CEDAW/C/GC/40 (i) Reach parity among university professors and introduce “women, law and leadership” as an academic discipline; (j) Address, including through temporary special measures, gender and intersecting disparities in all education fields by ensuring that girls and women in all their diversity have the same opportunities as boys and men to access and benefit from quality education at all levels, in particular in higher education and disciplines serving as career paths to decision-making positions; (k) Eliminate school dropout among girls by addressing its root causes, including poverty, school fees, child labour, child marriage and early pregnancy, and ensure a safe school environment and adequate sanitary facilities; (l) Provide inclusive education for women and girls with disabilities at all levels of education and all sectors and combat all other forms of discrimination in the education system; (m) Overcome the gender digital divide, including through access to free/affordable internet, integrating digital literacy at all levels of education, developing awareness-raising measures to dismantle attitudes preventing women’s access to internet and mobile devices, providing subsidies to facilitate women’s and girls’ access to mobile devices and data plans and offering access to lifelong learning on digital literacy; (n) Ensure the radical inclusion of girls to reach parity in courses of study in fields traditionally associated with and dominated by men and boys, in particular in STEM, and eliminate cases of gender bias, job segregation and harassment in such fields, including by investing heavily in awareness-raising initiatives and career guidance to ensure an understanding in society that these fields are equally relevant to women and girls; integrating age-appropriate and accessible foundations and specialization possibilities in STEM in school curricula at all levels, including early childhood education; breaking disciplinary silos in STEM education; adopting temporary special measures to reach parity in STEM studies and careers, including financial subsidies to cover any extra costs of STEM education; and lifting mobility barriers and supporting young women’s employment and a dynamic pipeline, including through cooperation with the private sector, technical and vocational education and training and entrepreneurship in these fields. 6. Freedom from gender-based violence against women and harassment 36. Gender-based violence against women is a form of discrimination directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately. 42 It seriously inhibits women’s ability to enjoy rights and freedoms on equal basis with men. In its general recommendation No. 35 (2017), the Committee defines gender based violence against women as taking multiple forms, including acts or omissions intended or likely to cause or result in death or physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, threats of such acts, harassment, coercion and arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Such violence may occur in all spheres of human interaction, whether public or private, including in the contexts of the family, the community, public spaces, the workplace, leisure, politics, sport, health services and educational settings. It can also occur online and in other digital environments and also takes the shape of structural, emotional and economic violence. It also often targets women human rights defenders, politicians, activists and journalists. The prohibition of gender-based violence against women has further evolved into a __________________ 42 16/29 General recommendation No. 19 (1992) on violence against women. 24-20036