The United Nations General Assembly has declared that “violence against women constitutes a violation of the rights and fundamental freedoms of women and impairs or nullifies their enjoyment of those rights and freedoms”,and has read the right to freedom from violence back through all the major international human rights treaties.
“Concerned about the long-standing failure to protect and promote those rights and freedoms in the case of violence against women”, the UN has called for a “commitment by States in respect of their responsibilities, and a commitment by the international community at large to the elimination of violence against women”.
The Barbra Schlifer Clinic works to fulfill this obligation daily.