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

V
WOMEN’S ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE 25
Property ownership;
Being a lesbian, bisexual, transgender woman or
intersex person;
Illiteracy
Being a trafficked woman;
Armed conflict;
Seeking asylum, or being subject to internal
displacement, statelessness, or migration;
Women heading households;
Widowhood;
Living with HIV/AIDS;
Deprivation of liberty;
Criminalization of prostitution;
Geographical remoteness;
Stigmatization from fighting for their rights and for the
rights of others; and/or
Pregnancy. 38
The CEDAW Committee has outlined the need for States to
recognize and respond to women’s intersectional identities
through specific action to eliminate any occurrences of
discrimination based upon these identities, including through
the adoption and implementation of appropriate policies and
programmes. 39 The UN General Assembly, in its Updated Model
Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of
Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice, has called on States to recognize the
particular vulnerabilities faced by different groups of women as
a result of intersectional discrimination, requiring them to
38
CEDAW General Recommendation No 33, above note 18,
paragraphs 8 and 9; Convention of Belém do Pará, above note 16,
Article 9. Pregnancy has been associated with the onset of domestic
violence: see World Health Organization Information Sheet, “Intimate
partner violence during pregnancy” (2011), URL:
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/70764/1/WHO_RHR_11.35_
eng.pdf.
39
CEDAW General Recommendation No 28, above note 28, paragraph
18.