Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences - Cultural Practices in the Family That are Violent Towards Women (Delivered at the 55th Session of the Commission on Human Rights)

This report focused on States' compliance with their international obligations with respect to domestic violence, specifically in the context of family situations, and refers to the 1996 report of the Special Rapporteur (E/CN4/1996/53), where the Special Rapporteur adopted an expansive definition of violence in the family to include violence that targets women because of their role in the domestic sphere or violence that targeted directly or indirectly at women within the family context. The Special Rapporteur cites General Recommendation 19 under CEDAW to demonstrate that international standards clearly prohibit VAW in the family. She notes there are three doctrines that were put forward by experts in international law in an attempt to deal with the issue of VAW by private actors: 1) States have a due diligence duty to prevent, investigate and punish international law violations and pay just compensation; 2) If it can be shown that law enforcement discriminates against the victims in cases involving VAW, then states may be held liable for violating international human rights standards of equality; 3) Domestic violence is a form of torture and should be dealt with accordingly. In this report, the Special Rapporteur emphasized that the principle of due diligence is gaining international recognition, especially in light of the inclusion of due diligence obligations for States under Article 4 of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and General Recommendation 19 of CEDAW.