A/HRC/35/40 physical or mental disability. The Special Rapporteur has continued to receive information on cases of discrimination and regrets that victims have no legal remedies at their disposal. 124. The plan contains only three activities under “equality and non-discrimination”. One of them involves analysing the current legislation and assessing the need to draft specific legislation that would prohibit discrimination on all grounds. The Special Rapporteur recalls that the international community has been expecting such legislation to be adopted for more than 10 years. Similarly, the plan contains a chapter on gender equality, which deals with five activities aiming merely at the provision of statistics and the promotion of gender equality in the media. The plan fails to provide for the drafting and adoption of a law on gender equality in accordance with international standards. 1. Gender 125. The review of Belarus by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in October 2016 provided an in-depth analysis of the current situation of women’s rights in the country. The Special Rapporteur noted the few positive developments mentioned by the Committee, especially in the legal framework, and the increase of shelters provided to victims of domestic violence and of trafficking. 126. The Committee otherwise reiterated most of their concluding observations adopted after the previous review in 2011. Belarus still has to adopt a law on gender equality or comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, including a clear definition of all forms of discrimination against women. Domestic violence, wage disparities and conditions for women detainees continue to be of concern. Women grow up and live in a society where the perpetuation of gender stereotyping and patriarchy is a State-led process, through school programmes and curricula, employment and social policies, and the statements of leaders. 127. The head of the Central Election Commission, Lidia Yermoshina, who has occupied the same position for the last 20 years, described women having a career and not looking to get married as “cruel, psychologically destroyed, something inhuman”. She added that “a woman not looking to get married is not normal of course”. 32 President Lukashenka declared that “being President is not the business of a woman”.33 128. The judiciary in Belarus is alarmingly not aware of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and generally ineffective when victims complain about violations. 129. The fact that Belarus has yet to adopt legislation on domestic violence and marital rape, despite repeated calls from international observers, testifies to the lack of will to put an end to this phenomenon. Despite the provision of additional shelters, victims of genderbased violence often feel abandoned and do not report acts to the police, owing to their fear of not being listened to and the lack of an effective response from the judiciary. 130. The Special Rapporteur stresses that presidential decree No. 18 of 24 November 1996 gives social services the authority to take minors from their families when they declare the living conditions of the child unsatisfactory, or if the parents are neglecting the child. It does not provide for a dialogue between social workers and parents, nor for a legal definition of parental neglect. As reported to the Special Rapporteur, the decree disproportionately affects women and single mothers. 34 131. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women mentioned the high risk of gender-based violence that is faced by women in prostitution when they are confronted by the police and expressed concern at reports of sexual abuse of women detainees by male prison staff (see CEDAW/C/BLR/CO/8, paras. 26 and 44). The absence of proper counselling and legal support for victims of torture and violence leads to a revictimization of survivors. 32 33 34 18 See www.belarus-votes.org/2016/articles/interview-yermoshina.html. See www.udf.by/news/multi/audio/48146-lukashenko-prezident-zhenschina-kak-to-neochensmotritsya.html. See, for example, www.nash-dom.info/38188; www.vkurier.by/76997; and www.vkurier.by/78781.