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Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 12687 | 18 July 2011
Gender-related claims for asylum
1. The Committee of Ministers has taken
note of Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1940 (2011) on “Gender-related claims for asylum” which proposes
measures to ensure that greater account is taken of gender-based
violence and gender-related persecution in asylum procedures. It
has brought the recommendation to the attention of the governments
of the member states so that they may draw on it where needed for
their asylum systems. It has also communicated the recommendation
to the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) and the Steering
Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG) for information
and possible comments.
2. Regarding the Parliamentary Assembly’s suggestion to carry
out a study on various aspects of gender-based violence, the Committee
of Ministers recalls that Recommendation Rec(2002)5 on the protection
of women against violence sets out a number of general measures
for protecting women against any form of violence, including “female
genital mutilation, trafficking in human beings and so-called ‘honour
crimes’“. Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)10 on the role of women and
men in conflict prevention and resolution and in peace building
calls for action to “integrate a gender perspective in the arrangements
and procedures for granting asylum and receiving refugees and other
displaced persons”.
3. The implementation of those recommendations is being or will
be monitored, and this process has already yielded information on
the issues raised by the Assembly, notably within the framework
of the third round of monitoring the implementation of the aforementioned
Recommendation Rec(2002)5. These activities might be further developed
along the lines advocated by the Assembly, and current work on devising
indicators for monitoring implementation of Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)10
might also draw on the Assembly’s proposals. Consequently, the
Committee of Ministers does not consider it necessary at this stage
to embark on the preparation of a specific study on the question
of gender-related claims for asylum.
4. Furthermore, the Committee of Ministers wishes to inform the
Assembly that Article 60 of the Council of Europe Convention on
preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence,
which was opened for signature on 11 May 2011 in Istanbul, covers
the matter of gender-based asylum claims. In particular, the Parties
to the Convention commit to take “the necessary legislative or other
measures to ensure that gender-based violence against women may
be recognised as a form of persecution within the meaning of Article
1, A (2), of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
and as a form of serious harm giving rise to complementary/subsidiary
protection. Parties shall ensure that a gender-sensitive interpretation
is given to each of the Convention grounds and that where it is
established that the persecution feared is for one or more of these
grounds, applicants shall be granted refugee status according to
the applicable relevant instruments”. The Convention also stipulates
that “Parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures
to develop gender-sensitive reception procedures and support services
for asylum-seekers as well as gender guidelines and gender-sensitive
asylum procedures, including refugee status determination and application
for international protection”.