Early human rights law enacted by the United Nations is relevant to sexual assault. The International Bill of Human Rights consists of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, and it’s implementing covenants, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which entered into force in 1976. Also relevant is the Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.  While these documents do not explicitly address sexual assault, they articulate a state's duty to protect fundamental human rights that are commonly violated in sexual assault cases. Those rights include the right to life, the right to physical and mental integrity, the right to equal protection of the laws and the right to be free from discrimination.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, entered into force in 1981, also does not explicitly include language on violence against women or domestic violence but guarantees the human rights listed above. The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is charged with monitoring implementation of the Convention.  In 1992, CEDAW adopted General Recommendation Number 19, which addresses the Women's Convention's silence on violence and states that gender-based violence is a "form of discrimination which seriously inhibits women's ability to enjoy rights and freedoms on a basis of equality with men." General Recommendation No. 19, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, U.N. Doc A/47/38 (1992). 

The Commission on Human Rights in Resolution 2003/45 on Elimination of Violence Against Women welcomes the Special Rapporteur's 2003 report, condemns all acts of violence against women, and affirms that violence against women constituted a violation of women's human rights. The Commission specifically condemns battering and stresses that "all forms of violence against women occur within the context of de jure and de facto discrimination against women and the lower status accorded to women in society and are exacerbated by the obstacles women often face in seeking remedies from the State." In paragraphs eleven and twelve, the Commission reminds governments of their obligations under the Women's Convention and urges States that have not yet done so to ratify and accede to the Women's Convention and its Optional Protocol. In paragraph fourteen, the Commission stresses that governments "have an affirmative duty to promote and protect the human rights of women and girls and must exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and punish acts of all forms of violence against women and girls."