In April 2023, the UPR Project at BCU submitted a report to Germany’s UPR, led by Dr Alice Storey. This report focuses on domestic abuse, particularly from a women’s rights perspective.
Researchers
Consultancy background
This Stakeholder Report focuses upon domestic abuse experienced by women and makes recommendations to the Government of Germany on this key issue, implementation of which would see Germany move towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5, which aims for “gender equality and empowering all women and girls”.
On 04 September 2023, the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published its Stakeholder Summary Report for Germany, which cited the Stakeholder Report submitted by UPR Project at BCU:
“Referring to the relevant legal provisions and noting the lack of a statutory definition of domestic abuse, UPR-BCU stated that it would be prudent for Germany to codify a statutory definition of domestic abuse alongside existing laws and protections.” (Para 7)
“Noting that Germany had removed its reservation to Article 59 of the Istanbul Convention relating to the right of residence for migrant women who were victims of domestic violence, UPR-BCU stated that action should be taken to implement this Article in practice.” (Para 73)
The outcome of the review was published on 22 December 2023 in the Report of the Working Group. The following relevant recommendations were made to Germany:
Codify a clear definition of domestic abuse in line with international standards. Recommending state: Gambia (140.246); Czechia (140.240)
Strengthen efforts to combat all forms of gender-based violence against women and take steps to develop a comprehensive prevention strategy to address domestic violence. Recommending state: Namibia (140.230); China (140.225); Kingdom of the Netherlands (140.231); Norway (140.232); Slovenia (140.233); Spain (140.234); Switzerland (140.235); Thailand (140.236); Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (140.238); Australia (140.239); Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (140.241); Estonia (140.243); Fiji (140.245); Finland (140.245); Georgia (140.247); Greece (140.248)
Intensify efforts to prosecute alleged perpetrators of violence against women and girls. Recommending state: Iceland (140.227); Malaysia (140.228); Dominican Republic (140.243)
Criminalize feminicide, collect disaggregated data on gender violence and increase funding for shelters and specialized support services. Recommending state: Mexico (140.229)
Strengthen mechanisms to combat violence against women, especially migrant women. Recommending state: Tunisia (140.237)
These Member State recommendations are consistent with the categories of recommendations identified in the UPR Project at BCU’s Stakeholder Report for Germany’s UPR.
About the UPR Project at BCU
The Centre for Human Rights (CHR) has been engaging with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) since 2016. Under the auspice of the Human Rights Council, the UPR is an intergovernmental process providing a review of the human rights record of all Member States.
Through the UPR Project at BCU, the CHR we engage with the UPR through taking part in the UPR Pre-sessions, providing capacity building for UPR stakeholders and National Human Rights Institutions, and the filing of stakeholder reports in selected sessions. The UPR Project is designed to help meet the challenges facing the safeguarding of human rights around the world, and to help ensure that UPR recommendations are translated into domestic legal change in member state parliaments.
We fully support the UPR ethos of encouraging the sharing of best practice globally to protect everyone's human rights. The UPR Project at BCU engages with the UPR regularly as a stakeholder, having submitted numerous reports and been cited by the OHCHR.