CEDAW/C/GC/28 standards, and other areas in which private actors provide services or facilities, such as banking and housing. III. A. General obligations contained in article 2 Introductory sentence of article 2 14. The introductory sentence of article 2 reads: “States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women”. 15. The first obligation of States parties referred to in the chapeau of article 2 is the obligation to “condemn discrimination against women in all its forms”. States parties have an immediate and continuous obligation to condemn discrimination. They are obliged to proclaim to their population and the international community their total opposition to all forms of discrimination against women to all levels and branches of Government and their determination to bring about the elimination of discrimination against women. The term “discrimination in all its forms” clearly obligates the State party to be vigilant in condemning all forms of discrimination, including forms that are not explicitly mentioned in the Convention or that may be emerging. 16. States parties are under an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the right to nondiscrimination of women and to ensure the development and advancement of women in order that they improve their position and implement their right of de jure and de facto or substantive equality with men. States parties shall ensure that there is neither direct nor indirect discrimination against women. Direct discrimination against women constitutes different treatment explicitly based on grounds of sex and gender differences. Indirect discrimination against women occurs when a law, policy, programme or practice appears to be neutral in so far as it relates to men and women, but has a discriminatory effect in practice on women because pre-existing inequalities are not addressed by the apparently neutral measure. Moreover, indirect discrimination can exacerbate existing inequalities owing to a failure to recognize structural and historical patterns of discrimination and unequal power relationships between women and men. 17. States parties also have an obligation to ensure that women are protected against discrimination committed by public authorities, the judiciary, organizations, enterprises or private individuals, in the public and private spheres. This protection shall be provided by competent tribunals and other public institutions and enforced by sanctions and remedies, where appropriate. States parties should ensure that all Government bodies and organs are fully aware of the principles of equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex and gender and that adequate training and awareness-raising programmes are set up and carried out in this respect. 18. Intersectionality is a basic concept for understanding the scope of the general obligations of States parties contained in article 2. The discrimination of women based on sex and gender is inextricably linked with other factors that affect women, such as race, ethnicity, religion or belief, health, status, age, class, caste and sexual orientation and gender identity. Discrimination on the basis of sex or gender may affect women belonging to such groups to a different degree or in different ways to men. States parties must legally recognize such intersecting forms of discrimination and their compounded negative impact on the women concerned and prohibit them. They also need to adopt and pursue policies and programmes designed to eliminate such occurrences, including, where appropriate, temporary special measures in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention and general recommendation No. 25. 4