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

V
WOMEN’S ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE 27
Why violence against women should be seen as a
distinct human rights category
In his In-depth study on all forms of violence against women, 42
the UN Secretary-General identified a number of reasons why it
is important to look at violence against women as a human
rights issue, rather than as exclusively a social or criminal law
problem. This In-depth Study, as well as other work developed
over the years by a variety of human rights adjudication
procedures and advocates, identifies the following
characteristics and advantages of the human rights based
approach in addressing violence against women (each of which
are explained in further detail below):
Establishment of legal duties;
Ensuring access to adjudication and remediation;
Empowerment of victims and survivors, as well as
human rights defenders;
Visibility of the experiences of women;
A holistic approach, across a variety of professional and
practical dimensions;
Appraisal of competing claims from victims and
perpetrators;
Legal obligations on States to take specific actions to
ensure that girls can claim their human rights in
practice;
Access to education and information;
Establishing how justice systems should function to
implement women’s rights; and
Requiring accountability.
Establishment of legal duties
Gender-based violence, when understood as a human rights
violation, binds States to prevent such violence, punish
perpetrators and provide access to effective remedies and
reparation for those subjected to such violence.
42
The UN Secretary-General, “In-depth study on all forms of violence
against women”, UN Doc A/61/122/Add.1 (2006).