On March 4, 1994, the UN Commission on Human Rights appointed a Special Rapporteur on violence against women to address this widespread human rights violation. Thirty years later, the five women who have held the mandate marked the anniversary at an event at CSW68 in March 2024.
Every Woman Treaty Cofounder and CEO Lisa Shannon and the Chief of Global Diplomatic Campaign Patricia Elias joined the celebration. Patricia spoke to much applause on the need to make femicide and rape crimes against humanity.
Each Special Rapporteur shared how they interpreted the mandate and voiced concerns on the challenges going forward, most notably that the climate we are working in now is more hostile to women’s rights, which underscored the need for a new Optional Protocol on violence against women and girls to CEDAW.
Earlier that day, four Special Rapporteurs — the current Ms. Reem Alsalem and three former, Dr. Yakin Ertürk, Professor Rashida Manjoo and Ms. Dubravka Šimonović — spoke in support of a new Protocol.
We salute the work of the five Special Rapporteurs for their commitment, then and now, to a woman’s right to live a life free from violence.
- Radhika Coomaraswamy, 1994 to 2003 (who joined the event by video)
- Yakin Ertürk, 2003 to 2009
- Rashida Manjoo, 2009 to 2015
- Dubravka Šimonović, 2015 to 2021
- Reem Alsalem, 2021 to present
