A/HRC/13/64 high-ranking officials — and in fact all those accused who have money — simply pay their way out. Furthermore, alleged perpetrators regularly “escape” from prison. Other factors hinder improvement in the plight of victims, such as the influence of local customs and the victim’s fear of rejection by their family and community. The gender-specific root causes of sexual violence, namely the subordinate social, economic and political position of women in Congolese society is not effectively addressed by the State. Victims also face enormous difficulties in accessing justice because of expensive judicial fees, amicable settlements, pressure and threats against them, and ignorance of the law among the police in rural areas. All of these impediments contribute to the climate of impunity for crimes against women. D. Violation of economic and social rights and illegal exploitation of natural resources Existing recommendations 24. In the domain of economic and social rights, comprehensive measures that adequately address the illicit exploitation of natural resources in the country should be taken. The Government should increase transparency in the collection of State resources, in particular by mapping revenues received from actors exploiting mineral-rich areas in compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), and by allocating revenue in compliance with the duty of the State to maximize the use of its resources for the progressive realization of human rights. This latter obligation requires the Government to use revenue to guarantee free access to primary education for all children, to provide access to affordable basic health care, and to ensure that health centres and hospitals have adequate human, medical and financial resources. At its forty-third session in November 2009, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considered the Democratic Republic of the Congo and recalled, inter alia, the need for the State party to promote good governance and to combat corruption as well as to take all appropriate measures to ensure that its natural resources are not subjected to illegal exploitation and mismanagement.10 Actions taken by the Government and the current situation 25. Central and local authorities do not ensure the enjoyment of economic and social rights and the efforts made so far to improve the situation are insufficient. The lack of adequate collection and allocation of resources by the Government continues to cause structural human rights abuses and corruption across the country, as unpaid or underpaid officials extort money from the population in the course of their duties. Although the Government professes adherence to the EITI, transparency remains elusive in practice. Private companies and public institutions rarely disclose profits, and authorities have failed to hold State and non-State actors accountable for their role in the illegal exploitation of Congolese natural resources. The unregulated natural resource economy has been also the primary recruiter and exploiter of labour in the country. Employees of social services that are supposed to protect labour rights, such as labour inspectors, often sacrifice the rights of workers in order to collect money to survive. Also, massive firings have been executed by private companies in total disregard of the rules and procedures. 26. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is an often cited example of the so-called “paradox of plenty”. While the country is extremely rich in natural resources (e.g. 80 per cent of worldwide resources of coltan, 10 per cent of worldwide resources of copper), the population suffers from extreme poverty (80 per cent of the Congolese population live on 10 10 See footnote 1. GE.10-10563