A/HRC/7/3
page 13
restraint should be avoided during delivery.38 Poor hygiene is also an issue that has a greater
adverse impact upon women detainees. For example, menstruating women need access to
appropriate sanitary protection.
42. In many countries male staff work in “contact positions” with women detainees and this
situation increases their risk of being sexually assaulted since male officers may take advantage
of routine pat-frisks to touch a woman’s breasts, thighs, vagina etc. They may also abuse their
responsibilities regarding surveillance in order to watch women prisoners when naked. Physical
violence can entail rapes of women detainees, but the abuse of women by male staff can also be
more subtly disguised. For instance, they may offer women special privileges or goods otherwise
hard to obtain. Equally, they may threaten to deny them access to their entitlements. It is crucial
to bear in mind that under such circumstances it can never be argued that a woman has
“consented” to a sexual relationship, even if this appears to be the case.
43. Finally, in some countries, prolonged detention as such can become ill-treatment, as is the
case for instance when women are detained for their “protection” for up to 14 years because they
are at risk of becoming victims of honour crimes.39
2.
Torture and ill-treatment in the private sphere:
violence within the family and the community
44. While there is no exhaustive list of forms of violence that may constitute torture or cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment - rather it may encompass different types of so-called
traditional practices (such as dowry-related violence, widow-burning, etc.), violence in the name
of honour, sexual violence and harassment, as well as slavery-like practices often of a sexual
nature - the Special Rapporteur would like to focus on three of them: domestic violence (in the
form of intimate partner violence), female genital mutilation and human trafficking. The Special
Rapporteur wishes to highlight these forms of violence for three reasons. First, they are
widespread and touch millions of women around the world every year.40 Second, in many parts
38
Tenth General Report on the activities of the European Committee for the Prevention
of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment covering the period
1 January to 31 December 1999, para. 27, available at: http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/annual/
rep-10.htm#_Toc490017789. See also concluding observations of the Committee against
Torture, CAT/C/USA/CO/2, para. 33.
39
See the report of the Special Rapporteur on his mission to Jordan in June 2006,
A/HRC/4/33/Add.3, paras. 39 and 72.
40
The United Nations estimates that as many as 4 million women and children become victims
of human trafficking every year, most of whom are exploited for sexual purposes. According to
the World Health Organization, the number of girls and women who have undergone female
genital mutilation (FGM) is estimated at between 100 and 140 million. Each year, a further
2 million girls and women undergo FGM. However, the most current form of violence against
women around the world is that perpetrated by husbands or other intimate partners. See, for
example, WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women:
Initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses (Geneva, 2005).
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