HRC 60: Joint Statement to Item 3

Human Rights Council

60th regular session of the Human Rights Council

Item 3: General Debate

Thank you, Mr President. 

In an ever-evolving context, it is important to once again recognise that human rights norms and standards must advance, not regress, to meet current challenges and those to come.   

Feminist and women’s organizations, communities, human rights defenders, victims and survivors, those with direct experience of the issues at hand, have shaped efforts and achievements to advance equality and non-discrimination. 

Amidst attempts to roll back hard-won progress in gender equality and human rights, they inform, direct, and propose new approaches – all of which are vital to hold States accountable, challenge discriminatory power structures, and advance universal human rights for all women in their full diversity. 

For years, this work has strengthened and informed the work of Special Procedures to advance norms and key human rights standards to advance and protect the human rights of women, girls and persons with diverse SOGIESC. 

We welcome and deeply appreciate in this regard the recent statement[1] by 47 UN Special Procedures mandate holders which highlighted that legal and policy frameworks that fail to incorporate a gender perspective risk reinforcing, rather than dismantling, structural inequality, and that regressive approaches ignore the lived realities of women and girls, as well as gender-diverse persons, and obscure the root causes of discrimination and violence. 

Addressing complex, diverse and evolving human rights issues is a progressive and collaborative endeavour. We call on states to make a steadfast commitment to, and take tangible actions towards, gender equality and the realization of all human rights, ensuring accountability to rights-holders, and to create a safe and enabling environment which is necessary to do so.  

Thank you. 

Signatories:

• Amnesty International
• Center for Reproductive Rights
• COLAGE
• Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW)
• Just Futures Collaborative
• Global Health Justice Partnership of the Yale Law and Public Health Schools
• Global Justice Center
• ILGA World
• International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
• Outright International
• Sama, Feminist Resource Group on Gender & Health
• SekswerkExpertise
• Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI)
• SPW- ABIA, Brazil
• Woodhull Freedom Foundation