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Women's Rights Organisation
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Kivulini Strategic Direction, Message from Board of Directors Kivulini Approach to Preventing Domestic Violence Violence Against Women Situation Brief: International Women's Day
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International, and Regional PerspectivesThere are a number of international instruments that address Violence Against Women. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW) states that Violence Against Women is a “manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women…” The declaration highlights that violence against women takes place everywhere; in the home, in the family, by the state and in the public sphere. It also states that everyone has a role and responsibility in eradicating violence against women. The UN General Assembly through the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) went further on this declaration by appointing a special rapporteur on Violence Against Women , its causes and consequences. This institutional mechanism gave way for in-depth review and reporting by countries on the status of Violence Against Women. The Beijing Platform for Action consolidated all of these gains by declaring that Violence Against Women has an impact on all aspects of development, equality and peace and is a violation of women’s fundamental rights and freedoms. Recognising violence against women as a rights issue shifts the focus to state accountability and responsibility to prevent and take action to end violence against women. The African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women also has a number of clauses on violence against women. The most relevant one to the work of Kivulini is Article 4, which joins state parties to enact and enforce laws that prohibit all forms of violence against women whether it takes place in private or public.
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