Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women

Acknowledgements This Handbook is based on the results of an expert group meeting on good practices in legislation to address violence against women, convened by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in May 2008. The meeting reviewed and analysed experiences, approaches and good practices in legislation on violence against women from around the world, and developed a model framework for legislation on violence against women.

The Division for the Advancement of Women acknowledges with appreciation the work of the participants of the expert group meeting of May 2008, namely: Carmen de la Fuente Mendez (Spain), Sally F. Goldfarb (United States of America), Rowena V. Guanzon (Philippines), Claudia Herrmannsdorfer (Honduras), Pinar Ilkkaracan (Turkey), P. Imrana Jalal (Fiji), Olufunmilayo (Funmi) Johnson (United Kingdom), Naina Kapur (India), Rosa Logar (Austria), Flor de María Meza Tananta (Peru), Njoki Ndungu (Kenya), Theodora Obiageli Nwankwo (Nigeria), Renée Römkens (Netherlands), Karen Stefiszyn (Canada/South Africa), and Cheryl A. Thomas (United States of America).The following representatives of United Nations entities, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations also participated in the meeting: Gloria Carrera Massana (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR), Dina Deligiorgis (United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM), Tanja Dedovic (International Organization for Migration, IOM), Kareen Jabre (Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU), Dubravka Šimonović (Chairperson, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women), Richard Pearshouse (Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network), and Nisha Varia (Human Rights Watch).

For further information regarding the expert group meeting, including expert papers, please visit the following website: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw_legislation _2008/vaw_legislation_2008.htm.