Geneva, 25 November 2002

Press Release: OMCT expresses concern at violence against women on
the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence
against Women

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of
Violence against Women, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
would like to express its deep concern at the high levels of violence
against women that persist throughout the world.

Despite the fact that States have an obligation under international
law to prevent, investigate, punish and provide reparations for acts
of violence against women, irrespective of whether this violence is
committed by a State official or a private individual, OMCT continues
to receive information that demonstrates that large numbers of States
are failing to fulfil these obligations with due diligence.

Women and girls continue to be exclusively or disproportionately
subjected to a number of different forms of violence within the
context of the family, in the community and at the hands of State
officials. This violence includes; domestic violence, sexual abuse,
violence linked to cultural practices such as the payment of dowry or
bride price, son preference, female genital mutilation, crimes
committed in the name of honour, rape and other forms of sexual
violence, sexual harassment, trafficking and forced prostitution,
rape and other forms of torture of detained women and abuse,
harassment and intimidation of women by police or prison authorities.

Over the course of the year 2002, the Violence against Women
programme at OMCT circulated 25 urgent appeals concerning cases of
violence against more than 50 women in 8 countries. These appeals
addressed acts of violence including; sexual harassment, rape and
sexual violence as well as other forms of torture against women in
detention, and sentences of corporal and capital punishment handed
down by religious courts against women accused of adultery or of
having sexual relations outside of marriage.

In addition to these urgent appeals, OMCT also submitted 14
alternative country reports to the United Nations human rights treaty
monitoring bodies concerning violence against women in: Croatia, the
Czech Republic, Greece, Moldova, Poland, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan,
Togo, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen and Zambia. These reports
demonstrated that women continue to be subjected to violence within
the family, in the community and to violence perpetrated by the
State.

OMCT would like to take this occasion to recall that a number of
international and regional human rights instruments provide
protection to women and girls against violence and require States to
take effective measures to prevent and eradicate this violence. At
the international level, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the
Child and the Convention against Torture all provide protection to
women and girls against violence. At the regional level, the Inter-
American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of
Violence Against Women as well as the American Convention on Human
Rights, the African Charter on Human and People's Rights and the
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights also guarantee
women the right to be free from violence.

For further information, or for copies of reports, please contact:

Lucinda O'Hanlon
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Tel.: ++41 22 809 49 39
Fax: ++41 22 809 49 29
E-mail: [email protected]
Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard
Case postale 21
CH-1211 Geneve 8
Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : [email protected]
http://www.omct.org