States that have ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment are required to submit periodic reports documenting compliance with the provisions of the treaty every four years.  The Committee meets twice a year to review the government reports.  The Committee invites representatives of the State party to attend these sessions and provide further information if the Committee requests clarification.  After its consideration of the report, the Committee may make general comments, in particular noting whether the State party is in compliance with its obligations under the treaty.  The concluding comments are broad and not legally binding. 

Additionally, the Convention against Torture is the only treaty to allow Committee members to make a confidential inquiry about a specific country and to report the findings directly to the Committee when it receives "reliable information which appears to . . . contain well-founded indications that torture is systematically practiced in the territory of the State Party."  This procedure is similar to that which allows members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women to initiate inquiries into situations of grave or systemic violations of women's rights in, under the Optional Protocol. 

Although there is no formal mechanism for individuals and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to participate in the monitoring process, the Committee relies on information submitted by NGOs.  NGOs may submit "shadow" or alternative country reports that elaborate on information contained in State party reports.  NGOs can also monitor many of the Committee's proceedings as observers. 

NGOs are not limited in the number of UN bodies to which they can submit shadow reports.  Thus, for the purposes of advocacy, NGOs can bring international attention to issues of violence against women through the monitoring of government obligations under any treaty that protects women's human rights.  Women's rights NGOs are using the mechanism of submitting shadow reports to the Committee Against Torture as a way to bring attention to the issue of violence against women.  For example, the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) is an international coalition of NGOs that addresses women's rights through its Women's Program.  The World Organization Against Torture works to ensure that the issue of gender-based violence, such as torture, domestic violence, rape, sexual abuse, trafficking and forced prostitution, is included within the purview of the UN human rights treaty bodies, including the Committee Against Torture, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Human Rights Committee.  Amnesty International USA, a human rights NGO, also conceptualizes domestic violence as the torture or ill-treatment of women occurring in the home.  Amnesty International's report, Broken Bodies, Shattered Minds, contains information about the problem of domestic violence worldwide. 

The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment also allows private individuals the right to make direct complaints to the Committee Against Torture in some instances.  Article 22 of the Convention allows State parties to recognize the competence of the Committee to review complaints that the particular State is not fulfilling its obligations under the Convention.  The State parties which allow individual complaints are listed on the UN website.  The Committee reviews individual complaints to determine admissibility before consideration of the merits.  Before making a decision, the Committee may request that the State party undertake provisional measures to protect the victim.  The Committee's conclusions are sent to the complainant and the State party concerned and are summarized in the Committee's annual report.