A/HRC/12/46 page 6 discriminate in the enjoyment of rights contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, under article 2, and similarly under article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 13. CEDAW defines discrimination against women as “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field” (art. 1). States parties to the Convention have obligations to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms, including: to incorporate the principle of equality of men and women in their legal system, abolishing all discriminatory laws and adopting appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against women; to establish tribunals and other public institutions to ensure the effective protection of women against discrimination; and to ensure the elimination of all acts of discrimination against women by persons, organizations or enterprises. The Convention provides the basis for realizing equality between women and men through ensuring women’s equal access to, and equal opportunities in, inter alia, political and public life, education, health and employment. It explicitly affirms reproductive choice and health as a human rights issue and also establishes the obligation of States parties “to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women” (art. 5 (a)). 14. In addition to CEDAW, all other fundamental human rights treaties explicitly refer to equality between men and women and the principle of non-discrimination and obligations of States parties in that regard. The Council in resolution 6/30 encouraged the efforts of all human rights treaty bodies to incorporate the human rights of women and a gender perspective in their work, particularly in their concluding observations, general comments and recommendations. Developments in this area include the adoption by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 2000 of general comment No. 25 on gender-related dimensions of racial discrimination; general comment No. 32 adopted by the Human Rights Committee in 2007 on the right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial; and general comment No. 20 on non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights adopted in 2009 by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 15. Far-reaching reservations and/or interpretative declarations constitute a limitation to States’ obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the rights contained in the treaties. CEDAW is the treaty with the highest number of reservations, presenting an obstacle to its effective implementation. Reservations have been entered to particular articles on the ground that the national law, tradition, religion or culture is not congruent with Convention principles. Some States have entered a reservation to article 2 (States parties’ obligations), although their national constitutions or laws prohibit discrimination. Similarly, many reservations relate to article 16 (equality of women and men in marriage and family relations) on national, traditional, religious or cultural grounds, while the family context is one in which women are most vulnerable to abuse of their human rights. In the view of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, such reservations are incompatible with the Convention and therefore impermissible and should be reviewed and modified or withdrawn.