THE NEW UN RAPPORTEUR ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN WILL PRIORITIZE SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY AND EXPRESSION IN THE UPCOMING THREE YEARS
Summary
In the statement, she identified five priorities for her upcoming work in the next three years.
The five priorities include:
- intersections between gender-based violence against women, sexual orientationrefers to a person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to - and intimate and sexual relations with - individuals of a different gender or the same gender or more than one gender. More and gender identityrefers to a person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. More and expression;
- violence against indigenous women and girls;
- gender-based violence in the context of disaster risk reduction and climate change;
- psychological violence against women; and
- relationship between the condition of statelessness, genderrefers to a social construct which places cultural and social expectations on individuals based on their assigned sex. More, and gender-based violence.
“I want to look at the intersection between gender-based violence against women, sexual orientation and gender identity and expression,” stated Ms. Alsalem approaching the Third Committee of the UN General Assemblythe main deliberative and policy-making organ of the United Nations which makes decisions on international issues such as development and peace and security. All 193 member States are represented, and each has one vote. More. “For many women and girls, the fact that they live outside patriarchal norms related to heteronormativitya set of beliefs and practices that consider heterosexuality as the norm when it comes to sexual orientations. It also implies that people’s gender, sex and sex characteristics are by nature and should always be aligned, and therefore heterosexuality is the only conceivable sexuality. More and gender norms, puts them at increased risk of gender-based violence. Yet, the violence they face is still not taken as seriously as it should be. They require a more assertive response by Member States and others in fulfilment of their international human rights obligations.”
“For many women and girls, the fact that they live outside patriarchal norms
related to heteronormativity and gender norms,
puts them at increased risk of gender-based violence.
Yet, the violence they face is still not taken as seriously as it should be.
– Ms. Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women
The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women was established in 1994. It has been instrumental in developing intersectional approach to gender-based violence and strengthening standards related to LBTI women’s human rights. However, the previous mandate holder had only paid very limited attention to violence against LBTI women, as well as intersections of gender and SOGIESCabbreviation standing for sexual orientation and gender identity & expression, and sex characteristics. More.
“We are looking forward to working with the new Special Rapporteur, and to providing support to local groups and activists engaging with the mandate through her country visitsmissions carried out by UN Special Procedure mandate holders to assess the situation of human rights in a specific country. During their missions, they will meet with national and local authorities, national human rights institutions, as well as with NGOs, civil society, and survivors of human rights violations. Findings, conclusions and recommendations of such missions are published in reports to the Human Rights Council. More, communications and thematic reports,” stated Kseniya Kirichenko, ILGA World’s UN Programme Manager.
Ms. Reem Alsalem (Jordan) was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women in July 2021 for a three-year tenure. She is an independent consultant on gender issues, the rights of refugees and migrants, transitional justice and humanitarian response.
The United Nationsan international organisation comprising 193 member States. It has the mission of maintaining peace and security, protecting human rights, providing humanitarian aid and ensuring economic and social development across the globe. It is a network of many different bodies and agencies, each of which has a particular role and responsibility. More page of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women can be found here.
ILGA World’s Factsheet on the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women can be found here.
Watch (from the minute 02:10:37) the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
delivering her statement to 76th Session of the UN General Assembly Third Committee:
opening photo credit: UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Ms. Reem Alsalem,
delivering her first statement to the UN General Assembly (photo via UN Web TV)
