The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action defines "violence against women" as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life." Violence against women is one of the most brutal consequences of the economic, social, political, and cultural inequalities that exist between men and women. It is also perpetuated by legal and political systems that have historically discriminated against women.

The international community has recognized that sexual violence against women constitutes a violation of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. Sexual violence also constitutes a violation of a woman's reproductive rights, particularly her right to bodily integrity and to control her sexuality and reproductive capacity. Rape, female genital mutilation (FGM), and forced sterilization are among the types of violence that violate women's reproductive rights.

Sexual violence occurs in both the private and public spheres of women's lives. It constitutes a human rights violation whether the perpetrator is an agent of the state or a private citizen. Sexual violence can occur against individuals of any age, within the family or any other relationship, within the community, or in the workplace, in an educational institution, in a health facility, during situations of armed conflict, or at any other time or place.

The international community has specifically recognized women's and girls' right to be free from sexual violence in various international human rights treaties. For example, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Women's Convention) compels states to prohibit trafficking in women. The Children's Rights Convention (PDF) prohibits the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the Women's Convention protect a woman's right to health, including her physical, psychological, reproductive, and sexual health.

In addition, the 1998 Rome Treaty forming the International Criminal Court states, for the first time under international law, that rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, and other forms of sexual violence are each to be considered a crime against humanity and a war crime. Moreover, for the first time, international humanitarian law recognizes violations of women's reproductive self-determination - including forced pregnancy in which women are compelled to bear children against their will and enforced sterilization in which women are prevented form bearing children - as among the most egregious crimes under international humanitarian law.