| 61st
Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights
Agenda
Item 12: Integration of the human rights of women and the gender
perspective – Violence Against Women
Statement
by IWRAW Asia Pacific on the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against
Women, its Causes and Consequences and the Commission’s Work
on Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective
7 April
2005
Geneva, Switzerland
Speaker:
Janine Moussa
I speak on behalf of
International Women’s Rights Action Watch (IWRAW) an international
organisation based in Malaysia and committed to the domestic implementation
of international human rights norms for the realisation of women’s
human rights.
We would like to begin
by commending the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women on
her recent report on the intersections of violence against women
and HIV/AIDS. We would also like to take this opportunity to express
our continued support for the mandate of the Special Rapporteur
and to urge the Commission for its continued support of her work,
including the provision of adequate resources.
We encourage the Commission
on Human Rights to further integrate gender equality in its work.
This must be guided by a human rights approach to gender equality
using the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW Convention). They key features of the Convention
include among others the following: (1) it mandates the achievement
of substantive equality. It focuses on ensuring that equality is
not simply an equality of laws and opportunities but an equality
of results. (2) It provides a definition of discrimination and obligates
the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, direct
or indirect, by both public and private actors, at all levels in
the public and private sphere. (3) It also calls for specific and
legally binding undertakings of the State to achieve substantive
equality and eliminate discrimination and monitors these obligations
of the State to ensure compliance. By using the Convention as an
overarching framework in its work, not only to those in matters
relating to Item 12 but to all matters, the Commission will clearly
manifest that integrating gender equality entails ensuring the practical
realisation of the concept of equality through clear understanding
of its concept and through specific obligations and responsibility
of the State.
We would like to take
this opportunity to commend the Special Rapporteur for applying
an intersectional approach to discrimination in her report. We recall
paragraph 58 of this report which states, “[t]he intersection
of discrimination related to gender, HIV status and sexual orientation
– often combined with race and class – create multiple
forms of oppression and violence that keep women subordinated.”
We further encourage the Special Rapporteur to apply this approach
to other marginalised groups of women who face multiple layers of
discrimination – such as women with disabilities, indigenous
women and women who face discrimination on account of their sexual
orientation.
We would also like to
express concern over the “new rights” language being
used by some states to limit or otherwise exclude some sets of rights,
such as sexual rights and reproductive rights. We recall the well
established principles of the Vienna Convention which state that,
“All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent
and interrelated.” If we hope to continue to move forward
in our pursuit of these principles we must seek to include, rather
than exclude, and expand, rather than limit, the recognition and
enjoyment of rights.
Thank you Mr. Chairperson
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