A/HRC/16/69 violence against girls because of the cultural barriers to public discussion of issues relating to sex with girls. 32. Several informants highlighted heinous abuses faced by women living with HIV. At the Geneva consultation, non-governmental organization representatives cited cases of HIV-positive women having been sterilized without their consent or pressured to have abortions, including numerous cases of forced sterilization that were currently the subject of litigation in Namibia. The Association of Young Lawyers in Niger, a non-governmental organization, reported in its submission widespread abuse of HIV-positive women by their husbands or sexual partners. 33. The organizations Global Action on Widowhood and Widows for Peace through Development echoed the frequent observation that marriage was the most important HIV risk factor for women in many settings. Inadequate legal protection of women’s property and inheritance rights was cited by several respondents. The response from the First Lady’s Save Our Youth Campaign in Nigeria underscored both the lack of full protection of women’s property and marital rights in statutory, customary and sharia law — all important in Nigeria — as well as the risks inherent in practices of widow inheritance (levirate marriage) and sexual cleansing of widows. Lack of access to reproductive health services for widows was also cited. 34. Relatively few responses to the survey informing the present study included achievements in the area of gender equality or addressing gender-based violence. UNAIDS cited the full implementation of the national domestic violence act in Belize as a step forward. The Government of Costa Rica pointed out its support for access to post-exposure HIV prophylaxis for survivors of rape. The Government of Brazil supported a number of institutions for women facing violence and other abuse, including special reception centres, women’s rights councils and other human rights institutions in provincial capitals and cities. G. Rights of children and young people 35. Concerns about the rights of children living with and affected by HIV were raised in some responses to the survey. UNICEF and Caritas Internationalis highlighted the human rights vulnerability of children orphaned by AIDS, noting that placing orphans in institutional settings could impede their development and should be a measure of last resort. UNICEF and Caritas Internationalis also observed that service provision for children living with and affected by AIDS was still dominated by non-governmental and faith-based organizations, and exhorted Governments to do more to fulfil their responsibilities in this area. 36. Most of the references to children and young people in the survey responses concerned barriers faced by children (persons under 18 years of age) to sexual and reproductive health information, HIV testing and other services. Several Governments and United Nations respondents reported strong cultural, religious and sometimes parental opposition to comprehensive sex education in schools or access to reproductive health services for young people. The Government of Guyana noted that some teachers and others in the education system scorned sexually active youth rather than helping to enable them to protect themselves from HIV. Several respondents remarked that programmes were needed to support and prepare teachers to give lessons on sexual and reproductive health, as many teachers were not comfortable with this activity. UNICEF reported that HIV knowledge among adolescents, especially girls, was “disturbingly low”, even in highly affected countries. 12 GE.10-17842