Gender-based violence against women

The State party should develop and implement comprehensive measures for the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence against women and girls, in particular domestic violence and rape and other forms of sexual violence, and ensure that perpetrators of gender-based violence are prosecuted and punished commensurately with the gravity of their crimes, in accordance with the Committee’s general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19.

The State party should strengthen the capacity of the police, prosecutors and judges on the strict application of relevant criminal law provisions and gender-sensitive investigations of cases of gender-based violence, including cases affecting women with (mental) disabilities and other vulnerable groups of women.

The State party should systematically implement gender training and capacity-building for judges and lay judges in criminal cases involving gender-based violence, in line with the Committee’s General Recommendation No. 35.

The State party should collect and report to the Committee disaggregated data on the number of: (i) Cases of violence against women that have been investigated and that have led to prosecutions, including information on the sanctions imposed on perpetrators; (ii) Women victims of violence who have been provided with legal assistance and relevant support services; (iii) Women victims of violence who have been compensated; (iv) Non-contact orders (restraining orders) issued, with a view to improving the State party’s ability to address the root causes of all forms of gender-based violence.

The State party should devise an action plan for enhanced prevention, protection and redress of gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence, against Sami women and girl victims, including with a view to overcoming cultural and linguistic barriers, based on further research into the root causes, and allocate sufficient resources for its implementation.

The State party should adopt a legal definition of rape in the Penal Code that places lack of free consent at its centre, in line with the Committee’s general recommendation No. 35, Vertido v. The Philippines (CEDAW/C/46/D/18/2008) and the State party’s obligations under the Istanbul Convention.

The State party should accelerate the development and adoption of a new national plan of action against rape and sexual violence.

The State party should provide sufficient numbers of shelters for women victims of violence to avoid the need for the relocation of women victims in the event of full occupancy of the designated shelter.

The State party should take the necessary measures to overcome the existing practical and legal impediments surrounding reverse attack alarm systems in order to enhance their use as an effective means to prevent violence against women.