RECOMMENDATION
the Committee recommends that the State party:43(b) Ensure the enforcement and implementation of the 2012 Domestic Violence Act, including by establishing the required shelters, adequately funding protection services centers and safe houses, providing adequate capacity-building for law enforcement officials on violence against girls within the family, and increasing reporting through awareness-raising efforts;
| Recommendation No: | crc-43(b) |
|---|---|
| Recommendation Year: | 2016 |
| Recommendation Text: | the Committee recommends that the State party:43(b) Ensure the enforcement and implementation of the 2012 Domestic Violence Act, including by establishing the required shelters, adequately funding protection services centers and safe houses, providing adequate capacity-building for law enforcement officials on violence against girls within the family, and increasing reporting through awareness-raising efforts; |
| Convention/Treaty Body: | Convention on the Rights of the Child |
| Information Deadline: | |
| Implementation Deadline: |
Related Human Rights Articles
CRC Article 36 - States Parties shall protect the child against all other forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspects of the child's welfare.
Stakeholders
Family Protection Authority (FPA)
|
Ministry of Gender, Family & Social Services (MoGFSS)
Relevant Articles of the Constitution
35A - Children and young people are entitled to special protection and special assistance from the family, the community and the State. Children and young people shall not be harmed, sexually abused, or discriminated against in any manner and shall be free from unsuited social and economic exploitation. No person shall obtain undue benefit from their labour.
Relevant Legislation Articles
10 - Punishment given in schools must be appropriate to the age of the child and should not be physically or psychologically harmful to the child.
16 - Particular attention shall be given to prevent acts detrimental to integrity of children and acts of sexual abuse,exploitation and oppression against children. Knowledge of the commission of such an act or suspicion thereof shall promptly be reported to concerned government authority.
18 - No child shall, even as a measure of discipline be subjected to punishment which may cause physical injury or
which may be detrimental to the health of the child.
25 - No persons shall commit an act that is detrimental to the integrity of children, nor shall any person commit an act of
sexual abuse, exploitation or oppression against the child. Knowledge of the commission of such an act or suspicion thereof shall promptly be reported to the concerned Government authority.
14 - 14. Acts that can be considered sex offences within this law shall not be deemed as an offence when carried out with a child with whom a person has entered into marital relations with as per Islamic principles.
3 - (a) It is an offence to intentionally touch a child’s body with a sexual intent.
(b) For the purpose of this clause, touching with a sexual intent shall mean touching in the following ways.
(1) Touching the child’s genitals, or touching any other sexual parts of a child’s body, or touching a part of the body that could provide sexual stimulation.
(2) Touching with the hand or using an object.
(c) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall be punishable with imprisonment for a period between 10 years and 14 years.
4 - (a) A person who causes a child to engage in a
sexual activity commits an offence.
(b) Offences prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 10 years and 14 years.
5 - (a) It is an offence to intentionally engage in a
sexual act in the presence of a child, or carryout
such an act in a manner visible to a child, or
carry out such an act with the intention of
exhibiting to a child, or believing that the act
would be visible to a child.
(b) Offences prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 7 years and 10 years.
6 - (a) It is an offence to force a child to watch the
commission of a sexual act, or to show images,
photograph, film, or part of a film depicting
such acts being carried out, or to make a child
listen to such acts being carried out.
(b) Offences prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 7 years and 10 years
7 - (a) It remains an offence, even where the offences
prescribed in Sections 3, 4, 5 or 6 of this law
are carried out by a child.
(b) Where a child referred to in (a) of this section (a) It remains an offence, even where the offences
prescribed in Sections 3, 4, 5 or 6 of this law
are carried out by a child.
(b) Where a child referred to in (a) of this section is 13 years of age, such a child’s punishment
shall be detention for a period not exceeding 5
years in a place suitable for detention of
children. If the child has not attained 13 years
of age at the time of commission of the offence,
the parents of the child shall be entrusted with
the child’s care and child shall be kept under
house detention for a period not exceeding 5
years.
8 - (a) It is an offence to intentionally arrange, assist
or facilitate or abet the commission of an
offence prescribed in Sections 3, 4, 5 or 6 of
this law, by a child.
(b) Offences prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 7 years and 10 years.
9 - (a) It is an offence for a person in a trustable
position to a child, to engage in a sexual act
with the child.
(b) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 15 years and 18 years.
10 - (a) It is an offence for a person in a trustable
position to a child, to cause a child to engage in
a sexual act.
(b) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 15 years and 18 years.
11 - (a) It is an offence for a person in a trustable
position to a child, to engage in a sexual act in
the presence of a child, with the intention of
exhibiting to a child.
(b) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 15 years and 18 years.
13 - For purposes of this law a person is deemed to be in a
position of trust to a child when the following
relationships exist between the person and the child.
(a) Childs mother or father.
(b) A legal guardian of the child.
(c) A person from the guardians of the child.
(d) Persons with whom it is forbidden to establish marital relations in Islam.
(e) A person who provides care or services to a
child under law.
(f) Person looking after detention centre where a
child is kept for investigation or where a child
is serving a sentence.
(g) A person of the house, where a child is kept.
(h) A person from a hospital, clinic, or a place
providing childcare services.
(i) A resident of the child’s house.
(j) A person from the facility where a child obtains
education from.
(k) A person from the child’s work place or place
where the child obtains work skills from.
(l) Person in a position to advise and provide
guidance to a child.
(m) Person entrusted with care of a child
14 - Acts that can be considered sex offences within this
law shall not be deemed as an offence when carried
out with a child with whom a person has entered into
marital relations with as per Islamic principles.
15 - (a) It is an offence to engage in a sexual act with a
child of a person’s family.
(b) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 20 years and 25 years.
16 - (a) It is an offence for a family member of a child,
to encourage a child to engage in a sexual activity.
(b) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 20 years and 25 years
17 - a) It is an offence to engage in sexual acts with a
child pledging to make payment, or to carry out
a sexual act with a child by creating an
expectation that payment would be made, prior
to carrying out the act.
(b) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 15 years and 21 years
(c) For purposes of this section “make payment”
refers to the award of financial or monetary
advantages, or the discharge on behalf of the
child an obligation of the child to pay and
includes discharge on behalf of the child an
obligation of the child to pay for goods and
services, and the gift of valuables and money.
18 - (a) A person commits an offence, if he
intentionally causes child prostitution, or
involves a child in the creation of pornography,
or where he creates pornographic material in
which a child’s sexual organ is displayed.
(b) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 20 years and 25 years
19 - (a) A person commits an offence, if he engages a child in prostitution, or participate a child in the
production of pornography using force, through
control or by restraining the free will of a child.
(b) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 20 years and 25 years
20 - (a) It is an offence to engage with, or cause a child
to engage in a sexual act, by administration of
an intoxicating substance or a substance to
stupefy, or cause a child to lose free will.
(b) For purposes of this section “administration of
a substance”, refers to giving food or drink or
any other form of ministration of something
into the body.
(c) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
of 25 years.
21 - (a) It is an offence for a person to enter a house or
a place where a child is staying, with the
intention of carrying out a sexual act.
(b) For purposes of this section, buildings and
empty spaces surrounding buildings, and land
transport vehicles, and sea transport vessels
shall fall within the meaning of “house” or
“place”.
(c) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 1 year and 10 years.
22 - (a) It is an offence for a person to display organs
that could be considered sexual organs to a
child or, stay exposing such organs to a child
over a person’s clothing.
(b) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
of 3 years.
23 - (a) Where an offence prescribed under this law is
committed against a child by more than one
person collectively, with collective intention
and objective, each person involved will be
deemed to have committed the offence
individually with the child, even if the level of
participation of persons vary.
(b) Offence prescribed in (a) of this section shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
between 20 years and 25 years.
24 - For purposes of this law a child under 13 years of age
shall not be deemed to be in a position to give
consent under any circumstance. Even where such a
child consents, for purpose of this law, such consent
shall be considered null and void.
25 - Unless established otherwise, it shall be deemed that
a child between the age of 13 and 18 years of age did not give consent to carryout sexual acts, and that the
sexual act was carried out without the child’s
consent.
37 - (a) The state may request the court to make an
order requiring the state to monitor persons
convicted of engaging in sexual offences with
children, even after the sentences for the
offences have been served, to protect the
society, or another child from harm and to
prevent the commission of a sexual offence
against a child from the offenders family, or
children of the offender, till the said children
reach 18 years of age.
(b) Request to obtain the order stated in (a) of this
section shall be made by the Prosecutor
General within the 6 months prior to the expiry
of the sentence being served by the offender.
(c) When request to obtain the order stated in (a)
of this section is made by the Prosecutor
General, he shall submit to court a document
by a doctor, a psychologist, or a certified
psychiatrists stating the possibility of the
accused repeating the offence.
(d) Within 7 days of submission of case to the
court, the Prosecutor General shall furnish a
copy of the case to the offender and the
offender’s guardian.
(e) Copies of any documents, information or
evidence prepared for a case submitted pursuant to (a) of this section shall be disclosed
to the offender and his guardian.
38 - (a) The court shall decide on the issue of making
an order prescribed in section 37 of this law
within a period of 45 days of submission of a
request for such an order.
(b) Where the court feels that the most befitting
and preferred position with regard to the case is
to make an order to monitor on the state, the
court may order that the opinion of the
following persons with regard to the accused be
obtained and submitted to court. Further, the
court can order the accused to cooperate in the
work carried out by such persons.
(1) Two psychiatrists and a criminologist.
(2) Two psychologists and a criminologist.
(3) Psychiatrist, psychologist and a
criminologist.
(4) Two psychiatrists, two psychologists and
a criminologist.
39 - (a) Based on the statements submitted by persons
specified in section 38 (b) of this law, an order
shall not be made where it is unlikely that the
offender would repeat the commission of such
offences. In such cases, the case submitted,
requesting for the order should be closed.
(b) Based on the statements submitted by persons
specified in section 38 (b) of this law, the court
may order the state to monitor the offender under set principles for a period not exceeding
3 years where it is likely that the offender
would repeat the commission of such offences.
(c) When an order is issued pursuant to (b) of this
section, and 6 months remain from expiry of
the order issued for 3 years, the state at its
discretion may request as per section 37 of this
law.
40 - In addition to matters examined as general rules by
the court, the court shall assess the following, prior to
granting a court order pursuant to section 38 of this
law.
(a) Maintaining safety of the society.
(b) Information derived from the statements given
by psychiatrists, psychologists or
criminologists appointed by the court.
(c) The level of corporation given to the persons
appointed by court, by the offender.
(d) Findings of the psychiatrists, psychologists or
criminologists.
(e) Level of recidivism by offender, and persons
who had committed similar offences through
review of their history’s, date’s and general
statistics of such persons.
(f) Whether the offender has participated or has
requested to participate in a rehabilitation
programme in order to reform, or if participated
in a similar programme, the level of
participation in the programme.
(g) Criminal record of the offender.(h) Other factors to corroborate the possibility of
repeat of a sexual offence by the offender
41 - (a) A court order to monitor an offender pursuant
to section 30 (b) will be effective on which
ever date comes last, from the date the order
was made or the end date of detention .
(b) The order specified in (a) of this section will
expire on the date specified for end of detention
on the order.
(c) When the order specified in (a) of this section
is made, a correction officer appointed from the
agency mandated to look after prisoners shall
implement the order.
42 - The court may include a condition or conditions from
the following in an order to monitor made by it. The
court may further order the offender to comply with
the said conditions.
(a) Visits to the offender’s house, on a specified
time, for a specified duration by the correction
officer assigned to the offender.
(b) The offender meet with correction officer
assigned to the offender, at specified periods.
(c) Inform correction officer of any changes to the
address of the offender.
(d) Offender participate in a rehabilitation or
treatment programme prescribed by the court or
the agency mandated to look after prisoners.
(e) Prohibit the offender from attending certain
places or to be seen at certain places.(f) Prohibit the offender to live in a certain place.
(g) Prohibit meeting certain persons.
(h) Prohibit contact with certain persons or persons
of certain categories.
(i) Forbid the offender from carrying out certain
acts or certain types of acts.
(j) Forbid offender to engage in certain kinds of
employment or forbid engaging in certain types
of employment.
(k) Forbid name change.
43 - (a) It is an offence to fail to comply with an order
to monitor or to go against a condition
specified in the order.
(b) A person who commits the said offence shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a period
not exceeding 2 years.
44 - Every psychiatrist appointed to asses an
offender or a suspect under this law shall
include the following in their reports.
(a) The extent to which it is likely that the offender
may engage in a sexual offence with a child if
offender is not kept under a monitored
mechanism.
(b) The reasons for the psychiatrist view
45 - 45 (a) The agency mandated to look after the affairs
of offenders shall provide health reports,
psychiatric reports, reports prepared by
detention centres and any other reports orinformation deemed important to carry out the
work of a psychiatrist, when requested to do so
for purposes of compilation of reports pursuant
to this law by the psychiatrist.
(b) It is an obligation of a person in possession of
information required as per (a) of this section to
provide such information when requested to do
so, pursuant to this law.
(c) Obligations to uphold confidentiality under any
law shall not be applicable when carrying out
duties pursuant to this law to the extent
required for attaining purposes of this law.
46 - 46 There is no prohibition under any section of this law
for an offender or an accused, to avail the following
rights existing, during trial process
(a) Offender be able to defend himself through
legal counsel or on his own.
(b) Obtain attendance of witnesses
(c) To testify
(d) To examine witnesses presented by one party
by the other through the judge
(e) Admit other documents required to be
submitted to court.
47 - The evidential requirement for a criminal offencestated in another law shall not apply when charges
are made under this law or, when establishing
offence stated in this law or in establishing the
commission of a sexual offence with a child where at
least 5 types of evidences are available from the
following types of evidences. Where the 5 types of
evidences are available, such evidence shall be
deemed to constitute sufficient evidence to establish
the offence beyond reasonable doubt as stated in
Article 51 (a) of the Constitution.
(a) An official document establishing that a sexual
offence had been committed with a child.
(b) Results of scientific investigations.
(c) Statements of eye witness accounts.
(d) Forensic evidence and evidence derived from
investigations.
(e) Evidence received from video records.
(f) Statement given by the child to the child’s
parents, or relatives, or friend, or doctor, or
health worker, or psychologist, or psychiatrist
or police officer involved in the investigation,
or a child protection worker, within a short
period or duration of commission of the act
(g) Childs statement explaining the events and
what had transpired with the child.
(h) A child’s narration of the events when a long
time had not elapsed between the time of the
event and the narration, and grounds to believe
that slander is being uttered against a person
does not exist.
(i) Corroboration between the child’s statement and medically established physical injury, and
findings of forensic investigations.
(j) The person who had engaged in the sexual act
with the child has a previous conviction for
committing a child sex offence.
(k) Material evidence.
(l) Childs narrative when interviewed by
investigator.
part 1 to 10 - Domestic Violence Prevention
Relevant Regulations & Policies
No Relevant Regulations & Policies
Relevant Articles of other Human Rights Conventions
ICESCR Article 10 - The right to family protections, i.e., marriage only by consent, leave for new mothers and protection of children from exploitation.
CEDAW Article 6 - Article 6
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women.
CRC Article 34 - States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States Parties shall in particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent:
(a) The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity;
(b) The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices;
(c) The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.
CRC Article 35 - States Parties shall take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.
CRC Article 36 - States Parties shall protect the child against all other forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspects of the child's welfare.
ICESCR Article 5 - No person, group or government is lawfully empowered to destroy these rights.
CEDAW Article 4 - Article 4
1. Adoption by States Parties of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination as defined in the present Convention, but shall in no way entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate standards; these measures shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been achieved.
2. Adoption by States Parties of special measures, including those measures contained in the present Convention, aimed at protecting maternity shall not be considered discriminatory.
CEDAW Article 5 - Article 5
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures: (a) To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women;
(b) To ensure that family education includes a proper understanding of maternity as a social function and the recognition of the common responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development of their children, it being understood that the interest of the children is the primordial consideration in all cases.
CEDAW Article 11 - Article 11
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of employment in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in particular: (a) The right to work as an inalienable right of all human beings;
(b) The right to the same employment opportunities, including the application of the same criteria for selection in matters of employment;
(c) The right to free choice of profession and employment, the right to promotion, job security and all benefits and conditions of service and the right to receive vocational training and retraining, including apprenticeships, advanced vocational training and recurrent training;
(d) The right to equal remuneration, including benefits, and to equal treatment in respect of work of equal value, as well as equality of treatment in the evaluation of the quality of work;
(e) The right to social security, particularly in cases of retirement, unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age and other incapacity to work, as well as the right to paid leave;
(f) The right to protection of health and to safety in working conditions, including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction.
2. In order to prevent discrimination against women on the grounds of marriage or maternity and to ensure their effective right to work, States Parties shall take appropriate measures: (a) To prohibit, subject to the imposition of sanctions, dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy or of maternity leave and discrimination in dismissals on the basis of marital status;
(b) To introduce maternity leave with pay or with comparable social benefits without loss of former employment, seniority or social allowances;
(c) To encourage the provision of the necessary supporting social services to enable parents to combine family obligations with work responsibilities and participation in public life, in particular through promoting the establishment and development of a network of child-care facilities;
(d) To provide special protection to women during pregnancy in types of work proved to be harmful to them.
3. Protective legislation relating to matters covered in this article shall be reviewed periodically in the light of scientific and technological knowledge and shall be revised, repealed or extended as necessary.
CEDAW Article 12 - Article 12
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health care services, including those related to family planning.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph I of this article, States Parties shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.
CEDAW Article 16 - Article 16
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women: (a) The same right to enter into marriage;
(b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent;
(c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution;
(d) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of their marital status, in matters relating to their children; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;
(e) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights;
(f) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;
(g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose a family name, a profession and an occupation;
(h) The same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property, whether free of charge or for a valuable consideration.
2. The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory.
ICCPR Article 6 - The right to life, which shall be protected in law.
ICCPR Article 7 - The right to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
ICCPR Article 8 - The freedom from slavery and servitude.
ICCPR Article 23 - The right to marry and found a family and equal rights between men and women within the marriage at its dissolution.
ICCPR Article 24 - The rights for children (status as minors, nationality, registration and name).
CRPD Article 14 - Liberty and security of person
CRPD Article 15 - Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
CRPD Article 17 - Protecting the integrity of the person
ICERD Article 5 - Non-discrimination; equality before
the law; general policy
CAT Article 1 - CAT Article 1
1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
2. This article is without prejudice to any international instrument or national legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider application.
CAT Article 16 - CAT Article 16
1. Each State Party shall undertake to prevent in any territory under its jurisdiction other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which do not amount to torture as defined in article I, when such acts are committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. In particular, the obligations contained in articles 10, 11, 12 and 13 shall apply with the substitution for references to torture of references to other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
2. The provisions of this Convention are without prejudice to the provisions of any other international instrument or national law which prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or which relates to extradition or expulsion.
Related Recommendations of other Treaty Bodies
ICCPR-11 - ICCPR
CEDAW - 23 - CEDAW
Related SDGs
No Related SDGs
Categories
Freedom of the child from all forms of violence