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17/1/2012
Two women, old and young
© UNESCO/Sayyed Nayyer Reza

United Nations: first fact-finding mission of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women in Italy

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, will visit Italy, from 15 to 26 January 2012, to gather information on the issue of violence against women in the country. This will be the first visit to Italy by a United Nations independent expert to monitor the specific topic of violence against women, its causes and consequences.

The Special Rapporteur will travel to Rome, Milan, Bologna and Naples where she will hold discussions with government authorities and representatives of civil society. Among her areas of focus will be issues relating to violence against migrant women including Roma and Sinti women. The Special Rapporteur will also visit shelters and detention centers, and will meet with individual victims of gender-based violence.   

Initial findings will be presented in a press conference at the Società Italiana per l’Organizzazione Internazionale (SIOI) in Rome on Thursday 26 January at 1.00 p.m. Ms. Manjoo will present a report with her final findings and recommendations to the 20th session of the Human Rights Council in June 2012.

The Special Rapporteur’s mandate on violence against women, its causes and consequences includes violence in the family, violence within the community, violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, and violence in the transnational sphere, including violence against refugee, asylum seeking and migrant women.

Ms. Manjoo, from South Africa, was appointed Special Rapporteur  on violence against women, its causes and consequences in June 2009 for an initial period of three years.