A/HRC/40/46 Shirshari family were found in a forest south of Surman. The two boys and a girl were aged between 7 and 12 at the time of their abduction in December 2015. The exact causes of death have yet to be established. Support to victims 29. UNSMIL issued monthly reports on civilian casualties and unlawful killings in Libya and held regular briefings with the international community. UNSMIL/OHCHR supported victims and their families, providing advice and advocating for remedies with government officials, de facto authorities and armed groups at all levels. It also supported civil society working on protection cases, through direct cooperation and capacity-building. 30. UNSMIL/OHCHR regularly received requests for medical care and mental health support for victims of human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, and referred individual cases of concern, where possible, to appropriate organizations. From December 2017 to April 2018, UNSMIL supported an OHCHR-funded project managed by Tunisian organizations for the provision of mental health support, including psychosocial support sessions and direct assistance for 14 Libyan survivors of torture and violence. IV. Women’s rights 31. Discrimination against women persisted in both law and practice, particularly in matters related to marriage, divorce, inheritance and nationality. Armed groups in control of land borders and airports subjected women to travel restrictions and intimidation, requiring them to travel with a male “guardian”. In 2018, UNSMIL/OHCHR received reports of intimidation, including social media attacks, against women activists – including those living abroad – for calling for equal rights. UNSMIL/OHCHR also documented cases of women’s rights defenders and other women stopped and harassed at checkpoints by members of armed groups for not wearing a veil. The control exercised by armed groups, including those inspired by Rabee al-Madkhali, a Saudi salafist, and the general climate of lawlessness disproportionally affected women, restricting their freedom of movement, participation in the public sphere, and choice of dress and behaviour. 32. Women were held in prolonged arbitrary detention for political and social reasons as well as on the basis of criminal accusations, including in facilities without female guards, exposing them to sexual abuse and exploitation. UNSMIL/OHCHR documented allegations of torture and ill-treatment of women detainees, including of a sexual nature, at the Jdeida women’s prison and Al-Jawiya prison (nominally under the Ministry of Justice), the Mitiga detention facility (under the Special Deterrence Force), the Central Security/Abu Salim detention facility and other places of detention (nominally under the control of the Ministry of the Interior). Nearly 30 foreign women arrested for being family members of alleged terrorists or having been held in Sirte during the military operation against ISIL remained held at the Al-Jawiya prison in Misrata without charge or trial since their capture by armed groups in November/December 2016. 33. In 2018, OHCHR/UNSMIL collected accounts of migrant women and girls who had been raped and otherwise sexually abused by State and non-State actors, either during their journeys through Libya or in both official and unofficial migrant detention centres. Victims described being taken away by armed men from accommodations and cells shared with others and being raped repeatedly by multiple perpetrators. Those who tried to resist would be beaten, threatened at gunpoint and denied food and water. Some migrant women and girls travelling alone were forced into prostitution at so-called “connection houses” for periods reaching up to 16 months. 34. Women and girls, including victims of forced prostitution and rape, accused of engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage were subjected to invasive “virginity tests” by judicial order, regardless of their consent. Victims of rape were unable to terminate unwanted pregnancies as abortion is criminalized in all circumstances in Libya. 6