Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol thereto: situation of women and girls with disabilities A/RES/72/162 12. Also calls upon States to develop policies and measures that promote access to education for persons with disabilities and to strengthen education systems that are fully inclusive of girls with disabilities to reduce the risk of social exclusion and poverty, which could have long-term implications for their capacity and opportunity to participate in labour markets; 13. Further calls upon States to implement effective measures to protect the right of women with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others in the public and private sectors, to ensure that labour markets and work environments are open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities, and in this regard to take positive measures to increase the employment opportunities of women with disabilities and eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability with regard to all matters concerning all forms of employment, including recruitment, retention and promotion, and the provision of accessible, safe, secure and healthy working conditions, in consultation with relevant national mechanisms and organizations of persons with disabilities; 14. Calls upon States to take effective action to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse, including sexual violence and abuse, against women and girls with disabilities without delay, including by: (a) Adopting, strengthening and implementing legislation on violence against women to ensure that it expressly prohibits violence and provides adequate protection for women and girls with disabilities against all forms of violence, including violence perpetrated by support providers, health-care providers and others in positions of authority, as well as domestic violence, including intimate partner violence, and ends impunity and adequately penalizes offences involving physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence occurring in families, in institutions and carried out by support providers; (b) Taking all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination on the basis of gender and/or impairment by any person, organization or private enterprise, ensuring access to justice and accountability mechanisms and remedies for the effective implementation and enforcement of laws aimed at preventing and eliminating discrimination and violence against women and girls with disabilities, taking into account the multiple, intersecting and aggravating forms of discrimination, and protecting victims and witnesses from violence while investigating, prosecuting and punishing those responsible, including private actors, and providing access to redress and reparations where human rights violations or abuses occur; (c) Ensuring that services and programmes designed to protect women and girls from violence are accessible to women and girls with disabilities, in particular those living in institutionalized settings, who are the most vulnerable to violence, including by ensuring that facilities are accessible and mainstreaming disability in materials and training courses addressed at professionals working on violence against women; (d) Ensuring that women and girls with disabilities and their families have access to a range of support services, information in accessible formats and education on how to prevent, recognize and report instances of exploitation, violence and abuse against women and girls with disabilities, as well as how to ensure that children with disabilities have a safe and supportive family environment; 15. Also calls upon States to accelerate efforts to eliminate harmful practices, including child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, and t o repeal legislation and regulatory provisions that allow the administration of forced medical procedures such as forced sterilization, forced abortion and forced contraception and 17-22971 5/7