Commission on the Status of Women Sixty-third session 11 – 22 March 2019. Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls Agreed conclusions 3/10

      12. The Commission recognizes that progress in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and the full enjoyment of their human rights has been held back owing to the persistence of historical and structural unequal power relations between women and men, poverty, inequalities and disadvantages in access to, ownership  of and control over resources,  growing gaps in equality of opportunity and limited access to social protection systems and public services, including universal health-care services and education, gender-based violence, discriminatory laws and policies, negative social norms and gender stereotypes, and the unequal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work. It stresses the urgency of eliminating those structural barriers in order to realize gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

      13. The Commission strongly condemns all forms of violence against all women and girls, which is rooted in historical and structural inequality and unequal power relations between men and women. It reiterates that violence against women and girls in all its forms and manifestations, in public and private spheres, including sexual and gender-based violence, domestic violence, and harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, are pervasive, underrecognized and underreported, particularly at the community level. It expresses deep concern that women and girls may be particularly vulnerable to violence because of multidimensional poverty, limited or lack of access to justice, effective legal remedies and services, including protection, rehabilitation, reintegration, and to health-care services. It reemphasizes that violence against women and girls is a major impediment to the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls and violates and impairs or nullifies their full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

14. The Commission stresses that sexual harassment in private and public spaces, including in educational institutions and the workplace, as well as in digital contexts, leads to a hostile environment, which has a further negative impact on women and girls in the enjoyment of their rights, equal opportunities, including full and equal access to public services and sustainable infrastructure, and has negative and physical and mental health consequences for the victims and may negatively affect their families.

15. The Commission recognizes the importance of improving public services and infrastructure such as transportation and sanitation facilities in order to enhance the safety of women and girls. The Commission expresses its concern that certain aspects of mobility and transportation, including inaccessible platforms, overcrowded carriages, or poorly lit stops can create barriers for women and girls and can expose them to violence, including attacks, harassment and other threats to their safety, limiting their ability to move freely and safely in the public sphere. The Commission is also concerned that women and girls are particularly at risk while collecting household water and fuel and when accessing sanitation facilities outside their homes.

16. The Commission recognizes that poverty, unemployment, lack of socio-economic opportunities, lack of social protection, pervasive gender inequality and violence, discrimination,
Advanced Unedited Version  marginalization, and persistent demand are among the underlying causes that make women and girls vulnerable to human trafficking.

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