For many people the home is a safe space where they feel protected and secure, but for too many women and girls around the world, home is where they face violence and abuse at the hands of family members. ?A recent conference entitled When Home Is Where the Harm Is: Family Law Reform to Challenge Gender-Based Violence sought to explore solutions to this problem that impacts millions of women globally.

The conference was held on Thursday, 17 March 2016 at the New School in New York City, in parallel with the (CSW60), and was convened by the (WLP) and the . ?Participants discussed not only the relationship between gender-based violence and family law, but also the root causes of the social, cultural, religious beliefs and practices that drive gender-based violence.

Terri Gordon, Director of Gender Studies of The New School and Mahnaz Afkhami, Founder and President of WLP, welcomed the moderators, panellists and audience members by emphasizing the importance of family law reform in combatting sexual and gender-based violence.

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(Panel 1 from L-R: ?Musimbi Kanyoro, Jacqueline Pitanguy, Yakin Ert¨¹rk, Madeleine Rees and Dubravka Simonovic)

The first session, Perspectives: Law, Culture, Conflict and Religion, was moderated by Yakin Ert¨¹rk, the Former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women.? ?Speakers noted the close relationship between violence against women and family law which often enshrined men as heads of households, leaving women in vulnerable and inferior economic and social statuses. ?These laws were often devised by men so it was critically important that women participate in legislative processes. ?

Panellists also mentioned that gendered roles within the home help to reinforce discrimination by the State and affected society as a whole. ?There was also mention of the need to mainstream gender throughout the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda, as well as the need to apply international law at the national, regional, community, household and family levels. In many countries, international laws and norms are not enforced or they are superseded by customary or traditional law which prevents women from exercising their rights. ??These laws also needed to be monitored closely on both the local and international levels to combat the forms and contexts of legalized violence against women. ?

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(Panel 2 from L-R: Anne Gahongayire, Kavita Ramdas, Tolekan Ismailova and Asma Khader)

The second panel was entitled Reports from the Field and focused on challenges on the ground. ?It was moderated by Kavita Ramdas, Senior Advisor on Global Strategy at the Ford Foundation and Former President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women.

The first panellist highlighted the experience of women in Rwanda, which has the largest proportion of women in the legislature of any country in the world, and noted that even if there are great written laws, their implementation can be undercut by culture and community, which continue to play a large role in determining women's status in society. ?

Another speaker looked at the situation of women in Kyrgyzstan, where large numbers of young women are kidnapped for marriage, a practice that remained religiously and socially accepted.? ?It is hard to know how many women are kidnapped each year because more than 88 per cent of those kidnapped do not report their abduction to the police. This practice is underpinned by religion which discourages divorce and single parenthood, and thus puts women at risk should they choose to leave their kidnappers, decide not to marry or have a child outside marriage.

Jordan was also examined because while it has a strong legal framework to protect women's rights, equal rights and responsibilities within the family are still elusive.? Family law is also in desperate need of reform as women are economically disempowered in the country, with only 13 per cent of women in Jordan participating in the labour force. ?Even when women earn a salary by working outside the home, their husbands or fathers controls the bank account into which the money is deposited. ?Inheritance law also favours men, and women and girls can be left destitute if there is a death in the family as male heirs are first in line to inherit. ?

The moderator noted that these stories are repeated around the world, demonstrating that the same challenges to combatting sexual and gender-based violence existed globally and therefore a global platform and the collective action of activists, NGOs and governments are needed to deal with the issue and make progress in family law reform. ?

You can find more information on the discussion?at Women's Learning Partnership website: .