2nd November 2022

Russia – Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child – 94th Session, October 2022

Our joint submission details concerns with regard to laws related to sexual violence and procedures and practices which effectively deny access to justice for girls survivors of sexual violence. Specifically, Russia’s legal and criminal justice system provides a number of opportunities for perpetrators to escape criminal liability or punishment, namely through the way sexual violence crimes are defined and through the way sexual violence crimes are investigated and prosecuted.

Key recommendations

This submission covers issues particularly relevant to Article 19 (protection from all forms of violence and sexual abuse); Article 24 (right to health and protection from harmful practices); and Article 34 (protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Committee’s General Comments No. 13 (2011) ‘The right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence; and 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 (2019) on harmful practices.

Explore more resources

1

2

3

Equality Now joins coalition submission to the ECtHR on proposed amendments to Rules 36 and 44 of the Rules of Court

Equality Now joined partners in urging the ECtHR not to adopt draft rule changes that could weaken protection for applicants in situations of vulnerability.

Backlash on addressing inequality in Georgia: Submission to GREVIO for the first  round of thematic evaluation, 6 February 2026

Equality Now’s GREVIO submission on Georgia highlights backsliding on gender equality, shrinking space for human rights NGOs and remaining gaps in sexual violence response: non-consent-based rape laws, insufficient services for survivors and retraumatising practices.

Joint Eastern and Southern Africa Civil Society Forum Declaration Communiqué to End Child Marriage

Equality Now, together with civil society organisations from across Eastern and Southern Africa, issued a joint declaration on International Human Rights Day, reaffirming child marriage as a human rights violation and calling for coordinated, rights-based action to translate laws and commitments into protection, justice, and dignity for girls across the region.

Newsletter Sign-up

Make a donation

I want to donate