Documents that are in boldface have the status of international law.
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KEY U. N. DOCUMENTS ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS (DATE ADOPTED) |
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REFERENCES TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (VAW) OR GENDER VIOLENCE |
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RAPE |
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Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women (1985) |
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makes VAW a priority, calls for legal measures and national machineries to address VAW |
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includes rape as part of VAW |
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SEXUAL HARASSMENT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE |
TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN (OR FORCED PROSTITUTION) |
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calls for measures “to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women” (Art. 6) |
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calls for |
(1) 
the provision of “[r]esources for the prevention of prostitution and assistance in the professional, personal and social reintegration of prostitutes. . . providing economic opportunities, including training, employment, self-employment and health facilities for women and children.”
(2) cooperation between governments and NGOs “to create wider employment possibilities for women.”
(3) “[s]trict enforcement provisions. . . to stem the rising tide of violence, drug abuse and crime related to prostitution” (para 291)
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KEY U. N. DOCUMENTS |
REFERENCES TO |
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ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS (DATE ADOPTED) |
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (VAW) OR GENDER VIOLENCE |
RAPE |
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CEDAW Committee General Recommendation 12 (1989) |
calls for states to include VAW in their CEDAW reports |
references “sexual violence” |
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CEDAW Committee General Recommendation 19 (1992) |
elaborates on how VAW violates the articles of CEDAW |
includes “sexual assault” |
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Vienna Declaration and Programme for Action (1993) |
establishes VAW as a violation of human rights and calls for legal measures, national action, and international coordination to eliminate VAW |
highlights the “systematic rape of women in war” (sec. I, para. 38) |
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U. N. Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) |
as the first U. N. document to do so, elaborates a frame of violence against women: rooted in unequal power between women and men and a key mechanism for subordinating women (preamble) |
includes a broad frame of sexual violence, including marital rape |
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Beijing Platform for Action (1995) |
established VAW as one of the 12 areas of central concern |
one mention of rape |
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defines VAW as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women” (113) |
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Beijing Declaration on Women (1995) |
reaffirms a commitment to VAW and the Declaration on the Elimination of VAW |
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first time governments agreed to include VAW as a crucial issue |
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SEXUAL HARASSMENT |
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE |
TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN (OR FORCED PROSTITUTION) |
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includes “sexual harassment at the workplace” |
includes “abuses in the family” |
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includes “sexual harassment in the workplace” as undermining “equality in employment” |
“Family violence is one of the most insidious forms of violence against women.” |
includes “trafficking in women,” a form of “sexual exploitation” |
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links “gender-based violence” with “all forms of sexual harassment and exploitation” (sec. I, para. 18) |
“stresses the importance of working towards the elimination of violence against women in public and private life” (sec. II, para. 38) |
considers “international trafficking” as resulting in “gender-based violence” (sec. I, para. 18) |
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defines sexual harassment as part of VAW (art. 2) |
advocates research |
includes “trafficking in women and forced prostitution” as part of VAW (art. 2) |
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implied in various references to “violence against women” |
implied in various references to “violence against women” |
expresses concern about “forced prostitution” of the girl-child |
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asserts that a “harmonious |
partnership” between husbands and wives is essential for the “consolidation of democracy” (para. 15)
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Optional Protocol to reaffirms Vienna Declaration
CEDAW (1999) and Programme of Action,
the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,
allows citizens or groups to bring claims to the CEDAW Committee
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2000)
Note: Russia ratified CEDAW in 1981 (as the Soviet Union), the Optional Protocol to CEDAW in 2004, and the Trafficking Protocol in 2004.
TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN (OR FORCED PROSTITUTION)
defines “[trafficking in persons [as] the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.” (Art. 3a)
recommends the three Ps: prevention, protection, and prosecution
APPENDIX TWO