E/1999/27 E/CN.6/1999/10 (d) methods; Support the development and widespread use of male contraceptive (e) Educate women and men, particularly young people, with a view to encouraging men to accept their responsibilities in matters related to sexuality, reproduction and child-rearing and to promoting equal relationships between women and men; (f) Enhance women’s ability and knowledge, and empower them to make informed choices, to prevent unwanted pregnancies; (g) Work with the media and other sectors to encourage the development of positive attitudes about major transitions in women’s and girls’ reproductive lives, such as the onset of menstruation and menopause, and provide appropriate support, where needed, for women undergoing these transitions; (h) Eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation, and other harmful traditional and customary practices affecting the health of women and girls, since such practices constitute a definite form of violence against women and girls and a serious form of violation of their human rights, including through development of appropriate policies and enactment and/or reinforcement of legislation, and ensure development of appropriate tools of education and advocacy and adopt legislation outlawing their practice by medical personnel; (i) Take all necessary measures to prevent all harmful practices, such as early marriages, forced marriages and threats to women’s right to life. 3. HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and other infectious diseases (a) Support public education and advocacy and secure the highest level of political commitment to the prevention of and research into sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, their care, treatment and the mitigation of their impact, including through the provision of social services and support, together with poverty alleviation; (b) Increase prevention measures to reduce the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic worldwide and sexually transmitted diseases among the groups most heavily at risk, in particular young people, including through education and awareness-raising campaigns and improved access to high-quality condoms and improved accessibility to anti-retroviral therapy to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and treatment, care and support for HIV/AIDS-related illnesses; (c) Enact laws and take measures to eliminate sexual violence against women and girls, which is one of the causes of HIV/AIDS infection and other sexually transmitted diseases, and review and enact laws and combat practices, as appropriate, that may contribute to women’s susceptibility to these infections, including enacting legislation against those sociocultural practices that contribute to AIDS, and implement legislation, policies and practices to protect women, adolescents and young girls from discrimination related to HIV/AIDS; (d) Eliminate the stigmatization and social exclusion that surround HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and other infectious diseases such as leprosy and filariasis, and lead to under-detection, lack of treatment and violence, especially for women, so that infected women who reveal their HIV status are protected from violence, stigmatization and other negative consequences; 14