A/HRC/20/16 48. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women has raised concerns about the phenomenon of self-immolation, reported in Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, whereby women and girls attempt suicide by setting themselves on fire because they feel they are ―dishonouring‖ the family.73 49. United Nations treaty bodies have expressed concerns that honour-related crimes often go unreported, are rarely investigated and usually go unpunished, and that when they are punished the sentences are far less than those for equally violent crimes without the ―honour‖ dimension.74 Reduced sentences are justified on the basis of the necessity of murdering such women, to defend the misconceived notion of family honour. 75 50. In his report on working towards the elimination of crimes against women committed in the name of honour, the Secretary-General presented a series of recommendations in relation to the criminalization of such acts, and noted that those deliberately participating in, facilitating, encouraging or threatening women and girls in the name of honour should be punished.76 He also noted that ―in countries with immigrant communities, protection should be given to victims and potential victims in connection with asylum and immigration procedures‖.77 4. Killings in the context of armed conflict 51. During armed conflict, women experience all forms of physical, sexual and psychological violence, perpetrated by both State and non-State actors, including unlawful killings.78 Such violence is often used as a weapon of war, to punish or dehumanize women and girls, and to persecute the community to which they belong. 52. Women and girls suffer from operations randomly or strategically targeting and terrorizing the civilian population, but also from summary and extrajudicial executions, imprisonment, torture, rape and sexual mutilations for fighting in resistance movements, for engaging in the search for and defence of their loved ones or for coming from communities suspected of collaboration.79 Gender inequality becomes more pronounced in conflict and crisis situations, as competing masculine discourses place contradictory demands on women, and conflict is instrumentalized as a pretext to further entrench patriarchal control.80 53. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders has stated that women human rights defenders, who challenge oppressive governments and policies, are more at risk of suffering violence and other violations While reclaiming their rights or the rights of their communities, they are perceived as challenging accepted sociocultural norms, traditions, perceptions and stereotypes about femininity, sexual orientation, and the role and status of women in society. The mission report on Colombia by the Special Rapporteur on 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.5. See Special Rapporteur on violence against women, ―Situation of Women and Girls in Afghanistan‖, A/58/421 on Afghanistan, and country mission report, at para. 29. See Special Rapporteur on violence against women, mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran, E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.3, 27 January 2006 at para. 29. A/65/44, para. 60 and 63. Report of the Committee against Torture, Forty-third session (2-20 November 2009), Forty-fourth session (26 April-14 May 2010). See report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, E/CN.4/2000/3, 2000, at para. 78. A/57/169 at para. 32. Ibid. In-depth study on all forms of violence against women, report of the Secretary-General at para. 143. A/HRC/14/22 (2010) at para. 33, report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences. A/HRC/4/34/Add.2, at para 22, Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Mission to Turkey, 5 January 2007. 13