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 __________________ 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. 290817 *1712719*

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