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	One in three women experience physical or sexual violence by UN Women, agencies   A staggering one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, a pandemic of global proportions. Unlike an illness, however, perpetrators and even entire societies choose to commit violence, and can choose to stop.   Violence is not inevitable. It can be prevented. But it’s not as straightforward as eradicating a virus. There is no vaccine, medication or cure. And there is no one single reason for why it happens.   As such, prevention strategies should be holistic, with multiple interventions undertaken in parallel in order to have long-lasting and permanent effects. Many sectors, actors and stakeholders need to be engaged.   More evidence is emerging on what interventions work to prevent violence - from community mobilization to change social norms, to comprehensive school interventions targeting staff and pupils, to economic empowerment and income supplements coupled with gender equality training.   Prevention is the 2015 theme of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November.   Statement by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka for International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.   Across the world, violence against women and girls remains one of the most serious—and the most tolerated—human rights violations, both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality and discrimination.   Its continued presence is one of the clearest markers of societies out of balance and we are determined to change that.   On this International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women we say again:   It is not acceptable. It is not inevitable. It can be prevented.   Although there is no single solution to such a complex problem, there is growing evidence of the range of actions that can stop violence before it happens, especially if they are implemented in parallel.   We believe that, through concerted action by everyone involved, from governments to individuals, we can tackle the unequal power relations and structures between men and women and highlight the necessary attitudinal, practice and institutional changes.   Imagine how different the world would be for girls growing up now if we could prevent early marriage, female genital mutilation, the turning of a blind eye to domestic violence, abusive text messages, the impunity of rapists, the enslavement of women in conflict areas, the killing of women human rights defenders, or the hostility of police stations or courtrooms to women’s testimony of violence experienced.   We have made progress in improving the laws that distinguish these acts and others as ones of violence and invasion of human rights. Some 125 countries have laws against sexual harassment, 119 have laws against domestic violence, but only 52 countries have laws on marital rape.   We know that leaders, whether CEOs, Prime Ministers, or teachers, can set the tone for zero tolerance to violence.   Community mobilization, group interventions for both women and men, educational programmes and empowerment of women are some of the interventions that have impact, when they are put together with other legal, behavioural and social changes.   For example, in Uganda, engaging communities in discussion of unequal power relations between men and women dropped rates of physical violence by men against their partners by half.   In Myanmar, provision of legal aid services for rural women is improving access to justice and the training of even a small group of male leaders has been identified as contributing to a change of behaviour in some 40 per cent of those in the target communities.   In the United States, urban police officers trained to recognize the warning signs of intimate partner violence, are making some progress in reducing the numbers of murdered women.   As we launch the World Campaign today, we already know that tuk-tuk drivers in Cambodia, soccer stars in Turkey, police officers in Albania, school children in South Africa and Pakistan, and hundreds of thousands of others around the world, are all in their own way taking a stand.   We now have, for the first time, explicit targets to eliminate violence against women in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These demand accelerated action.   I believe that if we all work together: governments, civil society organizations, businesses, schools, and individuals mobilizing through new solidarity movements, we will eventually achieve a more equal world—a Planet 50-50—where women and girls can and will live free from violence.   It is estimated that 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence by a non-partner at some point in their lives.   However, some national studies show that up to 70 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime.   Women who have been physically or sexually abused by their partners are more than twice as likely to have an abortion, almost twice as likely to experience depression, and in some regions, 1.5 times more likely to acquire HIV, as compared to women who have not experienced partner violence.   Although little data is available—and great variation in how psychological violence is measured across countries and cultures—existing evidence shows high prevalence rates. Forty-three per cent of women in the 28 European Union Member States have experienced some form of psychological violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.   It is estimated that of all women who were the victims of homicide globally in 2012, almost half were killed by intimate partners or family members, compared to less than six per cent of men killed in the same year.   In 2012, a study conducted in New Delhi found that 92 per cent of women reported having experienced some form of sexual violence in public spaces in their lifetime, and 88 per cent of women reported having experienced some form of verbal sexual harassment (including unwelcome comments of a sexual nature, whistling, leering or making obscene gestures) in their lifetime.   Worldwide, more than 700 million women alive today were married as children (below 18 years of age). Of those women, more than 1 in 3—or some 250 million—were married before 15. Child brides are often unable to effectively negotiate safe sex, leaving them vulnerable to early pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.   Around 120 million girls worldwide (slightly more than 1 in 10) have experienced forced intercourse or other forced sexual acts at some point in their lives. By far the most common perpetrators of sexual violence against girls are current or former husbands, partners or boyfriends.   An estimated 133 million girls and women have experienced some form of female genital mutilation/cutting in the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East, where the harmful practice is most common with a high risk of prolonged bleeding, infection (including HIV), complications during childbirth, infertility and death.   Adult women account for almost half of all human trafficking victims detected globally. Women and girls together account for about 70 per cent, with girls representing two out of every three child trafficking victims.   One in 10 women in the European Union report having experienced cyber-harassment since the age of 15 (including having received unwanted, offensive sexually explicit emails or SMS messages, or offensive, inappropriate advances on social networking sites). The risk is highest among young women between 18 and 29 years of age.   An estimated 246 million girls and boys experience school-related violence every year and one in four girls say that they never feel comfortable using school latrines, according to a survey on youth conducted across four regions. The extent and forms of school-related violence that girls and boys experience differ, but evidence suggests that girls are at greater risk of sexual violence, harassment and exploitation.   In addition to the resulting adverse psychological, sexual and reproductive health consequences, school-related gender-based violence is a major obstacle to universal schooling and the right to education for girls.   Measures to address violence   In the majority of countries with available data, less than 40 per cent of the women who experience violence seek help of any sort. Among women who do, most look to family and friends and very few look to formal institutions and mechanisms, such as police and health services. Less than 10 per cent of those women seeking help for experience of violence sought help by appealing to the police.   At least 119 countries have passed laws on domestic violence, 125 have laws on sexual harassment and 52 have laws on marital rape. However, even when laws exist, this does not mean they are always compliant with international standards and recommendations or implemented.   The United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Dubravka Simonovic, has urged all States to focus on prevention of gender-related killing of women by establishing a ''''Femicide Watch''''. Ms.Simonovic stressed that States must commit to prevent gender-related killing of women.   “Violence against women is the most atrocious manifestation of the systematic and widespread discrimination and inequality that women and girls around the world continue to face. Women and their children continue to die as victims of gender related killing, often in cruel ways.   The weaknesses of national prevention systems, lack of proper risk assessment and the scarcity or poor quality of data are major barriers in preventing gender-related killing of women and developing meaningful prevention strategies. These weaknesses result in misidentification, concealment and underreporting of gender-motivated killings thus perpetuating impunity for such killings.   For that reason, I call all States to establish a ‘Femicide Watch’ or a ‘Gender-Related Killing of Women Watch’ and to publish on each 25 November – International Day on the Elimination of violence against Women – the number of femicides or gender related killing of women per year, disaggregated by age and sex of the perpetrators, as well as the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim or victims. Information concerning the prosecution and punishment of perpetrators should also be collected and published.   The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence should be used to present such data and discuss actions needed for prevention of those preventable deaths of women.   Most importantly, each case of gender-related killing should be carefully analysed to identify any failure of protection in view of improving and developing further preventive measures. In the collection, analysis and publication of such data, States should co-operate with NGOs and independent human rights institutions working in this field, academia, victims’ representatives, as well as relevant international organizations and other stakeholders.   Such data should be made publicly available at the national level, while the UN and other organizations should ensure the global and regional publication of such data.”   http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/end-violence-against-women http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/SRWomen/Pages/SRWomenIndex.aspx http://endviolence.un.org/ http://www.thelancet.com/series/violence-against-women-and-girls http://www.icrc.org/en/war-and-law/protected-persons/women http://library.witness.org/product/guide-to-interviewing-survivors-of-sexual-and-gender-based-violence/ http://www.unfpa.org/resources/reporting-gender-based-violence-syria-crisis-journalists-handbook http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2014/violence-against-women-eu-wide-survey-main-results-report   http://www.msf.org/article/international-womens-day-surviving-sexual-violence-during-adolescence http://www.amnesty.org/press-releases/2015/03/global-backlash-against-womens-rights-is-having-devastating-toll/ http://www.hrw.org/news-all/681   http://www.womendeliver.org/vote-for-your-favorite-journalists-delivering-for-girls-and-women http://en.rsf.org/women-journalists-commitment-and-05-03-2015,47647.html http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/03/world-misses-its-potential-by-excluding-50-per-cent-of-its-people/ http://www.ipsnews.net/news/gender/ http://www.mercycorps.org/articles/who-are-worlds-toughest-women http://www.trust.org/spotlight/Beijing-20-Will-women-ever-gain-equality/?tab=showcase http://www.trust.org/spotlight/women-and-climate-change/?source=fiSpotlights http://noceilings.org/#stories   http://one.org/international/take-action/poverty-is-sexist/#section-4 http://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/some-inspiring-videos-ahead-of-international-womens-day-on-sunday-but-first-the-policy-paper/ http://www.developmenthorizons.com/2015/03/are-gender-constraints-main-roadblock.html http://www.actionaid.org/what-we-do/womens-rights http://www.awid.org/ http://issuu.com/awid/docs/wmm_final http://reliefweb.int/topics/gender   http://plan-international.org/girls/ http://www.girleffect.org/the-girl-effect-in-action/girl-declaration/ http://www.care.org/work/womens-empowerment http://www.unicef.org/gender/ http://www.wfp.org/focus-on-women http://www.mg.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/womens-empowerment.html http://www.unfpa.org/news/international-women%E2%80%99s-day-marks-20-years-progress http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50283#.VQDhdI6pX-Y Visit the related web page
	Historic step towards access to justice for ESCR violations at UN by Chris Grove, Daniela Ikawa ESCR-Net, Open Democracy   Dec. 2015   The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) has issued historic recommendations, finding Spain in violation of the right to housing, in the first case decided under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR).   Dismissed by the Spanish Constitutional Court, the case involved a homeowner, who learned that her home was being auctioned after she fell behind on payments during the economic crisis.   This case (I.D.G. v. Spain) is important for at least five reasons. First, it reinforces the principle of access to justice. Individuals or groups of individuals—whose civil, economic, political, social or cultural rights are violated—have a right to remedy.   States are accountable for the realization of all human rights, from rights to housing and health care to rights to life and political participation, as reaffirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference on Human Rights (1993), and national constitutions in every region. Perhaps most importantly, popular struggles in Spain and countries around the world have emphasized that human rights are interdependent and interconnected in the lived experience of human beings.   Second, in taking up this case and offering strong recommendations, the UN Committee on ESCR has provided valuable guidance to Spain, Spanish civil society and ultimately countries around the world. These recommendations addressed both the individual complainant and the structural change required to prevent similar violations in the future.   The Committee said that Spain should assure that no eviction takes place against I.D.G., if she is not protected by due process guarantees, as well as calling on the government to cover her legal costs. The Committee also reminded Spain of its obligation to ensure that the country’s legislation and its application are consistent with human rights, including guaranteeing access to remedy, adequate notification and procedural protections in cases of foreclosure.   Echoing trends first seen in the US, Observatori DESC and Plataforma de los afectados por la hipoteca have estimated that 400,000 mortgage foreclosures took place in Spain between 2008 and 2012, as millions faced unemployment and the national housing budget declined. This case is the first decision of this new UN mechanism, and it will help countries to understand and meet their human rights obligations in concrete situations, including in times of economic crisis.   The media in Spain, as well as Latin America, have extensively covered this case—a reminder that, as Beth Simmons has argued, international human rights standards are “useful tools in domestic political contestations.”   The recommendations of the Committee on ESCR reinforce and further interpret Spain’s human rights obligations, expanding the legitimacy of grassroots struggles for housing and the tools available to them.   Third, this case arguably demonstrates the Spanish government’s commitment to human rights. In the midst of an economic crisis that led to the well-documented deterioration of human rights, Spain became one of the first countries in the world to ratify the OP-ICESCR. Having taken this bold decision, many are now looking to Spain for ongoing human rights leadership in taking steps to implement the recommendations of the UN Committee on ESCR.   These steps will ideally be taken in dialogue with affected communities, engaged civil society organizations and the Committee, tailoring concrete measures to the particular conditions in Spain. In addition, Spain’s ratification of the OP-ICESCR should encourage the country to ensure that increasingly effective domestic remedies are available.   Fourth, the UN Committee on ESCR accepted a third party intervention from the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net). Through this collective intervention, ESCR-Net members—Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, Center for Economic and Social Rights, and Global Initiative for ESCR—presented comparative legal approaches from other contexts and highlighted established legal principles. In accepting third party interventions from civil society, the UN Committee has opened this process to legal reasoning and related expertise from all regions, striving to provide constructive guidance to states on relevant human rights approaches and remedies.   Fifth, coming in the days immediately prior to the UN General Assembly’s launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, the recommendations in this case are also a vital reminder that governments have existing obligations to realize human rights and ensure access to justice. The ICESCR and other human rights treaties require governments to respect, protect and fulfill economic, social and cultural rights, based on their maximum available resources and with international assistance and cooperation.   While the SDGs incorporate aspects of human rights and were based at least in part on widespread consultation, governments failed to agree to substantial and necessary funding for these 15-year targets, promoting instead the role of the private sector and public-private partnerships. However, in the pursuit of profit and in the absence of strong action by governments, much of the private sector—corporations, investors, financiers—has been adept at the avoidance of taxation and regulation, thwarting redistribution efforts that would serve to advance human rights.   Given current global wealth and the opportunities that exist to address inequality, the continuance of poverty, hunger and the lack of “adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services” (SDGs 1, 2 and 11) is a violation of human rights.   Ultimately, after intensive civil society pressure, SDG 16.3 calls on governments to: “Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all.” Ratification of the OP-ICESCR is one concrete step that all countries can take towards realizing this goal, reinforcing government commitments to provide access to remedies. With the advocacy of the NGO Coalition for the OP-ICESCR, over 20 countries—across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America—have already taken this important step.   * Chris Grove is Director of ESCR-Net, which connects over 270 NGOs, social movements and advocates across 70 countries to advance human rights for all. Daniela Ikawa coordinates ESCR-Net’s Strategic Litigation Working Group and teaches graduate human rights courses at Columbia University.   http://www.opendemocracy.net/openglobalrights/chris-grove-daniela-ikawa/historic-step-towards-access-to-justice-for-escr-violatio http://www.escr-net.org/node/368290 Visit the related web page
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