A/HRC/38/47 upon all States to further develop preventive measures and remedies. In 2017, the Human Rights Council, in its resolution 34/7, reaffirmed this call, noting that abuses of the right to privacy in the digital age may affect all individuals, including with particular effects on women, as well as children and persons in vulnerable situations, or marginalized groups. 2. International human rights law applicable to online violence against women and girls (a) The right to live free from gender-based violence 50. International and regional human rights instruments set out States’ obligations to combat all forms of discrimination against women, including online violence against women, and to protect their human rights, including every woman’s right to be free from violence. The core women’s human right instruments, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, predate the development of the Internet and ICT, and consequently the emerging forms of online violence against women. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has been progressively analysed by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which has addressed ICT-facilitated violence against women in several general recommendations and concluding observations. In its general recommendation No. 33 (2015) on women’s access to justice, it recognized the important role of digital spaces and ICT for women’s empowerment. Furthermore, in its general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, the Committee made clear that the Convention was fully applicable to technology-mediated environments, such as the Internet and digital spaces, as settings where contemporary forms of violence against women and girls were frequently committed in their redefined form. In addition, it highlighted the important role of ICT in transforming social and cultural stereotypes about women, as well as its potential in ensuring effectiveness and efficiency of women in their access to justice (see general recommendation No. 34 (2016) on the rights of rural women).30 In its general recommendation No. 36 (2017) on the right of girls and women to education, the Committee also recognized how girls are affected by cyberbullying, particularly in relation to their right to education. Recognizing the potential that ICT and social media have to increase access to information and education, States should develop and implement educational programmes, including comprehensive women’s human rights education. 51. At the regional level, in the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, the States members of the Council clearly request States to encourage the private sector, with due respect for freedom of expression, to participate in the implementation of policies aimed at preventing violence against women and to promote educational programmes for users on ways to address abusive online content of a sexual or violent nature. (b) The right to live free from gender-based violence and the right to freedom of expression and access to information 52. Freedom of expression, enshrined in article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right of everyone “to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his/her choice”, is now exercised in the digital space with the use of ICT and the Internet, including the right to seek, receive and impart information freely on the Internet without censorship or other interference. Freedom of expression is not, however, an absolute right, given that it cannot be invoked to justify language or other forms of expression designed to incite discrimination, hostility or violence (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 20 (2)), including online violence against women. Legislation intended to protect 30 See also Carly Nyst, “Technology-related violence against women: Recent legislative trends”, Association for Progressive Communications, May 2014. 11