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Annual Full Day Discussion on Women’s Rights

Panel 1- Taking stock of efforts to eliminate violence against women, from the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action to the 57thsession of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

Opening remarks by

Ms. Navi Pillay

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Geneva, 5 June 2013

Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,

It is an honour and a pleasureto open the Human Rights Council’s annual full-day discussion on women’s rights, to which my Office attaches the greatest importance. There can be no equal societies, development and peace if women and girlsremain discriminated against and marginalized.

Every year this discussion addresses the most pressing women’s rights issues. The focus of this yearis violence against women - the most pervasive expression of gender-based discrimination and an impediment to women’s enjoyment of all human rights on an equal basis with men.

This morning’s discussion will allow us to take stockof efforts to eliminate violence against women in the past two decades. Before the 1990s, violence against women was still largely considered a private matter, not a human rights issue of concern to the international community. It is thanks to the struggle of the women’s movement and the ground-breaking work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Womenthat we witnessed a conceptual shift in the early 90s.

CEDAW had long been vocal in condemning violence as a form of discriminationand a breach of States’ obligations when in 1992 it adoptedgeneral recommendation 19, which for the first time established the due diligence obligation of States parties to prevent, investigate and punish acts of gender-based violence. This provided the missing link between human rights obligations and acts of private persons.Given CEDAW’s crucial role, I am delighted to welcome Patricia Schutz, from the Committee here today.

The real turning point came in 1993 with the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action which framed violence against women as an issue of international concern.

The conference strongly affirmed that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated and while recalling the significance of national and regional particularities, it affirmed that it is the duty of States to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Gender-based violence and all forms of sexual harassment and exploitation were declared incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person.

The Vienna conference provided momentum for the adoption, the same year,of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women by the UN General Assembly and for the establishment in 1994 of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against women, its causes and consequences.

In a matter of a few years the international community unequivocally affirmed that violence is not a private matter and that women are not exposed to violence because of an innate vulnerability or intrinsic weakness. Rather, violence is the result and manifestation of deep-rooted discrimination, patriarchal attitudes and beliefs about the subordination of women that States have an obligation to address.

In the years that followed, states’ obligations to address violence against women have been codified and spelled out in international and regional treaties and in innovative jurisprudence by national and international courts and mechanisms. The Human Rights Council and its predecessor, largely thanks to the work of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, promoted a broader understanding of violence against women, its causes and consequences, with a shift from a narrow “law and order approach” to one that promotes equality of rights and empowerment. The recent establishment of the Working Group on Discrimination against Women in law and practice will allow the Human Rights Council to further deepen this understanding.

International UN conferences, including Beijing in 1995, and more recently the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, have reaffirmed the commitment to eliminate violence through the promotion of women’s empowerment and equality in fields such as education, labour, health, and participation in all spheres of public life.

International developments have been mirrored by efforts at the national level. Virtually all countries have taken steps to tackle violence, through specific legal frameworks, institutions and policies.

While we commemorate these developments we must acknowledge that violence against women remainsunacceptably widespread. Just a few examples: one woman in three is likely to experiencesome form of violence during her life time, as many as 1 in 4 women suffer physical or sexual violence during pregnancy; 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is nota crime; the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that there may be as many as 5,000 victims of “honour killings” every year.

We are fortunate to have the Special Rapporteur on violence against women to moderate today’s discussion. Ms Manjoo has just submitted to this Council a report which highlights challenges regarding States’ responsibility to eliminate violence against women. I concur with her findings that key problems are the lack of genuine commitment and adequate resources for systematic and comprehensive intervention to address violence and inequality. We must also guard against arguments that try to justify or condone violence and discrimination in the name of tradition and religion. We must also be vigilant against stereotypes that lead to violence against women being framed as an issue of morality and honour rather than as a violation of women´s human rights.

We are also lucky to have with us other eminent experts who have been at the forefront of the struggle for women’s human rights. They will share with us their reflections and I am confident they will help us to identify the remaining gaps and recurring challenges that should inform our strategies and priorities for the future.

This is particularly important as the international community embarks on processes that will set the future women’s rights agenda, including the Beijing + 20 discussions, the ICPD review and the post- 2015 development agenda.

I look forward to the outcome of your deliberations.

Thank you.

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