Legislation
Related Tools

Tools and Resources

Last edited: October 29, 2010

This content is available in

Options
Options

Amnesty International, Six-point Checklist on Justice for Violence Against Women (2010). This guide, by Amnesty International, is a resource for advocates and practitioners working to improve criminal justice responses to violence against women. The checklist is organized by steps that victims would need to take in order to report a crime and seek redress for sexual and gender-based violence through the criminal justice system and helps to identify laws, policies and practices which still need to be reformed and obstacles to the successful implementation of the legal framework. Available in Arabic, English, French, Mandarin and Spanish.

Cornell University Law School, Women and Justice Collection    

International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice: Resource Manual (1999). Available in English.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Universal Human Rights Index Database

Organization of American States, Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women, 1994; available in English and Spanish.

Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, Strategies to End Double Violence Against Undocumented Women: Protecting Rights and Ensuring Justice (2012). This report offers a practical overview of methods that address discrimination and violence against undocumented survivors. It aims to inform advocates about support services and methods to empower their clients by offering legislative, financial, and practical measures which have been used successfully in Europe. Available in English, French, and Spanish.

The Advocates for Human Rights, StopVAW, available in English, retrieved 2013.

United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Report of the Meeting of the Intergovernmental Expert Group to Review and Update the Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, March 2009. Available in English.

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for the Advancement of Women, United Nations Handbook for legislation on violence against women (2009). Available in Arabic, English, French, Mandarin, Russian and Spanish.  

  • A PowerPoint presentation on this United Nations model framework is available here.
  • A video dialogue between two experts discussing the model framework is available here.
  • A video discussion of specific recommendations for legislation on domestic violence is available here.
  • A video discussion of specific recommendations for legislation on sexual violence is available here.

United Nations Development Program, Drafting Gender-Aware Legislation:  How to Promote and Protect Gender Equality in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Commonwealth of Independent States (2003). Available in English .

United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Good practices in legislation on “harmful practices” against women, (2010). Available in English.

United Nations General Assembly, Human Rights Council, Summary of the Human Rights Council panel discussion on the theme of remedies for women subjected to violence, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Remedies for women subjected to violence (OHCHR), 16 August 2012, A/HRC/21/65

The United Nations Secretary-General’s database on violence against women is an excellent source for laws, action plans, administrative provisions, and much more from many countries. Available in English.

UN Women, Handbook for National Action Plans on Violence Against Women (2012)

United States National Advisory Council on Ending Violence Against Women, The Toolkit to End Violence Against Women (2001). Avaiable in English.