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

50 PRACTITIONERS GUIDE No. 12
CHAPTER IV
RESPECT, PROTECT, FULFIL: STATE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS OWN ACTIONS, AND
THE ACTIONS OF NON-STATE ACTORS
When they ratify or accede to human rights treaties, States
undertake to respect, protect and fulfil the rights provisions
contained therein. A substantial portion of the body of human
rights law is part of general international law and customary
law, which bind all States. 118
The obligation to respect
The obligation to respect human rights means that States must
desist from conduct (whether acts or omissions) that would
interfere with or curtail the enjoyment of human rights. This
part of the chapter considers the obligation to respect from the
following perspectives: (a) the requirement that State actors
must not commit gender-based violence; (b) the need to
ensure equal treatment in law and in practice; and (c) State
responsibility for the conduct of non-State actors.
Respect: (a) State actors must not commit gender-based
violence
Failure to desist from conduct that would interfere with or
curtail the enjoyment of human rights constitutes a human
rights violation. Gender-based violence committed by public
authorities breaches the CEDAW Convention and other human
rights treaties. For example, unlawful gender-based killings by
public officials is a violation of the right to life under Article 6 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
and analogous provisions of regional human rights treaties. 119
Acts of violence against women causing severe pain and
118
Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 8 th edition, 2012), pages 642-643.
119
See, for example, Inter-American Convention on the Prevention,
Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Belém do
Pará) of 9 June 1994, Article 7(a).