Gender-based violence and discrimination against women and girls has been raised as a major concern for the Human Rights Council’s 47th session to address, spreading over sessions on 25, 28 and 29 June with many states wishing to participate in the open dialogue.
The Working Group on discrimination against women and girls presented their report on Women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights in crisis last week, and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Dubravka Šimonovic, presented her report on Rape as a grave, systematic and widespread human rights violation, a crime and a manifestation of gender-based violence against women and girls, and its prevention to the Council on 28 June.
Both discussions focused on states’ responsibility to champion women’s rights. This is of particular importance within regard to recent developments: The Turkish government demonstrated its unwillingness to take up its responsibilities concerning women’s rights by pulling out of the Istanbul Convention, the Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, in March 2021.
Sexual and reproductive health rights
In the HRC session on 25 June, the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls highlighted that not only are women and girls not sufficiently enjoying their basic sexual and reproductive rights, but that it is a crisis in itself, and a significant impediment to gender equality. Melissa Upreti, Chair of the Working Group, emphasised that:
“while many sexual and reproductive health harms are experienced in the form of a personal crisis, the causes are often systemic and linked to structural discrimination. Consequently, there is an urgent need for a radical shift in the approach to understanding and dealing with crises which must be gender responsive and intersectional, and acknowledge the hidden trauma and lifelong as well as intergenerational consequences associated with the non-fulfilment of women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights.”
The report of the Working Group engages with the persistent failure of states to adequately respect, protect and fulfil sexual and reproductive rights and underlines the extent of the problem with eye-opening statistics: an estimated 810 maternal deaths occur every day, 25 million unsafe abortions take place annually which result in approximately 47,000 deaths every year, every 16 seconds there is a stillbirth, and more than 200 million women experience barriers in accessing contraception. Naturally, the situation deteriorates even more when a crisis occurs.
The key factors that currently undermine and threaten sexual and reproductive rights have been identified as discriminatory laws, policies and practices, the failure to prioritize those rights, the lack of investment in health care services and shortcomings in foreign aid, the lack of accountability for violations of the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls, the lack of support for feminist and women’s rights organization working in this area, the exclusion of women and girls from decision-making, the lack of engagement and accountability of men and male allies, and finally, the ideological and religious opposition to sexual and reproductive health rights. Melissa Upreti noted that,
“…the lifesaving value of many vital sexual and reproductive health services is not recognized and services are de-prioritized or not provided at all.”
Moreover, in the situation of crisis, “health systems that are already deficient in the provision of essential sexual and reproductive health services often struggle” with additional challenges, such as collapse or reduced functioning of health infrastructure, public transportation, water, sanitation and waste management. With regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, Melissa Upreti said the Working Group observed that,
“some countries have restricted access to specific reproductive health services deeming them non-essential.”
The Working Group finished the discussion by clearly stating that it is “not the lack of resources or technical knowledge, but the widespread disregard for women’s dignity, bodily integrity and autonomy“ that causes violations of sexual and reproductive health rights:
“The risks and harms that women and girls face in relation to their sexual reproductive health must not be treated as unavoidable tragedies or collateral damage. They must be recognized as the outcomes of policy failures and as indicative of serious human rights violations that warrant legal and other forms of accountability.”
Definition and Prevention of Rape
Special Rapporteur Dubravka Šimonovic’s thematic report on rape took a similar stance and identified states’ failure to fully incorporate international standards at national level and to address all policy factors as the main reason for impunity for perpetrators. Most importantly, the report was accompanied by a framework for legislation on rape (model rape law) to harmonize, compare and align national laws with international standards. In her presentation, the Special Rapporteur touched upon the problem of different definitions of rape, which end up covering different types of acts, requiring varying thresholds or protecting only certain victims:
“Many states still exempt marital rape from criminalization, including the Bahamas, Bangladesh, India, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Syrian Arab Republic. In other countries such as Nepal and Ronda, while marital rape is criminalized, it is punishable by reduced sentences.”
The Special Rapporteur recommended to place lack of consent at the centre of the definition for rape:
“It is extremely important to base the definition on a lack of consent and not on the use of force because the burden of proof is then shifted with respect to the perpetrator.”
Egypt, on behalf of the group of Arab states, commented on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the rights of women:
“We regret the exponential rise in violence against women during the pandemic. Violence against women is an obstacle to implementation of equality, development and peace.”
Chile, on behalf of several other South American states, expressed its concern about the prevalence of gender-based violence:
“Globally one in three women and girls have suffered gender-based violence and one in ten girls has been a victim of rape.”
The statement by Canada put it succinctly:
“Gender-based violence is one of the most pervasive deadly and deeply rooted human rights violations of our time.”
Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention
To draw attention to the women’s rights’ situation in Turkey, the International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR) and the International Association for Human Rights Advocacy in Geneva (IAHRAG) sent out a letter of concern to 49 countries in advance of the 47th session of the Human Rights Council.
The letter highlighted the widespread acceptance of domestic violence within a marriage (according to the UN in Turkey, 38% of married women have been subject to physical and/or violence in their lifetime) and the problems of stigmatization and impunity as only one in nine women reports incidents of violence committed by their partners. Furthermore, the letter addressed the high numbers of femicides and “honour killings”, arbitrary arrests of women, child marriage and forced marriages in Turkey. In view of these assaults on women’s rights, IOHR and IAHRAG strongly condemned Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention and called for scrutiny of the Turkish situation on a global scale.
This was taken up for example by the Netherlands, on behalf of all three Benelux countries:
“We deeply regret that Turkey, the first state to ratify the Istanbul Convention, has decided to withdraw from this convention. The Istanbul Convention is the most far-reaching legal instrument to prevent and combat gender based violence, as well as to ensure protection for victims and to bring perpetrators to justice. It has had documented positive effects on the lives of women, children, families, and communities.”
Greece also criticised Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention and pointed to a significant rise of domestic violence in the country. Liechtenstein announced its recent ratification of the Istanbul Convention, which stands in stark contrast to Turkey’s withdrawal this year.
Today, in the continued interactive dialogue, Turkey defended its decision:
“Within the Council of Europe itself, the Istanbul Convention is being contested in many countries. Some countries and parties which signed the Convention have refrained from ratifying it. Furthermore, some countries criticizing Turkey did not even sign the document, which is open also to non-members of the Council of Europe. The withdrawal of Turkey from the Convention should not be interpreted as a step back in fighting violence against women. (…) Turkey will continue to pursue zero tolerance towards violence against women and take all necessary measures in cooperation with the respective authorities and institutions.”
Massimo Frigo from the International Committee of Jurists (ICJ) pointed out that:
“the most advanced legal framework to prosecute rape is enshrined in the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention. (…) We deeply regret the positions of certain states against the Convention and Turkey’s decision to denounce it, despite its UPR commitments to the contrary.”
The Special Rapporteur agreed with the ICJ and commented on the importance of the Istanbul Convention:
“With the Istanbul Convention, currently we have the strongest harmonization process because the Istanbul Convention has legally binding articles and all ratifying states, 34 of them, need to put their laws in line with the Convention. And the question was raised with respect to push backs against the Istanbul Convention. I think that push backs are not only against the Istanbul Convention but also against gender, gender-based violence and women’s rights in general.
Finally, Special Rapporteur Dubravka Šimonovic ended the interactive dialogue by stressing that
“the focus is on state responsibilities to prevent and combat rape, and to stop this impunity with respect to perpetrators of rape, and to establish access to justice for victims.”