Members of parliament from Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo gathered in Ouagadougou from 30 March to 1 April to discuss legislation and strategies for an effective response to violence against women and girls. The proceedings were held under the aegis of the First Lady of Burkina Faso, Ms. Chantal Compaoré, Goodwill Ambassador of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children.

From the very outset, the participants agreed that this serious violation of the fundamental human rights of women concerns both women and men and must be addressed as part and parcel of efforts to promote gender equality. They underscored that prejudices, stereotypes and patriarchal attitudes in public and private life only perpetuated acts of violence.

The meeting provided an opportunity to shed light on the wide gap that remained between several pieces of legislation at the national level and international legal instruments which, once ratified by States, obliged them to take all necessary measures to prevent and combat violence against women and girls, most notably the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.

The participants split up into working groups to examine the key components of various legislative frameworks to eradicate domestic violence, female genital mutilation and sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations.

At the end of three days of fruitful exchange and experience-sharing, the seminar recommended a set of priority measures to formulate an appropriate legislative and social response to violence against women and girls. These measures include the need to: identify and weed out discriminatory provisions in national laws, bringing them in line with international standards; adopt a solid and comprehensive legislative framework centred on prevention, criminal prosecution and sanctions, protection and assistance for victims; effective law enforcement through appropriate mechanisms (gender-sensitive budgeting, data collection, research capacity, follow-up mechanism, etc.) as well as education and awareness-raising.

The parliamentarians pledged to take action in partnership with government, civil society, the media and traditional and religious leaders and by paying special attention to the most vulnerable women, notably widows, elderly women, rural women, disabled women, women refugees and domestic workers.