United Nations
Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women
CEDAW/C/GC/35
Distr.: General
26 July 2017
Original: English
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women
General recommendation No. 35 on gender-based violence
against women, updating general recommendation No. 19
I. Introduction
Acknowledgements
The Committee acknowledges the valuable contributions of the more than 100
civil society and women’s organizations, States parties to the Convention,
representatives of academia, United Nations entities and other stakeholders that
provided their views and comments during the elaboration of the present general
recommendation. The Committee also acknowledges with gratitude the work of the
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences in the
implementation of her mandate and her contribution to the present general
recommendation.
1.
In its general recommendation No. 19 (1992) on violence against women,
adopted at its eleventh session, 1 the Committee clarified that discrimination against
women, as defined in article 1 of the Convention, included gender -based violence,
that is “violence which is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that
affects women disproportionately”, and that it constituted a violation of their human
rights.
2.
For more than 25 years, in their practice, States parties have endorsed the
Committee’s interpretation. The opinio juris and State practice suggest that the
prohibition of gender-based violence against women has evolved into a principle of
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1
17-12719 (E)
Although first addressed through its general recommendation No. 12 (1989) on violence against
women, it was in general recommendation No. 19 that the Committee provided a detailed and
comprehensive review of violence against women and a basis for its subsequent work on the
issue.
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*1712719*