The Elimination Of Violence Against Women

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

The most broadly defined of violence against women (VAW) is provided by the Fourth World Conference on Women, 1993 General Assembly Declaration of the Elimination of Violence against Women (resolution48/104 of December 1993). Article 1 and 2 of this resolution offer the following definition:

"Violence against women" means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life."

Violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to, the following:-

(a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation;

(b) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution;

(c) Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs.

Acknowledgement of Rights to Women [1] are entitled to the equal enjoyment and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. These rights include, inter alia:

The right to life;

The right to equality;

The right to liberty and security of person;

The right to equal protection under the law;

The right to be free from all forms of discrimination;

The right to the highest standard attainable of physical and mental health;

The right to just and favourable conditions of work;

The right not to be subjected to torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Giving directions to State, it was declared that States should condemn violence against women and should not invoke any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination. States should pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating violence against women and, to this end, should:

Consider, where they have not yet done so, ratifying or acceding to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women or withdrawing reservations to that Convention;

Refrain from engaging in violence against women;

Exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons;

Develop penal, civil, labour and administrative sanctions in domestic legislation to punish and redress the wrongs caused to women who are subjected to violence; women who are subjected to violence should be provided with access to the mechanisms of justice and, as provided for by national legislation, to just and effective remedies for the harm that they have suffered; States should also inform women of their rights in seeking redress through such mechanisms;

Consider the possibility of developing national plans of action to promote the protection of women against any form of violence, or to include provisions for that purpose in plans already existing, taking into account, as appropriate, such cooperation as can be provided by non-governmental organizations, particularly those concerned with the issue of violence against women;

Develop, in a comprehensive way, preventive approaches and all those measures of a legal, political, administrative and cultural nature that promote the protection of women against any form of violence, and ensure that the re-victimization of women does not occur because of laws insensitive to gender considerations, enforcement practices or other interventions;

Work to ensure, to the maximum extent feasible in the light of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international cooperation, that women subjected to violence and, where appropriate, their children have specialized assistance, such as rehabilitation, assistance in child care and maintenance, treatment, counselling, and health and social services, facilities and programmes, as well as support structures, and should take all other appropriate measures to promote their safety and physical and psychological rehabilitation;

Include in government budgets adequate resources for their activities related to the elimination of violence against women;

Take measures to ensure that law enforcement officers and public officials responsible for implementing policies to prevent, investigate and punish violence against women receive training to sensitize them to the needs of women;

Adopt all appropriate measures, especially in the field of education, to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women and to eliminate prejudices, customary practices and all other practices based on the idea of the inferiority or superiority of either of the sexes and on stereotyped roles for men and women;

Promote research, collect data and compile statistics, especially concerning domestic violence, relating to the prevalence of different forms of violence against women and encourage research on the causes, nature, seriousness and consequences of violence against women and on the effectiveness of measures implemented to prevent and redress violence against women; those statistics and findings of the research will be made public;

Adopt measures directed towards the elimination of violence against women who are especially vulnerable to violence;

Include, in submitting reports as required under relevant human rights instruments of the United Nations, information pertaining to violence against women and measures taken to implement the present Declaration;

Encourage the development of appropriate guidelines to assist in the implementation of the principles set forth in the present Declaration;

Recognize the important role of the women's movement and non-governmental organizations worldwide in raising awareness and alleviating the problem of violence against women;

Facilitate and enhance the work of the women's movement and non-governmental organizations and cooperate with them at local, national and regional levels;

Encourage intergovernmental regional organizations of which they are members to include the elimination of violence against women in their programmes, as appropriate. [2] 

The organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations system should, within their respective fields of competence, contribute to the recognition and realization of the rights and the principles set forth in the present Declaration and, to this end, should, inter alia:

Foster international and regional cooperation with a view to defining regional strategies for combating violence, exchanging experiences and financing programmes relating to the elimination of violence against women;

Promote meetings and seminars with the aim of creating and raising awareness.

Foster coordination and exchange within the United Nations system between human rights treaty bodies to address the issue of violence against women.

Include in analyses prepared by organizations and bodies of the United Nations system of social trends and problems, such as the periodic reports on the world social situation, examination of trends in violence against women;

Encourage coordination between organizations and bodies of the United Nations system to incorporate the issue of violence against women into ongoing programmes, especially with reference to groups of women particularly vulnerable to violence;

Promote the formulation of guidelines or manuals relating to violence against women, taking into account the measures referred to in the present Declaration;

Consider the issue of the elimination of violence against women, as appropriate, in fulfilling their mandates with respect to the implementation of human rights instruments;

Cooperate with non-governmental organizations in addressing the issue of violence against women. [3] 

OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON THE ELEMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN 1999

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by the General Assembly on 6 October 1999. As of July 2010, it had been ratified or acceded to by 99 States.

It has been recalling the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (the Convention), in which the States Parties thereto condemn discrimination against women in all its forms and agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women. The State Parties also Reaffirming their determination to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by women of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and to take effective action to prevent violations of these rights and freedoms.

According to this Protocol the States agreed on:-

A State Party to the present Protocol recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to receive and consider communications submitted by or on behalf of individuals or groups of individuals, under the jurisdiction of a State Party, claiming to be victims of a violation of any of the rights set forth in the Convention by that State Party. Where a communication is submitted on behalf of individuals or groups of individuals, this shall be with their consent unless the author can justify acting on their behalf without such consent. [4] 

Communications shall be in writing and shall not be anonymous. No communication shall be received by the Committee if it concerns a State Party to the Convention that is not a party to the present Protocol. [5] 

The Committee shall declare a communication inadmissible where:-

(a) The same matter has already been examined by the Committee or has been or is being examined under another procedure of international investigation or settlement;

(b) It is incompatible with the provisions of the Convention;

(c) It is manifestly ill-founded or not sufficiently substantiated;

(d) It is an abuse of the right to submit a communication;

(e) The facts that are the subject of the communication occurred prior to the entry into force of the present Protocol for the State Party concerned unless those facts continued after that date. [6] 

At any time after the receipt of a communication and before a determination on the merits has been reached, the Committee may transmit to the State Party concerned for its urgent consideration a request that the State Party take such interim measures as may be necessary to avoid possible irreparable damage to the victim or victims of the alleged violations.

Where the Committee exercises its discretion above, this does not imply a determination on admissibility or on the merits of the communication. [7] 

Unless the Committee considers a communication inadmissible without reference to the State Party concerned, and provided that the individual or individuals consent to the disclosure of their identity to that State Party, the Committee shall bring any communication submitted to it under the present Protocol confidentially to the attention of the State Party concerned. Within six months, the receiving State Party shall submit to the Committee written explanations or statements clarifying the matter and the remedy. [8] 

The Committee shall consider communications received under the present Protocol in the light of all information made available to it by or on behalf of individuals or groups of individuals and by the State Party concerned, provided that this information is transmitted to the parties concerned.

After examining a communication, the Committee shall transmit its views on the communication, together with its recommendations, if any, to the parties concerned.

The State Party shall give due consideration to the views of the Committee, together with its recommendations, if any, and shall submit to the Committee, within six months, a written response, including information on any action taken in the light of the views and recommendations of the Committee. The Committee may invite the State Party to submit further information about any measures the State Party has taken in response to its views or recommendations, if any, including as deemed appropriate by the Committee, in the State Party's subsequent reports under article 18 of the Convention. [9] 

If the Committee receives reliable information indicating grave or systematic violations by a State Party of rights set forth in the Convention, the Committee shall invite that State Party to cooperate in the examination of the information. and to this end to submit observations with regard to the information concerned. After examining the findings of such an inquiry, the Committee shall transmit these findings to the State Party concerned together with any comments and recommendations. The State Party concerned shall, within six months of receiving the findings, comments and recommendations transmitted by the Committee, submit its observations to the Committee. Such an inquiry shall be conducted confidentially and the cooperation of the State Party shall be sought at all stages of the proceedings. [10] 

The Committee may invite the State Party concerned to include in its report under article 18 of the Convention details of any measures taken in response to an inquiry conducted under article 8 of the present Protocol. The Committee may, if necessary, after the end of the period of six months referred to in article 8.4, invite the State Party concerned to inform it of the measures taken in response of the report. [11] 

The State Party shall also ensure that individuals, under its jurisdiction are not subjected to ill treatment or intimidation as a consequence of communicating with the Committee. [12] 

COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

The Commission on the Status of Women is a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council established by the Council in 1946. The functions of the Commission are:

To prepare recommendations and reports to the ECOSOC on promotion of women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields; and

To make recommendations to the Council on urgent problems requiring immediate attention in the fields of women’s rights with the object of implementing the principle that men and women shall have equal rights and to develop proposals to give effect to such have equal rights and to develop proposals to give effect to such recommendations. Originally the Commission on the Status of Women was composed of 15 members. Subsequently the membership was increased to 21 and then to 32 and finally to 45. Thus at present the commission is composed of 45 representative of U.N. members elected by the ECOSOC for three-year term. It meets biennially for session of three weeks. As in the case of Commission on Human rights, the commission on the Status of Women adopts its own resolutions and recommends draft resolutions and declarations for adoption by the ECOSOC. The Commission submits a report on each session to the Council. [13] 

Important year of the Commission of the status of the Women [14] 

1946 - Birth of the Commission on Status of Women

1947-1962 - Securing the Legal Foundations of Gender Equality

1963-1975 - Promoting the Participation of Women in Development

1975 - The International year of Women’s

1976-1985 - The Commission on the Status of Women and United Nations Decade

for Women

1985 - World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the

UN Decade for Women

1986-1995 -Putting Women on the Global Agenda

1995 - The Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing

1996-2006 - Consolidating the advancement of women

Throughout its sixty years of existence and its fifty sessions, the Commission on the Status of Women has consistently promoted the advancement of women. It has been instrumental in expanding the recognition of women’s rights, in documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, in shaping global policies on gender equality and empowerment of women and in ensuring that the work of the UN is all areas incorporates a gender perspective. It continues to play a critical role by bringing together Governments, UN entities, NGOs, and other international and regional organizations to promote women’s rights and advance gender equality.

List of Status of Women Related World Conferences:-

World Conference of the International Women’s Year, Mexico city (19 June to 2 July 1975)

World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development a Peace, Copenhagen ( 14 to 30 July 1980)

World Conference to review and appraise the achievements of the United nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, Nairobi (15 to 26 July 1985)

Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, Beijing, China ( 4 to 15 September 1995)

Beijing Conference: Fourth World Conference on Women-1995

The Fourth World Conference on Women met at the Beijing International Conference Centre on September 4-15, 1995. The conference was attended by 17000 representatives from 189 countries and territories, the UN organizations and its specialized agencies as well as government and non-governmental organizations concerned. [15] 

The Fourth World Conference on Women strategic action in the following critical areas of concern:

Poverty on women

Education and training on women

Women and health

Violence against women

Women and armed conflict

Women and the economic

Women power and decision-making

Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women

Human rights of women

Women and the media

Women and environment

The girl child

Poverty on women

More than 1 billion people in the world today, the great majority of whom are women, live in unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in the developing countries. Poverty has various causes, including structural ones. Women's poverty is directly related to the absence of economic opportunities and autonomy, lack of access to economic resources, including credit, land ownership and inheritance, lack of access to education and support services and their minimal participation in the decision-making process. Poverty can also force women into situations in which they are vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

The actions to be taken by the Governments are:-

Analyse, from a gender perspective, the impact of national and international policies and programmes.

Restructure and target the allocation of public expenditures to promote women's economic opportunities and equal access to productive resources and to address the basic social, educational and health needs of women, particularly those living in poverty.

Develop policies and programmes to promote equitable distribution of food within the household.

Ensure access to free or low-cost legal services, including legal literacy, especially designed to reach women living in poverty.

Education and training on women

Education is a human right and an essential tool for achieving the goals of equality, development and peace. Non-discriminatory education benefits both girls and boys, and thus ultimately contributes to more equal relationships between women and men. Access for and retention of girls and women at all levels of education, including the higher level, and all academic areas is one of the factors of their continued progress in professional activities.

The actions to be taken by the Governments are:-

Universal access to basic education and completion of primary education by at least 80 per cent of primary school-age children. Closing the gender gap in primary and secondary school education by the year 2005, universal primary education in all countries before the year 2015.

Reduce the female illiteracy rate, especially emphasis on rural, migrant, refugee and internally displaced and disabled women at least half the 1990 level. And Provide universal access to, and seek to ensure gender equality in the completion of, primary education for girls by the year 2000.

Action to be taken by International Organisations, donor’s educational institution and communities are:-

Provide support for child care and other services to enable mothers to continue their schooling.

Create flexible education, training and retraining programmes for life-long learning.

Increasing funding for the education and training needs of girls and women as a priority in development assistance programmes.

Women and health

Women's right to the enjoyment of the highest standard of health must be secured throughout the whole life cycle in equality with men. Women are affected by many of the same health conditions as men, but women experience them differently. Good health is essential to leading a productive and fulfilling life, and the right of all women to control all aspects of their health, in particular their own fertility, is basic to their empowerment.

Actions to be taken by Governments, in collaboration with United Nations system, health professions, research institutions, nongovernmental organizations, donors, pharmaceutical industries and the mass media and others are:-

Provide affordable primary health care system.

Design and implement gender –sensitive health care programmes.

The reduction of mortality rates of infants and children less than five years of age by one third of the 1990 level, or 50 to 70 per 1,000 live births, whichever is less; by the year 2015 an infant mortality rate below 35 per 1,000 live births and an under five mortality rate below 45 per 1,000.

Ensure the availability of and universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation and put in place effective public distribution systems.

Ensure the provision, through the primary health care system, of universal access of couples and individuals to appropriate and affordable preventive services with respect to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. And ensure that high- quality condoms as well as drugs for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.

Violence against Women

Violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of the objectives of equality, development and peace. The low social and economic status of women can be both a cause and a consequence of violence against women. Violence against women is a manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of women's full advancement.

Condemn violence against women and refrain from invoking any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination.

Adopt all appropriate measures, especially in the field of education, to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women.

Provide well-funded shelters and relief support for girls and women subjected to violence.

Develop programmes and procedures to eliminate sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women in all educational institutions, workplaces and elsewhere.

Promote research on violence against women, Encourage the media to examine the impact of gender role stereotypes and take measures to them.

Women and armed conflicts

During the war or armed conflicts women are affected in different ways. Women are often left to maintain families when social and economic disturbances in life, while they have no role in the decision leading to armed conflicts and seldom combatants. Women are also victims of torture, disappearance and systematic rape as a war.

Actions to be taken by Governments, international organisations are:-

Promote peaceful conflict resolution and peace, reconciliation and tolerance through education; training, community actions and youth exchange programmes, in particular for young women.

Increase and hasten, as appropriate, the conversion of military resources and related industries to development and peaceful purposes.

Undertake to new ways of generating new public and private financial resources, through reduction of excessive military expenditures, to provide more funds for social and economic development, in particular for the advancement of women.

Strengthen the role of women and ensure equal representation of women in peace and security.

Promote equal participation of women and equal opportunities for women to participate in all forums and peace activities.

It is also ensure that condemn of the systematic practice of rape and other forms of inhuman and degrading treatment of women as a deliberate instrument of war and ethnic cleansing and full assistance is provided to the victims of such abuse for their physical and mental rehabilitation.

vi. Women and the economic

Women’s are first ground producers of food and contribute significantly to economic life and they are excluded everywhere from economic decision making. To realize fully equality between women and men in their contribution to the economy, active efforts are required for equal recognition and appreciation of the influence that the work, experience, knowledge and values of both women and men have in society.

Actions to be taken by Governments, employers, employees, trade unions and women's organizations:-

Enact and enforce legislation to guarantee the rights of women and men to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.

Adopt and implement laws against discrimination based on sex in employment.

Devise mechanisms and take positive action to enable women’s full and equal participation in the formulation of economic policies and activities.

Promote and support women's self-employment and the development of small business and strengthen their access to credit and capital.

Increase the participation of women, including women entrepreneurs, in advisory boards and other forums.

Mobilize the banking sector to increase lending and include women in their leadership, planning and decision-making.

It is also ensuring that international labour standards, such as International Labour Organization Convention 100 on equal pay and workers' rights, apply equally to female and male workers.

vii. Women power and decision-making

The empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of women's social, economic and political status is essential for the achievement of both transparent and accountable government and administration and sustainable development in all areas of life. Women's equal participation in decision-making is not only a demand for simple justice or democracy but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women's interests to be taken into account. Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women's perspective at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved.

Actions to be taken by Governments are:-

Commit them to establishing the goal of gender balance in governmental bodies and committees.

Consider examining party structures and procedures to remove all discrimination against the participation of women’s.

Increase women's capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership in all levels.

It is also ensure that the gender balance in the lists of national candidates nominated for election or appointment to United Nations bodies at the all level.

To take positive action and build a critical mass of women leaders, executives and managers in strategic decision-making positions in all level.

Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women

Though national institutions for the advancement of women have been established in almost every country, they even time human resources and lack financial to perform adequately. These problems faced from commitment at international levels.

In 1946, UN Commission on the Status of Women set up by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the woman and promotes their situation, monitoring and rights in all social activities all over the world.

Actions to be taken by UN, Governments, National and International statistical services are:-

It is ensure that responsibility for the advancement of women is vested in the highest possible level of government.

Create national machinery, based on a strong political commitment.

Promote the further development of statistical methods to improve data that relate to women in economic, social, cultural and political development.

Prepare a new issue of The World's Women at regular five-year intervals and distribute it widely.

Develop and encourage the development of quantitative and qualitative studies by government.

Human rights of women

The Platform for Action reaffirms that all human rights - civil, cultural, economic, political and social, including the right to development - are universal, indivisible, and interdependent and interrelated, as expressed in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights. The full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by women and girls is a priority for Governments and the United Nations and is essential for the advancement of women. Promote and protect the human rights of women, through the full implementation of all human rights instruments, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Actions to be taken by Governments are:-

To take them ensuring that implementing of the programmes in human rights education to make women aware of their human rights.

It is also encourage the development of gender-sensitive human rights programmes.

Give full, equal and sustained attention to promote universal respect for and protection of all human rights - civil, cultural, economic, political and social - including the right to development.

Ratify and accede to International human rights, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

It is also ensure that the implementation of the recommendations of the World Conference on Human Rights for the full integration and mainstreaming of the human rights of women.

Women and the media

At present time mostly women are involved in careers in media, but few have made carrier at the decision-making level and influence media policy. The lack of gender sensitivity in the media to eliminate the gender based stereotyping that can be found in media organizations. Women should be empowered by enhancing their skills, knowledge and access to information technology.

Actions to be taken by Governments are:-

It is ensuring that the increase the participation and access of women to expression and decision-making in and through the media and new technologies of communication.

Take all action that promotes a balanced and non-stereotyped portrayal of women in the media.

It is also increasing women’s participation in decision-making at all levels of the media.

There are trained women to make greater use of information technology.

That the encourage and establishment of media watch groups to monitor the media.

xi Women and environment

Poverty and environmental degradation are closely interrelated. While poverty results in certain kinds of environmental stress, the major cause of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries, which is a matter of grave concern, aggravating poverty and imbalances. In both urban and rural areas, environmental degradation results in negative effects on the health, girls and women of all ages.

Action to be taken by Governments, International organisations and private sector are:-

Ensure opportunities for women, to participate in environmental decision-making at all levels.

Facilitate and increase women's access to information and education.

Take appropriate measures to reduce risks to women from identified environmental hazards at home.

Take gender impact into consideration in the work of the Commission on Sustainable Development.

Develop gender-sensitive databases, than impact on women of environmental and natural resource degradation, deriving from, unsustainable production and consumption patterns, drought, poor quality water, global warming, desertification, sea-level rise, hazardous waste, natural disasters, toxic chemicals and pesticide residues, radioactive waste, armed conflicts and its consequences.

xii. The Girl child

Girls are often treated as inferior. Girls are discrimination and neglect in childhood can initiate a lifelong downward spiral of deprivation and exclusion from the social mainstream. Girls are less encouraged than boys to participate in and learn about the social, economic and political functioning of society, as a result they are not offered the same opportunities as boys to take part in decision-making processes.

Action to be taken by Governments, International organisations and NGOs are:-

Promote an educational setting without barriers.

Develop policies and programmes, giving priority to formal and informal education programmes for girl children.

Ensure universal and equal access to and completion of primary education by all children and eliminate the existing gap between girls and boys.

Provide public information on the removal of discriminatory practices against girls in food allocation, nutrition and access to health services.

It is ensuring that the girl child, parents, teachers and society concerning good general health and nutrition programmes.

The Platform for Action needs to be implemented through the work of all of the bodies and organizations of the United Nations system during the period 1995-2000, to improve the system's efficiency and effectiveness in providing support for equality and women's empowerment at the national level and all level.

Conclusion

The Constitution of India provides for special treatment of women, guarantees equality and prohibits discrimination. The government of India has been strengthening various laws focused on women and children. This has been more visible since the Beijing CEDAW Conference. The recent years have been witness to some landmark interpretations and directives related to Violence against Women. Despite the constitutional mandate of equal legal status for men and women, the same is yet to be realized. The dejure laws have not been translated into defacto situation for various reasons such as illiteracy, social practices, prejudices, cultural norms based on patriarchal values, poor representation of women in policy-making, poverty, regional disparity in development, lack of access and opportunity to information and resources, etc. The ground situation more or less remains the same.

Most of the laws come to much institutional machinery, partnership between various stakeholders and active role of NGOs. These institutions need to be in existence in order for the law to be effective. Also the policies and programmes made at the top takes a long time to percolate to the bottom and there is an urgent need of sharing information and resources. [16] 

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