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Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- The present joint general recommendation/general comment should be read in conjunction with the relevant general recommendations and general comments issued by the Committees, in particular general recommendation No. 19 on violence against women, of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and general comment No. 8 on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment and general comment No. 13 on the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence, of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The content of general recommendation No. 14 on female circumcision, of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, is updated by the present joint general recommendation/general comment.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Female genital mutilation, female circumcision or female genital cutting is the practice of partially or wholly removing the external female genitalia or otherwise injuring the female genital organs for non-medical or non-health reasons. In the context of the present joint general recommendation/general comment, it is referred to as female genital mutilation. Female genital mutilation is performed in every region and, within some cultures, is a requirement for marriage and believed to be an effective method of controlling the sexuality of women and girls. It may have various immediate and/or long-term health consequences, including severe pain, shock, infections and complications during childbirth (affecting both the mother and the child), long-term gynaecological problems such as fistula, psychological effects and death. The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund estimate that between 100 million and 140 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to a type of female genital mutilation.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- In some contexts, children are betrothed or married very young and, in many cases, young girls are forced to marry a man who may be decades older. In 2012, the United Nations Children's Fund reported that almost 400 million women between 20 and 49 years of age around the world had been married or had entered into a union before reaching 18 years of age. The Committees have therefore been paying particular attention to cases in which girls have been married against their full, free and informed consent, such as when they have been married too young to be physically and psychologically ready for adult life or to make conscious and informed decisions and thus not ready to consent to marriage. Other examples include cases in which guardians have the legal authority to consent to marriage of girls in accordance with customary or statutory law and in which girls are thus married contrary to the right to freely enter into marriage.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- One of the first steps in combating harmful practices is through prevention. Both Committees have underlined that prevention can be best achieved through a rights-based approach to changing social and cultural norms, empowering women and girls, building the capacity of all relevant professionals who are in regular contact with victims, potential victims and perpetrators of harmful practices at all levels and raising awareness of the causes and consequences of harmful practices, including through dialogue with relevant stakeholders.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 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.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence 2016, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- The Committee is deeply concerned at the challenges faced by many States to achieve equality in the enrolment of girls and boys and keep girls in school beyond primary education. Investment in girls' secondary education, a commitment necessary to comply with articles 2, 6 and 28 of the Convention, also serves to protect girls from child and forced marriage, sexual exploitation and early pregnancy, and contributes significantly towards the future economic potential of girls and their children. Investment should also be made in strategies that promote positive gender relations and social norms; address sexual and gender-based violence, including within schools; and promote positive role models, family support and the economic empowerment of women, to overcome the legal, political, cultural, economic and social barriers that represent barriers for girls. Furthermore, States should recognize that a growing number of boys are not enrolling and are not remaining in school, identify the causes and adopt appropriate measures to support boys' continued participation in education.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- States parties should develop detailed guidelines on standards of reception facilities, assuring adequate space and privacy for children and their families. States should take measures to ensure an adequate standard of living in temporary locations, such as reception facilities and formal and informal camps, ensuring that these are accessible to children and their parents, including persons with disabilities, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. States should ensure that residential facilities do not restrict children’s day-to-day movements unnecessarily, including de facto restriction of movement.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Both Conventions contain specific references to the elimination of harmful practices. States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women are obliged to plan and adopt appropriate legislation, policies and measures and ensure that their implementation responds effectively to specific obstacles, barriers and resistance to the elimination of discrimination that give rise to harmful practices and violence against women (arts. 2 and 3). States parties must, however, be able to demonstrate the direct relevance and appropriateness of the measures that have been taken, ensuring first and foremost that the human rights of women are not violated, and demonstrate whether such measures will achieve the desired effect and result. Furthermore, the obligation of States parties to pursue such targeted policies is of an immediate nature and States parties cannot justify any delay on any grounds, including cultural and religious grounds. States parties are also obliged to take all appropriate measures, including temporary special measures (art. 4 (1)) to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices that are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women (art. 5 (a)) and to ensure that the betrothal and the marriage of a child will have no legal effect (art. 16 (2)).
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The best interests of the child and the protection of the rights of girls and women should always be taken into consideration and the necessary conditions must be in place to enable them to express their point of view and ensure that their opinions are given due weight. Careful consideration should also be given to the potential short-term and long-term impact on children or women of the dissolution of child and/or forced marriages and the return of dowry payments and bride prices.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- The Committees acknowledge that harmful practices affect adult women, both directly and/or owing to the long-term impact of practices to which they were subjected as girls. The present joint general recommendation/general comment therefore further elaborates on the obligations of States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women with regard to the relevant provisions for the elimination of harmful practices that affect the rights of women.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
HIV/AIDS and the rights of the children 2003, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- Initially children were considered to be only marginally affected by the epidemic. However, the international community has discovered that, unfortunately, children are at the heart of the problem. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the most recent trends are alarming: in most parts of the world the majority of new infections are among young people between the ages of 15 and 24, sometimes younger. Women, including young girls, are also increasingly becoming infected. In most regions of the world, the vast majority of infected women do not know that they are infected and may unknowingly infect their children. Consequently, many States have recently registered an increase in their infant and child mortality rates. Adolescents are also vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because their first sexual experience may take place in an environment in which they have no access to proper information and guidance. Children who use drugs are at high risk.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health 2013, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The interventions that should be made available across this continuum include, but are not limited to: essential health prevention and promotion, and curative care, including the prevention of neonatal tetanus, malaria in pregnancy and congenital syphilis; nutritional care; access to sexual and reproductive health education, information and services; health behaviour education (e.g. relating to smoking and substance use); birth preparedness; early recognition and management of complications; safe abortion services and post-abortion care; essential care at childbirth; and prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission, and care and treatment of HIV-infected women and infants. Maternal and newborn care following delivery should ensure no unnecessary separation of the mother from her child.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health 2013, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Prevention and health promotion should address the main health challenges facing children within the community and the country as a whole. These challenges include diseases and other health challenges, such as accidents, violence, substance abuse and psychosocial and mental health problems. Preventive health care should address communicable and non-communicable diseases and incorporate a combination of biomedical, behavioural and structural interventions. Preventing non-communicable diseases should start early in life through the promotion and support of healthy and non-violent lifestyles for pregnant women, their spouses/partners and young children.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health 2013, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Measures for fulfilling States' obligations to ensure access to nutritionally adequate, culturally appropriate and safe food and to combat malnutrition will need to be adopted according to the specific context. Effective direct nutrition interventions for pregnant women include addressing anaemia and folic acid and iodine deficiency and providing calcium supplementation. Prevention and management of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, should be ensured for all women of reproductive age to benefit their health and ensure healthy foetal and infant development.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health 2013, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- The Convention requires States parties to adopt all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of children's right to health without discrimination. National laws should place a statutory obligation on the State to provide the services, programmes, human resources and infrastructure needed to realize children's right to health and provide a statutory entitlement to essential, child sensitive, quality health and related services for pregnant women and children irrespective of their ability to pay. Laws should be reviewed to assess any potential discriminatory effect or impediment to realizing children's right to health and repealed where required. Where necessary, international agencies and donors should provide development aid and technical assistance for such legal reforms.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health 2013, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- Legislation should fulfil a number of additional functions in the realization of children's right to health by defining the scope of the right and recognizing children as rights-holders; clarifying the roles and responsibilities of all duty bearers; clarifying what services children, pregnant women and mothers are entitled to claim; and regulating services and medications to ensure that they are of good quality and cause no harm. States must ensure that adequate legislative and other safeguards exist to protect and promote the work of human rights defenders working on children's right to health.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health 2013, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- The Convention should guide all international activities and programmes of donor and recipient States related directly or indirectly to children's health. It requires partner States to identify the major health problems affecting children, pregnant women and mothers in recipient countries and to address them in accordance with the priorities and principles established by article 24. International cooperation should support State-led health systems and national health plans.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health 2013, para. 114c
- Paragraph text
- [The element of accessibility has four dimensions:] Economic accessibility/affordability: Lack of ability to pay for services, supplies or medicines should not result in the denial of access. The Committee calls on States to abolish user fees and implement health-financing systems that do not discriminate against women and children on the basis of their inability to pay. Risk-pooling mechanisms such as tax and insurance should be implemented on the basis of equitable, means-based contributions;
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The efforts to combat harmful practices notwithstanding, the overall number of women and girls affected remains extremely high and may be increasing, including, for example, in conflict situations and as a result of technological developments such as the widespread use of social media. Through the examination of State parties' reports, the Committees have noted that there is often continued adherence to harmful practices by members of practising communities who have moved to destination countries through migration or to seek asylum. Social norms and cultural beliefs supporting such harmful practices persist and are at times emphasized by a community in an attempt to preserve its cultural identity in a new environment, in particular in destination countries where gender roles provide women and girls with greater personal freedom.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 55e
- 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 the legislation adequately addresses, including by providing the basis for the adoption of temporary special measures, the root causes of harmful practices, including discrimination on the basis of sex, gender, age and other intersecting factors, focuses on the human rights and needs of the victims and fully takes into account the best interests of children and women;
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Many States parties have taken steps to decentralize government power through devolution and delegation, but this should not reduce or negate the obligation to enact legislation that prohibits harmful practices and is applicable throughout their jurisdiction. Safeguards must be put in place to ensure that decentralization or devolution does not lead to discrimination with regard to protection of women and children against harmful practices in different regions and cultural zones. Devolved authorities need to be equipped with the human, financial, technical and other resources necessary to effectively enforce legislation that aims to eliminate harmful practices.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The causes of harmful practices are multidimensional and include stereotyped sex- and gender-based roles, the presumed superiority or inferiority of either of the sexes, attempts to exert control over the bodies and sexuality of women and girls, social inequalities and the prevalence of male-dominated power structures. Efforts to change the practices must address those underlying systemic and structural causes of traditional, re-emerging and emerging harmful practices, empower girls and women and boys and men to contribute to the transformation of traditional cultural attitudes that condone harmful practices, act as agents of such change and strengthen the capacity of communities to support such processes.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 55o
- 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 women and children subjected to harmful practices have equal access to justice, including by addressing legal and practical barriers to initiating legal proceedings, such as the limitation period, and that the perpetrators and those who aid or condone such practices are held accountable;
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Where alternative dispute resolution mechanisms or traditional justice systems are in place, training on human rights and harmful practices should be provided to those responsible for their management. Furthermore, police officers, public prosecutors, judges and other law enforcement officials need training on the implementation of new or existing legislation criminalizing harmful practices to ensure that they are aware of the rights of women and children and are sensitive to the vulnerable status of victims.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 73d
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions:] Conduct specialized awareness and training programmes for health-care providers working with immigrant communities to address the unique health-care needs of children and women who have undergone female genital mutilation or other harmful practices and provide specialized training also for professionals within child welfare services and services focused on the rights of women and the education and police and justice sectors, politicians and media personnel working with migrant girls and women.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Awareness-raising measures should include accurate information from trusted sources about the harm caused by the practices and convincing reasons as to why they should be eliminated. In this respect, the mass media can perform an important function in ensuring new thinking, in particular through access by women and children to information and material aimed at the promotion of their social and moral well-being and physical and mental health, in line with obligations under both Conventions that help to protect them from harmful practices.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- The launching of awareness-raising campaigns can provide an opportunity to initiate public discussions about harmful practices with a view to collectively exploring alternatives that do not cause harm or violate the human rights of women and children and reaching agreement that the social norms underlying and sustaining harmful practices can and should be changed. The collective pride of a community in identifying and adopting new ways to fulfil its core values will ensure the commitment and sustainability of new social norms that do not result in the infliction of harm or violate human rights.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- The most effective efforts are inclusive and engage relevant stakeholders at all levels, especially girls and women from affected communities and boys and men. Moreover, those efforts require the active participation and support of local leaders, including through the allocation of adequate resources. Establishing or strengthening existing partnerships with relevant stakeholders, institutions, organizations and social networks (religious and traditional leaders, practitioners and civil society) can help to build bridges between constituencies.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Women and adolescent girls who have been, or are at risk of being, subjected to harmful practices face significant risks to their sexual and reproductive health, in particular in a context where they already encounter barriers to decision-making on such issues arising from lack of adequate information and services, including adolescent-friendly services. Special attention is therefore needed to ensure that women and adolescents have access to accurate information about sexual and reproductive health and rights and on the impacts of harmful practices, as well as access to adequate and confidential services. Age-appropriate education, which includes science-based information on sexual and reproductive health, contributes to empowering girls and women to make informed decisions and claim their rights. To this end, health-care providers and teachers with adequate knowledge, understanding and skills play a crucial role in conveying the information, preventing harmful practices and identifying and assisting women and girls who are victims of or might be at risk of being subjected to them.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The rights of children with disabilities 2007, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Domestic and road traffic accidents are a major cause of disability in some countries and policies of prevention need to be established and implemented such as the laws on seat belts and traffic safety. Lifestyle issues, such as alcohol and drug abuse during pregnancy, are also preventable causes of disabilities and in some countries the fetal alcohol syndrome presents a major cause for concern. Public education, identification and support for pregnant mothers who may be abusing such substances are just some of the measures that may be taken to prevent such causes of disability among children. Hazardous environment toxins also contribute to the causes of many disabilities. Toxins, such as lead, mercury, asbestos, etc., are commonly found in most countries. Countries should establish and implement policies to prevent dumping of hazardous materials and other means of polluting the environment. Furthermore, strict guidelines and safeguards should also be established to prevent radiation accidents.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2007
Paragraph