The pace of universal ratification and removal of reservations to the Women's Convention must be accelerated. National laws and policies need to be brought into compliance with the convention, and work toward adopting a strong optional protocol establishing a right of petition needs to be a higher priority if the commitments of Vienna are to be realized in law. While the recognition of violence against women as a human rights abuse was a central tenet of Vienna, such violence continues unabated. Ending violence against women is a community responsibility and it is time for men, and especially male leaders, to assume this responsibility along with women. One of Vienna's other commitments was to expand UN attention to the right to development and socio-economic rights.
Women suffer disproportionally in their lack of access to education, health, and economic resources.
Therefore the integration of gender sensitive perspectives and women's concerns as new procedures and mechanisms are developed to advance these rights is urgent. Full integration of women's human rights and gender perspectives requires gender sensitive training and specific guidelines for all UN and governmental human rights activities. We want to note particularly the opportunity to advance this in technical assistance, in the new field operations of the office of the High Commissioner and throughout the newly reformed UN structures. Ratify the Declaration on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders and include the protection of women's human rights advocates in it . Women and men who support women's human rights are being threatened, often violently, throughout the world - whether by killings of reproductive health care providers in the USA or attacks in the streets of Afghanistan.