Crafting the Prohibition on Violence against Women under International Human Rights Law

Abstract Violence against women emerged as an international human rights law issue through the adoption of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’s General Recommendation 19 (1992), the United Nations General Assembly’s Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) and the Belém do Pará Convention (1994). Yet we know relatively little about how the three instruments were created. Through archival research and interviews with key individuals, this article explores the drafting of these instruments. It identifies the involvement of experts, reveals the background influence of women’s international human rights groups and shows that the three processes were linked. This can best be seen in the drafting of the definitions of violence against women. In the drafting process, the article identifies a move from bricolage to consistency. Initial drafts were produced by experts, who drew on a range of materials they had before them. However, once the first instruments were adopted, there was a move to consistency across instruments. Consistency has led to a shared understanding of the notion. However, it came at a cost, with insufficient attention paid to the differences between the different types of instruments (treaty, declaration, general recommendation) and the approach each of these instruments took to the issue.