​​​​​OHCHR and women’s human rights and gender equality

Issues in focus

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​​​​​OHCHR and women’s human rights and gender equality

Issues in focus

Gender-based violence against women and girls is one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations in the world, with 1 out of 3 women having experienced it in their lifetime. It is rooted in gender inequality, systemic discrimination and unequal power relations between women and men. Gender-based violence against women and girls is preventable but requires understanding its roots and addressing its multiple forms in line with the international human rights standards in place.

What is gender-based violence against women and girls?

Gender-based violence against women and girls takes many forms, including physical, sexual, psychological, economic abuse, and harmful practices like female genital mutilation and child marriage. Such violence has long-lasting impacts on health and well-being, causing injury, chronic illness, psychological trauma, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and even death. It also disrupts education and economic opportunities, trapping women and girls in cycles of poverty and abuse.

Those facing multiple forms of discrimination – based on ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity – are more vulnerable to violence and face greater barriers to justice. An intersectional approach is essential to address the structural discrimination and exclusion that perpetuate this violence. Gaps in laws and institutions continue to deny women and girls protection and justice, reinforcing impunity. More efforts are needed to fulfill their right to live free from violence, as guaranteed by international human rights law.

Gaps in laws and institutions continue to deny women and girls protection and justice, reinforcing impunity. More efforts are needed to fulfill their right to live free from violence, as guaranteed by international human rights law.

International human rights standards

In General Recommendation No. 35, the CEDAW Committee defined gender-based violence against women and girls and recognized that the prohibition of gender-based violence has evolved into a principle of customary international law, binding all States.

While the CEDAW Committee is the primary body addressing gender-based violence against women, other treaty bodies also tackle this issue within their specific areas of expertise, such as the Committee Against Torture (CAT). Additionally, other relevant human rights mechanisms contribute to this work, including the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls.

OHCHR’s engagement

Gender-based violence is the result of structural, deep-rooted discrimination, which the state has an obligation to eradicate. Preventing and addressing gender-based violence against women requires efforts at the global, regional, national and local levels. OHCHR identifies trends and patterns of gender-based violence through its investigations and document the gendered dimensions of all human rights violations. It shares these findings in public reports, highlighting the causes and effects of such violence. OHCHR also provides concrete recommendations and technical assistance to States and all relevant stakeholders, and advocates for prevention, accountability and solutions through humanitarian, development and peace efforts, connecting global and national initiatives.

Tools and resources

Good practices

Considerable legal, political and societal progress has been made in many countries and with OHCHR’s technical assistance, comprehensive legal frameworks and specific institutions and policies have been put in place to promote women’s and girls’ human rights, to prevent and protect them from gender-based violence.

There is growing awareness of the nature and impact of gender-based violence against women around the world. Innovative and promising practices are reported every year to the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and the Commission on the Status of Women, including in the areas of investigations, prosecution and provision of services. For example:

  • On the operationalisation of a victim-centred and gender-sensitive approach, experiences of strategic litigation in Latin America showed that collaboration between public prosecution services, civil society actors and litigators was successful. When these actors coordinate and develop compatible case theories, it becomes more likely for such theories to be successful at trial, and respect for the respective mandates of different parties does not prevent them from collaborating with each other in the litigation of the same case.
  • Promising experiences can be found in Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, DRC, Mali, Uganda and Guatemala on how protection measures have enhanced access to justice for victims of gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence, by enabling their participation in judicial processes. These include measures against reprisals, intimidation and stigmatisation, as well as the critical importance of psychological support and income-generating opportunities for victims at all the different stages of accountability processes.
  • Providing training to judges on identifying and overcoming gender stereotyping, in particular concerning cases related to gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health and rights, allowed for a stronger protection of human rights and enhanced access to justice, particularly for women and other persons marginalized on the basis of their sex, gender identity and/or sexual orientation.
  • At the local level, engaging with socially accepted authorities, including schools’ leadership, religious and community proved key to challenge harmful gender norms about girls’ education and their acceptable roles in society, as well as to initiate and lead discussions on the negative consequences child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
  • The deployment of gender experts to United Nations investigation bodies and mechanisms such as Commissions of Inquiry (COI) and Fact-Finding Missions (FFM) was instrumental to integrate a gender perspective into their methodologies and analyses, enhancing the visibility of the impact of human rights violations on women and girls, including gender-based violence, and providing reliable data to inform legal advocacy and policy.

OHCHR also supports and contributes to global campaigns to raise awareness and mobilize action to eliminate gender-based violence against women and girls, including:

  • 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (25 November-10 December)
  • International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (6 February)
  • International Women’s Day (8 March)
  • International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict (19 June)

High Commissioner’s interventions on gender-based violence

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