A/HRC/41/33 Discrimination against Women, also come into play. All these rights are inextricably interrelated. 12. Women’s deprivation of liberty is a significant concern around the world and severely infringes their human rights. Against the backdrop of unequal power dynamics and systemic discrimination, women are deprived of their liberty, mostly arbitrarily and in a discriminatory fashion, as a practice in violation of the law and human rights standards, and this is often characterized by impunity. Depriving women of liberty also imposes great costs on society: not just the monetary costs of maintaining structures or institutions of confinement, but more importantly the human costs of missed opportunities and contributions and often intergenerational harm and negative impacts on families and communities. 13. Not only the causes but also the consequences of deprivation of liberty for women are gendered, because they experience their confinement in specific ways and are often at risk of heightened gender-based discrimination, stigma and violence. How women experience this deprivation will also differ, not only as a result of gender dynamics but also because of characteristics, such as age, (dis)ability, race or ethnicity or socioeconomic status, that combine to produce distinct forms of discrimination and vulnerability. 14. Discrimination against women with regard to the conditions of deprivation of liberty is a topic of great importance and one that has been carefully studied by several other special procedures mandate holders.7 In order to build on that work, in the present report the Working Group focuses on the underlying causes that lead to confinement occurring, rather than the conditions in which women are confined or the consequences thereof. 15. In examining the various contexts of deprivation of liberty, it emerged that there were common underlying causes or themes that were relevant in all situations in which women are found in forced confinement. Those causes are gendered social norms and stereotypes, economic deprivation and experiences of violence and conflict. The rest of the report is organized in a manner that illustrates each of those underlying causes. It must be noted, however, that they are interrelated and depict the intertwined and reinforcing manifestations of the discrimination that women face across the life cycle. 16. The causes of deprivation of liberty do not affect all women or all groups of women equally. Within every society and in every State, there are certain groups of women who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, many of whom are subject to particularly damaging stereotypes and/or are more likely to be confronted with violence or conflict, poverty and economic marginalization, and who are thus at higher risk of being deprived of their liberty. In the report, due consideration is given to those factors in relation to the different themes and contexts discussed. B. Discriminatory social norms and gender stereotypes 17. Whereas under article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, States have clear obligations to commit to the elimination of prejudices and all practices which are based on stereotyped notions of the proper roles and places for men and women, such prejudices and stereotypes persist around the world and are all too frequently enshrined in law and in practice. As illustrated by the Working Group in previous reports, gender stereotyping undermines the equality of women and the realization of their human rights in all aspects of their lives. 8 It thus comes as no surprise that such stereotyping also plays an important role in depriving women of their liberty in a disproportionate or discriminatory manner. 18. The persistence of gender stereotypes and patriarchal norms is visible in the underrepresentation of women in decision-making positions around the world, including in the organs of State that play a role in women’s deprivation of liberty. Legislatures, the 7 8 See, for example, A/68/340, A/HRC/30/36 and A/HRC/40/54. See, for example, A/HRC/23/50, A/HRC/26/39/Add.2, A/HRC/29/40, A/HRC/32/44 and A/HRC/35/29/Add.1 5