THE DUE DILIGENCE PRINCIPLE AND THE ROLE OF THE STATE: DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN FAMILY AND CULTURAL LIFE

Please see the attached pdf for the full report.

This report is a submission by the Due Dilligence Project, authored by Zarizana Abdul Aziz and Janine Moussa, to the United Nations Working Group of Discrimination Against Women in Law and Practice.  The Due Diligence Project 1 (DDP) welcomes the UN Working Group thematic focus on Discrimination against the Women in Family and Cultural Life. The purpose of this contribution is to highlight new and innovative thinking beyond the current language and discourse in understanding and conceptualizing discrimination against women in family and cultural life, to critically examine crucial basic concepts which adds to this understanding and to look at discrimination against women in family and cultural life through the lens of the State Obligation. The lens of State Obligation is presented through the Due Diligence Framework developed by the Due Diligence Project.  

Purpose of submission

Discrimination against women in family and cultural life has stood out as one of the underlying causes in the Due Diligence Project’s extensive three year research-advocacy on violence against women. Likewise, the role of the State as the entity ultimately responsible for preventing and addressing human rights abuses has also been a central approach to the work of the Due Diligence Project. Given this and the current socio-economic context, the DDP convened an expert group meeting on 2-3 December 2014 on the Role of the State and Discrimination against Women in Family and Cultural Life.11 The meeting brought together experts from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds with expertise in the area of women’s human rights to critically explore, analyse, and formulate strategies on human rights and its intersections with culture and religion with particular attention to their impact on the family through the lens of State obligation. Outcomes of this expert meeting as well as independently conducted research in the area by the DDP are contained in this document. The document is offered as a contribution to the discourse on this critical and complex issue and to the UN Working Group for consideration in its 2015 annual thematic report on Discrimination against Women in Family and Cultural Life.