A/HRC/11/6 page 8 21. In the first section of the report, I consider the parameters of a political economy approach and the limitations of the current human rights paradigm and practice in recognizing and responding to the socio-economic conditions that underlie gender-based discrimination and violence. In the second section, I examine the interconnections between specific social and economic rights and women’s vulnerability to violence. This is followed by a discussion of the implications of global processes such as neoliberal economic policies, armed conflict, natural disasters and other crises as well as reconstruction efforts on existing gender inequalities and risks of VAW. The report ends with recommendations on ways to ensure women are able to achieve their full human rights. B. A political economy approach 22. The international human rights framework has been slow to address women’s human rights. The bias towards violations of human rights in the public sphere tended to privilege male victims and their authority in the private sphere. As a result, women were excluded from redress under international human rights law and the principle of non-discrimination in the protection, prevention and enjoyment of human rights failed to be upheld. Further compounding the gendered bias of the public-private dichotomy, violations of women’s rights have often been subject to both relativist and essentialist cultural discourses that overlook unequal and potentially exploitative hierarchical systems and treat women’s rights as expendable. 23. Responses to VAW by governments and international institutions have been fragmented and treated in isolation from the wider concern for women’s rights and equality. Despite the fact that article 3 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights requires States to ensure women’s enjoyment of their economic and social rights, governments rarely integrated socio-economic factors into their legislative and policy responses to VAW. “When one thinks of women’s human rights issues, one usually thinks about VAW and not about poverty, housing, unemployment, education, water, food security, trade and other related economic and social rights issues.”4 Thus the detachment of VAW within the human rights movement from the broader struggle for social and economic equality has led to its perception as women’s only problem.5 24. In its “in-depth study on violence against women”, the Secretary-General has noted the lack of a comprehensive and integrated approach to VAW (A/61/122/Add.1). This is evident, for example, in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) which do not explicitly identify elimination of VAW as a distinct goal. Similarly, although the Secretary-General UNITE campaign launched to end gender-based violence by 2015 mentions the structural, underlying 4 Programme on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concept paper, p. 2 (at http://www.pwescr.org/Concept%20Paper.pdf). 5 Ibid.