Attachments
Human Rights Council
Fifty-sixth session
18 June–12 July 2024
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development
Summary
The Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem, undertook an official country visit to Poland from 27 February to 9 March 2023. In the report, she examines the gaps and challenges in fulfilling the obligations of the State to eliminate violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, and recommends measures for preventing and combating violence against women and girls in the country.
Annex
Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, on her visit to Poland
I. Introduction
1. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem, conducted an official visit to Poland from 27 February to 9 March 2023, at the invitation of the Government. The main objective of the visit was to assess the situation of gender-based violence against women and girls in the country, as well as the laws, policies and services to prevent and combat it, in order to provide recommendations to strengthen these efforts to fully implement the international obligations of Poland on violence against women and women’s human rights.
2. The Special Rapporteur would like to extend her sincere appreciation to the Government of Poland for the invitation to conduct a visit and for its constructive engagement and cooperation before and during her visit.
3. During her visit, the Special Rapporteur met with several high-ranking government officials, including from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Health and the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. She also met with members of the two chambers of Parliament (the Sejm and the Senate) and with representatives of the National Prosecutor’s Office. In addition, the Special Rapporteur met with the Voivodeship Offices of Lubelskie and Małopolskie. She also visited a detention centre and a primary school in Lublin, a refugee centre in Kraków, and a support centre for victims of domestic violence in Rusocin, near Gdańsk.
4. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur also met with representatives of international organizations, including relevant United Nations agencies, with representatives of human rights institutions, civil society organizations and professional associations, and with Polish and foreign-national women and girl victims of violence.
5. The Special Rapporteur would like to express her gratitude to the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Development Programme for their extensive support both before and during the visit and to all representatives from international entities and civil society organizations for generously sharing their time and knowledge.
6. The visit of the Special Rapporteur came after the fourth cycle of the universal periodic review of Poland in November 2022. The Special Rapporteur therefore hopes that the recommendations outlined in the present report will be implemented in conjunction with those provided by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review1 and by other special procedure mandate holders who have conducted visits to Poland in recent years,2 as a means of developing a road map to assist the Government in its efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls and to uphold the rights of women in the public and private spheres, in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular target 5.5.
7. The present report is based on information gathered during and after the visit and thus provides an analysis of the laws and policies that were in place at that time, and under the aegis of the previous Government.3 The Special Rapporteur recognizes that following the October 2023 elections, the new Government4 announced a number of proposals that would seek to ensure the continued advancement of the rights of all women and girls in Poland. Considering the significant period of time that has elapsed since the end of the visit, the Special Rapporteur looks forward to learning about further developments in this regard.