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| Elimination of Violence against Women Programme |
Criminal Justice Responses to Violence against Women: Linking Local and International Efforts
Intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting
53rd Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
Convention of Belém Do Pará - Five Years Later
Resource Manual and Compendium of Promising Practices for the 1997 UN Model Strategies
Violence against women is one of the most prevalent crimes in most societies, and can be devastating in its consequences, both to primary victims and to secondary victims, such as child witnesses. In all countries, the pervasiveness of this violence has become an issue of global concern. Violence against women cuts across lines of income, class and culture, in both public and private life. It is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, and one of the ways in which women are forced into a subordinate position compared to men.
Since the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), the proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993) and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), there exists a clear agenda at the international level for action to eliminate violence against women. The United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice developed and adopted the Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (approved by the General Assembly in resolution 52/86, 12 December 1997). The Strategies recognize the multifaceted nature of violence against women and adopt a multidisciplinary approach to combat this problem. It is a plan of action describing practical measures and strategies designed to ensure an appropriate “fair treatment” response on the part of the criminal justice system to all forms of violence against women. The strategies cover all components of criminal justice, including criminal law, criminal procedure, police, sentencing and corrections and crime prevention measures. There are also a number of strategies concerning victim support and assistance, health and social issues, training, and research and evaluation. The Model Strategies are currently being reviewed and updated and a draft Updated document will be submitted for discussion at the UN Crime Commission in the spring of 2010 where they will be considered for adoption.
The Centre has, since its inception, acted as a bridge between the local, national, and international criminal justice systems. The work we have done on violence against women, one of the Centre’s longest standing programmes, is an excellent example of this. The Centre has worked collaboratively with local, national and United Nations institutes in bringing experts together in Vancouver over the past 15 years to formalize a number of important principles related to these issues.
Criminal Justice Responses to Violence against Women: Linking Local and International Efforts
ICCLR organized a forum on Criminal Justice Responses to Violence against Women: Linking Local and International Efforts on December 9, 2009 at UBC Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, Canada. This event provided for an interactive discussion on the recent efforts, internationally and locally, to combat violence against women.
Intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting
ICCLR assisted in drafting the Updated Model Strategies and participating in the Intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting in Bangkok in March 2009. The draft Updated Model Strategies can be found on the UNODC website as an annex to the “Report of the Meeting of the Intergovernmental Expert Group to Review and Update the Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice held in Bangkok from 23 to 25 March 2009”:
http://www.unodc.org/documents/eastasiaandpacific//2009/03/IGE/IEGM_report.pdf
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Eileen Skinnider (2nd from right in front row), an associate at the ICCLR, attended the Intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting in Bangkok in March 2009. |
53rd Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
ICCLR presented at the 53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women meetings in New York in March 2009. ICCLR Associate, Eileen Skinnider, presented on the ongoing work of the review and update of the Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at the 53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women meetings in New York on March 4, 2009 at the United Nations Headquarters. more...
Eileen Skinnider (right), an associate at the ICCLR,
at the 53rd session of the UN Commission
on the Status of Women in New York in
March 2009.