Race, Gender and Violence Against Women - Contribution submitted by the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women (Delivered at the 3rd Session of the Preparatory Committee for the U.N. World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia

This report discussed the ways in which gender-based discrimination intersects with discrimination based on other forms of "otherness", such as race, ethnicity, religion and economic status. The Special Rapporteur notes that prevailing conventions and laws have sometimes been narrowly interpreted to capture only discrimination or disempowerment that occurs along a single axis of power. Such narrow interpretations contravene the explicit scope of these conventions, laws and declarations that are intended to protect individuals from race and gender- based denial of rights. A specific example is provided in the form of the rights guaranteed by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which include instances of discrimination where gender intersects with other factors such as race.