Statement of Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mr. President,

Excellencies,

Distinguished delegates

Distinguished panellists,

For decades, women and girls at the helms of our public institutions have spearheaded transformative change.

From demanding sexual and reproductive health and rights, to stopping violence against women and girls. From the battle against climate change, to access to education, to equal pay for work of equal value.

While immense strides have been made in women’s public and political participation, major barriers persist.

If we want to dismantle the patriarchy, we need to dismantle these barriers.

In public and political life around the world, many women and girl human rights defenders, women journalists and women who run for or hold public office and political decision-making positions are attacked viciously and often suffer gender-based violence.

Such acts are deliberate, directed at those seen as challenging traditional notions of family and gender or harmful traditional social norms.

They are very often sexist, sexualised, and misogynistic, silencing and censoring their voices, and exacting profound physical and psychological harm.

Their purpose is clear: to exercise control, to perpetuate subordination, and to crush the political activism and aspirations of women and girls.

These are abhorrent acts, fed by pervasive structural discrimination and harmful gender stereotypes, deeply woven into our social and cultural norms, attitudes and behaviours.

Norms and stereotypes which have generated appalling imbalances, where women and girls make up more than two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population, and where they shoulder three quarters of the global domestic and care work burden.

A UN Women study in 39 countries recently showed that 81.8% of surveyed women in parliaments have experienced psychological violence, 44.4% have received threats of death, rape, beatings and kidnapping and 25.5% have experienced physical violence.

And other recent research from UNESCO estimates that 73% of women journalists have experienced online violence, including through fake news or doctored images, and direct verbal threats and attacks.

Distinguished delegates,

Deep structural discrimination requires profound systemic change. We must strengthen national legal frameworks to ensure gender equality, and protect women from violence, both online and off. Focus on prevention is key.

We must adopt codes of conduct with zero tolerance for gender-based violence and establish effective reporting mechanisms for those who experience it.

Concrete measures, both temporary and permanent, are urgently required. These include quotas for women in public and political life, awareness raising campaigns to promote their participation, as well as capacity building to increase their electability.

We must also challenge archaic notions that confine domestic and care work to women and girls only. Economic incentives, social protection measures and gender equality campaigns can be driving forces behind efforts to promote a more equal sharing of these responsibilities.

Quality access to the fundamental human right of education is an essential precondition to participate in public affairs. Without it, we simply cannot proceed.

We know that by ensuring equal access to quality secondary and tertiary education, driving down illiteracy rates, and driving up the low numbers of women in traditionally male-dominated sectors such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, we can create the shifts we need.

This means education systems and curricula that include women as role models and highlight their contributions. I wonder how many female composers or artists you can name. It shows us there is a clear issue of a lack of visibility of women and their contributions throughout history.

And it means bridging the gap in the digital divide, where we see growing gender disparity in online access. Globally, women now outnumber male non-internet users by 18 per cent, up from 11 per cent in 2019.

Colleagues,

Seventy-five years ago, world leaders gathered to adopt the visionary and miraculous text that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights represents.

Women delegates present in 1948 were key in ensuring women’s rights were included. I pay tribute to the women involved – their vision continues to guide us today in our ambitions.

As we mark this anniversary, my Office has dedicated the month of June to highlight women’s participation in decision-making.

I call upon States and this Council to pledge to take concrete and transformative action to tackle gender-based violence against women and girls in public and political life, and to promote their participation and leadership.

We need to become better and more innovative in doing so.

Women make up half of humanity. Gender equality is not a matter of isolated gains for women alone, it is a collective pursuit that benefits entire societies.

Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality is clear. Without it, we will not achieve the entire SDG Agenda.

Through women’s and girls’ active, safe, and meaningful involvement in public life, including in leadership positions in the private sector, through their lived experiences and through their perspectives, we can unlock a wealth of innovation and wisdom that leads to more inclusive and more effective solutions to the challenges we all face.

Our goal must be a world where every girl and every woman is free to rise, thrive and shape the course of history. Thank you.

Ends

Annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women - Gender-based violence against women and girls in public and political life, 53rd session of the Human Rights Council

Speakers: 

• Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Ms. Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences

Türk urges zero tolerance for gender-based violence against women and girls in public and political life