A/HRC/44/52/Add.2 III. State response and measures to address violence against women A. Incorporation and implementation of the international framework on violence against women 13. Ecuador is a State party to all the international human rights instruments,3 including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which it ratified in 1981, together with the Optional Protocol thereto, which it ratified in 2002. At the regional level, Ecuador is party to the American Convention on Human Rights, recognizes the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and in 1995, ratified a number of additional instruments, including the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (Belém do Pará Convention). 14. In accordance with article 11 (3) of the Constitution, international treaties ratified by Ecuador are directly applicable in national courts, and can be directly enforced by civil, administrative or judicial authorities, even in the absence of national legislation. However, this does not always apply in practice, as the lack of full harmonization of the relevant laws with international human rights standards, combined with implementation gaps in almost all social policies related to women’s rights and the elimination of violence against women are hampering progress in this regard. There is also a lack of specific training for judges, prosecutors, lawyers, police officers and civil servants on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and on the Belém do Pará Convention. Education on the aforementioned legal instruments is essential to ensure the direct application of international standards. 15. In October 2020, Ecuador is scheduled to present its tenth periodic report at the seventy-seventh session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The Special Rapporteur therefore hopes that the recommendations outlined in the present report, combined with those provided by the Committee, will assist the Government in its efforts to eliminate discrimination and violence against women. B. Constitutional, legislative and policy framework 16. The Constitution of 2008 reflects the principles of human rights and recognizes personal integrity as part of the right to freedom. It contains many progressive provisions that guarantee non-discrimination as a fundamental right, and outlines steps towards the elimination of gender-based discrimination. It notes that the right to personal integrity includes physical, psychological, moral and sexual integrity, and establishes the obligation to adopt measures to prevent and punish violence, especially against women, children and adolescents. Violence includes slavery and sexual exploitation, servitude, trafficking and trafficking in human beings in all its forms (art. 66). The obligation to have special and expedited procedures for the prosecution and punishment of violence is also provided for (art. 81). Article 19 specifically prohibits advertising that induces violence, discrimination, sexism and other expressions that threaten rights. 3 4 Ecuador has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.