Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-Publications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG

2 PRACTITIONERS GUIDE No. 12
level, this understanding is reflected in various authoritative
legal and quasi-legal sources. These authorities include United
Nations (UN) treaty monitoring bodies, such as the Committee
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (the CEDAW Committee), the Human Rights Committee
and the Committee against Torture; independent experts, such
as the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its
causes and consequences, and the Special Rapporteur on
torture; and regional human rights systems, such as the
European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights. These sources also stem from political bodies,
such as the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council,
which adopt resolutions that recognize and elaborate the detail
of international human rights law and standards. International
organizations, including the World Health Organization and the
UN and its officials and agencies (such as the UN Secretary-
General, UN Women and the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF)) have added their authoritative commentary and
analysis to the body of human rights law.
Across all these authorities, there is a consistent recognition
that gender-based violence, whether committed by State
agents or non-State actors, can severely infringe the rights of
women not to be subjected to torture and ill-treatment, and
the right not to be subjected to discrimination. This recognition
of gender-based violence as a form of torture and
discrimination persists irrespective of the situation in which the
violence takes place – whether in armed conflict or peacetime,
in the home, the street or in places of detention – or the
identity of the perpetrator – whether a family member,
member of the community, stranger or State official. There is
now a broad and detailed consistency across most of these
authorities as to how States must fulfil their obligations under
international human rights law to prevent, stop and redress
gender-based violence, across a variety of legal and practical
initiatives.