UN experts call for looking at gender-based crimes through "lens of torture"

A group of UN human rights experts on Thursday urged states to look at gender-based crimes through "the lens of torture."

In a statement, they also called on all governments to fulfill their obligations to prohibit, prevent and redress the violence and harm inflicted on women and girls.

They warned that there is a tendency to downplay gender-based crimes of violence against women and minimize the grave consequences caused to women around the world.

Ahead of International Women's Day on March 8, the independent experts said that gender-based crimes of violence are a result of rampant cultural misogyny, frequently and wrongly justified or tolerated in the name of tradition, culture or religion.

According to the experts, such gender-based crimes include intimate partner violence, child and forced marriage, female genital mutilation and so-called "honor crimes."

"Domestic violence occurs in the most intimate setting of the home and the family and affects women everywhere," they noted in the statement. "When States fail to exercise due diligence to protect victims and to prohibit and prevent violent acts, they are in breach of their commitments under the Convention Against Torture and other international human rights instruments."

Those joined to sign the statement include Juan E. Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Dainius Puras, UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Dubravka Simonovic, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against Women, its causes and consequences and Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children.

On March 8, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Mendez is also expected to present a report to the Human Rights Council focusing on the gender dimension of torture and ill-treatment. Endit