Issues in focus - Strengthening the protection of women from torture

AGENDA
Workshop "Strengthening the protection of women from torture"
24 September 2007
Palais Wilson, 1 st floor conference room

Context

• Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Women of 2006;

• United Nations follow-up campaign on violence against women in 2007;

• OHCHR focus on ending impunity, especially for sexual violence;

call by SR on VAW to fully apply the torture to the concerns of women (A/HRC/4/34, para. 56);

• Human Rights Council panel on mainstreaming gender in its activities on 20 September 2007;

It is hoped that during the workshop participants will:

• Identify which types of treatment typically targeting women amount to torture and how the protection that the word "torture" carries with it can be extended to better cover women;

• Make suggestions on how the methodologies of monitoring, rehabilitation, restitution, investigation, and prosecution need to be adapted to fully take into account women-specific torture issues at the domestic and regional/international levels;

• Make concrete recommendations on how the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and other UN anti-torture mechanisms can become more sensitive to women specific issues in their work;

Sessions:

Opening session:

• Context of the workshop;

• Overview of issues to be discussed;

• Overview of how the torture mandate has dealt with women specific issues in the past;

1st session:

Where are the current boundaries between what is considered torture and what is not? - does the distinction still run along "gender-lines"?

• Women-specific forms of torture and ill-treatment by state authorities: forced sterilisation, forced abortion, forced miscarriage, denial of reproductive rights including of women with disabilities; denial of abortion in case of damage to health; sexual violence in detention situations (including psychiatric clinics, orphanages etc); sexual violence in conflict situations; specific impact of detention/solitary confinement on women;

• Torture in the private sphere and community based violence/torture, e.g. domestic violence, trafficking, honour killings, acid attacks, female genital mutilation, other traditional harmful practices?; legislation relating to these issues at the national level;

• Psychological torture;

• Ways to extend the protection of women/expand the definition of torture;

• Boundaries between torture and ill-treatment;

2nd session:

• From a victim's perspective: what protective value do the terms "torture" respectively ill-treatment add?; any reservations to calling certain practices "torture"?;

• What implications does using the terms torture respectively ill-treatment have specifically

a) In the field of criminal law? -

•  investigations, prosecutions; access to justice by women;

•  accountability: amnesties/immunities;

•  non-refoulement,

b) In terms of monitoring and rehabilitation:

•  access to resources for torture victims (e.g. funds for torture victims, including the UN VFVT);

•  need to adapt monitoring methodologies and mechanisms (national and international including OPCAT, CAT, SR on Torture etc.) to the torture of women;

•  How do the methodologies of torture prevention, rehabilitation of victims, restitution, investigation, and prosecution of acts of torture have to be changed to fully take into account the needs and concerns of women?

Wrap-up session:

• Concrete recommendations on how the Special Rapporteur can help to strengthen the protection of women from torture?