On 27 May 2020, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (UN SR VAW), Ms. Dubravka Šimonović and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), in collaboration with Equality Now, co-organized a virtual Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on rape as a grave and systematic human rights violation and gender-based violence against women.
More than 30 experts participated in the meeting, including academics, gender equality and women’s rights activists, practitioners, UN and independent mechanisms experts, and civil society organizations from around the world.
Read the full report from the EGM, including information on the evolution of the international human rights framework on rape, international standards regarding its definition and prosecution, the challenges and gaps in criminal legislation worldwide on rape, and the implementation of that legislation.
The concept note and some of the presentations made are also available on the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women’s website.
The deadline for submissions in response to the Special Rapporteur’s questionnaire on the criminalization and prosecution of rape has been extended until 31 December 2020. Contact the Special Rapporteur on VAW via email with any specific questions on the process.