Human Rights Council – A/HRC/50/26

Violence against indigenous women and girls. Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Reem Alsalem

 

Statement by Professor Michel Veuthey

Ambassador to monitor and combat trafficking in persons, Deputy Permanent Observer in Geneva
Geneva, 20 June 2022

Mr. President, Excellencies,

 

The Sovereign Order of Malta wishes to express its thanks to the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Reem Alsalem. We would like to congratulate the Special Rapporteur for her well-documented report (A/HRC/50/26) on “Violence against indigenous women and girls”.

 

The Order of Malta welcomes her mention of
– the role of regional organizations, the role of local communities and especially indigenous women,
– the need to access to prevention and protection services, including in local indigenous languages
– the training in local languages for the native indigenous rural authorities
– the implementation of the extraterritorial human rights obligation of States, allowing for accountability by non-State actors for violations (Par. 51), without excluding recourse to the national courts of the State on whose territory the violation was committed, or multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the “Global Deal”.
– effective implementation of recommendations by truth commissions or commissions of inquiry (Par. 64)

-the due diligence obligation by States to prevent, investigate and punish perpetrators, and to provide reparationsfor victims (Par. 76)
– the obligation for States to ensure that indigenous women and girls who are survivors of violence have adequate access to protection and support services, including culturally appropriate medical treatment, psychosocial counselling and professional training (Par. 86).

 

In Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America, the Order of Malta conducts projects with the aim of providing health care to indigenous populations, to strengthen their capacity to develop income-generating activities and to help them strengthen their rights.

 

Thank you.