Gender inequality and discrimination should be tackled to address violence against women

CEDAW is the independent body of experts that monitors the implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. We discussed the significance of CEDAW’s most recently adopted General Recommendation 35 on gender-based violence against women. The update includes, among other things, the newly-adopted definition of gender-based violence against women that stresses the social causes of the phenomenon and spells out the obligations of states parties under the Convention. Leinarte also talked about the progress made in the fight against violence against women and best practices in this field in the OSCE region.

What is the significance of General Recommendation 35 adopted by CEDAW?
This [new] General Recommendation was an update of General Recommendation 19, which was adopted in 1992. General Recommendation 19, for the first time in history, defined violence against women as a violation of human rights and as discrimination against women. Never before in any international, regional, and let alone national, legal document was violence against women approached like this. The CEDAW Committee always stayed with this approach that improving women’s status in relation to men will reduce their vulnerability to violence. That is why General Recommendation 35 recognizes gender inequality and discrimination as the root causes of violence against women and that women are the main group affected by this type of violence and especially domestic violence.

The General Recommendations 19 and 35 provide an important overview of what violence against women is, clarifying that it refers to acts or threats of acts leading to death, or physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm and suffering to women and girls.

How does it strengthen General Recommendation 19?
The update stresses that violence affects women throughout their life cycle and that it occurs in all spheres, both in the public and the private, including on the internet and in the digital space. Gender-based violence can emerge in new contexts such as increased globalization, militarization, violent extremism and terrorism.

Furthermore, and in this it is very much related to the Istanbul Convention [the 2014 Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence], we now decided not to use the term “violence against women”, but rather “gender-based violence against women”. This expression further strengthens the understanding of this violence as a social rather than an individual problem. We stress that gender-based violence against women goes beyond any specific event or individual perpetrators. The cause of violence against women is inequality between men and women and discrimination of women.

Another new aspect of General Recommendation 35 that I would like to stress is that, for the first time, gender-based violence against women is interconnected with cruel treatment and torture, especially in regards to sexual and reproductive health.

Moreover, this Recommendation insists on the repeal of all laws that affect women disproportionally, including laws that prescribe the death penalty, for instance in the case of women being lesbian, bisexual or transgender or when women are involved in prostitution or adultery. Lastly, the Recommendation also foresees preventive policies and, very importantly, the concept of mediation. It states that mediation between spouses should never be mandatory because in the case of violent relationships and violent marriages, mediation risks teaching women to live with the perpetrators.

Are we making progress in combating violence against women?
In general we are not seeing any reduction in violence against women. But I would say, and the members of the Committee would also agree, that there has been a real progress in combating gender-based violence against women in everyday life. This is mainly because many more countries are adopting very positive social policies in combating violence against women, especially in regards to domestic violence, sexual harassment and dealing with sexual violence. However, violence against women reaches very high levels in the context of conflicts and in post-conflict situations.

Could you give an example of a good practice that could inspire others?
I would say that a country that makes a very good impression is Germany. The country has a very good network of shelters, which is important in combating gender-based violence against women. It has established a dense and broad network of different facilities that provide support to victims and their children, with more than 350 women’s shelters and over 40 so-called “safe apartments”. According to statistics between 15,000 and 17,000 women and their children have access to these shelters each year. Moreover, there is a system of financial reparations and other social benefits available to victims. What is very advanced and what I have never heard about in any other country is that last year, a law was adopted on sexual harassment not only in the workplace, but in any public setting such as in a bar or a disco. Germany can also be proud of its very detailed statistics on victims and perpetrators and their inter-personal relationships. There is a standardized procedure for police officers to collect this type of information. And of course, Germany has ratified the Istanbul Convention.

If you were to tell OSCE participating States to do one thing during the 16 Days of Ending Violence against Women campaign, what would it be?
Without any hesitation, I will say that I wish that all participating States should ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence – the Istanbul Convention – and follow all the principles of implementing this wonderful international legal document. The Istanbul Convention contains the highest international standards on combating violence against women and, moreover, provides very detailed practical guidance on how to implement these standards.