Regional human rights treaties to prevent and combat violence against women

of GBV against women, encompassing different measures, such as monetary compensation, the provision of legal, social and health services, including sexual, reproductive and mental health services for a complete recovery, and satisfaction and guarantees of nonrepetition; (b) Establish specific funds for reparations or include allocations in the budgets of existing funds, including under transitional justice mechanisms, for reparations to victims of GBV against women. Priority should be given to the agency, wishes, decisions, safety, dignity and integrity of victims/survivors.”76

• Eradication of gender stereotyping in laws, in the judiciary and in the wider society. Article 5(a) of CEDAW urges

States to eradicate those stereotypes, to “take all appropriate measures to modify social and cultural patterns of conduct, with a view to eliminating prejudices and customary and all other practices that are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either sex.” Furthermore, General

Recommendation 35 identifies gender stereotypes as both a root cause and a consequence of violence against women. It emphasizes the importance of eradicating stereotyping in a variety of contexts including in laws and in the judiciary.77 In

General Recommendation 33, the

CEDAW Committee has expounded in detail how all those participating in the justice system, such as judges, adjudicators, investigators and law enforcement officials, must carry out their duties and apply the law without stereotyping.

• Role of feminist organizations in justice reform. The CEDAW Committee has emphasised to States that feminist civil society should have a key role in reflecting on, reviewing and making changes to justice systems so they fully respect the rights of women and girls seeking justice.78 Women human rights defenders and women CSOs often provide accompaniment and services for GBV survivors, and the families of those women and girls who are subjected to GBV, in seeking justice and reparation. Often these women advocates are GBV survivors themselves, including being targeted for their work by State agents, hostile members of their communities, even their own families.

• Gender balance in the judiciary.

CEDAW General Recommendation 33 has stressed that the judiciary should have equal numbers of men and women, that States should “confront and remove barriers to women’s participation as professionals within all bodies and levels of judicial and quasijudicial systems and providers in justicerelated services.”79

REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES TO PREVENT AND COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The first regional treaty on violence against women, the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women of 1994, known as “Belém do Pará”, recognized violence against women as a human rights violation and established mechanisms to eliminate violence in both the public and private spheres. In 2004, a monitoring mechanism for the treaty, MESECVI, was set up consisting of (1) a forum for permanent dialogue and technical

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cooperation between States parties; and (2) a Committee of Experts to assess progress and highlight challenges.

The second regional treaty, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, adopted in 2003 by the African Union, linked the eradication of violence against women to the advancement of women in all aspects of life by introducing a prohibition on violence against women.

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), the third regional treaty, moved the international legal framework a step further by establishing a legally binding definition of violence against women as “a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women” (article 3). The Istanbul Convention also established a monitoring mechanism, consisting of an independent expert body, known as the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO), and a political body, the Committee of Parties.

Taken together, CEDAW and the three regional treaties make up a global human rights legal framework to strategically and effectively address all forms of violence against women.80

These regional human rights treaties to prevent and combat violence against women have also formulated detailed provisions on ensuring victims’ access to justice. The Istanbul Convention is the most specific among the regional treaties on this aspect.

Box 5: The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention).

The Istanbul Convention includes numerous provisions aimed at facilitating access to justice for victims of GBV, in particular by requiring States parties to:

• Ensure that measures to protect the rights of victims of violence are implemented without discrimination (article 4)

• Exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, punish and provide reparation for acts of violence (article 5)

• Take measures to promote changes in social and cultural patterns to eradicate gender stereotypes (article 12)

• Provide adequate training of professionals working with victims of violence on their needs and rights and on equality (article 15) • Provide adequate legal information (article 19) • Encourage reporting of acts of violence (article 27) • Provide victims with adequate civil remedies (article 29), and compensation (article 30)

• Criminalize or otherwise sanction a broad range of forms of violence against women (articles 33–40)

• Ensure that investigations and judicial proceedings are carried out without undue delay (article 49) and that prosecutors can initiate and continue proceedings, even if the victim withdraws the complaint (article 55)

• Ensure that evidence relating to the sexual history and conduct of the victim is permitted only when relevant and necessary (article 54)

• Ensure that mandatory alternative dispute resolution processes or sentencing, including mediation and conciliation, are prohibited (article 48)

• Ensure the protection of victims at all stages of investigations and judicial proceedings (article 56) • Provide victims with access to legal assistance and to free legal aid (article 57)

Thus, the standards of the Istanbul Convention constitute a core element of ensuring equal access of women to justice for GBV.