CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18
awareness-raising and use social mobilization measures to generate broad
public knowledge of and support for the drafting, adoption, dissemination and
implementation of the legislation;
(b) That the legislation is in full compliance with the relevant obligations
outlined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other
international human rights standards that prohibit harmful practices and that
it takes precedence over customary, traditional or religious laws that allow,
condone or prescribe any harmful practice, especially in countries with plural
legal systems;
(c) That they repeal without further delay all legislation that condones,
allows or leads to harmful practices, including traditional, customary or
religious laws and any legislation that accepts the defence of honour as a
defence or mitigating factor in the commission of crimes in the name of
so-called honour;
(d) That the legislation is consistent and comprehensive and provides
detailed guidance on prevention, protection, support and follow-up services and
assistance for victims, including towards their physical and psychological
recovery and social reintegration, and is complemented by adequate civil
and/or administrative legislative provisions;
(e) That the legislation adequately addresses, including by providing the
basis for the adoption of temporary special measures, the root causes of
harmful practices, including discrimination on the basis of sex, gender, age and
other intersecting factors, focuses on the human rights and needs of the victims
and fully takes into account the best interests of children and women;
(f) That a minimum legal age of marriage for girls and boys, with or
without parental consent, is established at 18 years. When a marriage at an
earlier age is allowed in exceptional circumstances, the absolute minimum age
must not be below 16 years, the grounds for obtaining permission must be
legitimate and strictly defined by law and the marriage must be permitted only
by a court of law upon the full, free and informed consent of the child or both
children, who must appear in person before the court;
(g) That a legal requirement of marriage registration is established and
effective implementation is provided through awareness-raising, education and
the existence of adequate infrastructure to make registration accessible to all
persons within their jurisdiction;
(h) That a national system of compulsory, accessible and free birth
registration is established in order to effectively prevent harmful practices,
including child marriage;
(i) That national human rights institutions are mandated to consider
individual complaints and petitions and carry out investigations, including
those submitted on behalf of or directly by women and children, in a
confidential, gender-sensitive and child-friendly manner;
(j) That it is made mandatory by law for professionals and institutions
working for and with children and women to report actual incidents or the risk
of such incidents if they have reasonable grounds to believe that a harmful
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