The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and Violence against Children in ASEAN was principally drafted by the ASEAN Commission on the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) and adopted by the ASEAN Summit on 9 October 2013. In its preamble, the DEVAWC reaffirms the importance of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the ASEAN region, as well as other instruments related to the advancement of women in ASEAN.
The DEVAWC builds on the normative framework established by the DEVAW. It explicitly acknowledges the authority of international human right instruments and highlights the need of member states to implement the Concluding Observations and Recommendations issued by international treaty bodies, such as the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. It also expands on the principle of due diligence (i.e. prevent, protect, investigate, punish, remedy) acknowledged in the DEVAW by calling for specific actions to be taken, such as strengthening the capacity of police officers to respond to violence against women through gender sensitivity training; also strengthening laws and multi-disciplinary action to ensure implementation; and undertaking research and the gathering of statistics to ensure appropriate responses to violence against women and violence against children; and provide social welfare protections to survivors of violence against women and violence against children.
The ACWC is identified as the monitoring body of the DEVAWC, tasked with promoting its implementation and reviewing progress with the support of member states. To fulfil this mandate, the ACWC has held a joint meeting with the ASEAN Committee on Women to develop the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on the implementation of the DEVAWC.
Want more? Read the full text of the Declaration on ASEAN’s website. Or, read the Regional Plan of Action on the implementation of the DEVAW
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