Submission: Violence and its impact on the right to health

Updated: 2. August 2022

We submitted our questionaire respond to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, that will inform the next thematic report on “Violence and its impact on the right to health”, which will be presented to the Human Rights Council in June 2022.

Objectives of the report

The Special Rapporteur intends to shed light on who is seen as victims of violence, and who is affected by what type of violence, with emphasis on the violence experienced by women, children, LGBTI persons and conflict related gender based violence. She will also explore the role of men as perpetrators and their experience as victims of violence. Her analysis will look into the responses that survivors of violence receive with a focus on good practices, as well as the obligations, responsibilities, and protections that arise under the right to health framework and other relevant human rights in this connection. She will also report on emerging trends related to the impact of COVID-19 on all forms of violence and related responses.

In her report, the Special Rapporteur will address, inter alia, issues related to gender based violence, (including inter-personal and intimate violence), as well as structural violence. She will also assess the impact of the criminalization of sex work, same sex relations, transgender persons, abortion, drug use etc on the enjoyment of the right to health. The Special Rapporteur would like to identify good practices and examples of comprehensive health responses to survivors of violence, and to identify lessons learned at the community, national, regional and international levels.