HRC 59th Session.
Joint Statement Cross regional group of countries.
Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Thank you, Mr. President.
I deliver this statement on behalf of a cross-regional group of XX countries.
Madam Rapporteur,
The concepts of gender and gender-based violence have been central to international human rights obligations for over three decades. The 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted by 189 States, marked the first formal integration of “gender” into international frameworks. Since then, key instruments—including ILO Convention No. 190, CEDAW General Recommendation No. 35, and Human Rights Council Resolution 50/7—have explicitly recognized gender-based violence as a critical human rights concern, particularly in relation to women and girls.
Gender-based violence reflects deep-rooted structural inequalities, including patriarchy, misogyny, and gendered social norms—not just biological sex. These frameworks recognize that gender is a social construct, not confined to anatomy, and vital for understanding how discrimination operates in diverse contexts.
No treaty body, human rights mechanism or UN Resolution refers to “sex-based violence” as a legal or normative category. Doing so would represent a clear regression in human rights protections.
It is therefore crucial that all reports uphold internationally established human rights legal standards. Narrowing the analysis to sex-based violence undermines decades of progress in addressing the root causes of gender inequality and gender-based violence.
Thank you.