Fifty-First Session, 26th February- 9th March 2007

Madam Chair and distinguished representatives,

Thank you very much for the opportunity to address this important session, I am speaking on behalf of the International Sexual and Reproductive Rights Coalition (ISRRC), a group of NGOs with constituencies in all regions of the world.

We welcome the theme of the fifty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Report of the Secretary-General – “the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child”.

Violence against girls (physical, psychological or sexual) is a gross violation of their human rights wherever it occurs - in their homes, schools, communities and places of care. This is, without a doubt, an important opportunity for the global community to take action on this critical issue.

Although we recognize that certain advances have been made in addressing violence and discrimination against women and girls, governments still have a number of international commitments to fulfill, especially to girls and young women; the lack of attention paid to the link between the barriers to women’s and girls’ ability to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights and the persistent gender-based violence is a matter that this group is particularly concerned with.

We are convinced that it is only with a strong commitment to protect and promote all girls’ human rights, in particular their sexual and reproductive rights that we will be able to eliminate discrimination and violence against girls.

Violence against girls is a major concern in and of itself.  It is also a root cause of many sexual and reproductive health problems, as it increases the possibilities of unplanned and forced pregnancies, unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted infections including HIV.

States’ failure to protect and guarantee the sexual and reproductive rights of girls, including their right to live free of sexual coercion and violence, has significantly increased the impact of the HIV pandemic for girls and has also placed them in alarmingly vulnerable situations.

Universal access to comprehensive sexuality education, in addition to confidential and youth friendly sexual and reproductive health services, is essential in preventing and combating these problems.

Rape, incest and other forms of sexual violence occur in the home, in schools, in places of care, in communities and other settings.  Governments, communities, and families are all individually and collectively responsible and mutually accountable to ensure that every child lives in a world free from all forms of violence.

We also urge you to recognize that particular groups of girls are at high risk of severe and multiple forms of discrimination and violence and their rights and needs are often not recognized or addressed. 

These include:

• girls facing harmful traditional practices, including female genital mutilation
• girls at risk of child marriage and child mothers
• girl heads-of-households
• girls in child domestic labor
• girls affected by slavery-like practices
• girls affected by armed conflict, including those associated with fighting forces and child soldiers
• girls infected with and affected by HIV and AIDS
• girls living in urban slums
• refugee and migrant girls
• girls affected by natural disasters
• refugee, asylum-seeking and internally displaced girls
• pastoral and nomadic girls
• girls with disabilities
• lesbian and bisexual girls
• gender nonconforming girls
• girls in detention

Empowering girls is key to breaking the vicious circle of ill-health and violence. It should be at the center of all actions targeted towards the elimination of violence against women and girls.

In order to fully eradicate violence against girls, we urge member States to:

• Enforce and expand existing legislation so that the full range of human rights of all women and girls are fully protected, respected and fulfilled, including their rights to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and to be free from all forms of violence;
• Reaffirm their commitment to ICPD, Beijing and the MDGs and meet their targets, particularly the target on achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015, with special emphasis placed upon removing the barriers that impede the access of girls to the fulfillment of this right;
• Strengthen HIV/AIDS programs through the inclusion of access to preventive confidential and youth friendly sexual and reproductive health services, treatment, support and care. Special emphasis should be placed upon human rights protection, as well as access to confidential, voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), while ensuring equitable and sustained access to information and treatment; and protection from violence, stigma, and discrimination and other human rights abuses, based on their serological status.
• Ensure that all girls have access to comprehensive sexuality education, in and out of school, based on scientific evidence, gender sensitive and within a human rights framework;
• Establish national data systems to collect sex and age disaggregated data that focuses on the form and prevalence of sexual violence against girls. These systems will enable comprehensive and regular monitoring, facilitate increased knowledge about incidence and prevalence patterns and enable governments to enact laws and policies to fully address the violence against women and girls. These programs should be accompanied by a strong empowerment component, specifically tailored to the needs of diverse girls and women, marginalized groups, and allocate the sufficient resources necessary to implement them.

This is your moment to make the difference in the lives of millions of girls who are victims of violence.  We urge you to seize it.