Embassy of the Republic of Chile in Vienna and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia

In collaboration with the International Center for Promotion of Enterprises

ROUND TABLE

HUMAN RIGHTS AND ELIMINATION AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN – EFFORTS BY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

ICPE, Ljubljana, 20 May 2013 at 10:00

The Embassy of Chile in Vienna and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia will organize a round table on human rights and gender-based violence. The event will focus on the international aspect of the issue of gender-based violence and will take place on 20 May 2013 at the International Center for Promotion of Enterprises. Chile and Slovenia may be two countries from two very different geographical regions, but at the same time two countries that share similar views both on gender equality and empowerment of women and on many other human rights issues. The event is aimed at contributing to the promotion of these common ideas and at taking them beyond the regular cooperation within international fora such as the United Nations.

Both Chile and Slovenia are members of the Human Security Network, a cross-regional group of UN member states which regards women’s full enjoyment of all human rights as one of its core objectives.

Introduction and objectives

Violence against women is present and persists in every country in the world irrespective of factors such as age, class or economic background. Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that seriously violates and impairs the enjoyment by women and girls of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is a major impediment to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. Such violence harms women and girls, their families and communities, incurs significant economic costs and restricts and undermines economic growth and development. In fragile, conflict and post-conflict situations, gender-based violence presents a challenge to peace, security and stability of a country or region. The root causes of violence against women and girls lie in the historically unequal power relations between men and women and in pervasive discrimination against women in both public and private spheres. Violence against women takes different forms and manifestations, occurring in different contexts, settings, circumstances and relationships. Women and girls who face multiple forms of discrimination are exposed to increased risk of violence. HIV/Aids, disability, poverty and migration are also risk factors and consequences of gender-based violence.

Such practice persists, despite global and regional treaties (such as the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Inter-American Convention on the prevention, punishment and eradication of violence against women and the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence), declarations and resolutions establishing standards and norms to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women and girls as well as different follow-up mechanisms at the national, regional and international levels. A global culture of discrimination against women and girls allows such violence to persist with impunity based on claims of politics, religion or culture. It is the responsibility of the international community to hold States accountable for changing attitudes and prejudices that perpetuate impunity and fulfil their due diligence.

The practice of violence against women and girls is the most pervasive form of violence that occurs daily in both urban and rural settings, in private and public spheres. Sadly, women and girls in different parts of the world are killed because of their gender and fall victim to sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations. The prevalence of both forms of gender-based violence is reaching alarming proportions. Gender-related killings are the extreme manifestation of existing forms of violence against women. Culturally and socially embedded, these manifestations continue to be accepted, tolerated or justified—with impunity as the norm. Recent initiatives have recognised particular vulnerability of women and girls to sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, highlighting the importance of special protection from such violence.

Violence against women is high on the international agenda, especially this year with the International Women's Day and the 57^th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women focusing on the elimination and prevention of violence against women. The international community has made considerable progress in creating a global framework for preventing and eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls. An important signal of the inadmissibility of violence against women and girls has been provided with the adoption of the agreed conclusions at the 57^th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March this year.