The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling all previous resolutions on violence against women migrant
workers adopted by the General Assembly, the Commission on the Status of Women
and the Commission on Human Rights, as well as the Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women,
 
      Affirming the outcome of the World Conference on Human Rights, held at
Vienna from 14 to 25 June 1993, the International Conference on Population and
Development, held at Cairo from 5 to 13 September 1994, the World Summit for
Social Development, held at Copenhagen from 6 to 12 March 1995 and the Fourth
World Conference on Women, held at Beijing from 4 to 15 September 1995,
specifically as the results pertain to women migrant workers,
 
      Noting the holding of the expert group meeting on violence against women
migrant workers at Manila from 27 to 31 May 1996, and expressing its
appreciation to the Government of the Philippines for hosting the meeting,
 
      Taking note of resolution 1996/12 of the Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities concerning, inter alia, women
migrant workers,
 
      Conscious of the great importance given to the promotion and protection
of the human rights of persons belonging to groups that have been rendered
vulnerable, including migrant workers, the elimination of all forms of
discrimination against them and the strengthening and more effective
implementation of existing human rights instruments,
 
      Noting the large numbers of women from developing countries and from
some countries with economies in transition who continue to venture forth to
more affluent countries in search of a living for themselves and their
families as a consequence of, inter alia, poverty, unemployment and other
socio-economic conditions, and acknowledging the duty of sending States to
work for conditions that provide employment and security to their citizens,
 
      Acknowledging the economic benefits that accrue to sending and receiving
States from the employment of women migrant workers,
 
      Emphasizing the need for accurate, objective and comprehensive
information and data as a basis for policy formulation,
 
      Concerned by the continuing reports of grave abuses and acts of violence
committed against the persons of women migrant workers by some employers in
some host countries,
 
      Encouraged by measures adopted by some receiving States to alleviate the
plight of women migrant workers residing within their areas of jurisdiction,
 
      Reiterating that acts of violence directed against women impair or
nullify their enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms,
 
      1.    Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on violence
against women migrant workers;
 
      2.    Determines to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against
women and girls;
 
      3.    Encourages Member States to enact and/or reinforce penal, civil,
labour and administrative sanctions in domestic legislation to punish and
redress the wrongs done to women and girls who are subjected to any form of
violence, whether in the home, the workplace, the community or society;
 
      4.    Also encourages Member States to adopt and/or implement and
periodically to review and analyse legislation to ensure its effectiveness in
eliminating violence against women, emphasizing the prevention of violence and
the prosecution of offenders, and to take measures to ensure the protection of
women subjected to violence and their access to just and effective remedies,
including compensation and indemnification and healing of victims, and for the
rehabilitation of perpetrators;
 
      5.    Invites Member States concerned, specifically the sending and
receiving States, to consider adopting appropriate legal measures against
intermediaries who deliberately encourage the clandestine movement of workers
and who exploit women migrant workers;
 
      6.    Reiterates the need for States concerned, specifically the sending
and receiving States of women migrant workers, to conduct regular
consultations for the purpose of identifying problem areas in promoting and
protecting the rights of women migrant workers and ensuring health, legal and
social services for them, adopting specific measures to address those
problems, setting up, as necessary, linguistically and culturally accessible
services and mechanisms to implement those measures and, in general, creating
conditions that foster greater harmony and tolerance between women migrant
workers and the rest of the society in which they reside;
 
      7.    Encourages Member States to consider signing and ratifying or
acceding to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of
All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, as well as the Slavery
Convention of 1926;
 
      8.    Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
the Centre for Human Rights of the Secretariat and the Special Rapporteur of
the Commission on Human Rights on violence against women, its causes and
consequences, as well as all relevant bodies and programmes in the United
Nations system, when addressing the issue of violence against women, to give
particular attention to the issue of violence perpetrated against women
migrant workers;
 
      9.    Invites Member States, as well as relevant international
organizations, to provide their views and comments to the Secretary-General on
the issue of indicators as a basis for addressing the situation of women
migrant workers, as set forth in the report of the Secretary-General;
 
      10.   Also invites the Administrative Committee on Coordination, within
its mandate, to examine how to improve coordination within the United Nations
system on the question of violence against women migrant workers;
 
      11.   Invites the regional commissions and the regional offices of the
International Labour Organization to examine ways and means, within their
mandates, of dealing with concerns pertaining to women migrant workers;
 
      12.   Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly
at its fifty-second session on the implementation of the present resolution,
including the reports received from all authorities and bodies of the United
Nations system, Member States, intergovernmental organizations and other
concerned bodies, with due regard for possible measures to improve reporting
procedure.