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Equality in marriage and family relations 1994, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Some countries provide for different ages for marriage for men and women. As such provisions assume incorrectly that women have a different rate of intellectual development from men, or that their stage of physical and intellectual development at marriage is immaterial, these provisions should be abolished. In other countries, the betrothal of girls or undertakings by family members on their behalf is permitted. Such measures contravene not only the Convention, but also a woman's right freely to choose her partner.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 1994
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 57b
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties:] Address the specific risks and particular needs of different groups of internally displaced and refugee women who are subjected to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including women with disabilities, older women, girls, widows, women who head households, pregnant women, women living with HIV/AIDS, rural women, indigenous women, women belonging to ethnic, national, sexual or religious minorities, and women human rights defenders;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The total breakdown of State public and service provision infrastructure is one of the major and direct consequences of armed conflict, resulting in the lack of delivery of essential services to the population. In such situations, women and girls are at the front line of suffering, bearing the brunt of the socioeconomic dimensions of the conflict. In conflict-affected areas, schools are closed owing to insecurity, occupied by State and non-State armed groups or destroyed, all of which impede girls' access to school. Other factors preventing girls' access to education include targeted attacks and threats against them and their teachers by non-State actors, in addition to the additional caregiving and household responsibilities that they are obliged to assume.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 55f
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions adopt or amend legislation with a view to effectively addressing and eliminating harmful practices. In doing so, they should ensure:] That a minimum legal age of marriage for girls and boys, with or without parental consent, is established at 18 years. When a marriage at an earlier age is allowed in exceptional circumstances, the absolute minimum age must not be below 16 years, the grounds for obtaining permission must be legitimate and strictly defined by law and the marriage must be permitted only by a court of law upon the full, free and informed consent of the child or both children, who must appear in person before the court;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Article 16 provides for equality for women in marriage and family relations, which is something that many rural women do not enjoy owing to discriminatory social norms, practices and laws, plural justice systems where they exist, or the lack of enforcement of relevant laws. Girls from rural communities are at special risk of child and/or forced marriage and early pregnancy. Rural women are also disproportionately affected by polygamy, which severely undermines equality in marriage and family relations.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39e
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] That rural health-care facilities have adequate water and sanitation services;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The Committee also recommends that States parties take the following measures in the areas of prevention, protection, prosecution and punishment, redress, data collection and monitoring and international cooperation in order to accelerate elimination of gender-based violence against women. All measures should be implemented with an approach centred around the victim/survivor, acknowledging women as right holders and promoting their agency and autonomy, including the evolving capacity of girls, from childhood to adolescence. In addition, the measures should be designed and implemented with the participation of women, taking into account the particular situation of women affected by intersecting forms of discrimination.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 35b
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following measures with regard to international cooperation to combat gender-based violence against women:] Prioritize the implementation of the relevant Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goals 5, to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls, and Goal 16, to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels; and support national plans to implement all the Goals in a gender-responsive manner, in accordance with the agreed conclusions of the sixtieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women on women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development, enabling meaningful participation of civil society and women’s organizations in the implementation of the Goals and the follow-up processes, and enhance international support and cooperation for knowledge-sharing and effective and targeted capacity-building.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 69e
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties:] Ensure that disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes specifically target female combatants and women and girls associated with armed groups as beneficiaries and that barriers to their equitable participation are addressed; and ensure that psychosocial and other support services are provided to them;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39h
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] The gender-responsive and culturally responsive training of community health workers and traditional birth attendants, the provision of mobile clinics providing affordable health services in remote rural areas, and enhanced health education for rural communities, including education on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of both women and men;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 57i
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties:] Ensure that all situations of massive influxes of refugee and displaced populations, including women and girls, are adequately addressed and that protection and assistance needs are not impeded by a lack of clarity in the mandates of international agencies or resource constraints.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 50c
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should institute gender-sensitive procedural safeguards in asylum procedures to ensure that women asylum seekers are able to present their cases on the basis of equality and non-discrimination. States parties should ensure:] That women asylum seekers have access to competent legal representation in advance of the initial asylum interview. Where necessary, they should be afforded legal assistance free of charge. Unaccompanied and separated girls must in all cases be assigned a qualified legal representative and a guardian to assist them through the asylum procedure and ensure respect for their best interests;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 63m
- Paragraph text
- [In the light of the foregoing, the Committee recommends that States parties that have not already done so:] Take measures to achieve the timely registration of all births and, in this regard, take measures to raise awareness, especially in rural and remote areas of their respective territories, of the importance of registering births to ensure that all children are registered and that girls benefit from the same rights as boys.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Women’s access to justice 2015, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The right to access to justice for women is essential to the realization of all the rights protected under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It is a fundamental element of the rule of law and good governance, together with the independence, impartiality, integrity and credibility of the judiciary, the fight against impunity and corruption, and the equal participation of women in the judiciary and other law implementation mechanisms. The right to access to justice is multidimensional. It encompasses justiciability, availability, accessibility, good quality, the provision of remedies for victims and the accountability of justice systems. For the purposes of the present general recommendation, all references to "women" should be understood to include women and girls, unless otherwise specifically noted.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- In line with general recommendation No. 31 (2014) on harmful practices, States parties should eliminate harmful practices, including child and/or forced marriage, female genital mutilation and the inheritance of ancestral debt, which negatively affect the health, well-being and dignity of rural women and girls. They should eliminate discriminatory stereotypes, including those that compromise the equal rights of rural women to land, water and other natural resources. In this regard, States parties should adopt a range of measures, including outreach and support programmes, awareness-raising and media campaigns, in collaboration with traditional leaders and civil society, to eliminate harmful practices and stereotypes.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Another means of encouraging the empowerment of women and girls is by building their social assets. This can be facilitated through the creation of safe spaces where girls and women can connect with peers, mentors, teachers and community leaders and express themselves, speak out, articulate their aspirations and concerns and participate in decisions affecting their lives. This can help them to develop self-esteem and self-efficacy, communication, negotiation and problem-solving skills and awareness of their rights and can be particularly important for migrant girls. Given that men have traditionally held positions of power and influence at all levels, their engagement is crucial to ensuring that children and women have the support and committed engagement of their families, communities, civil society and policymakers.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- ICT (including radio, television, mobile phones, computers and the Internet) plays an important role in empowering rural women and girls by connecting them to the broader world and providing easy access to information and education. Various forms of technology can meet a diversity of needs, from joining online communities to taking advantage of distance learning. However, rural women and girls are disproportionately affected by gender gaps in access to ICT, which is an important dimension of the digital divide. For rural women and girls, poverty, geographic isolation, language barriers, a lack of computer literacy and discriminatory gender stereotypes can all hamper access to ICT.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 63l
- Paragraph text
- [In the light of the foregoing, the Committee recommends that States parties that have not already done so:] Implement effective measures to ensure that women and girls have equal access to identity documentation, including proof of nationality;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women 2014, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Without status as nationals or citizens, stateless women and girls are often marginalized, deprived of the right to vote or stand for public office and may be denied access to public benefits, a choice of residence and free movement, in addition to access to various rights and benefits flowing from status as a national, including rights to education, health care, property or employment.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 81b
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Ensure that awareness-raising programmes provide accurate information and clear and unified messages from trusted sources about the negative impact of harmful practices on women, children, in particular girls, their families and society at large. Such programmes should include social media, the Internet and community communication and dissemination tools;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Women’s access to justice 2015, para. 25c
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties:] Take measures to avoid the marginalization of girls owing to conflicts and disempowerment within their families and the resulting lack of support for their rights, and abolish rules and practices that require parental or spousal authorization for access to services such as education and health, including sexual and reproductive health, as well as to legal services and justice systems;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 61a
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties:] Ensure that measures to prevent statelessness are applied to all women and girls and address populations that are particularly susceptible to being rendered stateless by conflict, such as female internally displaced persons, refugees, asylum seekers and trafficked persons;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 61d
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties:] Ensure individual documentation, including in post-conflict migration flows, of internally displaced women, refugee and asylum-seeking women and separated and unaccompanied girls, and ensure the timely and equal registration of all births, marriages and divorces.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions ensure that any efforts undertaken to tackle harmful practices and to challenge and change underlying social norms are holistic, community based and founded on a rights-based approach that includes the active participation of all relevant stakeholders, especially women and girls.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39d
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] The systematic and regular monitoring of the health and nutritional status of pregnant women and new mothers, especially adolescent mothers, and their infants. In case of malnutrition or lack of access to clean water, extra food rations and drinking water should be provided systematically throughout pregnancy and lactation;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 30c
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following preventive measures:] Develop and implement effective measures to make public spaces safe for and accessible to all women and girls, including by promoting and supporting community-based measures adopted with the participation of women’s groups. Measures should include ensuring adequate physical infrastructure, including lighting, in urban and rural settings, in particular in and around schools;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Women and health 1999, para. 12b
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should report on their understanding of how policies and measures on health care address the health rights of women from the perspective of women's needs and interests and how it addresses distinctive features and factors that differ for women in comparison to men, such as:] Socio-economic factors that vary for women in general and some groups of women in particular. For example, unequal power relationships between women and men in the home and workplace may negatively affect women's nutrition and health. They may also be exposed to different forms of violence which can affect their health. Girl children and adolescent girls are often vulnerable to sexual abuse by older men and family members, placing them at risk of physical and psychological harm and unwanted and early pregnancy. Some cultural or traditional practices such as female genital mutilation also carry a high risk of death and disability;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 1999
Paragraph
Women and health 1999, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- While biological differences between women and men may lead to differences in health status, there are societal factors that are determinative of the health status of women and men and can vary among women themselves. For that reason, special attention should be given to the health needs and rights of women belonging to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, such as migrant women, refugee and internally displaced women, the girl child and older women, women in prostitution, indigenous women and women with physical or mental disabilities.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 1999
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- In addition to the heightened risks faced by internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum seekers, conflict can also be both a cause and a consequence of statelessness, rendering women and girls particularly vulnerable to various forms of abuse in both the private and public domains. Statelessness can arise when a woman's experience of conflict intersects with discrimination with regard to nationality rights, such as laws that require women to change nationality upon marriage or its dissolution or that deny them the ability to pass on their nationality.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Stateless women and girls face heightened risks of abuse in times of conflict because they do not enjoy the protection that flows from citizenship, including consular assistance, and also because many are undocumented and/or belong to ethnic, religious or linguistic minority populations. Statelessness also results in the widespread denial of fundamental human rights and freedoms in post-conflict periods. For example, women may be denied access to health care, employment and other socioeconomic and cultural rights as Governments restrict services to nationals in times of increased resource constraints. Women deprived of a nationality are also often excluded from political processes and from participating in the new government and governance of their country, in violation of articles 7 and 8 of the Convention.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph