In the agreed conclusions of the 57th Commission on the Status of Women, which were finalized March15, 2013 at the United Nations in New York, UN Member States resoundingly committed to ending violence against women and girls, including strong agreements on promoting gender equality, women’s empowerment, and ensuring reproductive rights and access to sexual and reproductive health services.

Here is some of the media coverage of the negotiations:

Greeted with cheers, the agreed outcome document of the 57th CSW, which was announced on Friday evening, was hailed as an "important step" to end violence against women and girls.

After months of behind the scenes lobbying and two weeks of difficult negotiations in New York, the outcome document included strong agreements to promote gender equality, women's empowerment, and ensure women's reproductive rights and access to sexual and reproductive health services – an area of particular contention. It reaffirmed previous international agreements on women's rights, such as those made in Cairo in 1994.

-The Guardian

Shannon Kowalski, director of advocacy and policy at the International Women’s Health Coalition, said the declaration was a victory for women and girls but could have gone further to recognize violence faced by lesbians and transgender people.

“Governments have agreed to take concrete steps to end violence,” she said. “For the first time, they agreed to make sure that women who have been raped can get critical health-care services, like emergency contraception and safe abortion.”

Earlier in the talks, Iran, Russia, the Vatican and others had threatened to derail the declaration with concerns about references such as access to emergency contraception, abortion and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, activists said.

 

This factsheet is the result of a collaboration between the International Women's Health Coalition, the World AIDS Campaign, International Aids Women Caucus (IAWC), and Women Won't Wait. Download full text with references as a Word document or a PDF. Also available as PDFs in Portuguese and Spanish.

I walked alongside women, men, youth, and young children at a One in Nine Campaign march earlier this month in Cape Town, South Africa to protest the failure of justice systems worldwide to protect victims of sexual assault, gender-based violence, and murder. 

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