The Commission on Human Rights,

Recalling all previous resolutions on violence against women migrant workers adopted by the General Assembly, the Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Human Rights, as well as the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women,

Taking note of resolution 1996/12 of 23 August 1996 of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities concerning, inter alia, women migrant workers,

Affirming the outcome of the World Conference on Human Rights, the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social Development and the Fourth World Conference on Women, specifically as they pertain to women migrant workers,

Noting the large numbers of women from developing countries and from some countries with economies in transition who continue to venture forth to more affluent countries in search of a living for themselves and their families as a consequence of, inter alia, poverty, unemployment and other socio-economic conditions, and acknowledging the duty of sending States to work for conditions that provide employment and security to their citizens,

Concerned by the continuing reports of grave abuses and acts of violence committed against the persons of women migrant workers by some employers in some host countries,

Encouraged by some measures adopted by some receiving States to alleviate the plight of women migrant workers residing within their areas of jurisdiction,

Reiterating that acts of violence directed against women impair or nullify their enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms,

1. Determines to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls;

2. Encourages States to enact or reinforce penal, civil, labour and administrative sanctions in domestic legislation to punish and redress the wrongs done to women and girls who are subjected to any form of violence, whether in the home, the workplace, the community or society;

3. Also encourages States to adopt and/or implement and periodically to review and analyse legislation to ensure its effectiveness in eliminating violence against women, emphasizing the prevention of violence and the prosecution of offenders, and to take measures to ensure the protection of women subjected to violence and that they have access to just and effective remedies, including compensation and indemnification and healing of victims, and for the rehabilitation of perpetrators;

4. Invites the States concerned, specifically the sending and receiving States, to consider adopting appropriate legal measures against intermediaries who deliberately encourage the clandestine movement of workers and who exploit women migrant workers;

5. Reiterates the need for States concerned, specifically the sending and receiving States of women migrant workers, to conduct regular consultations for the purpose of identifying problem areas in promoting and protecting the rights of women migrant workers and ensuring health, legal and social services for them, adopting specific measures to address these problems, setting up, as necessary, linguistically and culturally accessible services and mechanisms to implement these measures and, in general, creating conditions that foster greater harmony and tolerance between women migrant workers and the rest of the society in which they reside;

6. Encourages States to consider signing and ratifying or acceding to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, as well as the Slavery Convention of 1926;

7. Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Centre for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, as well as all relevant bodies and programmes in the United Nations system, when addressing the issue of violence against women to give particular attention to the issue of violence perpetrated against women migrant workers;

8. Expresses its appreciation to the Government of the Philippines for hosting the expert group meeting on violence against women migrant workers in Manila from 27 to 31 May 1996;

9. Invites the regional commissions and the regional offices of the International Labour Organization to examine ways and means, within their mandates, of dealing with concerns pertaining to women migrant workers;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a comprehensive report to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-fourth session on the implementation of the present resolution, including information received from organs and bodies of the United Nations system, Member States, intergovernmental organizations and other concerned bodies;

11. Decides to continue to consider the question at its fifty-fourth session under the relevant agenda item.

37th meeting
3 April 1997

[Adopted without a vote. See chap. XI.]