A/HRC/21/47 4. Thematic issues 20. The Special Rapporteur has continued to examine recurring issues of interest and concern to indigenous peoples worldwide, most notably the issue of extractive industries affecting indigenous peoples. He reports on his progress in this regard in part IV, below. Another issue that has been addressed by the Special Rapporteur over the past 12 months is that of violence against indigenous women and girls, which he discusses in part III, below. III. Violence against indigenous women and girls 21. The issue of violence against indigenous women and girls has arisen in the context of the Special Rapporteur’s country visits, in particular to the United States, and in his examination of specific cases. It was also the subject of the expert seminar convened by Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues referred to above, in which the Special Rapporteur participated (see para. 6). The expert seminar took as its point of departure article 22 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, under which States are to “take measures, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination”. 22. Part of the mandate given to the Special Rapporteur by the Human Rights Council under its resolution 15/14 is to pay special attention to the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous children and women, and to take into account a gender perspective. Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur wishes to draw attention to the views that he expressed at the expert seminar, which are provided in the following paragraphs. These comments are not intended to be comprehensive. A. International standards relevant to combating violence against indigenous women and girls 23. Throughout his work, the Special Rapporteur has heard compelling stories of suffering of indigenous women and girls caused by violence, and inspiring stories of perseverance and of steps to overcome that suffering. 24. Within the international human rights system there exists today a broad constellation of human rights standards relevant to combating violence against women. As women, indigenous women are guaranteed the rights enshrined in numerous international human rights instruments that specifically address women as such, most notably the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women; and, at the regional level, the InterAmerican Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women. Furthermore, as indigenous people, indigenous women are guaranteed enjoyment of the rights enshrined, most notably, in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Although not a treaty, the Declaration represents an authoritative common understanding, at the global level, of the minimum content of the rights of indigenous peoples, upon a foundation of various sources of international human rights law. 25. The existence and general content of these two rights regimes – women’s rights and indigenous peoples’ rights – is relatively well understood within many platforms of discussion, especially within the international human rights system. A question that necessarily comes to the forefront in this context, however, is how, exactly, the human rights guaranteed to indigenous women because of their status as women, and those guaranteed because of their status as indigenous, relate to or interact with one another. 7