norms and traditions, national laws, including customary laws, inconsistent with international human rights norms, harmful traditional practices, and women’s high levels of illiteracy and consequent marginalization and exclusion. Trends such as globalization, market liberalization and privatization had had an impact on women’s enjoyment of their human rights as well, contributing to the changing role of the State, including its decreasing ability to deliver social services. 14. Some participants noted that indigenous, disabled, refugee and ethnic minority women, elderly women and single mothers were among the most vulnerable. Women in poverty or precarious economic situations were increasingly becoming victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation. Migrant women workers were susceptible to multiple forms of discrimination. 15. Equal access to rights, equal opportunities for the enjoyment of rights, and equal treatment in that enjoyment remained to be achieved in areas such as health and health care, education, work and employment, and participation in public life. Widespread discrimination against women persisted with regard to ownership of land, property and inheritance rights and access to economic resources such as credit and agricultural extension services, all of which were among the essential means for women to overcome poverty. Discrimination in marriage, family and nationality laws also persisted. Violence against human rights activists and defenders of women’s rights further inhibited progress. Religious fundamentalism had also often led to a denial of rights to women. 16. There was general agreement that knowledge of rights was an important starting point for improving enjoyment of rights. Restrictive and traditional interpretations and applications of human rights law from a male perspective affected the ways in which women experienced rights or violations thereof. Clarifying the scope and content of human rights from a gender perspective required a new approach on the part, inter alia, of international human rights treaty bodies. It also required that States parties, in their regular reporting to those bodies, include gender-specific information. 17. Human rights education, research and broad-based awareness-raising of women’s human rights were needed, along with efforts to reach illiterate and disadvantaged women. Men also needed to be targeted for increased awareness. The role of non-governmental organizations and civil society was pivotal in the protection and promotion of women’s human rights. 18. At the national level, legislative change was necessary but not sufficient. Constant and critical monitoring of legal provisions was required to determine their impact on women’s enjoyment of their rights. International human rights law and jurisprudence provided guidance and incentives for domestic legislative reform. The impact of, and change brought about by, other measures also needed to be monitored over the long term. 19. Some representatives emphasized that the availability of strong and independent national institutions for promoting the enjoyment of rights, including remedies for violations, was essential for the realization of women’s rights. Such institutions should allow diverse groups of women to share their experience and should thus lead to an enriched understanding of factors that affected the enjoyment of rights. 20. At the international level, the establishment of an international criminal court was viewed favourably by a number of delegations, and there was support expressed for making gender-based persecution and trafficking in women and girls an integral part of the court’s mandate and for ensuring gender expertise and -67-