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Violence against Women Migrant Workers. Report of the Secretary-General

Document number
1348
Date
2007
Title
Violence against Women Migrant Workers. Report of the Secretary-General
Author/publisher
General Assembly, United Nations (UN)
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Sixty-second session, Agenda item 65 of the provisional agenda, human rights treaty bodies, international framework, A/62/177, United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women
Summary
This biennial report on Violence against women migrant workers (A/62/177), prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution 60/139, analyzes recent activities of Member States, including research, legal measures, policy and programme measures such as development of national strategies and action plans, and prevention and support measures. Many of the Member States that provided information for the present report covered areas such as prevention, legislative measures and national plans to combat trafficking in women and girls, as well as support for victims. The linkages between trafficking and violence against women migrants had been noted; the subject of trafficking in women and girls will be addressed separately in a report to be submitted to the General Assembly at its sixty-third session, as requested in resolution 61/144. The report notes efforts to ensure the safe repatriation of migrants and to regulate the employment and migration of workers. Activities undertaken by entities of the United Nations system are also reported, including data collection, preparation of studies and publications, implementation of awareness raising campaigns and capacity building initiatives, training activities for migrant women, and women’s empowerment programmes. The measures taken over the past two years by intergovernmental bodies, specifically by the General Assembly and the Commission on the Status of Women, as well as those of several Special Rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights/Human Rights Council, and of the human rights treaty bodies, are also reviewed. The report concludes that violence against women migrant workers remains an issue of concern. The need for gender-sensitive international migration policies that support the empowerment of female migrants is noted, including efforts to provide female migrants with independent residency permits, and further assessment of the effectiveness of general legislative and policy measures in the prevention and elimination of violence against women migrant workers. The report also highlights the need for Member States to ratify international instruments, particularly the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its two Protocols, and all relevant ILO Conventions. The report concludes with a series of recommendations for future action.
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