Legislating against violence against women: A Handbook

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Legislating against violence against womenA
Handbook
Division for the Advancement of Women Department
of Economic and Social Affairs United Nations
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Violence against womenThe context

• October 2006 Secretary-Generals in-depth study
  on all forms of violence against women
  (A/61/122/Add.1 and Corr.1) (available online in
  all United Nations official languages
  http//www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/v-sg-study.ht
  m)
• December 2006 General Assembly resolution 61/143
  on the intensification of efforts to eliminate
  violence against women
• March 2008 Launch of the Secretary-Generals
  Campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women,
  2008-2015 One of the five key goals of the
  Campaign, to be achieved in all countries by
  2015, is the adoption of legislation on violence
  against women in accordance with international
  human rights standards (see http//endviolence.un.
  org)
• October 2008 General Assembly resolution 63/155
  on the intensification of efforts to eliminate
  violence against women
• March 2009 Launch of the Secretary-Generals
  database on violence against women, which
  provides the first global one-stop shop for
  information on measures undertaken by Member
  States of the United Nations to address violence
  against women, including legislation (see
  http//www.un.org/esa/vawdatabase)

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Background to the Handbook

• Expert group meeting convened by DAW/DESA in
  collaboration with UNODC from 26 to 28 May 2008
  in Vienna, Austria.
• Brought together 15 experts from around the
  world, as well as observers, including the Chair
  of the CEDAW Committee and representatives of
  OHCHR, UNIFEM, IOM, and the IPU, to
• Analyze different approaches in the law for
  addressing all forms of violence against women
  
• Assess lessons learned in the implementation of
  legislation on violence against women, with
  particular attention to effectiveness of
  legislation and
• Identify good practices in the law and
  recommended standards for legislation on violence
  against women.

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Purpose of the Handbook

• Purpose
• to serve as a tool for the development, adoption
  and amendment of legislation which prevents
  violence against women, punishes perpetrators,
  and ensures the rights of survivors of violence
  against women everywhere
• To this end, the Handbook contains
• a summary of the international and legal policy
  framework
• a model framework for legislation on violence
  against women, including recommendations on the
  content of legislation on violence against women,
  and good practice examples
• a checklist of steps to be taken when drafting
  legislation

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The international legal and policy framework

• International human rights treaties
• General recommendation no. 19 of the Committee on
  the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
• Concluding observations of the treaty bodies
• Other international treaties
• Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
  Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
  Children, supplementing the United Nations
  Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
• Policy documents
• General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination
  of Violence against Women (1993)
• Beijing Platform for Action (1995)
• General Assembly resolutions 61/143, 63/155

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Recommended content of legislation

• What should be included/addressed in the law
• Legislative preamble
• Implementation
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Definitions
• Prevention
• Protection, support and assistance to
  complainants/survivors
• Rights of immigrant women
• Investigation
• Legal proceedings and evidence
• Protection orders
• Sentencing
• Family law cases involving violence against women
• Civil law suits
• Family law
• Asylum law

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Recommendations Scope of legislation

• Legislation should
• acknowledge violence against women as a form of
  gender-based discrimination, and that violence
  may affect different groups of women differently
• be comprehensive, including provisions regarding
  prevention of violence against women, protection
  and support for the complainant/survivor, and
  prosecution and punishment of the perpetrator

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Recommendations Implementation and monitoring

• Legislation should
• be implemented in the context of a comprehensive
  national action plan or strategy
• provide for a budget to ensure its implementation
• provide for the adoption of rules and
  regulations, and the creation of specialized
  institutions, including police, prosecutors and
  courts
• provide for the creation of a specific
  institutional mechanism (eg multi-sectoral Task
  Force) and the collection of statistical data,
  including through involvement of the national
  statistical office

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Recommendations Definitions

• The law should contain comprehensive definitions
  of
• domestic violence including physical, sexual,
  psychological, emotional and economic violence,
  and an extensive scope of persons
• sexual assault, incorporating rape, including
  marital rape
• sexual harassment

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Recommendations Prevention and protection

• Legislation should
• mandate preventive measures, including
  awareness-raising campaigns, educational
  curricula, and sensitization of the media in
  relation to violence against women
• include measures for the protection, assistance
  and support of complainants/survivors, including
  comprehensive and integrated support services,
  and rights to support in her employment and
  housing and financial assistance
• ensure that immigrant women are not subjected to
  punitive actions related to their immigration
  status when they report violence, and have the
  right to apply for independent residency status

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Recommendations Prosecution and punishment

• Legislation should
• detail the duties of police officers and
  prosecutors and provide for the rights of
  complainants/survivors during legal proceedings,
  including alternatives to giving live testimony,
  and the right to be continuously updated
  regarding her rights and the status of legal
  proceedings
• provide for both emergency and final protection
  orders, and criminalize the violation of a
  protection order
• ensure that sentences imposed on perpetrators are
  consistent with the gravity of the crime
  committed, including by removing exceptions and
  reductions in sentencing in cases of violence
  against women

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Recommendations Family law civil law suits
asylum law

• Legislation should
• ensure that complainants/survivors of violence
  against women do not have negative inferences
  drawn against them in family law proceedings and
  are entitled, amongst other things, to divorce
  and alimony, and to remain in the family dwelling
• permit complainants/survivors of violence to
  bring civil lawsuits, both against the
  perpetrator, and against third parties who have
  acted negligently, such as the police
• provide that violence against women may
  constitute persecution and that
  complainants/survivors of such violence should
  constitute a particular social group for the
  purposes of asylum law.

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Checklist for drafting legislation

• When drafting legislation the following steps
  should be taken
• Define the legislative goal
• Consult with all relevant stakeholders
• Adopt an evidence-based approach

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Further information

• For further information regarding the work of the
  Division for the Advancement of Women/DESA on
  violence against women http//www.un.org/womenwat
  ch/daw/vaw
• Contact
• Division for the Advancement of Women
• Email daw_at_un.org