UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against
Women
The United Nations Commission
on Human Rights has created a number of special rapporteurs
and working groups that address specific human rights violations or regions.
Special rapporteurs can have either thematic mandates,
such as violence against women, or regional mandates, such as the Former Yugoslavia.
Working Groups may focus on drafting international law or on certain human
rights issues, such as the right to development. These mechanisms have been
very effective in bringing urgent human rights issues to the attention of
the UN and the international community.
In 1994, the Commission on Human
Rights appointed Radhika Coomaraswamy,
from Sri Lanka, to the position of Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Including Its Causes and Consequences. The
Special Rapportuer collects and analyzes data on
violence against women in order to recommend measures to be taken at the international,
regional and national level. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur has three
elements:
(1) Collection of information
on violence against women and its causes and consequences from a variety of
sources, including government and intergovernmental organizations, specialized
agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs);
(2) Recommendation of measures
at the international, regional and national levels to eliminate violence against
women;
(3) Cooperation with other special
rapporteurs, working groups and experts of the Commission
on Human Rights.
The Special
Rapporteur has conceptualized violence against women as occurring in three
spheres: in the family (including domestic violence and marital rape); in
the community (including sexual assault; sexual harassment in the workplace
and in educational institutions and trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation);
and violence perpetrated or condoned by the State (including custodial violence,
sexual assault during armed conflict and violence against refugee women).
The mechanism
for submitting complaints to the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against
Women is summarized below.
Complaint mechanism- Special Rapporteur
on Violence Against Women
Type of Mechanism |
Complaint- information |
| Scope of the Procedure |
“gender-specific” acts of violence, meaning
acts or threats of violence directed against women because they are
women or acts of violence which affect women disproportionately |
| Who can Submit a Complaint? |
Individuals or NGOs |
| Role of Advocates |
NGOs can submit complaints and can otherwise
contact the Special Rapporteur about issues of concern. NGOs can submit
pertinent information to any and all of the special rapporteurs
and working groups that are investigating specific human rights violations.
|
| Available Remedies |
No individual remedies but the Special
Rapporteur can request that national governments take action to remedy
part abuses or prevent future human rights violations. The Special
Rapporteur can transmit an urgent appeal to a specific
government about either a general or an individual allegation of abuse.
State governments then communicate with the Special Rapporteur
about measures taken to remedy the human rights violation(s). |
| How to Submit
a Complaint |
Complaints may be submitted by individuals
or by organizations, such as NGOs.
There is no formal process for submitting a complaint to the
Special Rapporteur. The Special Rapporteur, however, has prepared a
Model
Complaint Form which sets forth the information is a guide to the
relevant information which should be included.
In addition, it may be useful to consider some general
guidelines in writing complaints, although the Special Rapporteur
does not follow strict admissibility criteria. |
| Where to Send Communications |
The Special Rapporteur on Violence against
Women
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations
1211 Genève 10
Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 917 9000
Fax: + 41 22 917 9006
E-mail: csaunders.hchr@unog.ch
|
| How the Complaint Procedure Works |
When the Special Rapporteur receives
a reliable and credible complaint that is within her mandate, she can
take a number of actions.
The Special Rapporteur can communicate with the government concerned,
asking for a response. The Special Rapporteur can also urge the government
to investigate the case, to prosecute and to provide protection and
relief to the victim.
If a complaint alleges that a human rights abuse is imminent,
the Special Rapporteur can send an urgent appeal to request that the
government prevent the violation.
There are no specific deadlines for submitting complaints to
the Special Rapporteur, but each year she issues an annual report.
NGOs should, therefore, submit information by the end of October each
year in order to be included in this report.
The Special Rapporteur may also schedule visits to a particular
country, with the invitation of the national government. In this case,
NGOs can contact her in advance and can arrange to meet her or provide
her with specific information about the situation for women in the country.
After a visit, the Special Rapporteur will submit a report on her findings
and recommendations to the Commission on Human Rights. |
| Advantages/ Disadvantages |
The Special Rapporteur has been very
open to receiving information from NGOs in a less formal manner than
other UN bodies. The Special Rapporteur can also respond more quickly
than other enforcement mechanisms to bring issues to the attention of
the UN.
The Commission on Human Rights generally does not implement the
recommendations that the Special Rapporteur includes in her reports.
Also, the special rapporteurs in general do not have sufficient
resources to follow-up after country visits. |
Adapted in part from Women’s Human Rights Step
by Step, Women Law & Development International and Human Rights Watch
Women’s Rights Project (1997).
Additional Resources
The UN website contains a page on the Special
Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, which includes reports,
NGO statements, draft resolutions and press releases.
UN Fact Sheet 27, Seventeen
Frequently Asked Questions about United Nations Special Rapporteurs,
provides background information into the mandate of the rapporteurs
generally. Most UN
Fact Sheets can be accessed on the web.
Frontline, an Irish NGO, has created a Human
Rights Defenders Manual, which includes detailed information on both the
Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and also special
rapporteurs in general, including the complaint mechanism. This
information can be accessed through information about specific human rights
violations.
