commission on Human Rights. The Special Rapporteur would
appreciate receiving information at your earliest possible convenience, and
at the latest by 1 August 2002, through the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights, United Nations Office at Geneva. If possible please send
all contributions by Email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] which will greatly
facilitate the processing of data for the report.
More information about the mechanism and all of the Special Rapporteur's
reports can be found on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights website:
http://www.unhchr.ch/women/focus-violence.html
If you need any further information about the Special Rapporteur's progress
report on the elimination of violence against women, including follow-up to
fact finding missions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thanking you in advance for your much valued assistance.
With best regards
Christina Saunders
Assistant to the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes
and consequences
Activities and Programmes Branch
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
UNOG-OHCHR
CH-1210 Geneva 11
Switzerland
Tel. 41 22 917 9150
Fax. 41 22 9179006
Email. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
***End-violence is sponsored by UNIFEM and receives generous support from
ICAP***
To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type:
subscribe end-violence OR type: unsubscribe end-violence
Archives of previous End-violence messages can be found at:
http://www.edc.org/GLG/end-violence/hypermail/
