In a speech at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr Türk emphasized that violence against women – including femicide – had become a global emergency.
About 50,000 women and girls worldwide were killed in 2024, most of them family members, he said, amid ongoing hearings in the US Congress of child offender Jeffrey Epstein’s circle and after the shocking case of French woman Gisèle Pellicot, who was drugged by her husband and raped by dozens of men over a year without consciousness:
“Does anyone think that there are not many more men like Dominique Pellicot or Jeffrey Epstein?” asked the UN rights chief.
Social enablers
“Such horrific abuses are enabled by social systems that silence women and girls and insulate powerful men from accountability.”
The UN High Commissioner noted her deep concern at the increasing number of attacks against women in public life.
“Every female politician I meet tells me they face constant misogyny and online hate,” he told the council, the UN’s top human rights forum.
Denmark eradicates mother-to-child transmission of syphilis, HIV
Denmark has made significant health progress with the news on Friday that the country has eradicated mother-to-child transmission of syphilis and HIV.
Without treatment, the risk of HIV transmission is 15 to 45 percent, while untreated syphilis can cause half of all pregnancies to end in stillbirth or neonatal death, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).
Testimony of an ‘ongoing commitment’
With satisfaction at the announcement from Denmark, the UN organization described it as a milestone due to the Scandinavian country’s “ongoing commitment” to tackling the problem, which is a major global health challenge.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus identified strong political commitment and consistent investment in primary care as key factors in Denmark eradicating transmission of the two diseases from mother to baby.
With integrated maternal and child health services, “countries can protect every pregnant woman and newborn from these diseases”, Tedros insisted.
Release of prisoners welcomed in Belarus, but hundreds remain imprisoned in ‘alarming’ conditions
The UN group of independent human rights experts, which monitors Belarus, on Friday welcomed the release of over a hundred political prisoners there, but issued a warning about “alarming” conditions of release that include forced deportation.
More than a thousand remain in prison for politically motivated reasons, said UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts, who are not paid for their work and are not UN staff.
Forced expulsion and arbitrary deportation constitute a clear violation of international human rights standards, they continued.
“We urge the government of Belarus to honor its human rights obligations and immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners held for politically motivated reasons,” said Karinna Moskalenko, chair of the Group of Independent Experts.
To silence dissent
Their report, which documented violations perpetuated by Belarusian authorities since May 2020, highlights a state-led strategy to silence dissent through arbitrary arrest, detention and subjecting detainees to torture, ill-treatment and inhumane conditions.
The deaths of at least eight people in detention were also reported “demonstrating the harsh conditions of confinement and denial of appropriate medical care”.
The report warned that “a culture of impunity allows these violations to continue” and cited “a total lack of accountability within the national justice system.”
“In the absence of domestic justice, it called on the international community to take decisive action … to ensure that those responsible for these systematic violations are ultimately brought to justice,” the experts’ statement said.
