A/HRC/40/60 12. The present report is focused on women engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights. References to women in the report also include girls and gender nonconforming persons affected by social constructions of women who promote and protect all types of rights. It builds on the foundational work of previous mandate holders Hina Jilani and Margaret Sekaggya in this area, including the report on the situation of women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues presented to the Human Rights Council in 2011 (A/HRC/16/44 and Corr.1). Although the definition of defenders of women’s human rights includes persons of all genders working on women’s rights and gender issues, the focus of the present report is specifically on women who promote and protect human rights and the ways of building diverse, inclusive and strong movements of women human rights defenders around the world. B. Normative framework 13. The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders sets out the rights of human rights defenders and states that everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels (art. 1). 14. The right to participate in public life, including the promotion and protection of human rights, is contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Both instruments also enshrine the rights of everyone to freedom of expression, opinion, association and assembly. Article 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires States parties to undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the Covenant, while article 3 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states the same in relation to economic, social and cultural rights. Equality before the law is recognized in the former Covenant (art. 26). 15. In its general comment No. 36 (2018) on article 6 of the Covenant, on the right to life, the Human Rights Committee states that the duty to protect the right to life requires States parties to take special measures of protection for persons in situations of vulnerability whose lives have been placed at particular risk by specific threats or preexisting patterns of violence, including human rights defenders. The Committee likewise states that article 6 also reinforces the obligations of States parties under the Covenant and the Optional Protocol to protect individuals against reprisals for promoting and striving to protect and realize human rights, including through cooperation or communication with the Committee, and that States parties must take the necessary measures to respond to death threats and to provide adequate protection to human rights defenders, including the creation and maintenance of a safe and enabling environment for defending human rights. 16. Article 7 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women states that States parties must take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country and, in particular, must ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the right (a) to vote in all elections and public referenda and to be eligible for election to all publicly elected bodies, (b) to participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof and to hold public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government and (c) to participate in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country. 17. In its general recommendation No. 33 (2015) on women’s access to justice, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women states that other factors that make it more difficult for women to gain access to justice include the stigmatization of women fighting for their rights. That human rights defenders and organizations are frequently targeted because of their work, the Committee also states, must be emphasized and their own right to access justice protected (para. 9). In general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19, the Committee states that discrimination against women is inextricably linked to other factors that affect their lives, such as the stigmatization of women who fight for their rights, 4