A/HRC/38/46 I. Activities 1. The present report covers the activities of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice, from the submission of its previous report (A/HRC/35/29) to April 2018. A. Sessions 2. The Working Group held three sessions in Geneva during the period under review. At its nineteenth session (15–19 May 2017), it held meetings with other special procedure mandate holders, a member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, a member of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), representatives of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and representatives of several civil society organizations. The Working Group also started organizing the handover to the new members and discussed possible future thematic priorities. Jointly with civil society organizations and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, it organized a wellattended public event on strengthening protection networks for women human rights defenders to combat discrimination. 3. At its twentieth session (9–13 October 2017), the experts completed the handover to their successors. The experts met with the new Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral on Sexual Violence in Conflict, organized an informal brainstorming session on the issue of surrogacy with the participation of the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), OHCHR and the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material (see A/HRC/37/60). The Working Group also organized a wellattended meeting with Member States. 4. At its twenty-first session (22–26 January 2018), the Working Group, including the four experts whose terms had begun on 1 November 2017, reviewed its working methods and elaborated the vision for the mandate in the coming years. It met with a former Working Group member, members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, representatives of UN-Women, WHO and UNFPA and OHCHR staff. The Working Group also organized a meeting with Member States and Geneva-based civil society organizations. On 25 January, the International Gender Champions organized an event introducing the new experts to the Geneva international community. B. Country visits 5. The experts visited Samoa from 8 to 18 August 2017 (A/HRC/38/46/Add.1) and Chad from 4 to 14 December 2017 (A/HRC/38/46/Add.2). The Working Group thanks the Governments of those countries for their cooperation before and during the visits. It also thanks the Government of Poland for having invited it to conduct an official visit in 2018. The Working Group currently has 32 pending requests for visits and encourages States to respond positively to those requests. C. Communications and press releases 6. During the period under review, the Working Group addressed communications to Governments, individually or jointly with other mandate holders. The communications concern a wide range of subjects falling within its mandate, including discriminatory legislation and practices, allegations of abuse of women human rights defenders and violations of their rights, gender-based violence and violations of the right to sexual and 3