PART 1 automatic force of law and it does not carry the important interpretive weight of a general recommendation. However, its potential capacity to contribute to the development of a customary international norm on the issue of violence against women, including the question of State responsibility for acts of violence perpetrated by private individuals or entities, should not be discounted,45 particularly in the light of its adoption by consensus. The Inter-American Convention on Violence against Women is currently the only international legal agreement specifically addressing the issue of violence against women. Its purpose is to prevent, punish and eradicate all forms of violence against women, defined as “any act or conduct, based on gender, which causes death or physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, whether in the public or the private sphere” (art. 1 – emphasis added). The Convention specifically recognizes trafficking (undefined) as communitybased violence against women (as opposed to domestic violence or violence perpetrated or condoned by the State or its agents), thereby acknowledging that the harm of trafficking generally originates in the private sphere. States parties are required, under article 7, to: • Refrain from engaging in any act or practice of violence against women; • Ensure that their authorities or agents act in conformity with this obligation; • Exercise due diligence in preventing, investigating and imposing penalties for violence against women; and • Establish fair and effective legal procedures for women who have been subjected to violence. Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), Jurisdiction and Admissibility (1984) ICJ Reports 392 (identifying General Assembly resolutions adopted by consensus as important sources of opinio juris). 45 42 The Convention provides for a range of potentially effective enforcement mechanisms including reporting and a complaints procedure open to both individuals and groups (arts. 10 and 12). At the international political level, two key outcome documents of major world conferences – the Vienna Declaration46 and the Beijing Platform for Action47 – identify trafficking as a form of gender-based violence, as does the Secretary-General’s key report, “Indepth study on all forms of violence against women”.48 The work of United Nations human rights mechanisms in addition to that of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,49 and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,50 have also “Report of the World Conference on Human Rights”, Vienna, 14-25 June 1993, A/CONF.157/24, chapter III, Programme of Action, Part 1, para. 18 [Hereinafter: Vienna Declaration]. 46 “Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action”, adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women (A/ CONF.177/20), chapter IV, strategic objective D.3., . para. 131. 47 A/61/122/Add.1, paras. 135-138; United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Women 2000: The Future of Human Rights”, speech given at Columbia University, 4 June 2000. 48 For example, the Committee against Torture recently addressed trafficking in its concluding observations of State party reports under the heading “Violence against women and children, including trafficking”: Russian Federation (CAT/C/RUS/CO/4, para. 11); Ukraine (CAT/C/UKR/CO/5, para. 14). 49 “[Trafficking] of women and children for purposes of forced prostitution or sexual exploitation is a form of gender-related violence, which may constitute persecution”, within the legal definition of “refugee”. Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, Guidelines on International Protection: the application of article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees to victims of trafficking and persons at risk of being trafficked (HCR/GIP/06/07) [Hereinafter: UNHCR . Trafficking Guidelines], para. 19; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Guidelines on . International Protection: Gender-Related Persecution within 50 RECOMMENDED PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING