A/HRC/20/5 victimization-oriented approach to one of empowerment, including education, health and gender equality requirements within the scope of their recommendations, as part of the due diligence obligation of the State to prevent violence against women. 5 II. International legal framework and women and girls with disabilities 6. International standards provide legal protection from violence for all persons without discrimination. The principle of equality and non-discrimination on the basis of, inter alia, sex or other status, is enshrined in identical provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.6 Articles 7, 9 and 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provide for the right to physical and moral integrity and the right to liberty and security of the person. In its general comment No. 16 on the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social, and cultural rights, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognized that gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that inhibits the ability to enjoy rights and freedoms, including economic, social and cultural rights, on a basis of equality, and called on States parties to take appropriate measures to eliminate violence against men and women and act with due diligence to prevent, investigate, mediate, punish and redress acts of violence against them by private actors.7 7. In recognition of the gender-specific nature of violence, international law has incorporated norms prohibiting violence against women in different contexts, within the family, and at the community and the State levels. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women provides for specific protection from discrimination for women and girls. In its general recommendation No. 19 on violence against women, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women noted that, by ratifying the Convention, States had undertaken legal obligations to prevent and eliminate violence against women, and clarified that gender-based violence, which impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of human rights and fundamental freedoms under general international law or under human rights conventions, is discrimination within the meaning of article 1 of the Convention.8 8. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes that women and girls with disabilities are often at greater risk, both within and outside the home, of violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, and expresses concern about the difficult conditions faced by persons with disabilities who are subject to multiple or aggravated forms of discrimination”. 9 In article 16, the Convention 5 6 7 8 9 4 “15 years of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences”, available from www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/15YearReviewofVAWMandate.pdf. In its article 2, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees to all individuals, within a State party’s territory and subject to its jurisdiction, that the rights enshrined in the Covenant will be respected and ensured without distinction of any kind such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status; article 3 guarantees the equal right of men and women to enjoy all the civil and political rights contained in the Covenant. Similar provisions are contained in articles 2 (2) and 3 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. E/C.12/2005/4, para. 27. General recommendation No. 19, para. 7. Preamble (d) and art. 6(1).