A/HRC/41/42
the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim or victims; and (c) all other
femicides based on the country context. She also called for a flexible model for the
establishment of a national femicide watch or observatory on violence against women that
should analyse cases in order to determine national shortcomings and focus on the
prevention of such cases.
73.
In addition to General Assembly resolutions 68/191 and 70/176 on taking action
against gender-related killing of women and girls, the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, in paragraph 34 (b) of its general recommendation 35, also
called upon States to collect data on violence against women. It called for the establishment
or designation of gender-based killing of women observatories to collect administrative
data on gender-related killings and attempted killings of women, also referred to as
“femicide” or “feminicide”.
74.
In a 2018 study, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
highlighted the need for effective crime prevention and criminal justice responses to
violence against women.29
75.
In her annual statement to celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of
Violence against Women, on 25 November 2018, the Special Rapporteur, along with
relevant United Nations and regional mechanisms, reiterated the call to all States to
establish a femicide watch or a “gender-related killing of women watch” and called for
States to produce data on femicide. The Special Rapporteur received submissions from a
number of countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Canada,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Georgia, Guatemala, Italy,
Mexico, Nicaragua, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.30
76.
Since the 2016 report, some progress has been made in developing national
observatories and the collection of data on gender-related killings, however much remains
to be done.
2.
Framework of cooperation between the Special Rapporteur and the Committee
77.
On 8 November 2018, the Special Rapporteur and the Committee adopted a
framework of cooperation31 in which they recognized the common objectives and mutually
reinforcing nature of both independent mandates to protect and promote the rights of
women and girls from gender-based violence. They envisaged the development of a joint
programme of work to promote and support the implementation of general recommendation
No. 35 on gender-based violence against women, through the development of guidelines,
tools and/or indicators, as well as strategies to update national action plans on violence
against women.
78.
They also envisaged the establishment within the Committee of a working group on
violence against women in order to facilitate coordination between the Committee and the
Special Rapporteur in respect of any matters related to the implementation of the agreed
activities. Such a working group would enable more substantive collaboration between the
mandates.
3.
Improving cooperation between independent United Nations and regional
mechanisms on violence against women
79.
In her 2016 report (A/HRC/32/42 and Corr.1), the Special Rapporteur highlighted
the need for stronger cooperation between independent global and regional mechanisms
dealing with women’s rights and violence against women. In that context, the Special
29
30
31
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Global Study on Homicide: Gender-related killing of
women and girls (Vienna, 2018). Available from www.unodc.org/documents/data-andanalysis/GSH2018/GSH18_Gender related_killing_of_women_and_girls.pdf.
See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/SRWomen/Pages/CallForFemicide.aspx.
See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/SR/SRVAW_CEDAW_Framework
Cooperation.pdf.
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