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Elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child 2007, para. 14.9.h
- Paragraph text
- [The Commission [...] urges Governments [...] to:] [14.9. Violence and discrimination] (h) Eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of son preference, which results in harmful and unethical practices regarding female infanticide and prenatal sex selection, which may have significant repercussions on society as a whole;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2007
Paragraph
Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls 2014, para. 42m
- Paragraph text
- [The Commission urges Governments, at all levels [...] to take the following actions:] [Realizing women's and girls' full enjoyment of all human rights]: Eliminate all harmful practices, including child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, by reviewing, adopting, enacting and enforcing laws and regulations that prohibit such practices, creating awareness around their harmful health consequences and generating social support for the enforcement of these laws;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls 2014, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The Commission welcomes international momentum to address the issue of child, early and forced marriage. The Commission recognizes that child, early and forced marriage is a harmful practice, and notes that its continued prevalence, among other factors, has slowed the achievement of several of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls.
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The girl child 1998, para. e
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments, local authorities, non-governmental organizations and civil society and the United Nations system, as appropriate:] Eliminate traditional and customary practices that constitute son- preference through awareness-raising campaigns and gender training;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 1998
Paragraph
Conclusion On Children At Risk 2007, para. (g) viii
- Paragraph text
- [Recommends that States, UNHCR and other relevant agencies and partners work in close collaboration to prevent children from being put at heightened risk, and respond, as necessary, through the general prevention, response and solution measures listed non-exhaustively below:] Develop child and gender-sensitive national asylum procedures, where feasible, and UNHCR status determination procedures with adapted procedures including relevant evidentiary requirements, prioritized processing of unaccompanied and separated child asylum-seekers, qualified free legal or other representation for unaccompanied and separated children, and consider an age and gender- sensitive application of the 1951 Convention through the recognition of child-specific manifestations and forms of persecution, including under-age recruitment, child trafficking and female genital mutilation;
- Body
- Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- Document type
- ExCom Conclusion
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2007
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 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;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- 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 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
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- In light of articles 3, 6, 12, 19 and 24 (3) of the Convention, States parties should take all effective measures to eliminate all acts and activities which threaten the right to life of adolescents, including honour killings. The Committee strongly urges States parties to develop and implement awareness-raising campaigns, education programmes and legislation aimed at changing prevailing attitudes, and address gender roles and stereotypes that contribute to harmful traditional practices. Further, States parties should facilitate the establishment of multidisciplinary information and advice centres regarding the harmful aspects of some traditional practices, including early marriage and female genital mutilation.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
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.
- 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.
- 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. 20
- Paragraph text
- Child marriage, also referred to as early marriage, is any marriage where at least one of the parties is under 18 years of age. The overwhelming majority of child marriages, both formal and informal, involve girls, although at times their spouses are also under 18 years of age. A child marriage is considered to be a form of forced marriage, given that one and/or both parties have not expressed full, free and informed consent. As a matter of respecting the child's evolving capacities and autonomy in making decisions that affect her or his life, a marriage of a mature, capable child below 18 years of age may be allowed in exceptional circumstances, provided that the child is at least 16 years of age and that such decisions are made by a judge based on legitimate exceptional grounds defined by law and on the evidence of maturity, without deference to culture and tradition.
- 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
- Girls
- 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.
- 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. 22
- Paragraph text
- Child marriage is often accompanied by early and frequent pregnancy and childbirth, resulting in higher than average maternal morbidity and mortality rates. Pregnancy-related deaths are the leading cause of mortality for girls between 15 and 19 years of age, whether married or unmarried, around the world. Infant mortality among the children of very young mothers is higher (sometimes as much as two times higher) than among those of older mothers. In cases of child and/or forced marriage, in particular where the husband is significantly older than the wife, and where girls have limited education, the girls generally have limited decision-making power in relation to their own lives. Child marriage also contributes to higher rates of school dropout, especially among girls, forced exclusion from school and an increased risk of domestic violence, in addition to limiting the enjoyment of the right to freedom of movement.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The right of the child to be heard 2009, para. 120
- Paragraph text
- Much of the violence perpetrated against children goes unchallenged both because certain forms of abusive behaviour are understood by children as accepted practices, and due to the lack of child-friendly reporting mechanisms. For example, they have no one to whom they can report in confidence and safety about experienced maltreatment, such as corporal punishment, genital mutilation or early marriage, and no channel to communicate their general observations to those accountable for implementation of their rights. Thus, effective inclusion of children in protective measures requires that children be informed about their right to be heard and to grow up free from all forms of physical and psychological violence. States parties should oblige all children's institutions to establish easy access to individuals or organizations to which they can report in confidence and safety, including through telephone helplines, and to provide places where children can contribute their experience and views on combating violence against children.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2009
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- The implementation of any holistic strategy necessarily requires the provision of adequate organizational, human, technical and financial resources that are supplemented with appropriate measures and tools, such as regulations, policies, plans and budgets. In addition, States parties are obliged to ensure that an independent monitoring mechanism is in place to track progress in protecting women and children from harmful practices and in realizing their rights.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- 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. 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.
- 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
The right of the child to be heard 2009, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- In particular, the Committee notes with concern that, in some societies, customary attitudes and practices undermine and place severe limitations on the enjoyment of this right. States parties shall take adequate measures to raise awareness and educate the society about the negative impact of such attitudes and practices and to encourage attitudinal changes in order to achieve full implementation of the rights of every child under the Convention.
- 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
- Year
- 2009
Paragraph
Female circumcision 1990, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- Noting with interest the study of the Special Rapporteur on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, as well as the study of the Special Working Group on Traditional Practices,
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 1990
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Given that the requirement to effectively address harmful practices is among the core obligations of States parties under the two Conventions, reservations to the relevant articles, which have the effect of broadly limiting or qualifying the obligations of States parties to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of women and children to live free from harmful practices, are incompatible with the object and purpose of the two Conventions and impermissible pursuant to article 28 (2) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and article 51 (2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- 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 CRC) 2014, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Harmful practices are persistent practices and forms of behaviour that are grounded in discrimination on the basis of, among other things, sex, gender and age, in addition to multiple and/or intersecting forms of discrimination that often involve violence and cause physical and/or psychological harm or suffering. The harm that such practices cause to the victims surpasses the immediate physical and mental consequences and often has the purpose or effect of impairing the recognition, enjoyment and exercise of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and children. There is also a negative impact on their dignity, physical, psychosocial and moral integrity and development, participation, health, education and economic and social status. The practices are therefore reflected in the work of both Committees.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- The regular and comprehensive collection, analysis, dissemination and use of quantitative and qualitative data are crucial to ensuring effective policies, developing appropriate strategies and formulating actions, as well as evaluating impacts, monitoring progress achieved towards the elimination of harmful practices and identifying re-emerging and emerging harmful practices. The availability of data allows for the examination of trends and enables the establishment of the relevant connections between policies and effective programme implementation by State and non-State actors and the corresponding changes in attitudes, forms of behaviour, practices and prevalence rates. Data disaggregated by sex, age, geographical location, socioeconomic status, education level and other key factors are central to the identification of high-risk and disadvantaged groups of women and children, which will guide policy formulation and action to address harmful practices.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- 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 CRC) 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.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- 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. 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;
- 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.
- 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. 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;
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
The right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence 2011, para. 29h
- Paragraph text
- [Harmful practices. These include, but are not limited to:] Uvulectomy and teeth extraction.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence 2011, para. 29b
- Paragraph text
- [Harmful practices. These include, but are not limited to:] Female genital mutilation;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph