Recommendations to CSW57 on its Draft agreed conclusions to "The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls"

TO:Member States

FROM:Review & Writers Task Force of the NGO Committee to Stop Trafficking In Persons

DATE:22 February 2013

SUBJECT:6-paragraph Recommendations to the Draft agreed conclusions presented by CSW57

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To the Commission on the Status of Women, 57th Session:

On behalf of the Review & Writers Task Force of the NGO Committee To Stop Trafficking In Persons, a New York-based NGO, please consider the following suggestions and recommendations regarding the draft agreed conclusions to "The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence again women and girls" which are found in italicized and bold insertions:

Paragraph 2:

The Commission reiterates that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the relevant conventions of the International Labour Organization, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Person, especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (A/RES/55/25) and United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons (A/RES/64/293), provide a legal framework for the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls (E/CN.6/2013/3 paras. 3, 4 and E/CN.6/2013/4 para. 4).

Paragraph 8:

The Commission urges all States to meet their obligations at all levels, using all appropriate means of a legal, political, administrative and social nature, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, including women and girls, and to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of violence against women and girls and eliminate impunity (based on a/RES/67/144 OP 11), and to establish redress and accountability mechanisms (based on EGM/PP/2012/Report para. 23 & Draft agreed conclusions paras. 9, 13A.a, 13A.j).

Paragraph 13B.l:

Accelerate efforts to eliminate discrimination against women and girls and ensure women's equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to education, health, social security, land, property, inheritance, employment, participation and decision-making in all spheres of life (based on E/CN.6/2013/4 para. 89(i)); build shared understandings of the complexity and causes of violence against women and girls, and of how it can be effectively prevented (based on EGM/PP/2012/Report para. 18).

Paragraph 13B.z:

Increase women's and girls' safety from violence and harassment in public spaces through awareness-raising and the involvement of local communities, working systematically to change unequal power structures (based on EGM/PP/2012/Report para. 58), enhancing crime prevention, and improved urban planning, infrastructures and public transport (based on E/CN.6/2013/4 para. 89(s)).

Paragraph 13C.bb:

Take measures to ensure universal access to multisectoral services and responses for all women and girls subjected to violence including adolescent girls, those in rural areas and urban slums and those who suffer multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination such as women and girls who have been trafficked, women and girls with disabilities, women and girls living with HIV, widows, and indigenous and migrant women and girls; and establish benchmarks and timelines towards this end (based on E/CN.6/2013/3 para. 59(u-x)).

Paragraph 13C.dd:

Expand the availability of services and opportunities, especially free legal advice and economic support, including housing and employment, for survivors and their children to ensure their empowerment, recovery and reintegration into society (based on E/CN.6/2013/3 para. 59(o)) so that survivors and their children have ready access to long-term support and rehabilitation (based on A/67/170 para. 63).

Thank you for your serious consideration,

Review & Writers Task Force of the NGO Committee To Stop Trafficking In Persons

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