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

20 PRACTITIONERS GUIDE No. 12
legislation and procedures to ensure that all components of the
justice system are gender-sensitive, user friendly and
accountable”. 27
What is gender?
According to the CEDAW Committee, “[t]he term sex refers to
biological differences between men and women. The term
“gender” refers to socially constructed identities, attributes and
roles for women and men and society’s social and cultural
meaning for these biological differences resulting in hierarchical
relationships between women and men in the distribution of
power and rights favouring men and disadvantaging women.
This social position of women and men is affected by political,
economic, cultural, social, religious, ideological and
environmental factors and can be changed by culture, society
and community.” 28
A rights-based understanding of the illegality of genderbased
violence against women
The rights to life, to be free from torture and illtreatment,
to physical and mental integrity and to
equality and non-discrimination
International human rights law is predicated upon the
overarching principle that States must not only respect the
human rights of persons, including through the conduct of their
officials, they must also ensure protection from impairment of
rights of persons under their jurisdiction by third parties,
including private actors. Where conduct that impairs rights
involves acts of violence, there is a range of preventive and
27
CEDAW General Recommendation No 33, above note 18, paragraph
20(e) and (f).
28
CEDAW General Recommendation No 28, “The core obligations of
States parties under article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women”, UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/28
(2010), paragraph 5.