Vatican condemns violence against women at UN commission on the condition of women.

(March 03, 2006) : While presenting a statement to the 50th session of the Commission on the Status of Women on 2^nd March, the Holy See condemned sexual violence and the exploitation of women. The statement warned that efforts to promote the dignity of women must not be linked to "unsound policies that have handicapped women’s true progress in recent times." The Vatican delegate Marilyn Ann Martone noted signs of progress in some areas but pointed to looming problems in other areas, including the aging of the world's population, which has a greater impact on women, who tend to live longer, and the problems facing migrants, of whom nearly 100 million are female. The most forceful passages of the intervention were reserved for human trafficking. "In some cases there are women and girls who are exploited almost like slaves in their work, and not infrequently in the sex industry," the Vatican delegate observed. "The Holy See again condemns vigorously the sexual violence that frequently has women and girls for its object and encourages the passing of laws that will effectively defend them from such violence," the statement concluded.