A/HRC/19/47 students and teachers, carrying out attacks in schools and the vicinity, sometimes forcefully closing schools, which in many instances prevents girls from attending school. Of concern is also the issue of PGFs occupying schools for tactical purposes. The Country Task Force on Children and Armed Conflict, of which OHCHR/UNAMA is a member, continues to monitor the impact of conflict on education. It also advocates with Government and AGEs to maintain the neutrality and safety of schools and to immediately cease attacks or threats of attacks against educational institutions and personnel. III. Violence against women 25. Violence against women and girls, including sexual violence and harmful traditional practices such as ba’ad (providing women in retribution for murder and other crimes), socalled “honour” killings, early and forced marriages and rape continue to be persistent and widespread in Afghanistan. In many areas where the criminal justice system's presence is weak, Government authorities continue to refer most complaints of domestic violence and cases of “running away from home” to traditional dispute-resolution mechanisms. Women and girls who flee their homes due to abuse or threats of forced marriage are often charged with the crime of adultery or intent to commit adultery. Moreover, incidents of selfimmolation as a result of domestic violence continued to increase. While new laws, policies and development aid have brought benefits to Afghan women, deep-rooted discrimination, harmful traditional practices and impunity for violence against women remain widespread. 26. In November 2011, OHCHR/UNAMA released a report on the implementation of the EVAW law.5 The report, based on 261 interviews with judicial, police and Government officials, and on OHCHR/UNAMA’s monitoring of numerous cases of violence against women throughout Afghanistan, noted both progress and gaps in implementing the law from March 2010 to September 2011. It also found that the Government’s application of the law represented a very small percentage of the actual treatment of cases of violence against women. Indeed, many cases of violence, including instances of serious crimes against women, were still being mediated rather than prosecuted as required by the law. OHCHR/UNAMA recommended that the Government and its international partners increase their efforts to raise awareness of the law; apply the law consistently, rapidly and efficiently; and train police, prosecutors and judges on how to apply the law. 27. OHCHR/UNAMA conducted awareness-raising activities and training for women’s groups, students, religious leaders, mullahs, judges, prosecutors, police, university students, journalists, and provincial government authorities. It also broadcasted radio and television programmes on the EVAW law and harmful traditional practices. Women have increasingly come forward to seek assistance, in part due to their increasing awareness of the law and encouragement from its use in the criminal justice system. 28. There have also been instances in which the EVAW law has been weakened. OHCHR/UNAMA noted that the Supreme Court has annulled article 42 of the EVAW law which banned the use of pardons for persons convicted under the law, finding the provision to be in conflict with the President’s Constitutional power of pardon. Some judicial officials, however, told OHCHR/UNAMA that article 42 actually resulted in many prosecutors being reluctant to use the law, preferring to charge perpetrators under the Penal Code in order to keep the option of pardons open. It has yet to be determined if the 5 See OHCHR/UNAMA, A Long Way to Go: Implementation of the Elimination of Violence against Women Law in Afghanistan, Kabul, November 2011. The law, enacted in August 2009, criminalizes child marriage, forced marriage and 17 other acts of violence against women, including rape and beating; it also specifies punishment for perpetrators. 9