A Review of the Implementation of the InterAmerican Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women

The International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy (ICCLR), the Latin American Institute for Crime Prevention and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD), and the InterAmerican Commission of Women (CIM), Organization of American States, are conducting a review of the implementation of the InterAmerican Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women (Convention of Belém do Parà). The study is funded by the USAID and CIM.

The purpose of this project is to review the progress made in implementing the Convention of Belém do Parà, in selected countries in the Americas, during the five years following its adoption by the OAS General Assembly. The review refers to both the specific provisions of the Convention as well as the model crime prevention and criminal justice strategies, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, to eliminate violence against women. The project will be completed during the Summer 2000 and the results of the review will be considered by the Assembly of Delegates, Commission of Women, in November 2000.

Violence against women, as defined in the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and in the Convention of Belém do Parà, includes any act of gender based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.

The Convention of Belém do Parà is a binding treaty inspired by the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993). It was adopted during a Special Session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) on June 9th, 1994. To date, it has been ratified by 29 countries.

The Convention includes provisions referring to: a number of concrete measures that States Parties agree to carry out with all appropriate means and without delay (see: Article 7); another series of measures and programmes that States Parties agree to undertake and implement progressively (see: Article 8); the need to take into account the plight of particularly vulnerable groups of women including migrants, refugees, and women who have been targeted by reason of their race or ethnic background (see: Article 9); and, the reporting and redress mechanisms under the Convention (Articles 10,11 & 12).

In December 1997, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Resolution on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (G.A. res. 52/86, 12 December 1997). The resolution included an Annex entitled Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

The Model Strategies propose a number of practical measures relevant to the fields of crime prevention, criminal law and criminal procedure, law enforcement, sentencing and corrections, victim support and assistance, health and social services, research and evaluation, and community initiatives. As such, the Model Strategies complement the Convention by providing some practical guidance to policy makers and practitioners involved in the implementation of the various provisions of the Convention. In a way, the Model Strategies also serve as a sort of checklist against which the progress in implementing the Convention can be assessed.

The review will be based on an analysis of country reports submitted to the Commission of Women, as well as country responses to a questionnaire circulated by the Secretariat of the Commission, and interviews with country respondents from national governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations and academia. The review will focus on: (1) the nature and perceived efficiency of the implementation mechanisms set in place in each country included in the review; (2) specific measures adopted in each countries and their impact; (3) difficulties observed in implementing or applying these measures; and, (4) how the factors that contribute to violence against women may have been alleviated through the implementation of the Convention.

Descriptions of selected promising practices identified during the study will be added to a Compendium of Promising Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Practices to Eliminate Violence Against Women, which was compiled by ICCLR and ILANUD, with the financial assistance of the Government of Canada.

For more information about this programme contact the programme director: Yvon Dandurand