CEDAW/C/CRI/CO/7

UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Costa Rica (CEDAW 24-07-2017)

The Committee considered the seventh periodic report of Costa Rica (CEDAW/C/CRI/7) at its 1508th and 1509th meetings (see CEDAW/C/SR.1508 and 1509), held on 7 July 2017. The Committee’s list of issues and questions is contained in CEDAW/C/CRI/Q/7 and the responses of Costa Rica are contained in CEDAW/C/CRI/Q/7/Add.1.

Concluding observations

D. Principal areas of concern and recommendations

Gender-based violence against women

  1. The Committee notes the legislative framework of the State party for the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence against women, as well as the measures adopted to ensure access to shelters for women who are victims of gender-based violence. Nevertheless, it notes with concern:

(a) The persistence of various forms of gender-based violence against women in public and private spaces and the low conviction rates compared with the high number of complaints received;

(b) The lack of information about measures to prevent gender-based violence against women at the local level, especially in rural and remote areas;

(c) The absence of information disaggregated by sex, type of violence and relationship between perpetrator and victim in the Unified System of Statistical Measurement of Gender Violence;

(d) The large number of reported cases of sexual harassment of women in public places and on public transportation;

(e) The absence of information on gender-based violence against women with disabilities and the means of redress and remedies available to victims;

(f) The prevalence of gender-based violence against lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and intersex persons in the State party.

  1. The Committee recommends that the State party:                                        

(a) Strengthen the national domestic violence and violence against women prevention and assistance system and prevent gender-based violence against women at the local level, including in remote rural and border areas;                                        

(b) Allocate adequate human, technical and financial resources to the Unified System of Statistical Measurement of Gender Violence and increase efforts to collect statistical and qualitative data on cases of gender-based violence against women disaggregated by sex, age, ethnicity and rural/urban areas;                                        

(c) Address the sexual harassment of women in the workplace, in public places and on public transportation by adopting gender-sensitive investigative procedures and imposing appropriate sanctions on perpetrators;                                        

(d) Provide women who are victims of sexual and other forms of gender-based violence with timely assistance, access to a sufficient number of geographically distributed shelters and protection from femicide;

(e) Design a strategy aimed at disseminating information in accessible formats on the remedies available in cases of gender-based violence against women with disabilities and ensure the accessibility of shelters for those women;

(f) Raise public awareness, in cooperation with civil society organizations, about violence against lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and intersex persons and adopt measures to prevent, investigate, prosecute and adequately punish hate crimes against them and provide reparation, including compensation, to victims.

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