CEDAW/C/GC/35
deterioration of the rule of law, all of those factors contribute to the pervasiveness
of gender-based violence against women and lead to a culture of impunity.
II. Scope
8.
The present general recommendation complements and updates the guidance
to States parties set out in general recommendation No. 19 and should be read in
conjunction with it.
9.
The concept of “violence against women”, as defined in general
recommendation No. 19 and other international instruments and documents, has
places an emphasis on the fact that such violence is gender-based. Accordingly, in
the present recommendation, the term “gender-based violence against women” is
used as a more precise term that makes explicit the gendered causes and impacts of
the violence. The term further strengthens the understanding of the violence as a
social rather than an individual problem, requiring comprehensive responses,
beyond those to specific events, individual perpetrators and victims/survivors.
10. The Committee considers that gender-based violence against women is one of
the fundamental social, political and economic means by which the subordinate
position of women with respect to men and their stereotyped roles are perpetuated.
Throughout its work, the Committee has made clear that such violence is a cri tical
obstacle to the achievement of substantive equality between women and men and to
the enjoyment by women of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, as
enshrined in the Convention.
11. In general recommendation No. 28 (2010) on the core obligation s of States
parties under article 2 of the Convention, it is indicated that the obligations of States
are to respect, protect and fulfil women’s rights to non -discrimination and the
enjoyment of de jure and de facto equality. 10 The scope of those obligations in
relation to gender-based violence against women occurring in particular contexts is
addressed in general recommendation No. 28 and other general recommendations,
including general recommendation No. 26 (2008) on women migrant workers;
general recommendation No. 27 (2010) on older women and the protection of their
human rights; general recommendation No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict
prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations; joint general recommendation
No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child
(2014) on harmful practices; general recommendation No. 32 (2014) on the gender related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessnes s of
women; general recommendation No. 33 (2015) on women’s access to justice; and
general recommendation No. 34 (2016) on the rights of rural women. Further details
on the relevant elements of the general recommendations referred to herein may be
found in those recommendations.
12. In general recommendation No. 28 and general recommendation No. 33, the
Committee confirmed that discrimination against women was inextricably linked to
other factors that affected their lives. The Committee, in its jurisprudenc e, has
highlighted the fact that such factors include women’s ethnicity/race, indigenous or
minority status, colour, socioeconomic status and/or caste, language, religion or
belief, political opinion, national origin, marital status, maternity, parental st atus,
age, urban or rural location, health status, disability, property ownership, being
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10
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General recommendation No. 28, para. 9. Other human rights treaty bodies also use that
typology, including the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in its general
comment No. 12 (1999) on the right to adequate food.
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