URU, Alm.del - 2012-13 - Bilag 157: Redegørelse for forløb samt sluterklæring fra FN´s kvindekommissions 57. samling, der fandt sted i New York den 4.

The elimination and prevention of all forms of violenceagainst women and girls1.The Commission on the Status of Women reaffirms the Beijing Declarationand Platform for Action, the outcome documents of the twenty-third special sessionof the General Assembly, and the declarations adopted by the Commission on theoccasion of the tenth and fifteenth anniversaries of the Fourth World Conference onWomen.2.The Commission also reaffirms the international commitments made atrelevant United Nations summits and conferences in the area of gender equality andthe empowerment of women, including in the Programme of Action at theInternational Conference on Population and Development and the key actions for itsfurther implementation.3.The Commission reaffirms that the Convention on the Elimination of AllForms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of theChild, and the Optional Protocols thereto, as well as other relevant conventions andtreaties, provide an international legal framework and a comprehensive set ofmeasures for the elimination and prevention of all forms of discrimination andviolence against women and girls, as a cross-cutting issue addressed in differentinternational instruments.4.The Commission recalls the rules of international humanitarian law, includingthe Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977.5.The Commission recalls the inclusion of gender-related crimes and crimes ofsexual violence in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as13-26434 (E)010413

the recognition by the ad hoc international criminal tribunals that rape and otherforms of sexual violence can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity or aconstitutive act with respect to genocide or torture.6.The Commission acknowledges also the important role in the prevention andelimination of discrimination and violence against women and girls played byregional conventions, instruments and initiatives and their follow-up mechanisms, inrespective regions and countries.7.The Commission reaffirms the commitment to the full and effectiveimplementation of and follow-up to all relevant resolutions of the GeneralAssembly, in particular the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence againstWomen, and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies on theelimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls. It alsoreaffirms its previous agreed conclusions on violence against women (1998) and onelimination of discrimination and violence against the girl child (2007).8.The Commission recalls Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) of 31 October2000, 1820 (2008) of 19 June 2008, 1888 (2009) of 30 September 2009, 1889 (2009)of 5 October 2009 and 1960 (2010) of 16 December 2010 on women and peace andsecurity and all relevant Security Council resolutions on children and armed conflict,including resolutions 1882 (2009) of 4 August 2009 and 1998 (2011) of 12 July 2011on armed conflict and post-conflict situations.9.The Commission also recalls Human Rights Council resolutions 17/11 of 17 June2011 on accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women: ensuringdue diligence in protection, 20/6 of 5 July 2012 on the elimination of discriminationagainst women and 20/12 of 5 July 2012 on accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms ofviolence against women: remedies for women who have been subjected to violence.10. The Commission affirms that violence against women and girls is rooted inhistorical and structural inequality in power relations between women and men, andpersists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of the enjoyment ofhuman rights. Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that seriouslyviolates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women and girls of all humanrights and fundamental freedoms. Violence against women and girls is characterizedby the use and abuse of power and control in public and private spheres, and isintrinsically linked with gender stereotypes that underlie and perpetuate suchviolence, as well as other factors that can increase women’s and girls’ vulnerabilityto such violence.11. The Commission stresses that “violence against women” means any act ofgender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual orpsychological harm or suffering to women and girls, including threats of such acts,coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in privatelife. The Commission also notes the economic and social harm caused by suchviolence.12. The Commission strongly condemns all forms of violence against women andgirls. It recognizes their different forms and manifestations, in different contexts,settings, circumstances and relationships, and that domestic violence remains themost prevalent form that affects women of all social strata across the world. It alsonotes that women and girls who face multiple forms of discrimination are exposedto increased risk of violence.

13. The Commission urges States to strongly condemn violence against womenand girls committed in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, and recognizesthat sexual and gender-based violence affects victims and survivors, families,communities and societies, and calls for effective measures of accountability andredress as well as effective remedies.14. The Commission urges States to strongly condemn all forms of violenceagainst women and girls and to refrain from invoking any custom, tradition orreligious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination asset out in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.15. The Commission recognizes that all human rights are universal, indivisible andinterdependent and interrelated and that the international community must treathuman rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with thesame emphasis, and stresses that, while the significance of national and regionalparticularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must beborne in mind, it is the duty of States regardless of their political, economic andcultural systems to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms.16. The Commission stresses that all States have the obligation, at all levels, to useall appropriate means of a legislative, political, economic, social and administrativenature in order to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedomsof women and girls, and must exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate,prosecute and punish the perpetrators of violence against women and girls and endimpunity, and to provide protection as well as access to appropriate remedies forvictims and survivors.17. The Commission stresses that the right to education is a human right, and thateliminating illiteracy, ensuring equal access to education, in particular in rural andremote areas, and closing the gender gap at all levels of education empowers womenand girls and thereby contributes to the elimination of all forms of discriminationand violence against women and girls.18. The Commission reaffirms that women and men have the right to enjoy, on anequal basis, all their human rights and fundamental freedoms. It urges States toprevent all violations of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of women andgirls and to devote particular attention to abolishing practices and legislation thatdiscriminate against women and girls, or perpetuate and condone violence againstthem.19. The Commission stresses that the realization of gender equality and theempowerment of women, including women’s economic empowerment and full andequal access to resources, and their full integration into the formal economy, inparticular in economic decision-making, as well as their full and equal participationin public and political life is essential for addressing the structural and underlyingcauses of violence against women and girls.20. The Commission also recognizes the persistence of obstacles that remain forthe prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, andthat the prevention and response to such violence requires States to act, at all levels,at each and every opportunity in a comprehensive and holistic manner thatrecognizes the linkages between violence against women and girls and other issues,such as education, health, HIV and AIDS, poverty eradication, food security, peaceand security, humanitarian assistance and crime prevention.

21. The Commission recognizes that women’s poverty and lack of empowerment,as well as their marginalization resulting from their exclusion from social andeconomic policies and from the benefits of education and sustainable developmentcan place them at increased risk of violence, and that violence against womenimpedes the social and economic development of communities and States, as well asthe achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including theMillennium Development Goals.22. The Commission recognizes that violence against women has both short- andlong-term adverse consequences on their health, including their sexual andreproductive health, and the enjoyment of their human rights, and that respectingand promoting sexual and reproductive health, and protecting and fulfillingreproductive rights in accordance with the Programme of Action of the InternationalConference on Population and Development, the Beijing Platform for Action and theoutcome documents of their review conferences, is a necessary condition to achievegender equality and the empowerment of women to enable them to enjoy all theirhuman rights and fundamental freedoms, and to prevent and mitigate violenceagainst women.23. The Commission expresses deep concern about violence against women andgirls in public spaces, including sexual harassment, especially when it is being usedto intimidate women and girls who are exercising any of their human rights andfundamental freedoms.24. The Commission expresses concern about violent gender-related killings ofwomen and girls, while recognizing efforts made to address this form of violence indifferent regions, including in countries where the concept of femicide or feminicidehas been incorporated in national legislation.25. The Commission recognizes that illicit use of and illicit trade in small armsand light weapons aggravates violence, inter alia, against women and girls.26. The Commission recognizes the vulnerability of older women and theparticular risk of violence they face, and stresses the urgent need to address violenceand discrimination against them, especially in the light of the growing proportion ofolder people in the world’s population.27. The Commission reaffirms that indigenous women often suffer multiple formsof discrimination and poverty which increase their vulnerability to all forms ofviolence; and stresses the need to seriously address violence against indigenouswomen and girls.28. The Commission recognizes the important role of the community, in particularmen and boys, as well as civil society, in particular women’s and youthorganizations, in the efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women andgirls.29. The Commission acknowledges the strategic and coordinating role of nationalmachineries for the advancement of women, which should be placed at the highestpossible level in government, for the elimination of discrimination and violenceagainst women and girls, and the need to endow these machineries with thenecessary human and sufficient financial resources to enable them to functioneffectively. The Commission also acknowledges the contribution of national humanrights institutions where they exist.

30. The Commission recognizes the important role of the United Nations system,in particular of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and theEmpowerment of Women (UN-Women), in addressing discrimination and violenceagainst women and girls at the global, regional and national levels and in assistingStates, upon their request, in their efforts to eliminate and prevent all forms ofviolence against women and girls.31. The Commission stresses the importance of data collection on the preventionand elimination of violence against women and girls, and in that regard takes note ofthe work of the Statistical Commission towards a set of indicators on violenceagainst women.32. The Commission welcomes the progress made in addressing violence againstwomen and girls such as the adoption of relevant laws and policies, theimplementation of preventive measures, the establishment of protection andappropriate support services for victims and survivors and improvement in datacollection, analysis and research. In this regard, the Commission welcomes thecontributions and participation of governments at all levels, and all relevantstakeholders in efforts to address violence against women and girls in a holisticmanner.33. The Commission recognizes that despite progress made, significant gaps andchallenges remain in fulfilling commitments and bridging the implementation gap inaddressing the scourge of violence against women and girls. The Commission is inparticular concerned about: insufficient gender-sensitive policies; inadequateimplementation of legal and policy frameworks; inadequate collection of data,analysis and research; lack of financial and human resources and insufficientallocation of such resources; and that existing efforts are not always comprehensive,coordinated, consistent, sustained, transparent and adequately monitored andevaluated.34. The Commission urges governments, at all levels, and as appropriate, with therelevant entities of the United Nations system, international and regionalorganizations, within their respective mandates and bearing in mind nationalpriorities, and invites national human rights institutions where they exist, civilsociety, including non-governmental organizations, the private sector, employerorganizations, trade unions, media and other relevant actors, as applicable, to takethe following actions:

Strengthening implementation of legal and policy frameworksand accountability(a) Consider ratifying or acceding to, as a particular matter of priority, theConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women andthe Convention on the Rights of the Child and their respective Optional Protocols,limit the extent of any reservations, formulate any such reservations as precisely andas narrowly as possible to ensure that no reservations are incompatible with theobject and purpose of the Conventions, review their reservations regularly with aview to withdrawing them and withdraw reservations that are contrary to the objectand purpose of the relevant treaty; and implement them fully by, inter alia, puttingin place effective national legislation and policies, and encourages States parties in

their reporting to relevant treaty bodies to include requested information onmeasures to address violence against women and girls;(b) Encourage the use of all relevant sources of international law,international guidelines and best practices regarding protection of victims andsurvivors to combat violence against women and girls;(c) Adopt, as appropriate, review, and ensure the accelerated and effectiveimplementation of laws and comprehensive measures that criminalize violenceagainst women and girls, and that provide for multidisciplinary and gender-sensitivepreventive and protective measures such as emergency barring orders and protectionorders, the investigation, submission for prosecution and appropriate punishment ofperpetrators to end impunity, support services that empower victims and survivors,as well as access to appropriate civil remedies and redress;(d) Address and eliminate, as a matter of priority, domestic violence throughadopting, strengthening and implementing legislation that prohibits such violence,prescribes punitive measures and establishes adequate legal protection against suchviolence;(e) Strengthen national legislation, where appropriate, to punish violentgender-related killings of women and girls and integrate specific mechanisms orpolicies to prevent, investigate and eradicate such deplorable forms of gender-basedviolence;(f) Ensure women’s and girls’ unimpeded access to justice and to effectivelegal assistance so that they can make informed decisions regarding, inter alia, legalproceedings and issues relating to family law and criminal law, and also ensure thatthey have access to just and effective remedies for the harm that they have suffered,including through the adoption of national legislation where necessary;(g) Take the necessary legislative and/or other measures to prohibitcompulsory and forced alternative dispute resolution processes, including forcedmediation and conciliation, in relation to all forms of violence against women andgirls;(h) Review and where appropriate, revise, amend or abolish all laws,regulations, policies, practices and customs that discriminate against women or havea discriminatory impact on women, and ensure that the provisions of multiple legalsystems, where they exist, comply with international human rights obligations,commitments and principles, including the principle of non-discrimination;(i) Mainstream a gender perspective into all legislation, policies andprogrammes and allocate adequate financial and human resources, including throughthe expanded use of gender-responsive planning and budgeting, taking into accountthe needs and circumstances of women and girls, including victims and survivors ofviolence, for the development, adoption and full implementation of relevant laws,policies and programmes to address discrimination and violence against women andgirls and for support to women’s organizations;(j) Increase the investment in gender equality and the empowerment ofwomen and girls, taking into account the diversity of needs and circumstances ofwomen and girls including victims and survivors of violence, including throughmainstreaming a gender perspective in resource allocation and ensuring thenecessary human, financial and material resources for specific targeted activities to

ensure gender equality at the local, national, regional and international levels, aswell through enhanced and increased international cooperation;(k) Develop and implement effective multisectoral national policies,strategies and programmes, with the full and effective participation of women andgirls, which include measures for prevention, protection and support services andresponses; data collection, research, monitoring and evaluation; the establishment ofcoordination mechanisms; allocation of adequate financial and human resources;independent national monitoring and accountability mechanisms; and clear timelinesand national benchmarks for results to be achieved;(l) Ensure that in armed conflict and post-conflict situations the preventionof and response to all forms of violence against women and girls, including sexualand gender-based violence, are prioritized and effectively addressed, including asappropriate through the investigation, prosecution and punishment of perpetrators toend impunity, removal of barriers to women’s access to justice, the establishment ofcomplaint and reporting mechanisms, the provision of support to victims andsurvivors, affordable and accessible health-care services, including sexual andreproductive health, and reintegration measures; and take steps to increase women’sparticipation in conflict resolution and peacebuilding processes and post-conflictdecision-making;(m) Ensure accountability for the killing, maiming and targeting of womenand girls and crimes of sexual violence, as prohibited under international law,stressing the need for the exclusion of such crimes from amnesty provisions in thecontext of conflict resolution processes and address such acts in all stages of thearmed-conflict and post-conflict resolution process including through transitionaljustice mechanisms, while taking steps to ensure the full and effective participationof women in such processes;(n) End impunity by ensuring accountability and punishing perpetrators ofthe most serious crimes against women and girls under national and internationallaw, and stressing the need for the alleged perpetrators of those crimes to be heldaccountable under national justice or, where applicable, international justice;(o) Take effective steps to ensure the equal participation of women and menin all spheres of political life, political reform and at all levels of decision-making,in all situations, and to contribute to the prevention and the elimination ofdiscrimination and violence against women and girls;(p) Underline commitments to strengthen national efforts, including with thesupport of international cooperation, aimed at addressing the rights and needs ofwomen and girls affected by natural disasters, armed conflicts, other complexhumanitarian emergencies, trafficking in persons and terrorism, within the contextof actions geared to addressing and eliminating violence against women and girlsand the realization of the internationally agreed goals and commitments related togender equality and the empowerment of women, including the MillenniumDevelopment Goals. Also underline the need to take concerted actions in conformitywith international law to remove the obstacles to the full realization of the rights ofwomen and girls living under foreign occupation, so as to ensure the achievement ofthe above-mentioned goals and commitments;(q) Ensure that the specific needs of women and girls are incorporated intothe planning, delivery and monitoring of, and infrastructure for disaster risk

reduction programmes and protocols and humanitarian assistance to address naturaldisasters, including those induced by climate change such as extreme weather eventsand slow onset impacts, with their full participation, and that in disasterpreparedness efforts and in post-disaster settings, the prevention and response to allforms of violence against women and girls, including sexual violence, areprioritized and adequately addressed;(r) Address violence against women and girls resulting from transnationalorganized crime, including trafficking in persons and drug trafficking, and adoptspecific policies to prevent and eradicate violence against women in crimeprevention strategies;(s) Strengthen bilateral, regional and international cooperation, byconsolidating existing mechanisms and developing new initiatives consistent withthe United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and itssupplementary Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,Especially Women and Children, and by implementing the United Nations GlobalPlan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons;(t) Take appropriate measures to address the root factors, including externalfactors, that contribute to trafficking in women and girls. Prevent, combat andeliminate trafficking in women and girls by criminalizing all forms of trafficking inpersons, in particular for the purpose of sexual and economic exploitation, as well asby strengthening existing civil and criminal legislation with a view to providingbetter protection of the rights of women and girls and by bringing to justice andpunishing the offenders and intermediaries involved, including public officials, byprotecting the rights of trafficked persons and preventing revictimization. Takeappropriate measures to ensure that identified victims of trafficking in persons arenot penalized for having been trafficked. Provide identified victims of traffickingappropriate protection and care, such as rehabilitation and reintegration in society,witness protection, job training, legal assistance, confidential health care, andrepatriation with the informed consent of the trafficked person, regardless of theirparticipation in any legal proceeding. Accelerate public awareness, education andtraining to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation;(u) Strengthen international cooperation, including through the fulfilment ofinternational official development assistance commitments, that support multisectoralpolicies, strategies, programmes and best practices, in accordance with nationalpriorities aimed at achieving sustainable development and the realization of theempowerment of women, particularly towards ending violence against women andgirls and promoting gender equality;(v) Encourage private sector investment in programmes, campaigns andstrategies to respond to, prevent and eliminate all forms of discrimination andviolence against women and girls, including sexual harassment at the workplace,and to empower victims and survivors of violence;(w) Adopt and fund policy reforms and programmes, and support education,to sensitize, train and strengthen the capacity of public officials and professionals,including the judiciary, police and military, as well as those working in the areas ofeducation, health, social welfare, justice, defence and immigration; hold publicofficials accountable for not complying with laws and regulations relating toviolence against women and girls, in order to prevent and respond to such violence

in a gender-sensitive manner, end impunity, and avoid the abuse of power leading toviolence against women and the revictimization of victims and survivors;(x) Prevent, investigate and punish acts of violence against women and girlsthat are perpetrated by people in positions of authority, such as teachers, religiousleaders, political leaders and law enforcement officials, in order to end impunity forthese crimes;(y) Create and enhance a supportive environment for increased consultationand participation among all relevant stakeholders in efforts to address violenceagainst women and girls, especially organizations working at the community level topromote the empowerment of women and girls, as well as victims and survivors sothey can become agents of change and their knowledge and experience cancontribute to the elaboration of policies and programmes;(z) Support and protect those who are committed to eliminating violenceagainst women, including women human rights defenders in this regard, who faceparticular risks of violence;(aa) Take appropriate measures to ensure the human rights of and protectwomen and girls deprived of their liberty and/or under State custody or State carefrom all forms of violence, in particular sexual abuse;(bb) Adopt a life-cycle approach in efforts to end discrimination and violenceagainst women and girls and ensure that specific issues affecting older women aregiven greater visibility and attention, are addressed through the fulfilment ofobligations under relevant international conventions and agreements and included innational policies and programmes to prevent and eliminate violence against women;

Addressing structural and underlying causes and risk factors so asto prevent violence against women and girls(cc) Accelerate efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of discriminationagainst women and girls and ensure their equal enjoyment of all human rights andfundamental freedoms, including the right to education and to the highest attainablestandard of physical and mental health; ensure that all children, particularly girls,have equal access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of goodquality, and renew their efforts to improve and expand girls’ education at all levels,including the secondary and higher levels, in all academic areas; and increase girls’ability to attend school and extracurricular activities by investing in publicinfrastructure projects and accessible quality public services and providing a safeenvironment;(dd) Promote women’s full participation in the formal economy, in particularin economic decision-making, and their equal access to full employment and decentwork; empower women in the informal sector; and ensure that women and menenjoy equal treatment in the workplace, as well as equal pay for equal work or workof equal value, and equal access to power and decision-making, and promote sharingof paid and unpaid work;(ee) Accelerate efforts to develop, review and strengthen policies, andallocate adequate financial and human resources, to address the structural andunderlying causes of violence against women and girls, including gender

discrimination, inequality, unequal power relations between women and men,gender stereotypes, poverty as well as their lack of empowerment, in particular inthe context of the economic and financial crisis; and accelerate efforts to eradicatepoverty and persistent legal, social, and economic inequalities, including bystrengthening women’s and girls’ economic participation, empowerment andinclusion, in order to decrease their risk of violence;(ff) States are strongly urged to refrain from promulgating and applying anyunilateral economic, financial or trade measures not in accordance with internationallaw and the Charter of the United Nations that impede the full achievement ofeconomic and social development, particularly in developing countries;(gg) Take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social, educational andother measures to protect and promote the rights of women and girls withdisabilities as they are more vulnerable to all forms of exploitation, violence andabuse, including in the workplace, educational institutions, the home, and othersettings;(hh) Undertake legislative, administrative, financial and other measures togive women full and equal access to economic resources, including the right toinheritance and to ownership of land and other property, credit, natural resourcesand appropriate technologies, inter alia, by means of international cooperation;prioritize and intensify initiatives towards the economic empowerment of women atthe grass-roots level, including through entrepreneurship education and businessincubators, as a way of uplifting their status, thereby reducing their vulnerability toviolence;(ii) Refrain from using social justifications for denying women their freedomof movement, the right to own property and the right to equal protection of the law;(jj) Design and implement national policies that aim at transforming thosesocial norms that condone violence against women and girls, and work to counteractattitudes by which women and girls are regarded as subordinate to men and boys oras having stereotyped roles that perpetuate practices involving violence or coercion;(kk) Develop and implement educational programmes and teaching materials,including comprehensive evidence-based education for human sexuality, based onfull and accurate information, for all adolescents and youth, in a manner consistentwith their evolving capacities, with the appropriate direction and guidance fromparents and legal guardians, with the involvement of children, adolescents, youthand communities, and in coordination with women’s, youth and specializednon-governmental organizations, in order to modify the social and cultural patternsof conduct of men and women of all ages, to eliminate prejudices, and to promoteand build informed decision-making, communication and risk reduction skills forthe development of respectful relationships and based on gender equality and humanrights, as well as teacher education and training programmes for both formal andnon-formal education;(ll) Carry out awareness-raising and education campaigns, in cooperationwith civil society organizations, especially women’s organizations, through differentmeans of communication, targeting the general public, young people, men and boys,to address the structural and underlying causes of violence and abuse against womenand girls; to overcome gender stereotypes and promote zero tolerance for suchviolence; to remove the stigma of being a victim and survivor of violence; and to

create an enabling environment where women and girls can easily report incidencesof violence and make use of the services available and of protection and assistanceprogrammes;(mm) Mobilize communities and institutions to address and change attitudes,behaviours and practices that perpetuate and condone gender stereotypes and allforms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, by engaging withwomen’s and youth organizations, national machineries for the advancement ofwomen, national human rights institutions where they exist, schools, educationaland media institutions and others directly working with women and girls, men andboys and with individuals at all levels of society and in all settings, religious andcommunity leaders and elders, teachers and parents;(nn) Promote and protect the human rights of all women including their rightto have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to theirsexuality, including sexual and reproductive health, free of coercion, discriminationand violence; and adopt and accelerate the implementation of laws, policies andprogrammes which protect and enable the enjoyment of all human rights andfundamental freedoms, including their reproductive rights in accordance with theProgramme of Action of the International Conference on Population andDevelopment, the Beijing Platform for Action and their review outcomes;(oo) Develop and implement gender-sensitive policies, strategies, programmesand measures which promote greater understanding and recognition that caregivingis a critical societal function and encourage the equal sharing of responsibilities andchores between men and women in caregiving, including for persons withdisabilities, older persons and people living with HIV, as well as for child-rearing,parenting and domestic work; and also work to change attitudes that reinforce thedivision of labour based on gender, in order to promote shared family responsibilityfor work in the home and reduce the domestic work burden for women and girls;(pp) Engage, educate, encourage and support men and boys to takeresponsibility for their behaviour, to ensure that men and adolescent boys takeresponsibility for their sexual and reproductive behaviour, and to refrain from allforms of discrimination and violence against women and girls; develop, invest in,and implement policies, strategies and programmes, including comprehensiveeducation programmes to increase their understanding of the harmful effects ofviolence and how it undermines gender equality and human dignity, promoterespectful relationships, provide positive role models for gender equality and toencourage men and boys to take an active part and become strategic partners andallies in the prevention and elimination of all forms of discrimination and violenceagainst women and girls;(qq) Review, enact and strictly enforce laws and regulations concerning theminimum legal age of consent and the minimum age for marriage, raising theminimum age for marriage where necessary, and generate social support for theenforcement of these laws in order to end the practice of child, early and forcedmarriage;(rr) Ensure the provision of viable alternatives and institutional support,including for girls who are already married and/or pregnant, especially educationalopportunities with an emphasis on keeping girls in school through post-primaryeducation and promoting the empowerment of girls through improving educational

quality and ensuring safe and hygienic conditions in schools, physical access toeducation, including by establishing safe residential facilities and childcare, andincreasing financial incentives to women and their families where necessary;(ss) Ensure the access of adolescents to services and programmes onpreventing early pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and HIV, ensuringpersonal safety, and preventing the use and abuse of alcohol and other harmfulsubstances;(tt) Develop policies and programmes, giving priority to formal and informaleducation programmes that support girls and enable them to acquire knowledge,develop self-esteem and take responsibility for their own lives, including access to asustainable livelihood; and place special focus on programmes to educate womenand men, especially parents and caregivers, on the importance of girls’ physical andmental health and well-being, including the elimination of child, early and forcedmarriage, violence against women and girls, female genital mutilation, child sexualexploitation, including commercial sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, rape, incestand abduction, and the elimination of discrimination against girls such as in foodallocation;(uu) Develop and support existing policies and programmes targeting childrenand young people, especially women, who have experienced or witnessed domesticviolence or sexual abuse, including protection for children in the justice system, soas to reduce the risk of their possible revictimization or perpetration of violence andrestore their health; and implement such programmes in a gender-responsive mannerwith the meaningful participation of young people, civil society and women’s andyouth organizations, and educational and health institutions;(vv) Recognize the important role the media can play in the elimination ofgender stereotypes, including those perpetuated by commercial advertisements, andin promoting non-discriminatory and gender-sensitive reporting, including bypreserving the confidentiality of the identity of victims and survivors whereappropriate; and, to the extent consistent with freedom of expression, encourage themedia to improve public awareness on violence against women and girls, to trainthose who work in the media, and to develop and strengthen self-regulatorymechanisms to promote balanced and non-stereotypical portrayals of women with aview to eliminating discrimination against and the exploitation of women and girlsand refraining from presenting them as inferior beings and exploiting them as sexualobjects and commodities and instead present women and girls as creative humanbeings, key actors and contributors to and beneficiaries of the process ofdevelopment;(ww) Support the development and use of information and communicationtechnologies and social media as a resource for the empowerment of women andgirls, including access to information on the prevention of and response to violenceagainst women and girls; and develop mechanisms to combat the use of informationand communication technologies and social media to perpetrate violence againstwomen and girls, including the criminal misuse of information and communicationtechnologies for sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, child pornography andtrafficking in women and girls, and emerging forms of violence, such ascyberstalking, cyberbullying and privacy violations that compromise women’s andgirls’ safety;

(xx) Improve the safety of girls at and on the way to and from school,including by establishing a safe and violence free environment by improvinginfrastructure such as transportation, providing separate and adequate sanitationfacilities, improved lighting, playgrounds and safe environments; adopting nationalpolicies to prohibit, prevent and address violence against children, especially girls,including sexual harassment and bullying and other forms of violence, throughmeasures such as conducting violence prevention activities in schools andcommunities, and establishing and enforcing penalties for violence against girls;(yy) Take measures to ensure that all workplaces are free from discriminationand exploitation, violence, and sexual harassment and bullying, and that theyaddress discrimination and violence against women and girls, as appropriate,through measures such as regulatory and oversight frameworks and reforms,collective agreements, codes of conduct, including appropriate disciplinarymeasures, protocols and procedures, referral of cases of violence to health servicesfor treatment and police for investigation; as well as through awareness-raising andcapacity-building, in collaboration with employers, unions and workers, includingworkplace services and flexibility for victims and survivors;(zz) Increase measures to protect women and girls from violence andharassment, including sexual harassment and bullying, in both public and privatespaces, to address security and safety, through awareness-raising, involvement oflocal communities, crime prevention laws, policies, programmes such as the “SafeCities for Women and Children” initiative, improved urban planning, infrastructures,public transport and street lighting, and also through social and interactive media;(aaa) Condemn and take action to prevent violence against women and girlsin health-care settings, including sexual harassment, humiliation and forced medicalprocedures, or those conducted without informed consent, and which may beirreversible, such as forced hysterectomy, forced caesarean section, forcedsterilization, forced abortion, and forced use of contraceptives, especially forparticularly vulnerable and disadvantaged women and girls, such as those livingwith HIV, women and girls with disabilities, indigenous and Afro-descendentwomen and girls, pregnant adolescents and young mothers, older women, andwomen and girls from national or ethnic minorities;(bbb) Further adopt and implement measures to ensure social and legalinclusion and protection of women migrants, including women migrant workers inorigin, transit and destination countries, and promote and protect the full realizationof their human rights, and their protection against violence and exploitation;implement gender-sensitive policies and programmes for women migrant workersand provide safe and legal channels that recognize their skills and education,provide fair labour conditions, and as appropriate facilitate their productiveemployment and decent work as well as integration into the labour force;(ccc) Also take measures to ensure the protection of self-employed workersin cross-border work and women seasonal workers from violence anddiscrimination;

Strengthening multisectoral services, programmes and responsesto violence against women and girls(ddd) Establish comprehensive, coordinated, interdisciplinary, accessible andsustained multisectoral services, programmes and responses at all levels, and withthe support of all available technologies, for all victims and survivors of all forms ofviolence against women and girls based on their needs, that are adequatelyresourced and include effective and coordinated action by, as appropriate, police andthe justice sector, legal aid services, health-care services, including sexual andreproductive health, and medical, psychological and other counselling services,including specialist services as appropriate, State and independent women’s sheltersand counselling centres, 24-hour hotlines, social aid services, one stop crisis centres,immigration services, child services, public housing services to provide lowthreshold, easy to reach and safe assistance for women and children, as well asassistance, protection and support through access to long-term accommodation,educational, employment and economic opportunities, and take steps to ensure thesafety and security of health-care workers and service providers that assist andsupport victims and survivors of violence, and in cases of girl child victims, suchservices and responses must take into account the best interests of the child;(eee) Further take measures to coordinate services through the establishmentof processes for referral between services of victims and survivors while ensuringtheir confidentiality and safety, establish national benchmarks and timelines, andmonitor their progress and implementation; as well as ensure access to coordinatedmultisectoral services, programmes and responses for all women and girls at risk ofor subjected to violence;(fff) Ensure the availability and accessibility for victims and survivors andtheir children to services, programmes and opportunities, for their full recovery andreintegration into society, as well as full access to justice, including those subjectedto domestic violence and other forms of violence, by putting in place measures, andwhere these exist, expanding such measures; and ensure the provision of adequateand timely information on available support services and legal measures, whenpossible in a language that they understand and in which they can communicate;(ggg) Create, develop and implement a set of policies, and support theestablishment of rehabilitative services, to encourage and bring changes in theattitudes and behaviours of perpetrators of violence against women and girls, and toreduce the likelihood of reoffending, including in cases of domestic violence, rapeand harassment, as well as monitor and assess their impact and effect;(hhh) Improve access to timely, affordable and quality health systems forwomen and girls, including through gender-sensitive national strategies and public-health policies and programmes that are comprehensive, affordable and bettertargeted to addressing their needs and that encourage women’s active participationin their design and implementation; and also enhance women’s access to affordable,safe, effective and good-quality treatment and medicines, with a special emphasis onthe poor, vulnerable and marginalized segments of the population;(iii) Address all health consequences, including the physical, mental andsexual and reproductive health consequences, of violence against women and girlsby providing accessible health-care services that are responsive to trauma andinclude affordable, safe, effective and good-quality medicines, first line support,

treatment of injuries and psychosocial and mental health support, emergencycontraception, safe abortion where such services are permitted by national law,post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV infection, diagnosis and treatment for sexuallytransmitted infections, training for medical professionals to effectively identify andtreat women subjected to violence, as well as forensic examinations byappropriately trained professionals;(jjj) Accelerate efforts to address the intersection of HIV and AIDS andviolence against all women and girls, in particular the common risk factors,including through strategies to address domestic and sexual violence, and tostrengthen coordination and integration of policies, programmes and services toaddress the intersection between HIV and violence against women and girls, andensure that responses to HIV and AIDS are leveraged to prevent violence againstthem, while meeting their specific needs for sexual and reproductive health-careservices, as well as HIV and AIDS diagnosis, affordable and accessible treatmentand prevention, including procurement and supply of safe and effective preventioncommodities, including male and female condoms;(kkk) Eliminate discrimination and violence against women and girls livingwith HIV as well as the caregivers of persons living with HIV and take into accounttheir vulnerability to stigma, discrimination, poverty and marginalization from theirfamilies and communities when implementing programmes and measures whichencourage the equal sharing of caring responsibilities;(lll) Expand the availability of health-care services, and in particular,strengthen maternal and reproductive health centres, as key entry points that providesupport, referrals to services and protection to families, women and girls at risk ofviolence, especially sexual violence, and which provide support to adolescents inorder to avoid early and unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections,through education, information and access to sexual and reproductive health-careservices;

Improving the evidence base(mmm) Carry out continued multidisciplinary research and analysis on thestructural and underlying causes of, cost and risk factors for violence against womenand girls and its types and prevalence, in order to inform the development andrevision of laws and their implementation, policies and strategies, and make suchinformation public to support awareness-raising efforts;(nnn) Collect, collate, analyse and disseminate reliable, comparable andanonymized data and statistics on a regular basis, disaggregated by sex and age, atthe national and local levels on different forms of discrimination and violenceagainst women and girls, its causes and consequences, including the health costs andeconomic costs to society of such discrimination and violence, and also consider allother relevant factors, such as accessibility, to inform the formulation, monitoringand evaluation of laws, policies and programmes;(ooo) Improve the collection, harmonization and use of administrative data,including, where appropriate, from the police, health sector and the judiciary, onincidents of violence against women and girls, including data on the relationshipbetween the perpetrator and victim and geographic location, ensuring that

confidentiality, ethical and safety considerations are taken into account in theprocess of data collection, and improving the effectiveness of the services andprogrammes provided and protecting the safety and security of the victim;(ppp) Develop national monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assesspolicies and programmes, including preventive and response strategies to addressviolence against women and girls in both public and private spheres;(qqq) Promote the sharing of best practices and experiences, as well asfeasible, practical and successful policy and programme interventions; as well aspromote the application of these successful interventions and experiences in othersettings.35. The Commission emphasizes that ending violence against women and girls isimperative, including for the achievement of the internationally agreed developmentgoals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and must be a priority for theeradication of poverty, the achievement of inclusive sustainable development, peaceand security, human rights, health, gender equality and empowerment of women,sustainable and inclusive economic growth and social cohesion, and vice versa. TheCommission strongly recommends that the realization of gender equality andempowerment of women be considered as a priority in the elaboration of thepost-2015 development agenda.