A/HRC/RES/38/1 Recognizing that the right to work and just and favourable working conditions, and the right to non-discrimination and gender equality, combined with the right to sexual and reproductive health, also requires States to ensure employment with maternity protection and parental leave for workers, including workers in vulnerable situations, as well as protection from sexual harassment in the workplace and the prohibition of discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth or parenthood, Expressing profound concern at the backlash against the progress made by States, international and regional organizations, and civil society, including women’s and community-based organizations, feminist groups, women human rights defenders, trade unions and girls’ and youth-led organizations to respect, protect and fulfil all human rights, and recognizing that these retrogressions can be linked to economic crisis and inequality, retrogressive lobbies and political or religious interpretations that oppose the struggle for women’s and girls’ equal rights, Recognizing the differing needs of girls and women at different ages and stages of their lives, and the various patterns of discrimination that affect their day-to-day reality, Recognizing also that discrimination against women and girls is inherently linked to deep-rooted gender stereotypes, that discriminatory attitudes, behaviours, norms, perceptions, customs and harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation and child, early and forced marriage, have direct negative implications for the status and treatment of women and girls and that gender-biased environments promote impunity and impede the implementation of legislative and normative frameworks that guarantee gender equality and prohibit discrimination against women and girls, Strongly condemning discrimination and gender-based violence against women and girls in all its forms, in digital contexts and offline, in public and private spaces, including harassment, sexual and online harassment, domestic violence, including intimate partner violence, ex-partner violence, stalking and so-called “honour-based” violence, and recognizing that they constitute violations or abuses of women’s and girls’ human rights and are a manifestation of gender inequality and a major impediment to the achievement of women’s economic empowerment, independence and social and economic development, imposing short- and long-term costs on society and individuals, Recognizing the importance of relevant standards of the International Labour Organization relating to the realization of women’s right to work and rights at work that are critical for women’s economic empowerment, and welcoming the work undertaken by the Organization towards the development of a convention and a recommendation on violence and harassment in the workplace, Reaffirming that the full enjoyment of all human rights by women includes their right to have control over and to decide freely and responsibly on matters relating to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health, free of coercion, discrimination and violence, and that equal relationships in matters of sexual relations and reproduction, including full respect for the dignity, integrity and bodily autonomy of the person, require mutual respect, consent and shared responsibility for sexual behaviour and its consequences, Recognizing the major contributions made by civil society, including women’s and community-based organizations, feminist groups, women human rights defenders, trade unions and girls’ and youth-led organizations, to promoting the economic empowerment of women and girls and the fulfilment of their right to decent work and education, and recognizing also the importance of having an open, inclusive and transparent engagement with civil society in the implementation of measures promoting substantive equality in the empowerment of women and girls, 1. Calls upon States: (a) To ratify or accede to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and to consider ratifying or acceding to the Optional Protocol to the Convention as a matter of particular priority; 3