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

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WOMEN’S ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE 51
suffering – for example rape in custody – have been recognized
as a form of torture. 120 Torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment is a violation under Article 7 of the
ICCPR, as well as of the Convention against Torture and Other
Forms or Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (CAT) and analogous regional human rights
treaties. The balance of this section considers torture and illtreatment
in the context of detention as an example of a
State’s obligation to respect through non-commission of human
rights violations.
“Every woman shall be entitled to respect for her life and the
integrity and security of her person. All forms of exploitation,
cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment shall
be prohibited.” 121
Torture and ill-treatment often occur in situations of detention.
Conditions of detention may be conducive to violence against
women, since they involve an inherent imbalance of power
between the detained individual and the detaining authority.
This is especially so in the case of women detainees, the
CEDAW Committee explained that where penal provisions are
discriminatory this can result in “the secondary victimization of
women by the criminal justice system [which] has an impact on
their access to justice, owing to their heightened vulnerability
to mental and physical abuse and threats during arrest,
questioning and in detention”. 122
120
Raquel Martí de Mejía v Perú, Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights Case No 10.970, Report No 5/96; Aydin v Turkey,
(1997) ECHR 75; Miguel Castro-Castro Prison v Peru, Inter-American
Court of Human Rights, 25 November 2006.
121
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on
the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) of 11 July 2003,
Article 4(2)(g).
122
CEDAW General Recommendation No 33, “General
recommendation on women’s access to justice”, UN Doc
CEDAW/C/GC/33 (2015), paragraph 48.