Essay Grade

Realisation of the equal enjoyment of
the right to education by every girl
SUMMARY
The present report was prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 32/20. It
underlines the multiple and intersecting obstacles that limit effective and equal access of girls to
education and highlights good practices to address those barriers. It also contains recommendations
on appropriate measures to ensure the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl and,
in that context, eliminate all gender disparities in education by 2030, in fulfilment of the commitment
made in Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Image on the cover © UN Photo/ Eskinder Debebe
Paragraphs
Page
1-4
4
II. Legal framework and developments
5-8
5
III. Obstacles to girls’ access to education
9 – 51
7
I.
Introduction
A.
Gender stereotypes
10 – 14
7
B.
Legislation, policies and budgets
15 – 19
8
C.
Costs
20 – 22
9
D.
Privatization
23 – 24
10
E.
Distance
25 – 27
11
F.
Education infrastructure
28 – 29
12
G.
School regulations and dress codes
30 – 31
12
H.
Inclusive and quality learning environment
32 – 37
12
I.
Child pregnancy
38 – 39
15
J.
Gender-based violence
40 – 43
15
K.
Harmful practices
44 – 46
17
L.
Conflict and situations of instability
47 – 51
18
IV. Girls at particular risk of being left behind
52 – 55
20
V. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
56 – 65
23
66
26
VI. Conclusion and recommendations
© UN Photo/ Shehzad Noorani
CONTENTS
I. Introduction
1.
In its resolution 32/20, the Human
Rights Council recognized that education was
a multiplier right that empowered women and
girls to make choices to claim their human
rights, including the right to participate in
public affairs and to participate fully in the
making of decisions that shape society. The
Council requested the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a
report, in close cooperation with all relevant
stakeholders, on the realization of the equal
enjoyment of the right to education by every
girl, to be submitted to it at its thirty-fifth
session.
2.
A note verbale was sent on 11
October 2016, requesting submissions from
States and other stakeholders; 35 submissions
were received.1 Further information was
obtained from relevant stakeholders by way of
reports, correspondence and research.
3.
Despite universal recognition of the
right to education for everyone, girls are still
more likely than boys never to attend school.
As of 2014, over 32 million girls of primary
school age did not attend school and it is
estimated that 15 million girls — mainly those
living in poverty — will never set foot in a
classroom, compared to 10 million boys.2
These disparities have also contributed to the
fact that women account for nearly two thirds
of the world’s 758 million adults who cannot
read or write, and the gap is even wider in
situations of conflict, where girls are nearly
two and a half times more likely to be out of
school than boys.3
4.
Despite progress, in particular in
primary education, much remains to be done
at all levels of education and across regional,
national and subnational levels to ensure that
every girl has equal right to quality education
and is not left behind. With gender equality at
the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, in devising laws, policies and
plans to implement it, States must ensure
compliance with their international human
rights obligations.
UNESCO, Global Education Monitoring Report 2016:
Gender Review — Creating Sustainable Futures for All
(2016), p. 15.
2
4
3
Ibid., pp. 22 and 27.
© UN Photo/ Eskinder Debebe
1 The submissions are available from www.ohchr.org/
EN/Issues/Women/WRGS/Pages/EveryGirl.aspx.
II. Legal framework and developments
5.
The right to education, including its
equal enjoyment by every girl, is universally
recognized and guaranteed in many
international and regional legal instruments.4
It consists of four essential and interrelated
principles — availability, accessibility,
acceptability and adaptability — , which duty
bearers have the obligation to respect, protect
and fulfil.5
6.
Although the right to education
is subject to progressive realization, and
limitations are recognized, international
human rights standards nonetheless
impose upon States obligations that have
immediate effect. For instance, the obligation
of non-discrimination applies “fully and
immediately to all aspects of education” and
“encompasses all internationally prohibited
grounds of discrimination”.6 Additionally,
See, inter alia, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, art. 13 (2); the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, arts. 10, 14 and 16; the Convention on the Rights
of the Child, arts. 28-29; the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention
against Discrimination in Education and Recommendation
against Discrimination in Education; the African Charter
on Human and Peoples’ Rights, art. 17; the Arab Charter
on Human Rights, art. 34; the Council of Europe Protocol
to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms, art. 2; and the American
Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, arts. 12 and
31.
4
See E/CN.4/1999/49, para. 50; and Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No.
13 (1999) on the right to education, paras.13 and 46.
States have an immediate obligation to take
deliberate, concrete and targeted steps, to the
maximum of their available resources, and to
move expeditiously and effectively towards
fully realizing the right to education.7
7.
Girls’ equal right to education is
regularly emphasized in the concluding
observations on State party reports by human
rights treaty bodies, with 46 references on
the subject in 2014 to 2015 alone. Diverse
special procedure mechanisms have also
taken up the issue in their thematic and
country reports and communications. In 2015
and 2016, 51 recommendations relating to
girls’ right to education were made to States
during their universal periodic reviews; 49
were accepted.8
8.
In addition to the agendas of the
Millennium Development Goals (20002015) and the Sustainable Development
Goals (2015-2030), numerous non-binding
political instruments have recognized the
need to ensure girls’ equal right to education,
including the International Conference
on Population and Development (1994);
the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action (1995); the Dakar Framework for
Action (2000); the Incheon Declaration and
Framework for Action (2015); and the United
Nations Girls’ Education Initiative.
5
Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 2; Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment
No. 13 (1999), para. 31.
6
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
general comment No. 13 (1999), paras. 43-45.
7  
See also A/HRC/30/23.
8  
5
© UN Photo/ Milton Grant
6
III. Obstacles to girls’ access to education
9.
Multiple and intersecting obstacles
limit the enjoyment of the right to education
by children around the world. While some
A.
GENDER STEREOTYPES
10.
Gender stereotypes about the
role of women as relegated to the family
sphere underpin all obstacles to girls’ equal
access to quality education.9 Girls are often
socialized to assume domestic and care
responsibilities, with the assumption that
they will be economically dependent on
men. The stereotype of men as breadwinners
leads to the prioritization of boys’ education.
Stereotypes often dictate different expectations
for boys and girls, such as completion of
education and fields of study to pursue.
Stereotypes are also perpetuated in school
curricula and materials, which often leads
to occupational gender segregation, with
girls less likely to study and pursue careers in
highly valued professional and traditionally
male-dominated fields, such as science,
technology, engineering and mathematics.10
11.
Education can contribute to
dismantling harmful gender stereotypes and
norms, which have long-lasting and wideranging impacts on all aspects of girls’ and
women’s lives.
12.
El Salvador, Estonia, Lithuania,
Slovakia, Spain, Mexico and Equality
Now recognized that gender stereotyping
was a central challenge to girls’ access to
education. Burkina Faso, Cuba, France, Mali,
Mauritius, Nicaragua, Slovenia and Defence
for Children International emphasized
their engagement in awareness-raising
initiatives with parents, families, community
and religious leaders, and the media with
a view to addressing harmful views and
beliefs. Georgia and Ireland reported that
they had taken specific measures to promote
careers for women in science, technology,
See Committee on the Rights of the Child, general
comment No. 20 (2016) on the implementation of the
rights of the child during adolescence, paras. 27-28;
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR), “Gender stereotyping as a human rights
violation” (October 2013), pp. 8-9.
9
UNESCO, Global Education Monitoring Report 2016,
p. 34.
10
of these affect girls and boys alike, those
highlighted below illustrate specific hurdles
faced by girls.
engineering and mathematics. The United
Arab Emirates highlighted the establishment
of the Centre for Creativity and Innovation
for women and girls, with the aim of
promoting equal opportunities in information
and communications technology, including
through training, research and innovative
applications. Saudi Arabia reported that
it provided awareness-raising training and
programmes to limit and prevent infrequent
school attendance and girls’ dropping out.
13.
International human rights standards
specify that States’ obligation to eliminate
discrimination against girls and boys includes
dismantling stereotyping by taking proactive
measures — in cooperation with girls and
boys, women and men, civil society, and
community and religious leaders — to
promote girls’ empowerment and eliminate
harmful gender stereotypes in both public and
private life.11
14.
Human rights treaty bodies have
recommended that States take comprehensive
measures to overcome gender stereotypes that
discriminate against and act as a barrier to
the education of girls.12 Stereotypical beliefs
among parents, teachers and community
leaders regarding the importance and value
of education for girls should be challenged.
Comprehensive strategies to eliminate
negative attitudes, practices and stereotypes
should be formulated, including in the context
of education, with the involvement of girls.
They should have clearly defined targets and
appropriate monitoring mechanisms.13
11
See for example, the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women, arts. 5 and
10 (c); the Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 2;
Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No.
20 (2016), para. 28; Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, general comment No. 13 (1999), para. 55.
See CEDAW/C/GRC/CO/7, para. 27 (b);
CEDAW/C/ALB/CO/3, para. 31; CEDAW/C/BEN/
CO/4, para. 27 (c).
12
13
See CEDAW/C/BFA/CO/6, para. 32; Committee on
the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 20 (2016),
para. 69; CRC/C/IRQ/CO/2-4, paras. 17-18.
7
B.
LEGISLATION, POLICIES AND BUDGETS
15.
Several States have laws and policies
that curtail girls’ equal enjoyment of the right
to education.14 Even apparently genderneutral laws and policies can — often owing
to prevailing social norms — result in girls
being left out of school,15 such as those that
fail to provide goods and services targeting
girls’ needs or that do not explicitly protect
girls’ rights to make decisions about their
bodies and life choices. These include laws
and policies that allow child marriage, permit
discriminatory school admission criteria, such
as excluding pregnant girls, and restrict girls’
freedom of movement. Plan International and
the National Youth Council of Ireland noted
that girls’ voices are not always heard, which
leads to the development of laws and policies
that do not reflect their views, needs and
experiences.
16.
Repealing discriminatory laws and
policies and adopting measures to advance
gender equality that specifically combat
discrimination in education are critical. The
adoption of legal and policy frameworks to
guarantee girl’s equal access to education,
including in the context of the implementation
of the Sustainable Development Goals, was
highlighted by several States, including
Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Colombia,
Cuba, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France,
Georgia, Lithuania, Mali, Mexico, Monaco,
Montenegro, Qatar, the Russian Federation,
Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Spain and the United
Arab Emirates.
17.
Laws and policies must be effectively
implemented, monitored and evaluated,
and involve meaningful participation and
awareness of their rights by girls and boys.16
18.
States have an obligation to seek
international assistance and cooperation
when their resources are insufficient.
International partners can provide financing
and resources, which should be coordinated,
sustainable and monitored, and effectively
target girls most at risk of being left behind.18
19.
Every girl should have access to and
be informed about child-friendly, gendersensitive and safe judicial and non-judicial
remedies when their rights, including to
education, are violated.19 Without effective
and comprehensive accountability at the
national level, all human rights, including the
right to education, are but hollow promises.
It is crucial that the right to education
be justiciable as a legal right and an
enforceable entitlement.20 National human
rights institutions could play a stronger role in
monitoring equal access of girls to education,
and receiving and adjudicating complaints.21
Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment
No. 19 (2016) on public budgeting for the realization of
children’s rights, paras. 41-44; CEDAW/C/PER/CO/7-8,
paras. 13-14; A/HRC/26/39, para. 23.
17
14
OHCHR, “Attacks against girls seeking access to
education”, Background paper (2015), p. 25.
OHCHR, Project on a Mechanism to Address Laws that
Discriminate against Women (March 2008), p. 6.
19
Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 12 (2);
Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment
No.12 (2009), para. 47; A/HRC/26/39, para. 105.
World Bank, Women, Business and the Law 2016:
Getting to equal (2015), pp. 4-5.
15
16
See A/HRC/26/39, para. 15; Committee on the
Rights of the Child, general comment No. 12 (2009) on the
right of the child to be heard, paras. 105-114.
8
Adequate financial resources and direct,
transparent, gender-sensitive budgeting for
education is also required,17 otherwise, higher
out-of-pocket costs and limited available
spaces will lead to competition among girls
and boys for places in schools. Compounded
with gender inequalities and labour laws,
policies and markets that favour men may, in
turn, result in prioritization of boys’ education
at the expense of girls.
18
20
See A/HRC/23/35, para. 58.
21
See submission from Honduras.
C.
COSTS
20.
Girls are more likely to perform
poorly at school and drop out when parents
or guardians live in poverty and/or cannot
afford to pay school expenses, such as school
fees, textbooks, uniforms, transportation and
lunches. This is compounded by gendered
expectations related to domestic and care
responsibilities, and parental biases towards
boys’ education for them to have better career
prospects.
21.
Many States indicated that they
provided free primary and secondary
education for girls and boys, with some
covering indirect costs such as uniforms,
materials, lunches and transportation.22
El Salvador indicated that it provided
free education at all levels and had also
implemented a programme that provided
free lunches, uniforms and school supplies;
Mauritius stated that it provided all
students with free transportation; and
Oman highlighted that it awarded 500 full
scholarships annually for higher education to
girls who completed secondary school with an
80-per cent grade point average.
See submissions from Burkina Faso, Colombia, Finland,
Mali, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates.
22
22.
Quality education must be
economically accessible to everyone without
discrimination, and every girl has the equal
right to the same opportunities to benefit
from scholarships and study grants.23 Where
quality primary education is available
free of charge, States are also required to
progressively introduce free quality secondary
education for all.24 Special temporary
measures, such as financial transfer schemes
and programmes that incentivize girls going
to school, have increased girls’ enrolment
rates and contributed to changing attitudes
towards girls’ education.25 Such measures
should be gender-sensitive, specifically
targeted to girls most at risk of being left
behind, and their impact should be carefully
assessed.
23
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, art. 10; Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No.
13 (1999), para. 6 (b).
24
Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 28 (1);
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, art. 13 (2).
25
See A/HRC/26/39, para. 37; United Nations Entity
for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNWomen), Progress of the World’s Women 2015-2016, p.
138; submission from Burkina Faso.
© UN Photo/ Evan Schneider
9
© UN Photo/ A Jongen
D.
PRIVATIZATION
23.
The expansion of privatized
education may raise the cost of quality
education and lead to disinvestment in
public education, which could further
entrench gender inequality in society.26
Many private schools have discriminatory
admission requirements and are profit driven,
and therefore not universally and equally
accessible. They do not always follow the
national curriculum or employ qualified
teachers; some may not be registered with
the national authorities or may be privately
managed with limited government oversight,
accountability or adherence to national
prescriptive regulations. All these factors
can limit girls’ participation in school,
intensify prioritization of boys’ education and
perpetuate discriminatory curricula, especially
when the prevalence of privatized education
leads to reduced free and accessible public
education options.27
10
26
See A/HRC/34/27, para. 33.
27
See A/HRC/29/30, paras. 35, 57, 116 and 120.
24.
States have the obligation to protect
girls against exclusion from and interference
by third parties in quality education,
including private entities and non-State
organizations such as religious or community
schools or schools run by non-governmental
organizations. Even where private education
systems exist, States remain responsible for
respecting, protecting and fulfilling every girl’s
right to education. The Special Rapporteur
on the right to education called upon States
to “put in place an elaborate framework of
regulations that are prescriptive, prohibitory
and punitive, in order to control private
providers”, “undertake full-scale investigations
of fraudulent practices” and “preserve
education as a public good”.28
28
Ibid., paras. 116-132.
E.
DISTANCE
25.
When schools are far from homes,
such as in rural and remote areas, the
likelihood of girls’ non-attendance increases.
Girls are also particularly affected when
their freedom of movement is restricted,
for instance, by discriminatory laws that
require permission to travel by a male
relative and/or parents’ reluctance to allow
girls to travel long distances alone owing
to safety considerations. Girls in remote
and rural settings also tend to drop out of
school more regularly than other girls owing
to often exacerbated expectations relating
to childcare, seasonal work or fetching
firewood and water. Those girls make up
a large proportion of the national illiteracy
rate.29 Even when schools exist nearby, the
quality of education offered may impact girls’
enrolment, attendance and completion.
26.
States can bring education closer to
home, including by ensuring that education
plans and policies are sensitive to local
realities and responsive to the specific needs
of all children; by implementing alternative
learning programmes, including the use of
ICT to deliver courses, where appropriate
platforms and quality assurance can be
guaranteed;30 and by providing safe facilities
for girls attending boarding school and
affordable forms of transportation to/from
school.31 The United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) highlighted its guidelines for genderresponsive sector planning that was rolled
out with the United Nations Girls’ Education
Initiative and the Global Partnership for
Education.
27.
States have an obligation to ensure
that quality education is physically accessible
for all girls, including girls in rural and
remote areas. States should, inter alia,
improve educational infrastructure in rural
areas; increase the number of qualified
teachers, including women; ensure culturally
appropriate education in local languages
and safe, affordable and accessible gendersensitive transportation.32
Submissions from UNESCO, Estonia and the Russian
Federation.
30
31
29
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women, general recommendation No. 34 (2016) on the
rights of rural women, paras. 42-43; UNESCO, Global
Education Monitoring Report 2016, pp. 18-19 and 28.
(a).
See CEDAW/C/SLB/CO/1-3, paras. 32 (a) and 33
32
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women, general recommendation No. 34 (2016), paras.
43 (e) and 87.
11
F.
EDUCATION INFRASTRUCTURE
28.
Girls may be unwilling to attend
school or discouraged from doing so by
parents or guardians when schools do not
provide water, safe and separate toilets/
changing rooms nor take into account girls’
particular health needs. Their concentration
and participation in class may also be
negatively affected in those circumstances.
Social stigma around menstruation and HIV/
AIDS, for example, often leads to additional
discrimination and may further compel a girl
to remain at home.33
G.
SCHOOL REGULATIONS AND DRESS CODES
30.
School admission practices and
regulations that are not gender-sensitive
and that discriminate on the basis of sex or
gender limit girls’ equal enjoyment of the right
to education, including different admission
criteria for girls and boys to secondary school
or higher education or the exclusion of girls
from physical education and extracurricular
activities. Girls may risk expulsion, public
shaming and disciplinary sanctions, including
flogging, lashing and other forms of genderbased violence, for non-compliance with the
school dress code; and may be discouraged
or prevented by parents from attending school
if they must either wear or remove religious
symbols.
H.
31.
Under international human rights law,
a legal ban on wearing religious symbols and
clothing in schools may be in contravention
of the best interests of the child principle, and
the child’s right to freedom of expression,
education and freedom to practise or manifest
a religion.33 All children should participate
equally in adopting and addressing
regulations such as school dress codes. Cuba
highlighted the participation of girls and boys
in the elaboration and application of school
regulations and the incorporation of a gendersensitive approach to promoting practices that
foster equality. States should carefully consider
and closely monitor how dress codes impact
girls’ access to education.34
INCLUSIVE AND QUALITY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
32.
The prevalence of explicit and implicit
discriminatory curricula, textbooks, materials
and teaching methods can reinforce, foster
and normalize discrimination. Unqualified
teachers may push girls into non-professional
courses, overlook them in classroom
discussions and be biased towards boys in
terms of grades, opportunities, praise and
punishment.
33.
Cuba, Estonia, Finland, Mexico,
Nicaragua, Slovenia and Spain highlighted
the integration of gender equality in national
OHCHR, “Information series on sexual and reproductive
health and rights” (2015); A/HRC/32/44, paras. 68-70.
33
34
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
general comment No.15 (2002) on the right to water,
paras. 11-12; A/HRC/33/49, para. 50.
12
29.
States should ensure that schools have
adequate and safe drinking water; separate,
accessible and sheltered toilets for girls;
and hygiene education and resources for
menstrual hygiene, with attention to girls with
disabilities.34
school curricula, teacher training, revision of
textbooks and dissemination of information
on gender equality. Schools on Brunei
Darussalam provided platforms for girls to
participate in extracurricular activities.
34.
States have an obligation to
periodically review and revise curricula,
textbooks, programmes and teaching methods
to ensure that they do not perpetuate harmful
35
See, for example, A/HRC/31/79, p. 47, SDN
5/2015.
36
See CEDAW/C/FRA/CO/6, para. 20; CEDAW/C/
TKM/CO/3-4, para. 20; communication No. 931/2000,
Hudoyberganova v. Uzbekistan, Views adopted on 5
November 2004; communication No. 1852/2008, Singh
v. France, Views adopted on 1 November 2012.
37
See CRC/C/15/Add.240, paras. 25-26.
gender stereotypes.38 States should ensure that
human rights education, including on gender
equality and non-discrimination, is part of the
core curricula, that teachers are systematically
trained on gender equality and that girls and
boys are encouraged to select non-traditional
fields of study, including through academic
counselling.39
35.
Girls’ equal enjoyment of the right
to education also involves sensitivity to
differences in skills, knowledge and language
competencies, the presence of qualified
female teachers, who can be role models, and
the existence of student clubs and mentorship
programmes.40 States should ensure a gender
balance among teaching staff and in school
administrations, including at the senior levels,
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, art. 10; Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No.
13 (1999), paras. 50 and 55; Committee on the Rights of
the Child, general comment No. 1 (2001) on the aims of
education, para. 10; CEDAW/C/AFG/CO/1-2, para.
33.
38
Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment
No.1 (2001), paras. 2-3; Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, general recommendation
34 (2016), para. 43; Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, general comment 16 (2005), para. 30;
General Assembly resolution 66/137.
39
and the curricula in gender-segregated
schools should be the same for girls and
boys,41 so that girls can enjoy the same
courses and activities, including sports as
boys.42
36.
Comprehensive sexuality education
is often biased, censored, narrowed to
biology, age restricted, subject to third
party authorization or even excluded from
the school curriculum. However, access to
comprehensive sexuality education, defined
as an “age-appropriate, culturally relevant
approach to teaching about sexuality and
relationships by providing scientifically
accurate, realistic, non-judgmental
information”,43 will ensure that girls and
40
See submissions from Alice Saisha and Defence for
Children International; UNESCO, From Access to Equality:
Empowering Girls and Women through Literacy and
Secondary Education, 2nd ed. (2012), p. 33.
41
See CEDAW/C/GEO/CO/4-5, para. 27 (d). Plan
International, Girls’ Learning: Investigating the classroom
practices that promote girls’ learning (January 2013).
42
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, art. 10 (b) and (g); A/
HRC/32/33, paras. 5, 29, 34 and 101 (e).
43
UNESCO and others, International Technical Guidance
on Sexuality Education, vol. 1: the rationale for sexuality
education (December 2009).
13
it is part of the mandatory school curriculum
and delivered through a holistic approach
that is gender- and disability-sensitive
and promotes women’s rights and gender
equality.45
37.
International human rights
mechanisms have clearly established that
everyone has a right to education on sexuality
and reproduction that is comprehensive, nondiscriminatory, non-biased, evidence-based
and scientifically accurate and takes into
account the evolving capacities of children
and adolescents.44 In the context of ensuring
the equal right of girls to quality education,
States are obligated to provide education on
sexual and reproductive health, ensure that
Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 24 (2) (f);
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women, art.12 (2); Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 22 (2016),
paras. 9 and 49 (f); A/65/162, para. 75.
44
45
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
general comment No. 22 (2016) on the right to sexual and
reproductive health, para. 47; Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women, general recommendations
No. 24 (1999) on women and health, para. 18; Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 20
(2016), para. 61; Committee on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, general comment No. 3 (2016) on women and
girls with disabilities, para. 40
© UN Photo/ John Isaac
14
boys can make informed decisions about
their sexual and reproductive health. It is
key for the empowerment of every girl and
for combating harmful practices, unwanted
pregnancies and sexually transmitted
infections, including HIV. Many States,
including Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador,
France, Mexico and Nicaragua, recognized
the importance of comprehensive sexuality
education.
© UN Photo/ Shareef Sarhan
I.
CHILD PREGNANCY
38.
Prohibitive laws or regulations often
deny pregnant girls access to school on the
premise that girls stop being children once
they become pregnant. They are also often
not provided with adequate support and
services during their pregnancy nor after they
give birth. Mexico recognized the challenges
that pregnant girls faced and provided grants
to enable pregnant adolescents (12 to 18
years) to complete their education.
J.
39.
Every girl has the right to remain
in school when she is pregnant and to be
reintegrated into school, including through
publicized non-discriminatory laws and
policies, after she gives birth.46 Stigma and
bullying by students and teachers must be
addressed so that they have a safe learning
environment in schools.47 States should ensure
that childcare facilities, breastfeeding rooms
and counselling are available to pregnant and
nursing girls, including on school premises.48
GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
40.
Girls are often subjected to genderbased violence on the way to/from and
in school, including sexual harassment,
assault, abduction, psychological attacks
and bullying, perpetrated predominantly
by male students, teachers and community
members, but also by women and girls, often
with impunity. Such violence may target
girls who attend school or girls, parents and
teachers who promote gender equality and
girls’ right to education. Documented cases of
attacks against girls accessing education, in
particular in the context of violent extremism,
are on the rise around the world. Yet, few
46   
Joint general recommendation No. 31 of the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the
Rights of the Child (2014) on harmful practices, para. 69
(a).
47
Submission from Defence for Children International.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women, general recommendation No. 34 (2016), para.
43 (g).
48
15
41.
School-related gender-based
violence often leads to girls’ removal from
school owing mainly to concerns for their
“marriageability” and attitudes relating to
so-called honour.50 Such violence commonly
leads to trauma and stigmatization, and
sometimes pregnancy, which significantly
curtail the victim’s access to education.
42.
Various measures have been taken
to address this issue, including confidential
school monitoring and reporting mechanisms;
child-friendly courts; public registers of sexual
offenders and prohibition from working
with children; capacity-building for law
enforcement officials; and rehabilitation
services for victims.51 UNESCO highlighted
the “Global guidance on school-related
gender-based violence”, which provides
useful approaches, methodologies, tools and
resources to address school-related genderbased violence.
49
See A/HRC/26/39, para. 105; A/HRC/33/29,
paras. 23, 27, 30, 35 and 64.
16
43.
States have an international legal
obligation to take appropriate and effective
measures to protect girls against all forms of
gender-based vio