UN Special Rapporteur Freedom of Religion or Belief Report to the Human Rights Council 2017 – Gender

For Full 20-Page 2017 Report, First Go To Link – http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/34/50

Then go to the right side of the screen and then click on UN Official Language Translation of choice.

Examples of Gender Components in Report:

49. As in the case of previous mandate holders, the Special Rapporteur will continue to highlight gender-specific abuses against women and girls with regard to the right to freedom of religion or belief, in accordance with article 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, other human rights treaties, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the mandate’s requirement to mainstream gender in its work, both substantively and procedurally. This approach will focus on both discrimination based on gender (and gender identity), which has a negative impact on a woman’s ability to enjoy her right to freedom of religion or belief, and cases where the State or non-state actors have sought to justify discrimination on the basis of gender by relying on religious freedom or “liberty” arguments. Indeed, the Human Rights Committee, in its general comment No. 28 (2000), found that article 18 of the Covenant could not be relied upon to justify discrimination against women by reference to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; it concluded that States parties should therefore provide information on the status of women with regard to their freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and indicate the steps they had taken or intend to take both to eliminate and prevent infringements of these freedoms for women and to protect their right not to be discriminated against.

50. The Special Rapporteur notes that, while the intersection between the right to freedom of religion or belief and women’s right to equality may, at times, seem A/HRC/34/50 inharmonious, it is erroneous to assume that these rights are incompatible. Such an assumption runs the risk of overstating the tensions between these two rights at the normative level, weakening critical protection gaps and foreclosing the potential for constructive and synergistic exchange (see A/68/290). It is unquestionable that instances of forced marriage, female genital mutilation, forced conversion, honour killing, enforced ritual prostitution, sexual slavery, trafficking and over-policing of dress codes, and the denial of educational and employment opportunities, have all been justified on the basis of religious traditions. The Special Rapporteur fully agrees with previous mandate holders that the right to freedom of religion or belief can never be used to justify violations of the rights of women and girls, and that “it can no longer be taboo to demand that women’s rights take priority over intolerant beliefs used to justify gender discrimination” (see A/65/207, para. 69; A/66/156, para. 16; A/68/290, para. 30; A/HRC/16/53, para. 16; and A/HRC/19/60/Add.1, para. 44). Acknowledging and rebuking these practices, however, does not mean tacitly accepting an inherent incompatibility between the right to freedom of religion or belief and gender equality. Instead, the two should be understood in a holistic manner as mutually reinforcing human rights norms (see A/68/290, paras. 19 and 66).