A/HRC/17/22
violations were not from Timor-Leste, and wondered how to bring third countries to
participate in reparations. The issue of the definition of rehabilitation, which had been
traditionally understood through a medicalized lens, was raised. It was also noted that in the
case of the so-called “comfort women”, reparations claimed went beyond monetary
compensation, including a dimension of remembrance and recognition of victims. The
representative of Bangladesh mentioned that one major challenge was to reach the totality
of victims of violence against women and raise awareness at community level. There was a
need to face the issue of awareness at the community level and to address poverty. Finally,
it was highlighted that in Latin America there had been an increasing acknowledgement of
State responsibility regarding violence against women which influenced the outcome of the
Cotton Field case.
37.
Ms. Hossain explained that international human rights law was used to identify the
nature of the discrimination and violations; reaching out to elected officials and making
them aware of the existing law and penalties even for acts committed by private persons.
Mr. Carranza indicated that some truth commissions had recommended that corporations
that had profited from the conflict should fund reparations programmes, but these
recommendations had not been implemented. He added that the International Criminal
Court still had no reparations system in place, the issue being complicated by the fact that
the Court convicts individuals and not States. Finally, Ms. Rubio-Marín noted that the
European Court of Human Rights had a narrow interpretation of reparations, intended
mainly as monetary compensations, while the Inter-American Court of Human Rights had
taken a broader interpretation. She concluded by insisting that creativity and flexibility are
needed to reach out to the victims.
D.
Panel 4: Challenges, good practices and opportunities in the prevention
of violence against women
38.
The fourth panel comprised: Jacqui True, senior lecturer at the University of
Auckland, New Zealand; Zarizana Abdul Aziz, a lawyer and director of the Due Diligence
Project at the Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, United States; Andrea
Medina Rosas, representing the network of women from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico; Ahmad
Zia Langari, a Commissioner of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission;
Rita Sabat, assistant professor at Notre-Dame University; and John Kapito, Chairperson of
the Malawi Human Rights Commission.
39.
Ms. True explored the broader political and economic context of the violence and
insecurity as experienced by women, and how economic empowerment could serve as a
deterrent to violence. She observed that global and local economic power and structures
played a role in reinforcing gender inequalities that made women more vulnerable to
violence, in particular women living in poverty, migrant women, indigenous women, and
young or elderly women. However, the United Nations Secretary-General’s in-depth study
on violence against women acknowledged that legal and policy provisions on violence
against women had not extended to the economic sphere or explored the economic causes
and impact of this violence.
40.
Ms. True highlighted the lack of research on what preventative factors to violence
against women are, as opposed to risk factors. Risk factors at economic, political and social
levels included the acceptance of violence in the society, the acceptance of male
superiority, the low status of women, and, at the individual level, a low level of education,
lack of economic power, alcohol abuse, lack of adequate housing, or lack of independent
outcome. Preventative factors at the economic, social and political levels included
property/land rights for women, adequate housing, economic independence, secondary
education, gender equality norms, and norms on violence. At the individual level,
10
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