CEDAW/C/GC/36 d) recalling obligations under SCR1325 and subsequent resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, demonstrate a proactive commitment to take necessary measures to prevent targeted attacks on educational institutions and to protect women and girls; e) ensure the meaningful participation of women in monitoring attacks and in the development of preventive, protective and peace building measures and ensure the participation of women, including those from disadvantaged groups, in their development; f) devise effective, coordinated, reconstructive and rapid responses, including both legal and non-legal accountability measures to hold perpetrators accountable; g) systematically investigate and prosecute, in accordance with international standards, those individuals responsible for ordering, taking part in, or bearing command responsibility for the range of violations of international human rights, humanitarian, and criminal law that constitute attacks on education; h) ensure that when schools are destroyed or used as shelters during natural disasters, girls’/women’s access to schooling is not unduly curtailed; i) give priority to the rehabilitation of schools impacted by natural disasters especially those serving disadvantaged girls and women; j) Ensure that all new school buildings adhere to prescribed building codes and incorporate disaster resilience, and carry out regular audits on existing schools. Cultural barriers 51. Even where there is adequate provision and accessibility is not a constraining factor, cultural norms and practices, based on the persistence of patriarchal systems and traditional roles associated with girls and women, can become powerful barriers to girls’ and women’s enjoyment of their right to education. 52. When girls are not in school, they are more likely to be forced to marry. This discriminatory and harmful practice of child and/or forced marriage associated with religious or cultural practices in some societies negatively impacts the right to education. Also, when girls are unable to finish their education because of child and/or forced marriage and pregnancy, they face practical barriers including forced exclusion from school, social norms confining girls to the home, or stigma. Child marriage also contributes to an increased risk of domestic violence, reproductive health risks and limitations to the right to freedom of movement. By failing to curb child marriages, governments fail in their obligation to ensure access to education for girls on an equal basis with boys. 53. In some regions of the world the common cultural practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) hinders and /or ends girls’ education. Complications following the procedure can cause girls to be less focused in school or absent resulting in poor performance and ultimately premature termination. In some countries, the high cost associated with the procedure also impacts parents’ capacity to subsequently meet school expenses resulting in school drop-out. Further, forced marriage after the procedure which is an initiation into maturity, can also lead to drop-out due to pregnancy or a focus on responsibilities in the home. 54. Poverty, combined with cultural practices, push children into both paid and unpaid work. A 2015 ILO Report on child labour and education indicates that 168 million children aged 5-17 are trapped in child labour: girls are over-represented in the care economy involving work in their own or others’ households and also bear the double burden of work inside and outside the home often with little or no time left for schooling. For those who manage to combine school and work, performance often suffers leading to drop-out. In many regions, the practice of child labour is also culturally determined with children incorporated in family-related work in particular seasons or on certain days of the week. 12