States are failing to meet their responsibility to end violence against women and girls.
Violence against women must be prioritized at all levels. It has not yet received the priority required to enable significant change. Leadership and political will is critical.
The most effective way to fight violence against women is a clear demonstration of political commitment by States, backed by action and resources.
To address the problem, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has identified five goals which his UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign aims to achieve in all countries by 2015.
Half the women Pavan Amara spoke to hadn’t felt able to attend screenings for cervical cancer or sexually transmitted infections. Photograph: Javier Larrea/Getty Images/age fotostock RM
Student nurse Pavan Amara, after sexual assault, found it difficult to be touched or look in the mirror. Now, she has helped set up the UK’s first specialist clinic for women trying to overcome similar problems’
By Laura Bates – 14 May 2015
“I couldn’t go to the doctor any more because I didn’t want to be touched. I didn’t want to be in a crowd [and] it affected my relationships, but the biggest thing it affected was my perception of my body and my body image. I felt terrible.”
Student nurse Pavan Amara, now 27, was raped as a teenager. It turned her life upside down and took her a very long time to come to terms with, she says. Even after she felt she had begun to “get everything back together”, she realised it still deeply affected her. Her relationship with her body, for instance, had changed dramatically. “I felt I was really abnormal for feeling that way,” she says. “I couldn’t look in the mirror or at photos of myself.”
The prohibition of discrimination and the protection of human rights are important elements of the EU legal order. Nevertheless, discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons persists throughout the EU, taking various forms including verbal abuse and physical violence. Sexual orientation is now recognised in EU law as a ground of discrimination. However, the scope of these provisions is limited and does not cover social protection, healthcare, education and access to goods and services, leaving LGBTI people particularly vulnerable in these areas. Moreover, EU competence does not extend to recognition of marital or family status. In this area, national regulations vary, with some Member States offering same-sex couples the right to marry, others allowing alternative forms of registration, and yet others not providing any legal status for same-sex couples. Same-sex couples may or may not have the right to adopt children and to access assisted reproduction.
The establishment of the Working Group by the Human Rights Council at its 15th session in September 2010 was a milestone on the long road towards women’s equality with men. Over the years, many constitutional and legal reforms to integrate women’s human rights fully into domestic law have occurred, but there remains insufficient progress. Discrimination against women persists in both public and private spheres in times of conflict and in peace. It transcends national, cultural and religious boundaries and is often fuelled by patriarchal stereotyping and power imbalances which are mirrored in laws, policies and practice.
The Working Group focus is to identify, promote and exchange views, in consultation with States and other actors, on good practices related to the elimination of laws that discriminate against women. The Group is also tasked with developing a dialogue with States and other actors on laws that have a discriminatory impact where women are concerned. It is also mandated to prepare a compendium of best practices related to the elimination of laws that discriminate against women or are discriminatory to women in terms of implementation or impact as well as to undertake a study on the way and means it can cooperate with States to fulfill their commitments in that regard.
The five member of the working group were appointed by the Human Right Council in March 2011 and assumed their functions on 1st May 2011.
Follow Up and Review - Overall Messages – 18 May 2015
1. A transformative and universal post-2015 development agenda requires strong accountability mechanisms at all levels – national, regional and global - to enable women and men to hold duty bearers to account for delivering on their commitments. All actors, including governments, the private sector and the UN system, must be accountable for their contributions to achieving all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and for ensuring that the entire framework contributes to the achievement of gender equality. The post-2015 development agenda will need a clear framework that specifies who is responsible for delivering on what and by when, and by what means.
2. Gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls and the full realization of their human rights are essential for the achievement of sustainable development and for building peaceful, just and equal societies. Therefore all levels of follow up and review – global, regional, national – as well as in thematic reviews must systematically integrate gender equality commitments. Follow up and review of gender equality commitments in the SDGs should be fully aligned with the implementation of CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action.
3. Civil society organizations, including women’s organizations, play an important role in monitoring progress and holding governments and other actors to account on their commitments. It is important that consistent and systematic space and resources are made available for civil society, grassroots and local organizations and individuals to participate in the implementation, follow up and review of the post-2015 agenda at local, national, regional and global levels.
