Expresses deep concern about the pervasiveness of gender-based violence, in particular violence against women and girls, and reiterates the need to further intensify efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls and harmful practices, including child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, and recognizes that violence against women and girls is one of the obstacles to achieving the empowerment of women and that women's poverty and lack of political, social and economic empowerment, as well as their marginalization, may result from their exclusion from social policies for and the benefits of sustainable development and can place them at increased risk of violence;