Agreed conclusions CSW57

Draft agreed conclusions submitted by the Chair of the Commission, Ms. Marjon V. Kamara (Liberia), on the basis of informal consultations

The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence
against women and girls

1. The Commission on the Status of Women reaffirms the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the outcome documents of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, and the declarations adopted by the Commission on the occasion of the tenth and fifteenth anniversaries of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

2. The Commission also reaffirms the international commitments made at relevant United Nations summits and conferences in the area of gender equality and the empowerment of women, including in the Programme of Action at the International Conference on Population and Development and the key actions for its further implementation.

3. The Commission reaffirms that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Optional Protocols thereto, as well as other relevant conventions and treaties, provide an international legal framework and a comprehensive set of measures for the elimination and prevention of all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, as a cross-cutting issue addressed in different international instruments.

4. The Commission recalls the rules of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977.

5. The Commission recalls the inclusion of gender-related crimes and crimes of sexual violence in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as the recognition by the ad hoc international criminal tribunals that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide or torture.

6. The Commission acknowledges also the important role in the prevention and elimination of discrimination and violence against women and girls played by regional conventions, instruments and initiatives and their follow-up mechanisms, in respective regions and countries.

7. The Commission reaffirms the commitment to the full and effective implementation of and follow-up to all relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, in particular the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies on the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls. It also reaffirms its previous agreed conclusions on violence against women (1998) and on elimination of discrimination and violence against the girl child (2007).

8. The Commission recalls Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000, 1820 (2008) of 19 June 2008, 1888 (2009) of 30 September 2009, 1889 (2009) of 5 October 2009 and 1960 (2010) of 16 December 2010 on women and peace and
security and all relevant Security Council resolutions on children and armed conflict,including resolutions 1882 (2009) of 4 August 2009 and 1998 (2011) of 12 July 2011 on armed conflict and post-conflict situations.

9. The Commission also recalls Human Rights Council resolutions 17/11 of 17 June 2011 on accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women: ensuring
due diligence in protection, 20/6 of 5 July 2012 on the elimination of discrimination against women and 20/12 of 5 July 2012 on accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women: remedies for women who have been subjected to violence.

10. The Commission affirms that violence against women and girls is rooted in historical and structural inequality in power relations between women and men, and persists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of the enjoyment of
human rights. Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that seriously violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women and girls of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Violence against women and girls is characterized by the use and abuse of power and control in public and private spheres, and is intrinsically linked with gender stereotypes that underlie and perpetuate such violence, as well as other factors that can increase women's and girls' vulnerability to such violence.

11. The Commission stresses that “violence against women” means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women and girls, including threats of such acts,
coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. The Commission also notes the economic and social harm caused by such violence.

12. The Commission strongly condemns all forms of violence against women and girls. It recognizes their different forms and manifestations, in different contexts, settings, circumstances and relationships, and that domestic violence remains the most prevalent form that affects women of all social strata across the world. It also notes that women and girls who face multiple forms of discrimination are exposed to increased risk of violence.

13. The Commission urges States to strongly condemn violence against women and girls committed in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, and recognizes that sexual and gender-based violence affects victims and survivors, families, communities and societies, and calls for effective measures of accountability and
redress as well as effective remedies.

14. The Commission urges States to strongly condemn all forms of violence against women and girls and to refrain from invoking any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination as set out in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.

15. The Commission recognizes that all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated and that the international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the
same emphasis, and stresses that, while the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it is the duty of States regardless of their political, economic and
cultural systems to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

16. The Commission stresses that all States have the obligation, at all levels, to use all appropriate means of a legislative, political, economic, social and administrative nature in order to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms
of women and girls, and must exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of violence against women and girls and end impunity, and to provide protection as well as access to appropriate remedies for
victims and survivors.

17. The Commission stresses that the right to education is a human right, and that eliminating illiteracy, ensuring equal access to education, in particular in rural and remote areas, and closing the gender gap at all levels of education empowers women and girls and thereby contributes to the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls.

18. The Commission reaffirms that women and men have the right to enjoy, on an equal basis, all their human rights and fundamental freedoms. It urges States to prevent all violations of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and
girls and to devote particular attention to abolishing practices and legislation that discriminate against women and girls, or perpetuate and condone violence against them.

19. The Commission stresses that the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of women, including women's economic empowerment and full and equal access to resources, and their full integration into the formal economy, in particular in economic decision-making, as well as their full and equal participation in public and political life is essential for addressing the structural and underlying causes of violence against women and girls.

20. The Commission also recognizes the persistence of obstacles that remain for the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, and
that the prevention and response to such violence requires States to act, at all levels, at each and every opportunity in a comprehensive and holistic manner that recognizes the linkages between violence against women and girls and other issues,
such as education, health, HIV and AIDS, poverty eradication, food security, peace and security, humanitarian assistance and crime prevention.

21. The Commission recognizes that women's poverty and lack of empowerment, as well as their marginalization resulting from their exclusion from social and economic policies and from the benefits of education and sustainable development can place them at increased risk of violence, and that violence against women impedes the social and economic development of communities and States, as well as the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the
Millennium Development Goals.

22. The Commission recognizes that violence against women has both short- and long-term adverse consequences on their health, including their sexual and reproductive health, and the enjoyment of their human rights, and that respecting
and promoting sexual and reproductive health, and protecting and fulfilling reproductive rights in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences, is a necessary condition to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women to enable them to enjoy all their human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to prevent and mitigate violence against women.

23. The Commission expresses deep concern about violence against women and girls in public spaces, including sexual harassment, especially when it is being used to intimidate women and girls who are exercising any of their human rights and
fundamental freedoms.

24. The Commission expresses concern about violent gender-related killings of women and girls, while recognizing efforts made to address this form of violence in different regions, including in countries where the concept of femicide or feminicide
has been incorporated in national legislation.

25. The Commission recognizes that illicit use of and illicit trade in small arms and light weapons aggravates violence, inter alia, against women and girls.

26. The Commission recognizes the vulnerability of older women and the particular risk of violence they face, and stresses the urgent need to address violence and discrimination against them, especially in the light of the growing proportion of older people in the world's population.

27. The Commission reaffirms that indigenous women often suffer multiple forms of discrimination and poverty which increase their vulnerability to all forms of violence; and stresses the need to seriously address violence against indigenous women and girls.

28. The Commission recognizes the important role of the community, in particular men and boys, as well as civil society, in particular women's and youth organizations, in the efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.

29. The Commission acknowledges the strategic and coordinating role of national machineries for the advancement of women, which should be placed at the highest possible level in government, for the elimination of discrimination and violence
against women and girls, and the need to endow these machineries with the necessary human and sufficient financial resources to enable them to function effectively. The Commission also acknowledges the contribution of national human
rights institutions where they exist.

30. The Commission recognizes the important role of the United Nations system, in particular of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), in addressing discrimination and violence against women and girls at the global, regional and national levels and in assisting
States, upon their request, in their efforts to eliminate and prevent all forms of violence against women and girls.

31. The Commission stresses the importance of data collection on the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls, and in that regard takes note of the work of the Statistical Commission towards a set of indicators on violence against women.

32. The Commission welcomes the progress made in addressing violence against women and girls such as the adoption of relevant laws and policies, the implementation of preventive measures, the establishment of protection and appropriate support services for victims and survivors and improvement in data collection, analysis and research. In this regard, the Commission welcomes the contributions and participation of governments at all levels, and all relevant stakeholders in efforts to address violence against women and girls in a holistic
manner.

33. The Commission recognizes that despite progress made, significant gaps and challenges remain in fulfilling commitments and bridging the implementation gap in addressing the scourge of violence against women and girls. The Commission is in
particular concerned about: insufficient gender-sensitive policies; inadequate implementation of legal and policy frameworks; inadequate collection of data, analysis and research; lack of financial and human resources and insufficient allocation of such resources; and that existing efforts are not always comprehensive, coordinated, consistent, sustained, transparent and adequately monitored and evaluated.

34. The Commission urges governments, at all levels, and as appropriate, with the relevant entities of the United Nations system, international and regional organizations, within their respective mandates and bearing in mind national priorities, and invites national human rights institutions where they exist, civil
society, including non-governmental organizations, the private sector, employer organizations, trade unions, media and other relevant actors, as applicable, to take the following actions:

A. Strengthening implementation of legal and policy frameworks and accountability

(a) Consider ratifying or acceding to, as a particular matter of priority, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and their respective Optional Protocols, limit the extent of any reservations, formulate any such reservations as precisely and as narrowly as possible to ensure that no reservations are incompatible with the object and purpose of the Conventions, review their reservations regularly with a
view to withdrawing them and withdraw reservations that are contrary to the object and purpose of the relevant treaty; and implement them fully by, inter alia, putting in place effective national legislation and policies, and encourages States parties in their reporting to relevant treaty bodies to include requested information on measures to address violence against women and girls;

(b) Encourage the use of all relevant sources of international law,
international guidelines and best practices regarding protection of victims and survivors to combat violence against women and girls;

(c) Adopt, as appropriate, review, and ensure the accelerated and effective implementation of laws and comprehensive measures that criminalize violence against women and girls, and that provide for multidisciplinary and gender-sensitive preventive and protective measures such as emergency barring orders and protection orders, the investigation, submission for prosecution and appropriate punishment of perpetrators to end impunity, support services that empower victims and survivors, as well as access to appropriate civil remedies and redress;

(d) Address and eliminate, as a matter of priority, domestic violence through adopting, strengthening and implementing legislation that prohibits such violence, prescribes punitive measures and establishes adequate legal protection against such
violence;

(e) Strengthen national legislation, where appropriate, to punish violent gender-related killings of women and girls and integrate specific mechanisms or policies to prevent, investigate and eradicate such deplorable forms of gender-based violence;

(f) Ensure women's and girls' unimpeded access to justice and to effective legal assistance so that they can make informed decisions regarding, inter alia, legal proceedings and issues relating to family law and criminal law, and also ensure that
they have access to just and effective remedies for the harm that they have suffered, including through the adoption of national legislation where necessary;

(g) Take the necessary legislative and/or other measures to prohibit compulsory and forced alternative dispute resolution processes, including forced mediation and conciliation, in relation to all forms of violence against women and girls;

(h) Review and where appropriate, revise, amend or abolish all laws, regulations, policies, practices and customs that discriminate against women or have a discriminatory impact on women, and ensure that the provisions of multiple legal
systems, where they exist, comply with international human rights obligations, commitments and principles, including the principle of non-discrimination;

(i) Mainstream a gender perspective into all legislation, policies and programmes and allocate adequate financial and human resources, including through the expanded use of gender-responsive planning and budgeting, taking into account
the needs and circumstances of women and girls, including victims and survivors of violence, for the development, adoption and full implementation of relevant laws, policies and programmes to address discrimination and violence against women and girls and for support to women's organizations;

(j) Increase the investment in gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, taking into account the diversity of needs and circumstances of women and girls including victims and survivors of violence, including through
mainstreaming a gender perspective in resource allocation and ensuring the necessary human, financial and material resources for specific targeted activities to ensure gender equality at the local, national, regional and international levels, as well through enhanced and increased international cooperation;

(k) Develop and implement effective multisectoral national policies, strategies and programmes, with the full and effective participation of women and girls, which include measures for prevention, protection and support services and responses; data collection, research, monitoring and evaluation; the establishment of coordination mechanisms; allocation of adequate financial and human resources; independent national monitoring and accountability mechanisms; and clear timelines
and national benchmarks for results to be achieved;

(l) Ensure that in armed conflict and post-conflict situations the prevention of and response to all forms of violence against women and girls, including sexual and gender-based violence, are prioritized and effectively addressed, including as
appropriate through the investigation, prosecution and punishment of perpetrators to end impunity, removal of barriers to women's access to justice, the establishment of complaint and reporting mechanisms, the provision of support to victims and
survivors, affordable and accessible health-care services, including sexual and reproductive health, and reintegration measures; and take steps to increase women's participation in conflict resolution and peacebuilding processes and post-conflict
decision-making;

(m) Ensure accountability for the killing, maiming and targeting of women and girls and crimes of sexual violence, as prohibited under international law, stressing the need for the exclusion of such crimes from amnesty provisions in the context of conflict resolution processes and address such acts in all stages of the
armed-conflict and post-conflict resolution process including through transitional justice mechanisms, while taking steps to ensure the full and effective participation of women in such processes;

(n) End impunity by ensuring accountability and punishing perpetrators of the most serious crimes against women and girls under national and international law, and stressing the need for the alleged perpetrators of those crimes to be held accountable under national justice or, where applicable, international justice;

(o) Take effective steps to ensure the equal participation of women and men in all spheres of political life, political reform and at all levels of decision-making, in all situations, and to contribute to the prevention and the elimination of discrimination and violence against women and girls;

(p) Underline commitments to strengthen national efforts, including with the support of international cooperation, aimed at addressing the rights and needs of women and girls affected by natural disasters, armed conflicts, other complex humanitarian emergencies, trafficking in persons and terrorism, within the context of actions geared to addressing and eliminating violence against women and girls and the realization of the internationally agreed goals and commitments related to gender equality and the empowerment of women, including the Millennium Development Goals. Also underline the need to take concerted actions in conformity with international law to remove the obstacles to the full realization of the rights of women and girls living under foreign occupation, so as to ensure the achievement of
the above-mentioned goals and commitments;

(q) Ensure that the specific needs of women and girls are incorporated into the planning, delivery and monitoring of, and infrastructure for disaster riskreduction programmes and protocols and humanitarian assistance to address natural
disasters, including those induced by climate change such as extreme weather events and slow onset impacts, with their full participation, and that in disaster preparedness efforts and in post-disaster settings, the prevention and response to all
forms of violence against women and girls, including sexual violence, are prioritized and adequately addressed;

(r) Address violence against women and girls resulting from transnational organized crime, including trafficking in persons and drug trafficking, and adopt specific policies to prevent and eradicate violence against women in crime prevention strategies;

(s) Strengthen bilateral, regional and international cooperation, by
consolidating existing mechanisms and developing new initiatives consistent with the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and its supplementary Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children, and by implementing the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons;

(t) Take appropriate measures to address the root factors, including external factors, that contribute to trafficking in women and girls. Prevent, combat and eliminate trafficking in women and girls by criminalizing all forms of trafficking in persons, in particular for the purpose of sexual and economic exploitation, as well as by strengthening existing civil and criminal legislation with a view to providing better protection of the rights of women and girls and by bringing to justice and punishing the offenders and intermediaries involved, including public officials, by
protecting the rights of trafficked persons and preventing revictimization. Take appropriate measures to ensure that identified victims of trafficking in persons are not penalized for having been trafficked. Provide identified victims of trafficking
appropriate protection and care, such as rehabilitation and reintegration in society, witness protection, job training, legal assistance, confidential health care, and repatriation with the informed consent of the trafficked person, regardless of their
participation in any legal proceeding. Accelerate public awareness, education and training to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation;

(u) Strengthen international cooperation, including through the fulfilment of international official development assistance commitments, that support multisectoral policies, strategies, programmes and best practices, in accordance with national
priorities aimed at achieving sustainable development and the realization of the empowerment of women, particularly towards ending violence against women and girls and promoting gender equality;

(v) Encourage private sector investment in programmes, campaigns and strategies to respond to, prevent and eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, including sexual harassment at the workplace, and to empower victims and survivors of violence;

(w) Adopt and fund policy reforms and programmes, and support education, to sensitize, train and strengthen the capacity of public officials and professionals, including the judiciary, police and military, as well as those working in the areas of education, health, social welfare, justice, defence and immigration; hold public officials accountable for not complying with laws and regulations relating to violence against women and girls, in order to prevent and respond to such violence in a gender-sensitive manner, end impunity, and avoid the abuse of power leading to
violence against women and the revictimization of victims and survivors;

(x) Prevent, investigate and punish acts of violence against women and girls that are perpetrated by people in positions of authority, such as teachers, religious leaders, political leaders and law enforcement officials, in order to end impunity for
these crimes;

(y) Create and enhance a supportive environment for increased consultation and participation among all relevant stakeholders in efforts to address violence against women and girls, especially organizations working at the community level to promote the empowerment of women and girls, as well as victims and survivors so they can become agents of change and their knowledge and experience can contribute to the elaboration of policies and programmes;

(z) Support and protect those who are committed to eliminating violence against women, including women human rights defenders in this regard, who face particular risks of violence;

(aa) Take appropriate measures to ensure the human rights of and protect women and girls deprived of their liberty and/or under State custody or State care from all forms of violence, in particular sexual abuse;

(bb) Adopt a life-cycle approach in efforts to end discrimination and violence against women and girls and ensure that specific issues affecting older women are given greater visibility and attention, are addressed through the fulfilment of obligations under relevant international conventions and agreements and included in national policies and programmes to prevent and eliminate violence against women;

B. Addressing structural and underlying causes and risk factors so as to prevent violence against women and girls

(cc) Accelerate efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls and ensure their equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to education and to the highest attainable
standard of physical and mental health; ensure that all children, particularly girls, have equal access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality, and renew their efforts to improve and expand girls' education at all levels,
including the secondary and higher levels, in all academic areas; and increase girls' ability to attend school and extracurricular activities by investing in public infrastructure projects and accessible quality public services and providing a safe
environment;

(dd) Promote women's full participation in the formal economy, in particular in economic decision-making, and their equal access to full employment and decent work; empower women in the informal sector; and ensure that women and men enjoy equal treatment in the workplace, as well as equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, and equal access to power and decision-making, and promote sharing of paid and unpaid work;

(ee) Accelerate efforts to develop, review and strengthen policies, and allocate adequate financial and human resources, to address the structural and underlying causes of violence against women and girls, including gender discrimination, inequality, unequal power relations between women and men, gender stereotypes, poverty as well as their lack of empowerment, in particular in the context of the economic and financial crisis; and accelerate efforts to eradicate poverty and persistent legal, social, and economic inequalities, including by
strengthening women's and girls' economic participation, empowerment and inclusion, in order to decrease their risk of violence;

(ff) States are strongly urged to refrain from promulgating and applying any unilateral economic, financial or trade measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that impede the full achievement of economic and social development, particularly in developing countries;

(gg) Take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social, educational and other measures to protect and promote the rights of women and girls with disabilities as they are more vulnerable to all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, including in the workplace, educational institutions, the home, and other
settings;

(hh) Undertake legislative, administrative, financial and other measures to give women full and equal access to economic resources, including the right to inheritance and to ownership of land and other property, credit, natural resources and appropriate technologies, inter alia, by means of international cooperation; prioritize and intensify initiatives towards the economic empowerment of women at the grass-roots level, including through entrepreneurship education and business incubators, as a way of uplifting their status, thereby reducing their vulnerability to violence;

(ii) Refrain from using social justifications for denying women their freedom of movement, the right to own property and the right to equal protection of the law;

(jj) Design and implement national policies that aim at transforming those social norms that condone violence against women and girls, and work to counteract attitudes by which women and girls are regarded as subordinate to men and boys or
as having stereotyped roles that perpetuate practices involving violence or coercion;

(kk) Develop and implement educational programmes and teaching materials, including comprehensive evidence-based education for human sexuality, based on full and accurate information, for all adolescents and youth, in a manner consistent
with their evolving capacities, with the appropriate direction and guidance from parents and legal guardians, with the involvement of children, adolescents, youth and communities, and in coordination with women's, youth and specialized non-governmental organizations, in order to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women of all ages, to eliminate prejudices, and to promote and build informed decision-making, communication and risk reduction skills for the development of respectful relationships and based on gender equality and human rights, as well as teacher education and training programmes for both formal and non-formal education;

(ll) Carry out awareness-raising and education campaigns, in cooperation with civil society organizations, especially women's organizations, through different means of communication, targeting the general public, young people, men and boys,
to address the structural and underlying causes of violence and abuse against women and girls; to overcome gender stereotypes and promote zero tolerance for such violence; to remove the stigma of being a victim and survivor of violence; and to create an enabling environment where women and girls can easily report incidences of violence and make use of the services available and of protection and assistance programmes;

(mm) Mobilize communities and institutions to address and change attitudes, behaviours and practices that perpetuate and condone gender stereotypes and all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, by engaging with women's and youth organizations, national machineries for the advancement of
women, national human rights institutions where they exist, schools, educational and media institutions and others directly working with women and girls, men and boys and with individuals at all levels of society and in all settings, religious and community leaders and elders, teachers and parents;

(nn) Promote and protect the human rights of all women including their right to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health, free of coercion, discrimination and violence; and adopt and accelerate the implementation of laws, policies and programmes which protect and enable the enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including their reproductive rights in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Beijing Platform for Action and their review outcomes;

(oo) Develop and implement gender-sensitive policies, strategies, programmes and measures which promote greater understanding and recognition that caregiving is a critical societal function and encourage the equal sharing of responsibilities and chores between men and women in caregiving, including for persons with disabilities, older persons and people living with HIV, as well as for child-rearing,
parenting and domestic work; and also work to change attitudes that reinforce the division of labour based on gender, in order to promote shared family responsibility for work in the home and reduce the domestic work burden for women and girls;

(pp) Engage, educate, encourage and support men and boys to take responsibility for their behaviour, to ensure that men and adolescent boys take responsibility for their sexual and reproductive behaviour, and to refrain from all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls; develop, invest in, and implement policies, strategies and programmes, including comprehensive education programmes to increase their understanding of the harmful effects of violence and how it undermines gender equality and human dignity, promote respectful relationships, provide positive role models for gender equality and to encourage men and boys to take an active part and become strategic partners and allies in the prevention and elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls;

(qq) Review, enact and strictly enforce laws and regulations concerning the minimum legal age of consent and the minimum age for marriage, raising the minimum age for marriage where necessary, and generate social support for the enforcement of these laws in order to end the practice of child, early and forced
marriage;

(rr) Ensure the provision of viable alternatives and institutional support, including for girls who are already married and/or pregnant, especially educational opportunities with an emphasis on keeping girls in school through post-primary education and promoting the empowerment of girls through improving educational quality and ensuring safe and hygienic conditions in schools, physical access to education, including by establishing safe residential facilities and childcare, and increasing financial incentives to women and their families where necessary;

(ss) Ensure the access of adolescents to services and programmes on preventing early pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and HIV, ensuring personal safety, and preventing the use and abuse of alcohol and other harmful substances;

(tt) Develop policies and programmes, giving priority to formal and informal education programmes that support girls and enable them to acquire knowledge, develop self-esteem and take responsibility for their own lives, including access to a sustainable livelihood; and place special focus on programmes to educate women and men, especially parents and caregivers, on the importance of girls' physical and mental health and well-being, including the elimination of child, early and forced
marriage, violence against women and girls, female genital mutilation, child sexual exploitation, including commercial sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, rape, incest and abduction, and the elimination of discrimination against girls such as in food allocation;

(uu) Develop and support existing policies and programmes targeting children and young people, especially women, who have experienced or witnessed domestic violence or sexual abuse, including protection for children in the justice system, so
as to reduce the risk of their possible revictimization or perpetration of violence and restore their health; and implement such programmes in a gender-responsive manner
with the meaningful participation of young people, civil society and women's and youth organizations, and educational and health institutions;

(vv) Recognize the important role the media can play in the elimination of gender stereotypes, including those perpetuated by commercial advertisements, and in promoting non-discriminatory and gender-sensitive reporting, including by preserving the confidentiality of the identity of victims and survivors where
appropriate; and, to the extent consistent with freedom of expression, encourage the media to improve public awareness on violence against women and girls, to train those who work in the media, and to develop and strengthen self-regulatory
mechanisms to promote balanced and non-stereotypical portrayals of women with a view to eliminating discrimination against and the exploitation of women and girls and refraining from presenting them as inferior beings and exploiting them as sexual objects and commodities and instead present women and girls as creative human beings, key actors and contributors to and beneficiaries of the process of development;

(ww) Support the development and use of information and communication technologies and social media as a resource for the empowerment of women and girls, including access to information on the prevention of and response to violence
against women and girls; and develop mechanisms to combat the use of information and communication technologies and social media to perpetrate violence against women and girls, including the criminal misuse of information and communication
technologies for sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, child pornography and trafficking in women and girls, and emerging forms of violence, such as cyberstalking, cyberbullying and privacy violations that compromise women's and girls' safety;

(xx) Improve the safety of girls at and on the way to and from school, including by establishing a safe and violence free environment by improving infrastructure such as transportation, providing separate and adequate sanitation facilities, improved lighting, playgrounds and safe environments; adopting national
policies to prohibit, prevent and address violence against children, especially girls, including sexual harassment and bullying and other forms of violence, through measures such as conducting violence prevention activities in schools and communities, and establishing and enforcing penalties for violence against girls;

(yy) Take measures to ensure that all workplaces are free from discrimination and exploitation, violence, and sexual harassment and bullying, and that they address discrimination and violence against women and girls, as appropriate, through measures such as regulatory and oversight frameworks and reforms, collective agreements, codes of conduct, including appropriate disciplinary
measures, protocols and procedures, referral of cases of violence to health services for treatment and police for investigation; as well as through awareness-raising and
capacity-building, in collaboration with employers, unions and workers, including workplace services and flexibility for victims and survivors;

(zz) Increase measures to protect women and girls from violence and harassment, including sexual harassment and bullying, in both public and private spaces, to address security and safety, through awareness-raising, involvement of local communities, crime prevention laws, policies, programmes such as the “Safe
Cities for Women and Children” initiative, improved urban planning, infrastructures, public transport and street lighting, and also through social and interactive media;

(aaa) Condemn and take action to prevent violence against women and girls in health-care settings, including sexual harassment, humiliation and forced medical procedures, or those conducted without informed consent, and which may be irreversible, such as forced hysterectomy, forced caesarean section, forced sterilization, forced abortion, and forced use of contraceptives, especially for particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged women and girls, such as those living
with HIV, women and girls with disabilities, indigenous and Afro descendent women and girls, pregnant adolescents and young mothers, older women, and women and girls from national or ethnic minorities;

(bbb) Further adopt and implement measures to ensure social and legal inclusion and protection of women migrants, including women migrant workers in origin, transit and destination countries, and promote and protect the full realization of their human rights, and their protection against violence and exploitation; implement gender-sensitive policies and programmes for women migrant workers and provide safe and legal channels that recognize their skills and education,
provide fair labour conditions, and as appropriate facilitate their productive employment and decent work as well as integration into the labour force;

(ccc) Also take measures to ensure the protection of self-employed workers in cross-border work and women seasonal workers from violence

C. Strengthening multisectoral services, programmes and responses to violence against women and girls

(ddd) Establish comprehensive, coordinated, interdisciplinary, accessible and sustained multisectoral services, programmes and responses at all levels, and with the support of all available technologies, for all victims and survivors of all forms of
violence against women and girls based on their needs, that are adequately resourced and include effective and coordinated action by, as appropriate, police and the justice sector, legal aid services, health-care services, including sexual and reproductive health, and medical, psychological and other counselling services, including specialist services as appropriate, State and independent women's shelters and counselling centres, 24-hour hotlines, social aid services, one stop crisis centres, immigration services, child services, public housing services to provide low threshold, easy to reach and safe assistance for women and children, as well as
assistance, protection and support through access to long-term accommodation, educational, employment and economic opportunities, and take steps to ensure the safety and security of health-care workers and service providers that assist and
support victims and survivors of violence, and in cases of girl child victims, such services and responses must take into account the best interests of the child;

(eee) Further take measures to coordinate services through the establishment of processes for referral between services of victims and survivors while ensuring their confidentiality and safety, establish national benchmarks and timelines, and
monitor their progress and implementation; as well as ensure access to coordinated multisectoral services, programmes and responses for all women and girls at risk of or subjected to violence;

(fff) Ensure the availability and accessibility for victims and survivors and their children to services, programmes and opportunities, for their full recovery and reintegration into society, as well as full access to justice, including those subjected
to domestic violence and other forms of violence, by putting in place measures, and where these exist, expanding such measures; and ensure the provision of adequate and timely information on available support services and legal measures, when possible in a language that they understand and in which they can communicate;

(ggg) Create, develop and implement a set of policies, and support the establishment of rehabilitative services, to encourage and bring changes in the attitudes and behaviours of perpetrators of violence against women and girls, and to reduce the likelihood of reoffending, including in cases of domestic violence, rape
and harassment, as well as monitor and assess their impact and effect;

(hhh) Improve access to timely, affordable and quality health systems for women and girls, including through gender-sensitive national strategies and public health policies and programmes that are comprehensive, affordable and better targeted to addressing their needs and that encourage women's active participation in their design and implementation; and also enhance women's access to affordable, safe, effective and good-quality treatment and medicines, with a special emphasis on
the poor, vulnerable and marginalized segments of the population;

(iii) Address all health consequences, including the physical, mental and sexual and reproductive health consequences, of violence against women and girls by providing accessible health-care services that are responsive to trauma and include affordable, safe, effective and good-quality medicines, first line support, treatment of injuries and psychosocial and mental health support, emergency contraception, safe abortion where such services are permitted by national law, post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV infection, diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, training for medical professionals to effectively identify and treat women subjected to violence, as well as forensic examinations by appropriately trained professionals;

(jjj) Accelerate efforts to address the intersection of HIV and AIDS and violence against all women and girls, in particular the common risk factors, including through strategies to address domestic and sexual violence, and to strengthen coordination and integration of policies, programmes and services to address the intersection between HIV and violence against women and girls, and ensure that responses to HIV and AIDS are leveraged to prevent violence against them, while meeting their specific needs for sexual and reproductive health-care services, as well as HIV and AIDS diagnosis, affordable and accessible treatment
and prevention, including procurement and supply of safe and effective prevention commodities, including male and female condoms;

(kkk) Eliminate discrimination and violence against women and girls living with HIV as well as the caregivers of persons living with HIV and take into account their vulnerability to stigma, discrimination, poverty and marginalization from their families and communities when implementing programmes and measures which encourage the equal sharing of caring responsibilities;

(lll) Expand the availability of health-care services, and in particular, strengthen maternal and reproductive health centres, as key entry points that provide support, referrals to services and protection to families, women and girls at risk of violence, especially sexual violence, and which provide support to adolescents in order to avoid early and unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, through education, information and access to sexual and reproductive health-care
services;

D. Improving the evidence base

(mmm) Carry out continued multidisciplinary research and analysis on the structural and underlying causes of, cost and risk factors for violence against women and girls and its types and prevalence, in order to inform the development and revision of laws and their implementation, policies and strategies, and make such information public to support awareness-raising efforts;

(nnn) Collect, collate, analyse and disseminate reliable, comparable and anonymized data and statistics on a regular basis, disaggregated by sex and age, at the national and local levels on different forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, including the health costs and economic costs to society of such discrimination and violence, and also consider all other relevant factors, such as accessibility, to inform the formulation, monitoring and evaluation of laws, policies and programmes;

(ooo) Improve the collection, harmonization and use of administrative data, including, where appropriate, from the police, health sector and the judiciary, on incidents of violence against women and girls, including data on the relationship between the perpetrator and victim and geographic location, ensuring that confidentiality, ethical and safety considerations are taken into account in the process of data collection, and improving the effectiveness of the services and programmes provided and protecting the safety and security of the victim;

(ppp) Develop national monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess policies and programmes, including preventive and response strategies to address violence against women and girls in both public and private spheres;

(qqq) Promote the sharing of best practices and experiences, as well as feasible, practical and successful policy and programme interventions; as well as promote the application of these successful interventions and experiences in other settings.

35. The Commission emphasizes that ending violence against women and girls is imperative, including for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and must be a priority for the
eradication of poverty, the achievement of inclusive sustainable development, peace and security, human rights, health, gender equality and empowerment of women, sustainable and inclusive economic growth and social cohesion, and vice versa. The
Commission strongly recommends that the realization of gender equality and empowerment of women be considered as a priority in the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda.