This submission from 23 organizations and individuals, including Amnesty International, responds to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences’ call for input to her report to the 59th session of the Human Rights Council, “Forms of Sex-Based Violence Against Women and Girls: New Frontiers and Emerging Issues”. The submission reinforces the importance of the concept of gender-based violence as an integral part of international human rights law and standards, which is a result of a long-standing consensus between women’s rights advocates, legal scholars, UN mechanisms, human rights courts, and states. This framing takes a comprehensive approach protecting all people facing gender-based violence regardless of their gender or sexuality and enables states to address root causes behind such violence.
