35/10 Impact of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence in the context of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance on the full enjoyment of all human rights by women and girls - Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

GE.17-06432(E)



Human Rights Council Thirty-fifth session

6-23 June 2017

Agenda items 2 and 3

Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner

for Human Rights and reports of the Office of

the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General

Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,

political, economic, social and cultural rights,

including the right to development

Impact of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence in the context of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance on the full enjoyment of all human rights by women and girls

Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Summary

In the present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to its

resolution 32/17, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights analyses the

ways in which several grounds of discrimination intersect, and the impact that they have on

the full realization of women’s and girls’ human rights. He also summarizes practices

shared by States, identifies implementation gaps and makes recommendations.

I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 32/17, the Human Rights Council requested the Office of the United

Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to submit to the Council, before

its thirty-fifth session, a report on the impact of multiple and intersecting forms of

discrimination and violence in the context of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and

related intolerance on the full enjoyment of all human rights by women and girls, with a

view to identifying challenges and good practices. The present report was prepared

pursuant to that request.

2. Accordingly, on 26 October 2016, OHCHR addressed a note verbale to Member

States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, international human rights

mechanisms, national human rights institutions and academia seeking their views and

information on the issue.

3. OHCHR received written submissions from Member States (Albania, Bahrain,

Colombia, Cuba, Georgia, Kuwait, Mexico, Mali, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Serbia, Slovenia,

Spain, Turkey and the United States of America), experts of human rights treaty bodies and

special procedure mandate holders; national human rights mechanisms; and non-

governmental organizations.1

II. International framework

4. Several international instruments and human rights mechanisms explicitly recognize

the impact of intersecting forms of discrimination on the enjoyment of human rights by

women and girls They also recognize the need for specific and targeted protection of

women and girls from multiple, compounded and/or intersecting forms of discrimination

based on grounds such as race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality and migration status.

5. In 1993, the Vienna Conference on Human Rights addressed specific human rights

violations suffered by identifiable groups of individuals. Building on the Vienna

Declaration and its framework, both the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing

and the Third World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and

Related Intolerance in Durban addressed discrimination based on multiple grounds.

6. In the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, adopted on 19 September

2016, Member States committed to tackle the multiple and intersecting forms of

discrimination against refugee and migrant women and girls. The United Nations

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognizes the specific needs and rights of

indigenous women, and calls upon States to take measures, together with indigenous

peoples, to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy full protection and guarantees

against all forms of violence and discrimination. In its resolution 69/16, the General

Assembly proclaimed 2015-2024 as the International Decade for People of African

Descent, requesting States to adopt and implement policies and programmes that provide

effective protection for, and review and repeal all policies and laws that could discriminate

against, people of African descent facing multiple, aggravated or intersecting forms of

discrimination based on other related grounds, such as sex, language, religion, political or

other opinion, social origin, property, birth, disability or other status.

1 The submissions are available on the OHCHR website at

www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WRGS/Pages/Report.aspx.

7. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has identified

intersectionality as a basic concept for understanding the scope of the general obligations of

State parties contained in article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women. The concept of intersectionality captures the consequences

of two or more combined systems of discrimination, and addresses the manner in which

they contribute to create layers of inequality.2 In its general recommendation No. 28, the

Committee called upon State parties to legally recognize such intersecting forms of

discrimination and their compounded negative impact on the women concerned and

prohibit them, and to adopt and pursue policies and programmes designed to eliminate such

occurrences, including, where appropriate, temporary special measures in accordance with

article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention and general recommendation No. 25.

8. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination noted, in its general

recommendation No. 25, the gender-related dimensions of racial discrimination and

focused on the intersectionality of race and gender in its work. The Committee also framed

sexual violence against women belonging to particular racial or ethnic groups in detention

or during armed conflict, the coerced sterilization of indigenous women and the abuse of

women workers in the informal sector or domestic workers employed abroad by their

employers, and other types of abuse and violence targeting specific groups of women as a

form of racial discrimination directed towards them because of their gender.3

9. In its general recommendation No. 30, the Committee on the Elimination of

Discrimination against Women found that, in conflict situations, specific groups of women

and girls are at particular risk of violence, especially sexual violence, such as internally

displaced and refugee women, and women of diverse caste, ethnic, national or religious

identities, or other minorities, who are often attacked as symbolic representatives of their

community, and that Stateless women and girls face heightened risks of abuse in times of

conflict, including because many are undocumented and/or belong to ethnic, religious or

linguistic minority populations.

10. With regard to women and girl refugees and asylum seekers, the Committee on the

Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in its general recommendation No. 32,

noted that gender-related claims to asylum may intersect with other proscribed grounds of

discrimination, including race, ethnicity/nationality, religion, class, caste, and being lesbian,

bisexual or transgender or other status, and requested States parties, in accordance with the

Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, to take proactive measures to ensure that the

legally recognized grounds of persecution, including those enumerated in the Convention,

were given a gender-sensitive interpretation.

11. In its general recommendation No. 34, the Committee on the Elimination of

Discrimination against Women also noted how rural women, and in particular indigenous

and Afro-descendent women, often face intersecting discrimination based on their ethnicity,

language and traditional way of life, and that women belonging to ethnic or religious

minorities may also experience higher rates of poverty and other forms of social exclusion.

12. The Committee further noted, in its general recommendation No. 24, that societal

2 Report of the Expert Group Meeting on gender and racial discrimination, organized by the Division

for the Advancement of Women, OHCHR and the United Nations Development Fund for Women,

Zagreb, 21-24 November 2000.

3 See also Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general recommendation No. 20.

factors determine the health status of women, whereby special attention should be given to

the health needs and rights of women belonging to disadvantaged groups, such as migrant

women, refugee and internally displaced women, the girl child or indigenous women.

13. In its general recommendation No. 26, the Committee also noted that women

migrant workers often experience intersecting forms of discrimination, suffering not only

sex- and gender-based discrimination, but also xenophobia and racism. Discrimination

based on race, ethnicity, cultural particularities, nationality, language, religion or other

status may be expressed in sex- and gender-specific ways.

III. Impact of intersecting forms of discrimination on women’s and girls’ lives

A. Socioeconomic exclusion and poverty

14. The Durban Declaration acknowledged that racism, racial discrimination,

xenophobia and related intolerance can be among the factors leading to a deterioration in

women’s and girls’ living conditions, poverty, violence, multiple forms of discrimination,

and the limitation or denial of women’s and girls’ human rights. Women and girls who are

affected by intersectional discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, work and descent

or religion often lack economic opportunities and decent work, and are overrepresented in

low paid, often exploitative jobs such as domestic work (see for example

A/HRC/27/68/Add.1, para. 83). In 2013, there were 53 million domestic workers

worldwide, 83 per cent of whom were women, many belonging to racial or ethnic

minorities.4

15. According to the International Labour Organization, about half of the world’s

migrants are women.5 Poverty and discrimination are considered significant drivers of

migration (see A/70/59, para. 9). The majority of women migrant workers are being

channelled into traditionally female-dominated occupations, such as domestic work or in

the garment and textile industries abroad, where they often work in precarious conditions.

They are frequently excluded from labour law protection, affected by discriminatory

residence regulations, such as sponsorship systems, and face the risk of a number of human

rights abuses, including violence and forced labour.6

4 International Labour Office, Domestic workers across the world: Global and regional statistics and

the extent of legal protection, Geneva, 2013.

5 See www.ilo.org/global/topics/labour-migration/policy-areas/migrant-domestic-workers/lang--

en/index.htm. In the absence of a universal legal definition, OHCHR, in its Recommended Principles

and Guidelines on Human Rights at International Borders, defines the term “international migrant” as

“any person who is outside a State of which he or she is a citizen or national, or, in the case of a

stateless person, his or her State of birth or habitual residence”.

6 OHCHR, Behind closed doors: Protecting and promoting the human rights of migrant domestic

workers in an irregular situation, New York and Geneva, 2015. See also Ray Jureidini, “Migrant

workers and xenophobia in the Middle East”, United Nations Research Institute for Social

Development, programme paper No. 2, December 2003.

16. Women are deeply affected by intersectional discrimination when seeking

employment or at the workplace. Stereotypes held by employers, colleagues or business

partners, whether subtle or explicit, may surface during the hiring process or at the

workplace. In France, an experiment showed that women with a Senegalese sounding name

had 8.4 per cent chance of being called for an interview when applying for a job, compared

with 13.9 per cent for men with a Senegalese sounding name and 22.6 per cent for women

with a French-sounding name.7 Women may be requested to conceal their cultural or

religious identity, and face harassment or even dismissal for not doing so. They may be

asked to fulfil additional selection requirements, be denied a promotion, asked to do lower

level jobs, or earn less for the same type of work.

17. According to the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, the

amount, intensity and drudgery of unpaid care work increase with poverty and social

exclusion, while the situation is often worse for women who experience discrimination and

social exclusion on other grounds, such as ethnicity, race, colour, health or marital status.

Women and girls in poor households spend more time in unpaid work than in non-poor

households because they have limited access to public services, adequate infrastructure and

resources to pay for care services or time-saving technology. Intensive unpaid care work

has a direct impact on women’s and girls’ ability to realize their rights throughout their

lifecycle, as it limits their opportunities to have access to and progress in education, to

participate in income-earning activities and to accumulate retirement incomes and savings,

all of which contribute to their higher vulnerability to poverty (A/68/293, paras. 14 and 18).

18. Marginalized communities often live in areas that are geographically segregated and

characterized by lack of public transport and infrastructure, basic services and clean water,

inadequate housing and sanitation, high levels of insecurity and violence. Women and girls

living in such areas can be disproportionately affected by the lack of housing, health

services, including sexual and reproductive health services, education and employment, as

well as the lack of protection by the State from insecurity and violence. According to the

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the level of poverty of an Afro-

Ecuadorian woman living in rural areas accounts for 87.3 per cent per unsatisfied basic

needs, while the average of an urban Afro-Ecuadorian woman is 62.2 per cent.8 Statistics

also show that women of African descent have less access to housing,9 health and

education10 than men of African descent and women not of African descent.

19. Intersecting forms of discrimination restrict women’s and girls’ access to land,

financial assets and productive resources. According to the Special Rapporteur on violence

against women, its causes and consequences, 64 per cent of all indigenous women in

Guatemala are unpaid family workers, with little or no independent access to land, credit or

other productive resource (E/CN.4/2005/72/Add.3, para. 11). The Working Group on the

issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice noted that, in Peru, indigenous

women are forced from their lands by the activities of extractive industries or informal

mining operations, while compensation payments for communal land are mainly paid to

male heads of households. As a result, indigenous women are deprived of their lands,

drinking water and means of subsistence and agricultural production, lack access to

opportunities for employment and skills development, and consequently often face extreme

7 European Network against Racism, Afrophobia in Europe: ENAR Shadow Report 2014-2015.

8 UNDP, Derechos de la población afrodescendiente de América Latina: Desafíos para su

implementación, Panamá, p. 130.

9 Ibid., p. 140.

10 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, The Road to Substantive Democracy: Women’s

Political Participation in the Americas, 18 April 2011, para. 94.

poverty, severe discrimination and both sexual and labour exploitation

(A/HRC/29/40/Add.2, paras. 69 -70).

B. Education

20. Intersectional discrimination affects the ability of women and girls to enjoy their

right to education. The lack of access to quality education has a detrimental impact on their

autonomy, opportunities and choices later in life, including with regard to employment and

income, and health (see also A/HRC/35/11).

21. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of

the Child have drawn attention to the lack of access to education, prevalence of high school

dropout rates and/or low enrolment rates among specific groups of girls, such as migrant

and refugee girls, or on the basis of their sex and ethnicity, religion or work and descent in

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, India, Peru, Serbia,

Spain and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.11 The Working Group on the issue

of discrimination against women in law and in practice found that, in Peru, the school

dropout rate among indigenous girls aged between 12 and 16 years was 89.1 per cent

(A/HRC/29/40/Add.2, para. 68). A survey conducted on discrimination against and the

living conditions of Roma women in 11 Member States of the European Union showed that

only 23 per cent of them remained in school after the age of 16, compared to 32 per cent of

Roma men.12

22. High school dropout and low enrolment rates among women and girls affected by

intersectional discrimination are closely linked to a combination of related multiple barriers

that may include lack of access to gender-sensitive and intercultural education, lack of

financial resources, lack of access to health services, including sexual and reproductive

health services, unpaid care work, and the high prevalence of sexual and other types of

violence (see A/HRC/35/11).

23. Discriminatory attitudes based on race, ethnicity, work and descent, gender or

religion held by education personnel and fellow students may also prevent girls from

having access to and remaining in school. Educational curriculum and teaching materials

may reflect stereotypes and biases based on gender, race, ethnicity, work and descent,

religion or other reason, and thus aggravate discrimination and lead to violence against

women and girls in education.

24. Educational policies that support the exclusion of specific groups intersect with

gender-related barriers and may compound discrimination experienced by girls. The

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Human Rights Committee, the

Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights in their concluding observations (CERD/C/DEU/CO/19-22, para. 13;

CERD/C/MKD/CO/8-10, para. 17(a); CERD/C/CZE/CO/10-11, para. 17;

CERD/C/SRB/CO/1, para. 15; CERD/C/SVK/CO/6-8, para. 11 and 16;

11 CEDAW/C/HRV/CO/4-5, para. 36; CEDAW/C/CHN/CO/7-8, para. 34; CEDAW/C/PER/CO/7-8,

paras. 29 and 30; CEDAW/C/BIH/CO/4-5, para. 31; CEDAW/C/CZE/CO/5; CEDAW/C/DEU/CO/6;

CEDAW/C/SCG/CO/1; CEDAW/C/BIH/CO/3; Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fifth

Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/55/38); Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-ninth Session,

Supplement No. 38 (A/59/38); E/C.12/ALB/CO/2-3; CRC/C/15/Add.185; and CRC/C/15/Add.118.

12 European Agency for Fundamental Rights, “Discrimination against and living conditions of Roma

women in 11 EU Member States”, Roma survey: Data in Focus, October 2014, p. 13.

CERD/C/HRV/CO/8; CERD/C/USA/CO/6; CERD/C/IND/CO/19; CERD/C/304/Add.109,

para. 9; CERD/C/SVK/CO/9-10, para. 11; CCPR/C/MKD/CO/2;

CCPR/C/USA/CO/3/Rev.1; CCPR/CO/72/CZE; CRC/C/CZE/CO/3-4, para. 65,

E/C.12/UKR/CO/6, para. 25), the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review

(A/HRC/32/15, para. 120.76; A/HRC/26/12, para. 110.131; A/HRC/22/3, para. 94.113; and

A/HRC/17/17, para. 77.49) and the Independent Expert on minority issues

(A/HRC/19/56/Add.2) have addressed the educational segregation of refugee women and

girls or on the basis of their ethnicity or work and descent in States such as Bosnia and

Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, India, Latvia, Serbia, Slovakia,

the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine and the United States of America.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has also drawn

attention to the fact that girls in Bosnia and Herzegovina are discriminated by mono-ethnic

school systems, which have a negative impact on their education opportunities

(CEDAW/C/BIH/CO/4-5, para. 31).

C. Health

25. Factors such as race, work and descent or ethnicity have an impact on the access of

the women and girls to sexual and reproductive health services and information, and the

quality of medical treatment they receive. For ethnic minority women in Viet Nam, more

than 60 per cent of all childbirths are without prenatal care, twice as many as for the

majority Kinh women.13

26. Evidence shows that women with low social status or women who are economically

excluded are disproportionately affected by maternal death. In the case of Alyne da Silva

Pimentel Teixeira (deceased) v. Brazil, the victim, a woman of African descent, died after a

stillbirth and serious postnatal complications owing to the denial of access to quality health

care. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women concluded that

Alyne da Silva Pimentel Teixeira was discriminated against not only on the basis of her sex

but also of her status as a woman of African descent and her socioeconomic background

(CEDAW/C/49/D/17/2008, para. 7.7). According to the Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean, in 2013, maternal mortality in the region Ngöbe-Buglé,

in Panama, was 344 deaths per 100,000 births, against a national average of 71.14

27. Poverty is often aggravated by the absence of universal health care, which can

further marginalize low-income groups. The Working Group on discrimination against

women in law and in practice found that, in the United States of America, 28 per cent of

people living in poverty were still uninsured in 2015; African-American and Hispanic

women were disproportionally affected (A/HRC/32/44/Add.2, para. 61).

28. Women and girls affected by intersecting forms of violence and discrimination often

lack access to information about the availability of services, their rights and entitlements.

Intercultural and gender-sensitive services are often not available. Qualitative interviews

with health providers servicing indigenous communities in Latin America found that

providers themselves expressed difficulties in assisting indigenous women, often because of

13 World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development (World Bank, Washington,

D.C., 2011), p. xxi.

14 Observatorio de Igualdad de Género de América Latina y el Caribe, Mujeres indígenas en América

Latina: Dinámicas demográficas y sociales en el marco de los derechos humanos, 2013, p. 66.

an inability to adequately communicate or understand their cultural practices. 15

Specific

groups of women and girls are also often disproportionately affected by language barriers.

29. Women from particular ethnic or racial groups can face greater risk of forced

sterilization, forced pregnancy or restrictions on the number and spacing of children. The

forced sterilization of women from particular ethnic or racial groups in States such as

China, Czechia, Peru and Slovakia has been addressed by the Committee on the

Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD/C/CZE/CO/10-11, CERD/C/PER/CO/18-21

and CERD/C/SVK/CO/9-10), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against

Women (CEDAW/C/SVK/CO/5-6, CEDAW/C/CZE/CO/5 and CEDAW/C/CHN/CO/6),

the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/PER/CO/2-4) and the

Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (A/HRC/12/17). Ethnic and religious

minority women in Myanmar are also affected by laws and local orders that coerce them to

use contraception and restrict the number and the spacing of their children (A/HRC/32/18,

paras. 20 and 43).

30. Intersecting forms of discrimination and violence can cause mental health problems,

such as depression or anxiety. In Austria, Italy and Sweden, migrant women are more often

affected by psychosocial disabilities, such as severe anxiety, and attempt suicide more

often.16

D. Violence against women and girls

31. Stereotypes and prejudice based on a combination of factors, including race,

ethnicity, work and descent, religion and gender, expose women and girls to a greater risk

of being targeted by various forms of violence. According to the European Union Agency

for Fundamental Rights, attacks against women who are visibly Muslim have been reported

for a number of countries where the majority of Islamophobic acts committed in 2015

targeted women (74 per cent in France and 90 per cent in the Netherlands).17 The Special

Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related

intolerance found that political parties with anti-immigrant and anti-minority agendas play a

significant role in fostering fears among the population against a single religion, also noting

the detrimental effects on Muslim women (A/HRC/15/53, paras. 59-60).18 The Special

Rapporteur on minority issues found that Roma women were stereotyped as promiscuous,

which exposed them to a heightened risk of exploitation and sexual and gender-based

violence (A/HRC/29/24, para. 34).

32. Women and girls experience violence at the hands of a variety of actors. The

Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice noted

that indigenous women in the United States of America are more than twice as likely as

other women to be victims of violence, and that one in three will be raped during her

lifetime. It was estimated that nearly 80 per cent of rapes of indigenous women were by

non-indigenous men. The Working Group also referred to reports of police brutality and an

increased number of homicides of African-American women by the police

(A/HRC/32/44/Add.2, para. 78).

15 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), State of world population 2012, 14 November 2012, p.

56.

16 See European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Inequalities and multiple discrimination in

access to and quality of healthcare, Luxembourg, 2013, p. 37.

17 European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Current migration situation in the EU: hate crime,

November 2016, p. 6.

18 See also A/HRC/32/50, para. 63.

33. Women and girls from ethnic and religious minorities and indigenous populations

can be at particular risk of grave human rights abuses during conflict, including forced

pregnancy, systematic rape, sexual abuse or sexual slavery.19 Ethnic or race-based violence

against women has been recognized as a weapon of war by both the International Criminal

Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and

prosecuted accordingly.20 Recently, in South Sudan, Sudanese People’s Liberation Army

(SPLA) soldiers reportedly raped Nuer women; reports also referred to the targeted killing

of Dinka women and children in Juba (A/HRC/34/63, paras. 26 and 32). In Myanmar,

sexual and gender-based violence has reportedly been committed against members of

minority ethnic and religious groups (A /HRC/32/18, paras. 32 and 60). 21

34. Women have also been increasingly targeted by violent extremist and terrorist

groups, who often see them as the repositories of cultural identity (S/2016/361, para. 21). In

Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and the Niger, grave human rights abuses against women and

girls have reportedly been committed by Boko Haram, including killings, abduction, forced

religious conversion to Islam, repeated beatings, forced marriage, forced pregnancies,

forced labour and sexual slavery, violence and exploitation (see A/HRC/30/67). Similarly,

in the Syrian Arab Republic, women and girls from the Yazidi community have been

targeted by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).22

35. Women and girls make up around 50 per cent of any refugee, internally

displaced or stateless population.23 Discrimination, inequality and violence are all

significant drivers of precarious large-scale migration movements. On their journey and at

their destination, many women and girls continue to experience violations of their rights at

the hands of a variety of actors, such as members of their own family, social networks,

employers, border guards, police officers, detention personnel, service providers, traffickers

or abusive smugglers (see A/HRC/33/67).24 A recent report jointly prepared by the United

Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and OHCHR showed how women migrants

in Libya are exposed to a number of human rights abuses, including rape and other sexual

violence.25 The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed its

concern at the abuse of indigenous women migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and

Nicaragua when travelling through or arriving in Mexico, their vulnerability to kidnapping,

torture and murder, and the discrimination and xenophobia that prevents them from seeking

assistance and protection (CERD/C/MEX/CO/16-17, para. 20).

36. The Durban Programme of Action recognized that “root causes such as poverty,

underdevelopment and lack of equal opportunity are often linked to discriminatory

19 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 30.

20 “At the crossroads of gender and racial discrimination”, available from www.un.org/WCAR/e-

kit/gender.htm. See also the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nation Entity for

the for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), UNFPA, ILO and the

Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Breaking

the silence on violence against indigenous girls, adolescents and young women: a call to action based

on an overview of existing evidence from Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America, 2013, p. 6.

21 See also A/HRC/17/9, recommendation 107.67.

22 See A/HRC/32/CRP.2.

23 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), “Ending Statelessness”;

see www.unhcr.org/women.html.

24 See also OHCHR, Behind closed doors: protecting and promoting the rights of migrant domestic

workers in an irregular situation, New York and Geneva, 2015.

25 UNSMIL and OHCHR, “Detained and dehumanised”, report on human rights abuses against migrants

in Libya, 13 December 2016.

practices that cause women’s and children’s vulnerability to trafficking, and give rise to

racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”. The Committee on the

Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Human

Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

have, in their concluding observations, referred to the trafficking of minority or indigenous

women, including for purposes such as sexual exploitation or forced labour, in Japan,

Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Congo (see CERD/C/JPN/CO/7-9, para. 16;

CRC/C/COG/CO/2-4, para. 72; and CCPR/C/BIH/CO/1, para. 16).26

37. Data on violence against specific groups of women and girls are often missing or

inaccurate. The lack of data at the national level on the extent of violence against migrant

women and girls as alarming.27 The identity of women or girls often remains unrecorded,

while the lack of culturally appropriate and gender-sensitive assistance and services, and

the lack of legal protection, including for survivors of violence, may contribute

significantly to the underreporting of such violence.

E. Women’s autonomy, and the participation and representation of women in public life

38. Intersectional discrimination renders affected women and girls invisible in decision-

making processes in their families, communities and society at large. The representation of

women of African descent, for instance, is low even in countries where women increasingly

participate in the work of executive and legislative branches.28

39. Women affected by intersecting forms of discrimination and violence may face

restriction on their rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly and collective

bargaining. Women working in informal sectors and economically marginalized areas,

including migrant women workers, are often excluded from national labour laws. They are

poorly represented in trade unions or in other forms of organizations. They are therefore

unable to promote agency or to raise their collective voice to claim their rights.29

40. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination,

xenophobia and related intolerance noted how legislative provisions that prohibit the

wearing of religious symbols, such as the Islamic veil, are discriminatory towards certain

specific groups of women and undermine their fundamental freedoms, including their right

to participate in public life (A/HRC/15/53, para. 59).

41. Women and girls may face greater risk of targeted violence in the public sphere.

Cases of sexual violence perpetrated against women, including from ethnic and religious

groups, to control, punish them for their perceived “countercultural” behaviour, or relegate

them to the private sphere, have been reported. For instance, in the Central Africa Republic,

Christian women have been raped for trading with members of the Muslim community

(S/2016/361, para. 13).

26 Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/59/38).

27 See European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, “Thematic focus: Gender-based violence”.

28 Ana Irma Rivera Lassén, “Afrodescendant women: our gaze fixed on the intersections of race- and

gender-based organizing”, Concept Document, Challenges and Opportunities of the Economic

Empowerment of Afrodescendant Women, ECLAC, Brasilia, 13-16 July, 2010.

29 “Cooperating out of isolation: the case of migrant domestic workers in Kuwait, Lebanon and

Jordan”, working paper, ILO Regional Office for Arab States, 2015.

F. Equality before the law and access to justice

42. Harmful stereotypes and bias by State officials, including the police and organs of

the criminal justice system, can lead to discrimination against women and girls affected by

intersectional discrimination, resulting in violations of the rights to equal treatment before

the law, fair trail and access to remedies. For instance, an inquiry conducted by the

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women found that Aboriginal

women in Canada were reluctant to report violence to the police mainly owing to police

behaviour and bias, and that stereotypical attitudes towards Aboriginal women often had a

negative impact on the quality of police investigation (CEDAW/C/OP.8/CAN/1, paras. 138

and 205).

43. The ability of women in vulnerable situations, including among indigenous women,

minority women and women with disabilities, to have access to justice is inextricably

linked to factors such as poverty, access to health and education, and recognition of their

rights relating to land, resources and their status in society (see A/HRC/27/65). These

factors may also increase the likelihood of women being detained.30 In many countries,

women from minorities and indigenous groups represent the fastest growing segment of the

prison population; for example, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its

causes and consequences, found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls

accounted for the largest prison population group in Australia, with legal frameworks and

socioeconomic disadvantages contributing to this overrepresentation.31

44. The discriminatory implementation of laws, for example on nationality and

citizenship, also create barriers to the full and equal realization of the rights by specific

groups of women and girls. Minority, indigenous, migrant or refugee women are often

confronted with such barriers when seeking access to services for formal registration of

births, marriage, residence and other documents or relevant information on their rights

(A/HRC/23/50, para. 86). The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against

Women found that stateless women and girls face heightened risks of abuse in times of

conflict because they do not enjoy the protection that flows from citizenship, including

consular assistance, and also because many are undocumented and/or belong to ethnic,

religious or linguistic minority populations.32

45. Discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity or religion may also result in

irregular migration status, which increases the risk of violence, detention and deportation.

In the absence of State protection and firewalls that separate service providers from

immigration officials, many may be afraid to report abuse and violence, which creates

barriers in access to justice and also offers relative impunity to perpetrators.

30 See for example OHCHR, Rapport sur la situation des droits des femmes dans les lieux de détention

au Sénégal, Dakar, March 2015.

31 OHCHR, “End of mission statement by Dubravka Šimonović, United Nations Special Rapporteur on

violence against women, its causes and consequences, on her visit to Australia from 13 to 27 February

2017”, 27 February 2017. See also Amnesty International, “’Heads Held High’: keeping Queensland

kids out of detention, strong in culture and community”, 31 August 2016.

32 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 30,

para. 60.

IV. Promising practices

A. Legal frameworks, institutions and policies

46. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action recognizes the need to integrate a

gender perspective into relevant policies, strategies and programmes of action against

racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in order to address

multiple forms of discrimination. It also urges States to address racism and racially

motivated violence against women and girls through policies and programmes, protective

and preventive measures, effective implementation of national legislation and relevant

international instruments.

47. In their submissions, Albania, Bahrain, Colombia, Cuba, Georgia, Kuwait, Mexico,

Mali, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and the United States of

America drew attention to legal frameworks, policies, institutions and/or strategies in place

to ensure equality and non-discrimination based on grounds such as sex/gender, ethnicity,

race or religion to address violence against women and/or racism, racial discrimination,

xenophobia and other related forms of intolerance.

48. Mexico, Serbia, Spain, Turkey and the United States of America had rendered the

notion of prohibition of intersectional discrimination and the promotion of equality clear in

their legal and policy frameworks. Mexico had put in place laws to protect women of

African descent, and indigenous and migrant women, which were implemented by national

plans and strategies focusing on the eradication of violence, providing access to health and

information on sexual and reproductive rights, and had increased capacities, representation

and political participation. The United States of America had enhanced the protections

available for native American and immigrant women through the Violence against Women

Reauthorization Act (2013), which provided resources for States and local communities to

improve the response of the criminal justice system to cases of domestic violence, sexual

assault, dating violence and stalking, and to support victim services.

49. In Spain, a law on equality between women and men required the public authority to

consider the situation of specific groups of women, including minority and migrant women.

It also had strategies to provide assistance to Roma women survivors of violence and to

promote the empowerment of specific groups of women, including Roma and migrant

women, in employment and education, among others. Serbia had implemented a national

strategy for gender equality (2016-2020) and a strategy for national protection of Roma

(2016-2025), which included measures for specific groups of women. The State’s national

plan of action for the integration of Roma and other minority groups (2016-2020) tackled

the issues of violence against women and children through a package of primary health-care

services. Turkey had adopted laws to identify and prioritize persons with special needs in

international protection procedures, and had also established procedures to provide support

through the issuance of identity documentation and shelters for women survivors of

violence.

50. Norway and Guatemala had in place institutions and institutional frameworks to

address intersecting forms of discrimination against women and girls. The institutional

mandate of the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombudsperson in Norway required the

Ombudsperson to see the different grounds of discrimination in context, to develop

interdisciplinary skills to deal with multiple forms of discrimination and discrimination at

the intersection of gender and other grounds of discrimination. Guatemala had specialized

institutions for the eradication of racial discrimination and violence against indigenous

women and girls; according to the information contained in the submission, achievements

had, however, been limited owing to a lack of funding.

51. Colombia and the United States of America had developed multisectoral strategies

to address intersectional violence against women and girls. Through a comprehensive

multisectoral strategy, Colombia aimed to respond to the needs of survivors of sexual

violence in the context of the conflict by means of access to justice, disaggregated

information, integrated assistance, and prevention, protection and reparation directed in

particular to specific groups women, such as indigenous persons, the Roma and Afro-

Colombians. The United States of America was implementing a multi-partner and

participatory initiative that brought together a variety of actors from the State, tribal law

communities and a non-governmental organization working specifically on the issue of

violence against native women, in the first-ever tribal human trafficking task force.

B. Disaggregated data and research

52. The Durban Declaration recognizes the need to develop a more systematic and

consistent approach to evaluating and monitoring racial discrimination against women, and

also the disadvantages, obstacles and difficulties that women face in the full exercise and

enjoyment of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights because of racism,

racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Data and research are crucial for

the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies and resource

allocation that are informed by the needs of women and girls facing intersectional

discrimination and violence. Data collection should be systematic, and integrate criteria

beyond sex and age.

53. Albania, Colombia, Spain and the United States of America were making an effort

to strengthen the collection of data based on various grounds. In Colombia, data on

discrimination and violence against women and girls were disaggregated on various

grounds and collected by the Observatory against Discrimination and Racism, an integrated

system on gender-based violence and a national survey on discrimination, the first of its

kind. In the United States of America, the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission required businesses with 100 or more employees to submit

summary pay data disaggregated by sex and race or ethnicity, thereby helping to focus

public enforcement of non-discrimination laws. In Albania, the Ministry of Social Welfare

and Youth was improving its data collection on specific groups of women, including Roma

or other groups of women. The State also produced statistics on primary and secondary

education enrolments that were disaggregated by various variables. Spain has made efforts

to determine the number of women who benefited from its Roma development programme

through the collection of data disaggregated by sex.

54. Some States reported that they were conducting research on issues related to

violence against women and girls from indigenous communities. Mexico had published a

study on intimate partner violence experienced by indigenous women in three regions in

Mexico.33 In the United States of America, the National Institute for Justice had

commissioned research to address gaps in evidence on the prevalence of violence against

American Indian and Alaska native women living in Indian Country and Alaska Native

villages.34

55. OHCHR is developing a set of principles and guidelines on the human rights

protection of migrants in a vulnerable situation that will include a principle on data

33 Instituto nacional de la Mujeres, “Violencia de pareja en mujeres indígenas de tres regiones de la

República Mexicana 2011”. 34 See National Institute of Justice, Violence against Indian Women National Baseline Study, 21

January 2015.

collection and protection, including data disaggregated by various grounds. OHCHR in

Guatemala has conducted studies and published manuals on racial, ethnic and gender-based

discrimination against indigenous women.

56. Civil society organizations have also conducted research on the issue. In its

submission, the European Network against Racism reported that it and civil society

organizations in France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland had

published a variety of reports exclusively on or containing information about discrimination

and violence against women and girls based on various grounds.

C. Monitoring and protection

57. Some countries have put in place or expanded national and multilateral mechanisms

for monitoring and protection in order to improve the access of specific groups of women

and girls to medical assistance, justice and protection from violence. Turkey has established

a support programme for women and girl survivors of human trafficking that provides them

with access to health, psychosocial support, legal and social services, education and

training, access to the labour market, material support and information. In Mexico, the

National Commission for the Development of Indigenous People offers training to

advocates from indigenous communities, translators and public servants on the recent

reforms of the penal system. At May 2016, the Commission facilitated the release of 386

indigenous women from prison.

58. Canada, Mexico and the United States of America have established the North

American Working Group on Violence against Indigenous Women and Girls. In the context

of this initiative, the United States of America launched the first crisis line for Alaska

native survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and released the first set of uniform

clinical care guidelines for the identification of and response to intimate partner violence

within a system of medical care and referral that is patient-centred, culturally sensitive and

trauma-informed. The United States of America also provides funding to States and State

and tribal coalitions to develop more effective responses to violence against women from

American Indian and Alaska native populations, and specific cultural and linguistic

populations.

D. Capacity-building of professional categories

59. In their submissions, some States explained that they were implementing initiatives

to address discrimination and violence against specific groups of women and girls by

building the capacity of the judiciary, law enforcement agencies and health-care providers

in the use of gender- and culturally sensitive approaches. The United States of America

trained and provided technical assistance for crime victim service providers and allied

professionals to address language and cultural barriers that intersect with gender in

policing, as well as other intersectional issues throughout the criminal justice system.

Mexico sought to strengthen indigenous women’s access to justice by building the capacity

not only of the judiciary but also of translators and advocates from indigenous

communities. Mexico has also developed a module for providing culturally sensitive

obstetric health services to its indigenous and Afro-descendent populations. Spain has

designed a protocol for assistance provided in the context of violence against women in the

Roma community, which includes measures to build the capacity of technical personnel

working on the issue. The protocol was part of the national strategy for the social inclusion

of the Roma population in Spain.

60. Some civil society organizations also reported on efforts being made to build the

capacity of professionals to address the issue of intersectional discrimination and violence

against women and girls. In Slovenia, Slovene Philanthropy, an association for the

promotion of voluntary work, trained policymakers and professionals working with

migrants, refugees and asylum seekers on the specific needs of women and girls at risk and

affected by multiple forms of discrimination and violence. The Peace Institute provided

intercultural training to professionals who assist women and children survivors of violence

and abuse.

E. Participation and awareness-raising

61. The Durban Programme of Action sets the tone for the full and effective

participation of women and girls affected by racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and

related intolerances by, inter alia, calling upon States to involve affected women at all

levels of decision-making related to the eradication of such discrimination and in the

design, implementation and evaluation of policies and measures that affect their lives; to

empower affected women and girls to fully exercise their rights in all spheres of public and

private life; and to strengthen and support relevant actors of civil society working to

promote gender equality and the advancement of women subject to multiple discrimination.

62. Mexico, Serbia and Spain described efforts that aim at increasing the participation

and representation of affected women and girls. The Constitution of Mexico provides for

the political participation of indigenous women and their access to decision-making. The

political and public participation and leadership of indigenous women and girls is also

promoted through a comprehensive package that consists of legislation, programmes and

targeted funding to civil society projects. In Serbia, the national strategy for gender equality

includes provisions to promote the exercise of active and passive voting rights by Roma

women. Spain has promoted the representation of Roma women`s organizations in the State

Council of the Roma people through affirmative action. As part of its national strategy for

the social inclusion of the Roma population, Spain also provided funding to a women’s

organization working on issues related to violence against women in the Roma community.

63. The Durban Programme of Action urges States to mainstream a gender perspective

in the design and development of measures of prevention, education and protection aimed

at the eradication of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance at all

levels, to ensure that they effectively target the distinct situations of women and men.

Comprehensive information, communication and education that address harmful

stereotypes and attitudes are crucial to the prevention of intersectional discrimination and

violence against women and girls. In this context, OHCHR produced the documentary film

“I am not here”, which reveals the harsh reality of living as undocumented migrant

domestic workers through the true stories of three women. Oxfam has launched a campaign

to eradicate discrimination, stereotypes and violence against indigenous women in

Guatemala.

V. Conclusions and recommendations

64. States have an obligation to protect all women and girls from intersecting forms

of discrimination and violence. The examples compiled in the present report confirm

that key gaps persist in a number of areas, including with regard to economic

exclusion and poverty, education, health, violence, participation, equality before the

law and access to justice.

65. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development offers an opportunity to address

existing gaps through the implementation of, inter alia, its goals directed towards the

promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, peaceful and inclusive

societies and reducing inequality. To deliver on the promise of the 2030 Agenda to

leave no-one behind, the High Commissioner recommends that:

(a) National legal frameworks expressly and consistently prohibit

intersecting forms of discrimination against women and girls, and protect the rights of

women and girls affected by them;

(b) All laws, policies and practices that legalize and facilitate direct and

indirect discrimination and violence against women and girls based on multiple

grounds, including race, ethnicity, gender or religion, be abolished, and that non-

discriminatory implementation of laws, including those on nationality and citizenship,

be ensured;

(c) Women and girls affected by intersecting forms of discrimination and

violence be afforded equal access to justice and effective means of redress, and

gender-sensitive, intercultural and quality education and health services, including

sexual and reproductive health services and information;

(d) Intersectional analysis be applied in the planning and allocation of public

resources, as well as in the design, implementation and review of legislation, policies

and programmes, in such areas as migration, development, employment, social

protection, poverty reduction, health, education, gender equality, violence against

women, racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, to expose, prevent and respond

effectively to the intersecting forms of discrimination and violence faced by women

and girls;

(e) The participation of women and girls affected by intersecting forms of

discrimination and violence be encouraged in public life, collective bargaining and at

all levels of policymaking and decision-making processes, including political and

institutional, through positive legal measures, affirmative action policies and access to

information about rights and entitlements;

(f) Systematic and continuous efforts be made to sensitize and build the

capacity of professional categories, including the judiciary, the police, border guards,

health and education personnel, the public administration, employers and others, to

address discriminatory attitudes and stereotypes, to develop an understanding of the

intersecting forms of discrimination and violence affecting women and girls, and to

apply rights-based and gender and culturally sensitive methods;

(g) Legislation, policies and targeted measures be adopted to economically

empower women and girls affected by intersecting forms of discrimination and

violence by providing employment opportunities, ensuring labour rights, education,

training and skills development, access to land, water and financial resources, and

gender-sensitive social protection and care services;

(h) Monitoring, reporting and protection mechanisms, as well as services,

such as emergency helplines, shelters, health and legal services, psychosocial support

and trauma counselling, be put in place to assist and safeguard women and girls at

risk;

(i) National laws, capacities and procedures be strengthened for

interpreting grounds of persecution and granting asylum, thereby facilitating

international protection for women and girls facing persecution based on a

combination of factors, including gender and race, which are often rendered invisible;

(j) Protection be provided for women and girls on the move who may not

qualify for refugee status but find themselves in a vulnerable situation whether as a

result of the circumstances they encounter in their country of origin, in transit or at

destination, and/or due to inherent characteristics;

(k) The systematic, regular and nationwide collection, integration and

dissemination of equality data disaggregated by various grounds be strengthened,

while respecting and protecting the right to self-identification and the protection of

privacy, and that indicators be developed to measure inequalities on the basis of a

combination of such variables as race, ethnicity, religion or gender;

(l) Research and analysis on intersecting forms of discrimination against

women and girls be strengthened and used to design and review legislation and

policies to better address the rights and needs of women and girls at risk of/or affected

by intersecting forms of discrimination and violence;

(m) Efforts be made to implement comprehensive outreach campaigns that

bring together the general public, civil society organizations, local governments,

educational institutions, the media and artists to dismantle myths, attitudes and

stereotypes that discriminate and exclude women and girls on the basis of a

combination of factors, such as gender, race, ethnicity and religion;

(n) Relevant intergovernmental reviews, such as for the Sustainable

Development Goals and the universal periodic review, address intersecting forms of

discrimination and violence against women and girls in the context of racism, racial

discrimination and xenophobia;

(o) United Nations human rights mechanisms pay specific attention to the

monitoring and analysis of the human rights implications of discrimination based on

gender and other grounds.