The Fourth World Conference on Women
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Chapter 1. Resolution 1. Annex II - The Beijing Platform for Action
IV. Strategic Objectives and Actions
D. Violence against women
Strategic objective D.1.
Strategic objective D.2.
Strategic objective D.3.
112. Violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of the
objectives of equality, development and peace. Violence against women both violates and
impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of their human rights and fundamental
freedoms. The long-standing failure to protect and promote those rights and freedoms in
the case of violence against women is a matter of concern to all States and should be
addressed. Knowledge about its causes and consequences, as well as its incidence and
measures to combat it, have been greatly expanded since the Nairobi Conference. In all
societies, to a greater or lesser degree, women and girls are subjected to physical,
sexual and psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class and culture. The
low social and economic status of women can be both a cause and a consequence of violence
against women.
113. The term "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 private life.
Accordingly, violence against women encompasses but is not 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.
114. Other acts of violence against women include violation of the human
rights of women in situations of armed conflict, in particular murder, systematic rape,
sexual slavery and forced pregnancy.
115. Acts of violence against women also include forced sterilization and
forced abortion, coercive/forced use of contraceptives, female infanticide and prenatal
sex selection.
116. Some groups of women, such as women belonging to minority groups,
indigenous women, refugee women, women migrants, including women migrant workers, women in
poverty living in rural or remote communities, destitute women, women in institutions or
in detention, female children, women with disabilities, elderly women, displaced women,
repatriated women, women living in poverty and women in situations of armed conflict,
foreign occupation, wars of aggression, civil wars, terrorism, including hostage-taking,
are also particularly vulnerable to violence.
117. Acts or threats of violence, whether occurring within the home or in
the community, or perpetrated or condoned by the State, instil fear and insecurity in
women's lives and are obstacles to the achievement of equality and for development and
peace. The fear of violence, including harassment, is a permanent constraint on the
mobility of women and limits their access to resources and basic activities. High social,
health and economic costs to the individual and society are associated with violence
against women. Violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which
women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men. In many cases, violence
against women and girls occurs in the family or within the home, where violence is often
tolerated. The neglect, physical and sexual abuse, and rape of girl children and women by
family members and other members of the household, as well as incidences of spousal and
non-spousal abuse, often go unreported and are thus difficult to detect. Even when such
violence is reported, there is often a failure to protect victims or punish perpetrators.
118. 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.
Violence against women throughout the life cycle derives essentially from cultural
patterns, in particular the harmful effects of certain traditional or customary practices
and all acts of extremism linked to race, sex, language or religion that perpetuate the
lower status accorded to women in the family, the workplace, the community and society.
Violence against women is exacerbated by social pressures, notably the shame of denouncing
certain acts that have been perpetrated against women; women's lack of access to legal
information, aid or protection; the lack of laws that effectively prohibit violence
against women; failure to reform existing laws; inadequate efforts on the part of public
authorities to promote awareness of and enforce existing laws; and the absence of
educational and other means to address the causes and consequences of violence. Images in
the media of violence against women, in particular those that depict rape or sexual
slavery as well as the use of women and girls as sex objects, including pornography, are
factors contributing to the continued prevalence of such violence, adversely influencing
the community at large, in particular children and young people.
119. Developing a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to the
challenging task of promoting families, communities and States that are free of violence
against women is necessary and achievable. Equality, partnership between women and men and
respect for human dignity must permeate all stages of the socialization process.
Educational systems should promote self-respect, mutual respect, and cooperation between
women and men.
120. The absence of adequate gender-disaggregated data and statistics on
the incidence of violence makes the elaboration of programmes and monitoring of changes
difficult. Lack of or inadequate documentation and research on domestic violence, sexual
harassment and violence against women and girls in private and in public, including the
workplace, impede efforts to design specific intervention strategies. Experience in a
number of countries shows that women and men can be mobilized to overcome violence in all
its forms and that effective public measures can be taken to address both the causes and
the consequences of violence. Men's groups mobilizing against gender violence are
necessary allies for change.
121. Women may be vulnerable to violence perpetrated by persons in
positions of authority in both conflict and non-conflict situations. Training of all
officials in humanitarian and human rights law and the punishment of perpetrators of
violent acts against women would help to ensure that such violence does not take place at
the hands of public officials in whom women should be able to place trust, including
police and prison officials and security forces.
122. The effective suppression of trafficking in women and girls for the
sex trade is a matter of pressing international concern. Implementation of the 1949
Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the
Prostitution of Others, 20/ as well as other relevant instruments, needs to be reviewed
and strengthened. The use of women in international prostitution and trafficking networks
has become a major focus of international organized crime. The Special Rapporteur of the
Commission on Human Rights on violence against women, who has explored these acts as an
additional cause of the violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women
and girls, is invited to address, within her mandate and as a matter of urgency, the issue
of international trafficking for the purposes of the sex trade, as well as the issues of
forced prostitution, rape, sexual abuse and sex tourism. Women and girls who are victims
of this international trade are at an increased risk of further violence, as well as
unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection, including infection with HIV/AIDS.
123. In addressing violence against women, Governments and other actors
should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in all
policies and programmes so that before decisions are taken an analysis may be made of
their effects on women and men, respectively.
Take integrated measures to prevent and eliminate violence against
women Actions to be taken
124. By Governments:
(a) Condemn violence against women and refrain from invoking any custom, tradition or
religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination as set
out in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women;
(b) Refrain from engaging in violence against women and 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;
(c) Enact and/or reinforce penal, civil, labour and administrative sanctions in domestic
legislation to punish and redress the wrongs done to women and girls who are subjected to
any form of violence, whether in the home, the workplace, the community or society;
(d) Adopt and/or implement and periodically review and analyse legislation to ensure its
effectiveness in eliminating violence against women, emphasizing the prevention of
violence and the prosecution of offenders; take measures to ensure the protection of women
subjected to violence, access to just and effective remedies, including compensation and
indemnification and healing of victims, and rehabilitation of perpetrators;
(e) Work actively to ratify and/or implement international human rights norms and
instruments as they relate to violence against women, including those contained in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 21/ the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, 13/ the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
13/ and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment; 22/
(f) Implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, taking into account general recommendation 19, adopted by the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women at its eleventh session; 23/
(g) Promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in all
policies and programmes related to violence against women; actively encourage, support and
implement measures and programmes aimed at increasing the knowledge and understanding of
the causes, consequences and mechanisms of violence against women among those responsible
for implementing these policies, such as law enforcement officers, police personnel and
judicial, medical and social workers, as well as those who deal with minority, migration
and refugee issues, and develop strategies to ensure that the revictimization of women
victims of violence does not occur because of gender-insensitive laws or judicial or
enforcement practices;
(h) Provide women who are subjected to violence with access to the mechanisms of justice
and, as provided for by national legislation, to just and effective remedies for the harm
they have suffered and inform women of their rights in seeking redress through such
mechanisms;
(i) Enact and enforce legislation against the perpetrators of practices and acts of
violence against women, such as female genital mutilation, female infanticide, prenatal
sex selection and dowry- related violence, and give vigorous support to the efforts of
non-governmental and community organizations to eliminate such practices;
(j) Formulate and implement, at all appropriate levels, plans of action to eliminate
violence against women;
(k) 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;
(l) Create or strengthen institutional mechanisms so that women and girls can report acts
of violence against them in a safe and confidential environment, free from the fear of
penalties or retaliation, and file charges;
(m) Ensure that women with disabilities have access to information and services in the
field of violence against women;
(n) Create, improve or develop as appropriate, and fund the training programmes for
judicial, legal, medical, social, educational and police and immigrant personnel, in order
to avoid the abuse of power leading to violence against women and sensitize such personnel
to the nature of gender-based acts and threats of violence so that fair treatment of
female victims can be assured;
(o) Adopt laws, where necessary, and reinforce existing laws that punish police, security
forces or any other agents of the State who engage in acts of violence against women in
the course of the performance of their duties; review existing legislation and take
effective measures against the perpetrators of such violence;
(p) Allocate adequate resources within the government budget and mobilize community
resources for activities related to the elimination of violence against women, including
resources for the implementation of plans of action at all appropriate levels;
(q) Include in reports submitted in accordance with the provisions of relevant United
Nations human rights instruments, information pertaining to violence against women and
measures taken to implement the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women;
(r) Cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on
violence against women in the performance of her mandate and furnish all information
requested; cooperate also with other competent mechanisms, such as the Special Rapporteur
of the Commission on Human Rights on torture and the Special Rapporteur of the Commission
on Human Rights on summary, extrajudiciary and arbitrary executions, in relation to
violence against women;
(s) Recommend that the Commission on Human Rights renew the mandate of the Special
Rapporteur on violence against women when her term ends in 1997 and, if warranted, to
update and strengthen it.
125. By Governments, including local governments, community organizations,
non-governmental organizations, educational institutions, the public and private sectors,
particularly enterprises, and the mass media, as appropriate:
(a) Provide well-funded shelters and relief support for girls and women subjected to
violence, as well as medical, psychological and other counselling services and free or
low-cost legal aid, where it is needed, as well as appropriate assistance to enable them
to find a means of subsistence;
(b) Establish linguistically and culturally accessible services for migrant women and
girls, including women migrant workers, who are victims of gender-based violence;
(c) Recognize the vulnerability to violence and other forms of abuse of women migrants,
including women migrant workers, whose legal status in the host country depends on
employers who may exploit their situation;
(d) Support initiatives of women's organizations and non-governmental organizations all
over the world to raise awareness on the issue of violence against women and to contribute
to its elimination;
(e) Organize, support and fund community-based education and training campaigns to raise
awareness about violence against women as a violation of women's enjoyment of their human
rights and mobilize local communities to use appropriate gender-sensitive traditional and
innovative methods of conflict resolution;
(f) Recognize, support and promote the fundamental role of intermediate institutions, such
as primary health-care centres, family-planning centres, existing school health services,
mother and baby protection services, centres for migrant families and so forth in the
field of information and education related to abuse;
(g) Organize and fund information campaigns and educational and training programmes in
order to sensitize girls and boys and women and men to the personal and social detrimental
effects of violence in the family, community and society; teach them how to communicate
without violence and promote training for victims and potential victims so that they can
protect themselves and others against such violence;
(h) Disseminate information on the assistance available to women and families who are
victims of violence;
(i) Provide, fund and encourage counselling and rehabilitation programmes for the
perpetrators of violence and promote research to further efforts concerning such
counselling and rehabilitation so as to prevent the recurrence of such violence;
(j) Raise awareness of the responsibility of the media in promoting non-stereotyped images
of women and men, as well as in eliminating patterns of media presentation that generate
violence, and encourage those responsible for media content to establish professional
guidelines and codes of conduct; also raise awareness of the important role of the media
in informing and educating people about the causes and effects of violence against women
and in stimulating public debate on the topic.
126. By Governments, employers, trade unions, community and youth
organizations and non-governmental organizations, as appropriate:
(a) Develop programmes and procedures to eliminate sexual harassment and other forms of
violence against women in all educational institutions, workplaces and elsewhere;
(b) Develop programmes and procedures to educate and raise awareness of acts of violence
against women that constitute a crime and a violation of the human rights of women;
(c) Develop counselling, healing and support programmes for girls, adolescents and young
women who have been or are involved in abusive relationships, particularly those who live
in homes or institutions where abuse occurs;
(d) Take special measures to eliminate violence against women, particularly those in
vulnerable situations, such as young women, refugee, displaced and internally displaced
women, women with disabilities and women migrant workers, including enforcing any existing
legislation and developing, as appropriate, new legislation for women migrant workers in
both sending and receiving countries.
127. By the Secretary-General of the United Nations: Provide the Special
Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on violence against women with all necessary
assistance, in particular the staff and resources required to perform all mandated
functions, especially in carrying out and following up on missions undertaken either
separately or jointly with other special rapporteurs and working groups, and adequate
assistance for periodic consultations with the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women and all treaty bodies.
128. By Governments, international organizations and non-governmental
organizations: Encourage the dissemination and implementation of the UNHCR Guidelines on
the Protection of Refugee Women and the UNHCR Guidelines on the Prevention of and Response
to Sexual Violence against Refugees.
Study the causes and consequences of violence against women and the
effectiveness of preventive measures Actions to be taken
129. By Governments, regional organizations, the United Nations, other
international organizations, research institutions, women's and youth organizations and
non-governmental organizations, as appropriate:
(a) 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 into the causes, nature, seriousness and consequences of violence
against women and the effectiveness of measures implemented to prevent and redress
violence against women;
(b) Disseminate findings of research and studies widely;
(c) Support and initiate research on the impact of violence, such as rape, on women and
girl children, and make the resulting information and statistics available to the public;
(d) Encourage the media to examine the impact of gender role stereotypes, including those
perpetuated by commercial advertisements which foster gender-based violence and
inequalities, and how they are transmitted during the life cycle, and take measures to
eliminate these negative images with a view to promoting a violence-free society.
Eliminate trafficking in women and assist victims of violence due to
prostitution and trafficking Actions to be taken
130. By Governments of countries of origin, transit and destination,
regional and international organizations, as appropriate:
(a) Consider the ratification and enforcement of international conventions on trafficking
in persons and on slavery;
(b) Take appropriate measures to address the root factors, including external factors,
that encourage trafficking in women and girls for prostitution and other forms of
commercialized sex, forced marriages and forced labour in order to eliminate trafficking
in women, including by strengthening existing legislation with a view to providing better
protection of the rights of women and girls and to punishing the perpetrators, through
both criminal and civil measures;
(c) Step up cooperation and concerted action by all relevant law enforcement authorities
and institutions with a view to dismantling national, regional and international networks
in trafficking;
(d) Allocate resources to provide comprehensive programmes designed to heal and
rehabilitate into society victims of trafficking, including through job training, legal
assistance and confidential health care, and take measures to cooperate with
non-governmental organizations to provide for the social, medical and psychological care
of the victims of trafficking;
(e) Develop educational and training programmes and policies and consider enacting
legislation aimed at preventing sex tourism and trafficking, giving special emphasis to
the protection of young women and children.
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