A/HRC/4/37 page 15 55. Although article 10 of ICESCR refers only to women in a limited context as either wife, mother or child, it nevertheless offers important protection by saying marriage must be entered into with free consent of intending spouses and providing special protection to mothers during a reasonable period before and after childbirth. The Special Representative has acted on cases concerning defenders raising issues related to article 10, such as the trafficking of women and forced marriages, as well as forced abortion and/or forced sterilization of women. 56. Women’s right to non-discrimination is most comprehensively set forth in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which enjoys near universal ratification (185 countries), although a number of States have entered extensive reservations to articles 2 and 16 on cultural or religious grounds. Cultural relativism still presents a formidable challenge for defenders fighting for women’s rights to equality and a dignified life where violence is not tolerated. 57. The Special Representative has sent 36 communications to Governments, since the establishment of the mandate concerning defenders raising issues besides those already mentioned above, such as child labour, sexual exploitation of children, children in prison and human rights education for children. 58. The majority of those communications were addressed to countries in Asia (12) and in the Middle East (10). 59. In May 2004, the Special Representative sent a communication to the Government of Peru concerning a case in November 2003 when almost 150 street children of Lima, along with some adults accompanying them, were allegedly victims of excessive force on the part of the police during the repression of a demonstration organized by associations committed to the cause of street children. In February 2005, a communication was sent to the Government of Nepal concerning the arrest of a defender combating child labour and trafficking. 60. Since September 2005, the Special Representative has sent six joint communications to the Government of China concerning a blind human rights lawyer and his wife who investigated villagers’ claims that the city authorities were employing extensive violence in implementing government birth quotas, such as forced sterilizations and/or abortions. The lawyer has been recently sentenced to over four years’ imprisonment for “gathering crowds to disrupt traffic” and “intentional destruction of property” and his wife faces similar charges. Their lawyers have also suffered numerous and serious human rights violations. 4. Housing rights and forced evictions 61. The right to adequate housing has received wide recognition as a fundamental human right. In article 11 of ICESCR, States parties recognize the “right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions”. In its general comment No. 4 (1991) on “The right to adequate housing”, CESCR has concluded that forced evictions are prima facie incompatible with the requirements of the Covenant and, in its general comment No. 7 (1997) dealing more specifically with forced evictions, the Committee has sought to define what amounts to an unlawful eviction.