UN Resolutions on Violence Against Women
last updated May 2013
 
Violence against women has also been addressed in numerous resolutions by both the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly. Although such resolutions do not have binding legal authority, they do set forth international standards and best practices. As the United Nations has stated, “While the Assembly is empowered to make only non-binding recommendations to States on international issues within its competence, it has, nonetheless, initiated actions—political, economic, humanitarian, social and legal—which have affected the lives of millions of people throughout the world.”[1]
 
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women
One of the most important resolutions on violence against women is the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women(DEVAW).[2] Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993, DEVAW establishes the most comprehensive set of standards in international law for the protection of women against sexual and gender-based violence. DEVAW recognizes violence against women as “an obstacle to the achievement of equality” and a “manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women,” as well as a violation of fundamental freedoms including the prohibition against torture.[3] The Declaration defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.”[4] This includes, but is not limited to, “[p]hysical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family.”[5] The Declaration not only declares that State actors should refrain from engaging in violence against women, but also asserts that States should take affirmative measures to prevent and punish violence committed by public and private actors alike and establish support networks to care for victims of gender-based violence.[6]
 
Resolution 18/147
In 2004, the UN General Assembly also specifically addressed domestic violence in Resolution 58/147, entitled “Elimination of domestic violence against women.”[7] In this important resolution, the General Assembly, recognizing that domestic violence is a human rights issue with serious immediate and long-term implications, strongly condemned all forms of domestic violence against women and girls and called for an elimination of violence in the family.[8] The resolution also recognized:
 
(a) That domestic violence is violence that occurs within the private sphere, generally between individuals who are related through blood or intimacy;
 
(b) That domestic violence is one of the most common and least visible forms of violence against women and that its consequences affect many areas of the lives of victims;
 
(c) That domestic violence can take many different forms, including physical, psychological and sexual violence;
 
(d) That domestic violence is of public concern and requires States to take serious action to protect victims and prevent domestic violence; [and]
 
(e) That domestic violence can include economic deprivation and isolation and that such conduct may cause imminent harm to the safety, health or well-being of women.[9]
 
The General Assembly also included in the resolution dozens of specific actions that States should take to eliminate domestic violence, including strengthening legislation, providing training to public officers, improving police response, and creating educational campaigns.[10]
 
Additional Resolutions
In addition to these major resolutions, the subject of violence against women has also been addressed in several other resolutions, including a series of resolutions on the “Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women” (see Resolutions 64/137 (2009),[11] 63/155 (2008),[12] 62/133 (2007)[13] and 61/143 (2006)[14]), a series of resolutions on “Elimination of all forms of violence, including crimes against women” (see Resolutions 59/167 (2004),[15] 57/181 (2002),[16] and 55/68 (2000)[17]), and a series on “In-depth study of all forms of violence against women (see Resolutions 60/136 (2005)[18] and 58/185 (2003)[19] ). Many of these resolutions resulted in in-depth reports to the Secretary-General. A complete list of General Assembly resolutions and accompanying reports on violence women can be found on the UN Women website.[20] The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) has also passed several resolutions on eliminating discrimination and violence against women, including Resolutions 14/12 (2010),[21] 15/23 (2010),[22] 12/17 (2009),[23] 11/2 (2009),[24] 7/24 (2008),[25] and many others. A complete list of HRC resolutions and accompanying reports can be found on the UN Women website.[26]

[1] “Functions and Powers of the General Assembly,” United Nations, http://www.un.org/en/ga/about/background.shtml.
[2] Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, G.A. res. 48/104, 48 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 217, U.N. Doc. A/48/49 (1993), available at http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/%28Symbol%29/A.RES.48.104.En?Opendocument.
[3] Id. at pmbl.
[4] Id. at Art. 1.
[5] Id. at Art. 2.
[6] Id. at Art. 4.
[7] “Elimination of domestic violence against women,” GA Res. 58/147, UN Doc. A/RES/58/147 (Feb. 19, 2004), available athttp://www.undemocracy.com/A-RES-58-147.pdf.
[8] Id. at pmbl.
[9] Id. at 1.
[10] Id. at 7.
[11] “Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women,” G.A. Res. 64/137, UN Doc. A/RES/64/137 (Feb. 11, 2010), available at http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/RES/64/137.
[12] “Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women,” G.A. Res. 63/155, UN Doc. A/RES/63/155 (Jan. 301, 2009), available at http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/RES/63/155.
[13] “Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women,” G.A. Res. 62/133, UN Doc. A/RES/62/133 (Feb. 7, 2008), available at http://www.un.org/en/ga/62/resolutions.shtml.
[14] “Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women,” G.A. Res. 61/143, UN Doc. A/RES/61/143 (Jan. 30, 2007), available at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/A_RES_61_143.pdf.
[15] “Elimination of all forms of violence against women, including crimes identified in the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender, equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century” G.A. Res. 59/167, UN Doc. A/RES/59/167 (Feb. 22, 2005), available at http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/r59.htm.
[16] “Elimination of all forms of violence against women, including crimes identified in the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender, equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century” G.A. Res. 57/181, UN Doc. A/RES/57/181 (Feb. 4, 2003), available at http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/r57.htm.
[17] “Elimination of all forms of violence against women, including crimes identified in the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender, equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century” G.A. Res. 55/68, UN Doc. A/RES/55/68 (Jan. 31, 2001), available at http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/r55.htm.
[18] “In-depth study on all forms of violence against women,” G.A. Res. 60/136, UN Doc. A/RES/60/136 (Feb. 2, 2006), available at http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNGARsn/2005/196.pdf.
[19] “In-depth study on all forms of violence against women,” G.A. Res. 58/185, UN Doc. A/RES/58/185 (Mar. 18, 2004), available at http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/RES/58/185.
[20] “Work of the General Assembly on violence against women,” UN Women, http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/v-work-ga.htm.
[21] “Accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women: ensuring due diligence in prevention,” Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/14/12 (June 30, 2010) available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4c2b155f2.pdf.
[22] “Elimination of discrimination against women,” Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/15/23 (Oct. 8, 2010), available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/15session/A.HRC.RES.15.23_En.pdf.
[23] “Elimination of discrimination against women,” Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/12/17 (Oct. 12, 2009), available athttp://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/humanrights/A_HRC_RES_12_17.pdf.
[24] “Accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women,” Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/11/2 (June 17, 2009), available at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/humanrights/A_HRC_RES_11_2.pdf.
[25] “Elimination of violence against women,” Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/7/24, available athttp://ap.ohchr.org/documents/E/HRC/resolutions/A_HRC_RES_7_24.pdf.
[26] “Work of the Human Rights Council (2006-present) and the Commission on Human Rights (until 2006),” UN Women,http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/v-hrc.htm.