A/HRC/20/16 The killing of women constitutes a violation of, among others, the rights to life, to equality, dignity and non-discrimination, and not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. The obligation of States to ensure these rights arises pursuant to the duty of States to prevent and protect individuals from human rights violations within their jurisdictions, to punish perpetrators and to compensate individuals for such violations. The failure of States to guarantee the right of women to a life free from violence allows for a continuum of violence that can end in the deaths of women. 83. Gender-based violence has been recognized as one of the most extreme and pervasive forms of discrimination, severely impairing and nullifying the enforcement of women‘s rights.144 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women address all forms of violence, which include the killing of women, as acts of violence that are prohibited under international law. 145 84. Treaty bodies and special procedure mandate holders have also condemned specific forms of violence, including femicide, honour-related killings, systematic killings, disappearances and witchcraft-related killings of women.146 They have also raised concerns in relation to the significant obstacles for women in accessing justice, the climate of impunity surrounding such cases, and also the systematic failure of States to investigate or provide redress.147 85. A significant component of the international human rights framework is the duty placed on States to prevent, investigate, punish and provide compensation for all acts of violence. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women spells out the obligation of States to exercise due diligence when gender-based violence occurs, whether perpetrated by the State or by private persons.148 In numerous resolutions relating to the intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women, the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly have also urged States to act with due diligence 144 145 146 147 148 See, for example, Human Rights Council resolution 14/12 of 18 June 2010 on accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women: ensuring due diligence in prevention; Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993; United Nations, Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Fourth World Conference on Women, September 15, 1995, A/CONF.177/20/Rev.1 (1995) and A/CONF.177/20/Add.1 (1995); CEDAW Committee, General Recommendation 19: Violence against Women, (11th Session 1992), U.N. Doc. A/47/38 at 1 (1993). See Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993, article 1. The Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on Human Rights (replaced by the Human Rights Council) and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice have also regularly adopted resolutions on violence against women. See, for example, General Assembly resolutions 63/155, 61/143, 59/166, 58/147 and 56/128. See Felice Gaer, ―Approaches of the human rights treaty bodies to gender-based killings of women‖, Presentation at Expert Group Meeting, New York, 12 October, 2011. See Report of the Secretary-General, In-depth study on all forms of violence against women, U.N. Doc. A/61/122/Add.1 (2006); Access to Justice for Women’s Victims of Violence in the Americas, Inter-Am. Com. H.R., supra note 4; Hemispheric Report of the Commission of Experts of the Mechanism to Follow-up on the Implementation of the Convention Belem do Pará (hereinafter ―Hemispheric Report‖), Inter-American Commission of Women, OEA/Ser.L/II.7.10 MESECVIII/doc.16/08 rev.1 (2008); and Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Rashida Manjoo supra. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, ―General Recommendation No. 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties Under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women‖, (2010) at 34. See Article 4(c) of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993. 21