A/HRC/17/26 81. There is a need for a holistic approach to both physical and ideological restrictions as an issue in the human rights discourse around violence against women. Mainstream human rights discourse has demonstrated its capacity to acknowledge as a human rights violation the violence that flows from physical restrictions which are created and/or maintained by the State, communities, families or individuals. The same cannot be said, however, for the violence of ideological restrictions which may be deployed to justify physical violence against women or to restrict women’s choices in ways that make submission to violent acts necessary to access resources and to demonstrate community membership. Ideological constraints help either to normalize the differential vulnerability based on the violence inherent in the context, the personhood of the women involved, or some combination of the two. 82. In addition, a holistic approach may focus on the structural aspects of discriminatory violence against identifiable subgroups of women, and its connection to structural and institutional inequalities. In this regard, challenging patriarchal notions of gender relations, male supremacy and female inferiority, whether justified by religion, culture or tradition as a cross-cultural and international phenomenon, requires a holistic approach. 1. The right to an adequate standard of living 83. The right to adequate housing, food, water, sanitation and other elements of the right to an adequate standard of living are firmly enshrined in international human rights law. A host of institutional and structural obstacles prevent many women in the world from enjoying these rights, thereby fostering inequality. Violations of such rights can exacerbate violence against women, sometimes with deadly effects. 84. Starvation in a world in which food is plentiful is a form of violence inflicted on the body – both physically and mentally. Many studies recognize the discrimination inherent in starvation, which affects the world’s women and girls at a disproportionately higher level than men and boys. The human right to food still faces important challenges, as starvation continues to exist throughout the world. 85. In order to flee violent situations, women and girls must have the right to adequate housing enforced. Adequate housing refers not only to sufficient housing options, but also to secure ones. Lack of access to and availability of housing options for women seeking security puts women’s lives at risk. Furthermore, housing in areas where violence is rampant jeopardizes the lives of women and their families. 86. The right to adequate housing is often particularly compromised for refugee women, especially in conflict and post-conflict situations. Women are often left with no other option but to take shelter in temporary camps where rape and other forms of violence are the norm. In these cases, women experience multiple forms of violence – displacement from the home, sub-standard temporary housing, and the high risk of experiencing physical and sexual violence, without any available recourse. Thus in the case of refugee women there is a failure to meet women’s basic needs on multiple fronts. 87. The right to security and bodily integrity per se is essential for the enjoyment of other human rights. All people, regardless of citizenship, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, and/or sexuality, have the right to bodily integrity within which health and the environment play important roles. 88. The current global reality of women reflects a failure to meet their rights in respect of security and bodily integrity, across physical, mental and sexual contexts. Many regions in the world are currently experiencing violence, both public and private – be it in actual military conflict and combat zones, or in the aftermath of conflicts, or during periods of supposed “peacetime”. Conflict and post-conflict situations often exacerbate an environment of violence against women including through sexual violence, trafficking and 18