A/HRC/41/42/Add.2 9. The recent substantial reform of the legal system, including the adoption of the new Constitution and the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (Elimination) Act of 2015 and the enactment of the new National Penal Code of 2017, together with the Criminal Procedure (Code) Act of 2017, the Criminal Offences (Sentencing and Execution) Act of 2017, the National Civil Code of 2017 and the Civil Procedure (Code) Act of 2017, has brought significant legal changes, namely, by introducing key provisions further protecting the rights of women and enabling progress towards ending violence against women. The main challenge now is to ensure that these laws and policies are fully implemented at the federal, provincial and local levels. 10. The country’s new federal structure, which encompasses the devolution of powers to the provincial and local levels, combined with the lack of effective coordination between mechanisms on violence against women, presents additional challenges in assessing the extent to which the right of women to be free from violence is protected throughout the country. III. Incorporation of the international framework on violence against women 11. Nepal is a party to seven of the nine principal international treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which it ratified in 1991, together with the Optional Protocol thereto, which it ratified in 2007. It has yet to ratify a number of other core United Nations human rights treaties and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The Special Rapporteur notes that, according to article 51 (b) (3) of the Constitution, Nepal shall pursue policies to implement the international treaties and agreements to which it is a party. 12. The visit of the Special Rapporteur followed the examination of the sixth periodic report of Nepal by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in October 2018. She therefore hopes that the recommendations outlined in the present report will be implemented in conjunction with those provided by the Committee (see CEDAW/C/NPL/CO/6), as a means of developing a road map to assist the Government in its efforts to eliminate violence against women and to uphold the rights of women in the public and especially the private spheres, in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women1 and Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular target 5.5. IV. State response and measures to address violence against women A. Constitutional, legislative and policy framework 1. Constitutional framework 13. The Special Rapporteur commends the promulgation in 2015 of the new Constitution, which has brought many progressive provisions with the aspiration of achieving an equitable society in accordance with the principles of inclusion and proportional participation of women. In particular, it contains a specific article on violence against women (art. 38 (3)), according to which no woman shall be subjected to physical, mental, sexual, psychological or other forms of violence or exploitation on the grounds of religion or social or cultural tradition or practice, or on any other grounds. Such acts shall 1 4 General Assembly resolution 48/104.