A/HRC/41/19 Discrimination against Women affirms that the obligations of States parties do not cease in periods of armed conflict or in states of emergency resulting from political events or natural disasters. Therefore, States must continue to respect, protect and fulfil women’s right to equality. In its general recommendation No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations (para. 57 (d)), the Committee urges States to provide protection and assistance for internally displaced and refugee women and girls, including by safeguarding them from gender-based violence, including forced and child marriage, and to ensure education and income-generation and skills training activities are available. Moreover, in its general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 (para. 24), the Committee reiterates that States have a duty to take all appropriate measures to prevent, as well as to investigate, prosecute, punish and provide reparations for, acts of or omissions by non-State actors that result in gender-based violence against women. 6. As the Committee goes on to mention in the same general recommendation (para. 25), both international humanitarian law and human rights law have recognized certain direct obligations of non-State actors in specific circumstances, including as parties to an armed conflict. International humanitarian law, which applies only in situations of armed conflict, contains a number of relevant legal obligations drawn from the Geneva Conventions relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts, the protocols additional thereto and customary international humanitarian law. As a minimum, States – whether or not they are parties to the conflict – have a duty to provide protection to girls and women against violence, sexual assault and forced prostitution and to provide special care to pregnant women and mothers of young children, including in relation to food, clothing, medical assistance, evacuation and transportation. 6 III. Causes of child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian settings 7. Child, early and forced marriage occurs in many forms and is linked to varied and complex factors (A/HRC/26/22, paras. 17–20). Research and reports suggest that, in humanitarian settings, the causes of child, early and forced marriage specifically, and sexual exploitation and abuse more broadly, include increased violence and protectionrelated concerns, economic insecurity and poverty. Common to all causes are underlying and pre-existing gender inequality, gender-based discrimination, harmful gender stereotypes, beliefs and cultural norms. Additionally, inequalities in marriage and family relations affect women’s and girls’ experiences when they are coerced into marriage. 1. Insecurity, violence and protection concerns 8. In times of humanitarian crisis, the breakdown of family, social and legal networks linked to real or perceived risks of sexual violence and the consequent “damage to family honour” underpin families’ decisions to marry girls at an early age. Fear of sexual violence against women and girls has been found to be a major concern and a reason for families to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere, and an incentive to marry off their daughters at a young age in the belief that marriage will protect them. 7 Research on sexual violence in conflict-affected settings found an estimated prevalence of sexual violence among refugees and displaced persons in complex humanitarian emergencies of 21.4 per cent, suggesting 6 7 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, arts. 16–18, 21–23, 38, 50, 89, 91 and 127; Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts, arts. 8 (a), 70 (1) and 76 (2); rule 134 of the Customary IHL Database of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Maureen Murphy and others, “Evidence brief: what works to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls in humanitarian settings?”, (Washington DC: George Washington University and London: International Rescue Committee, 2016). 3