Thank you, Mr. President,
I want to welcome the work of the Working Group and thank them for a good report that so clearly links women’s lack of health and safety to discriminatory practices. We fully agree with the Working Group that we must take measures to combat and eliminate all forms of instrumentalization of women’s bodies. We would like to thank the Working Group for highlighting this, since it is a root cause of discrimination of women and their right to health. Culture or tradition cannot be used as excuses to discriminate against women or deny them any of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
I also want to welcome the report of Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Ms Dubravka Šimonović. It is positive that the Special Rapporteur sees the broad scope and different facets of violence against women and that the Rapporteur intends to focus on cooperation and synergies between her mandate and other relevant mechanisms where relevant.
Protection of and services of women survivors of violence, including access to shelters, is very important. Can the Special Rapporteur elaborate on how she intends to work on a compilation of good practices that could guide the establishment of shelters and support for women and children?
Thank you.