Accelerating Efforts to Eliminate All Forms of Violence Against Women Remedies for Women Who Have Been Subjected to Violence

A/HRC/RES/20/12View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2012.

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 subjects

Administration of Justice Coordination Within UN System Counselling Crime Victims Gender-Based Violence Legal Remedies Special Rapporteurs Women

What’s in this document?

13 operative paragraphs

Strongly condemns all acts of violence against women and girls, whether these acts are perpetrated by the State, private persons or non-State actors, and calls for the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence in the family, within the general community and where perpetrated or condoned by the State, in accordance with the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and stresses the need to treat all forms of violence against women and girls as a criminal offence, punishable by law, and the duty to provide victims with access to just and effective remedies and specialized assistance, including medical and psychological assistance, as well as effective counselling;

Underscores that States have the primary responsibility for protecting women and girls facing violence and, in this regard, urges States to take measures to investigate, prosecute, punish and redress, including by ensuring access to adequate, effective, prompt and appropriate remedies, the wrongs done to women and girls subjected to any form of violence, whether in the home, the workplace, the community or society, in custody or in situations of armed conflict;

Urges States to encourage the removal of all barriers to women’s access to justice and to ensure access to effective legal assistance for all female victims of violence so that they can make informed decisions regarding, inter alia, legal proceedings and issues relating to family law, and also ensure that victims have access to just and effective remedies for the harm that they have suffered, including through the adoption of national legislation, where necessary;

Also urges States to ensure that remedies for women and girls subjected to violence, whether judicial, administrative, policy or other measures, are available, accessible, acceptable, age- and gender-sensitive and adequately address victims’ needs, including by protecting confidentiality, preventing stigmatization, revictimization or further harm to victims, allowing reasonable time for women subjected to violence to come forward to seek redress, ensuring reasonable evidentiary standards, providing necessary translation services and minimizing the complexity of procedures;

Further urges States to place a high priority on removing gender bias from the administration of justice and enhancing the capacity of law enforcement officials to deal appropriately with violence against women, including by providing systematic gender-sensitivity and awareness training, as appropriate, for police and security forces, prosecutors, judges and lawyers, integrating gender into security sector reform initiatives, developing protocols and guidelines, and enhancing or putting in place appropriate accountability measures for adjudicators;

Stresses the need to pay particular attention to marginalized groups of women and girls and the importance for States to ensure that remedies take into account the differential impact of violence on women due to multiple, intersecting and aggravated forms of discrimination;

Urges States to adopt measures to enhance the awareness of women, and in particular women at known risk of gender-based violence, of their rights, the law and the protection and legal remedies it offers, including by disseminating information on the assistance available to women and families who have experienced violence, and ensuring that timely and appropriate information is available to all women who have been subjected to violence, at all stages of the justice system;

Emphasizes that the involvement of victims, victims’ advocacy groups, women’s organizations and other relevant stakeholders in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of remedies enhances their effectiveness;

Welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and takes note of her recent thematic report on gender-related killings of women;⁴

⁴A/HRC/20/16.

Invites States and all other relevant stakeholders, including regional organizations and mechanisms, treaty bodies, United Nations entities, special procedures, civil society organizations, academic institutions and other relevant stakeholders, to contribute to the mandate holder’s study on State responsibility for eliminating violence against women by submitting relevant information, including on providing remedies for women who have been subjected to violence, as well as on challenges identified in that regard;

Welcomes the panel discussion on the theme of remedies for women subjected to violence held as part of the 2012 annual discussion on women’s rights, and requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a summary report on the proceedings, including conclusions and recommendations made by participants, to be submitted to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-first session;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, and to present to the Human Rights Council, at its twenty-third session, recommendations on how to create and/or strengthen linkages and synergies between the mechanisms of the Council, and also with other relevant intergovernmental processes on the issue of violence against women and girls;

Decides to continue consideration of the issue of the elimination of all forms of violence against women, its causes and consequences, as a matter of high priority, in conformity with its annual programme of work.

  The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of the Council on its twentieth session (A/HRC/20/2), chap. I.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

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