30 May 1991

12th plenary meeting

Violence against women in all its forms

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, in which it was stated that violence against women was a major obstacle to the achievement of the objectives of the United Nations Decade for Women:

Equality, Development and Peace,

Bearing in mind the recommendations and conclusions arising from the first review and appraisal of the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies, contained in the annex to its resolution 1990/15 of 24 May 1990, in particular the conclusion that violence against women in the family and society was pervasive and crossed lines of income, class and culture, and specifically recommendation XXII, which called for immediate action on the part of Governments, relevant agencies, women's organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to address the issue of violence against women,

Noting its resolution 1988/27 of 26 May 1988, in which it called for the continuation of the consolidation of efforts to eradicate violence against women within the family and society,

Noting also the relevant recommendations of the Sixth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders and of the Eighth Congress and the relevant observations of the Seventh Congress,

Bearing in mind the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, adopted by the General Assembly in resolution 34/180 of 18 December 1979, which guarantees the right of women to equal status with men,

Noting that, in its general recommendation No. 12, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommended that States parties include in their periodic reports to the Committee information on measures undertaken to protect women against the incidence of all kinds of violence in everyday life occurring within the family, at the workplace or in any other area of social life, and that the Committee had decided at its tenth session to undertake at its eleventh session a study of violence against women,

Noting, however, that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women does not explicitly address violence against women,

1. Calls upon Member States to recognize that violence against women must be countered by a wide variety of measures;

2. Reminds Member States that violence against women is an issue of equal rights that derives from a power imbalance between women and men in society;

3. Urges Member States to adopt, strengthen and enforce legislation prohibiting violence against women;

4. Also urges Member States to take all appropriate administrative, social and educational measures to protect women from all forms of physical or mental violence;

5. Recommends that a framework for an international instrument be developed in consultation with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women that would address explicitly the issue of violence against women;

6. Requests the Secretary-General, through the Division for the Advancement of Women of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat, to convene in 1991 or 1992 a meeting, to be funded from extrabudgetary resources, of experts representing all regions and including representatives of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control, to address the issue of violence against women and to discuss the possibilities of preparing such an international instrument and the elements to be contained therein, and to report to the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-sixth session;

7. Urges Governments at all levels to develop training programmes for members of the criminal justice system and health-care system, including police officers, doctors, nurses, social workers and members of the legal profession, to ensure sensitization to and fair administration of justice with respect to equality issues;

8. Requests Governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, other relevant bodies and academics, to undertake research into the causes of violence against women.