E/C.12/ARM/CO/2-3 Law on Employment. This measure is expected to have a particular impact on women, who currently receive unemployment benefits which are twice as high as those of men. The Committee is further concerned that the support to be given to those whose benefits have been discontinued will be based on a material needs approach and no longer on a human rights-based approach (arts. 9 and 11). The Committee recommends that the State party take special measures to protect persons who will find their unemployment benefits discontinued, in line with its human rights obligations under articles 9 and 11 of the Covenant, and pay particular attention to addressing the disproportionate impact on women. 17. The Committee regrets that social assistance benefits are insufficient to guarantee an adequate standard of living, including for pensioners and the unemployed. The Committee notes that, even with the system of “vulnerability ratios”, social aid is insufficient to address the needs of families living in poverty. With 32 per cent of the population and 38 per cent of children under the age of 5 living in poverty in 2012, the Committee is concerned that the level of family benefits is manifestly inadequate (arts. 9, 10 and 11). The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Ensure a comprehensive and harmonized approach to the social protection system and provide sufficient social assistance benefits to ensure that all persons can enjoy an adequate standard of living, taking into account the real cost of living, in accordance with the Committee’s general comment No. 19 (2007) on the right to social security; (b) Allocate sufficient funds for the implementation of poverty-reduction strategies, taking into account the Committee’s statement of May 2001 on poverty and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, (E/C.12/2001/10); (c) Consider ratifying ILO Convention No. 117 (1962) on Social Policy (Basic Aims and Standards). 18. The Committee is concerned about the persistence of high levels of violence against women, in particular domestic violence, and regrets that domestic violence is still not an act specifically criminalized by law. The Committee is also concerned about the insufficient number of shelters for victims of domestic violence (art. 10). The Committee recommends that the State party respond adequately to the problem of domestic violence through measures of prevention, protection and prosecution. The Committee specifically recommends that the State party: (a) Adopt legislation without delay to explicitly prohibit domestic violence, defining it as a specific offence; (b) Provide additional shelters for victims of domestic violence; (c) Conduct awareness-raising activities on domestic violence for law enforcement officials such as police officers, prosecutors and judges, as well as for social workers, teachers and the general public. 19. The Committee is concerned that, despite the Government’s de-institutionalization programme, the institutionalization rate for children, the majority of whom have families, remains very high. The Committee is concerned that families, while maintaining parental rights, place their children in boarding schools and child-care institutions on account of economic hardship and because of their inability to meet the costs associated with covering the children’s basic needs. The Committee is further concerned about the lack of protection for children against corporal punishment (art. 10). 5

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