UK CEDAW 2019 and non-State torture

UK CEDAW 2019

Submission on Non-State Torture for Women’s Resource Centre (WRC) Shadow Report for UK’s CEDAW Examination at the UN in 2019. 

Non-State torture is named, included under Article 6 point 34, on page 9 and 10 in 3. the full version of the WRC’s England 2018 CEDAW Shadow Report (52 pages) but this full report was not submitted to the UN CEDAW committee because of word restrictions.

Non-State torture is named in the The Women’s Equality Network (WEN) Wales 2018 CEDAW Shadow Report ~ page 18.

In March 2018 I submitted the text below to the Women’s Resource Centre for the WRC Shadow Report for the UK’s upcoming CEDAW examination in Geneva in 2019. This text was written by Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald of Persons Against Non-State Torture

“Non-State torture must be specifically criminalised into national law as it is inflicted against women or girls who are subjected to human trafficking and sexualised exploitation. 1, 2 This ensures that the State adopts appropriate legal protection thereby eliminating human rights discrimination against women – Article 2.”

1.Sarson, J., & MacDonald, L. (2016). Seeking equality, justice, and women’s and girls’ human right not to be subjected to non-state torture. In J. Scutt (Ed.). Women, law and culture, Conformity, contradiction and conflict. London, UK: Palgrave MacMillan, 263-281. Retrieved from https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319449371

2. Sarson, J., and MacDonald, L. (2018). No longer invisible: Families that torture, traffic, and exploit their girl child. Oñati Socio-legal Series [online], 8(1). Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=3086626

The text above I submitted under ‘Article 6 Trafficking and Prostitution’ was regrettably not included in the WRC’s England Shadow Report (short version) submitted to the UN CEDAW Committee in June 2018.

The Women’s Resource Centre produced three final reports: 1. UK Joint Four Nations 2018 CEDAW Report which doesn’t mention non-State torture, 2. the finalised England Shadow Report (short version) which also doesn’t mention non-State torture. Both these reports were submitted to the UN CEDAW Committee in June 2018.

An excerpt from my email to WRC dated 7 June 2018:

“We cannot further the human rights of women and girls not to be subjected to torture unless we face and name the uncomfortable and disturbing reality that women and girls do suffer torture by family, by parents, intimate partners and through trafficking and prostitution. Please do not discriminate by invisibilising the torture women and girls suffer by leaving this population behind.”