A/HRC/29/20 chronic pain, infections, decreased sexual enjoyment and psychological consequences, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. The practice is also associated with increased risks of birth by caesarean section, postpartum haemorrhage, episiotomy, extended maternal hospital stay, resuscitation of the infant, low birth weight in infants and inpatient perinatal death.4 6. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights have identified female genital mutilation as practices that directly affect women’s and girls’ abilities to enjoy their human rights on an equal footing with men, and which therefore violate their rights to non-discrimination and equality. Joint general recommendation/general comment No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and No. 18 of the Committee on the rights of the Child 18 (CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18) identifies female genital mutilation as a harmful practice and notes that the harm that these practices cause to the victims often has the purpose or effect of impairing the recognition, enjoyment and exercise of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and children. 7. The joint general recommendation/general comment also notes that, overall, harmful practices are often associated with serious forms of violence or are themselves a form of violence against women and children. States have a due diligence obligation to prevent, investigate and punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or occur in private.5 8. In her report (E/CN.4/2002/83), the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences described female genital mutilation as the result of the patriarchal power structures that legitimize the need to control women’s lives, arising from the stereotypical perception of women as the principal guardians of sexual morality, but with uncontrolled sexual urges. Both the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have underlined that harmful practices such as female genital mutilation are deeply rooted in societal attitudes that regard women and girls as inferior to men and boys and expressed concerns about the use of these practices to justify gender-based violence as a form of “protection” or control of women and children. In this regard, States are required, under article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, to take all appropriate 4 5 4 infertility, an increased risk of childbirth complications and new-born deaths, and the need for later surgeries. See WHO fact sheet No. 241, on female genital mutilation, available from www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/. J. Abdulcadir, M.I. Rodriguez and L. Say, “Research gaps in the care of women with female genital mutilation: an analysis”. BJOG, an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, vol. 122, issue 3 (February 2015). The Human Rights Committee, in its general comment No. 31 (CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add. 13), obligates States to protect individuals from acts committed by private persons or entities. In its general recommendation No. 19 (see HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women sets out the responsibilities of States to exercise due diligence, not only in preventing violations, but also in investigating and punishing such acts. Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires States parties to protect children from physical, sexual and mental violence through legislation and other social and educational measures. That obligation includes protection from acts perpetrated by parents or other caregivers. Article 2 of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (General Assembly resolution 48/104) explicitly defines female genital mutilation as a form of violence against women and calls upon States to protect women against any form of violence that occurs within the family household or in other environments. The Declaration urges States to condemn violence against women and to refrain from invoking tradition or religion to evade their obligations under international human rights law.