or war, such acts are considered war crimes and are punished as such” (article 4(c) and (d)). States Parties should also condemn harmful practices such as medicalization of female genital mutilation and scarification that affect the fundamental human rights of women and girls and are contrary to recognized international standards, and take measures against them, such as rehabilitation of the victims and granting of asylum to those at risk (article 6(b-d)). States Parties should afford effective protection to women and children in emergency and conflict situations (article 11(4)) as well. In furtherance of the right to education and training, “all appropriate measures” should be taken to eliminate discrimination against women and girls, with specific positive action to be taken to promote girls’ education and training “at all levels and in all disciplines” as well as their retention in schools and other training institutions (article 12).
American Convention on Human Rights (Pact of San José, Costa Rica)
The American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) obliges States Parties to respect the rights and freedoms recognized in its provisions and “to ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full exercise of those rights and freedoms, without any discrimination for reasons of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status, birth, or any other social condition. The term “person” used in the ACHR means “every human being” (article 1). Thus, every person has the right to a legal personality, to life, to humane treatment, to personal liberty, and to a fair trial, among many other rights set forth. However, parents or guardians “have the right to provide for the religious and moral education of their children or wards that is in accord with their own convictions” (article 12(4)), and “public entertainments may be subject by law to prior censorship for the sole purpose of regulating access to them for the moral protection of childhood and adolescence,” notwithstanding the right to freedom of thought and expression (article 13(4). The ACHR stipulates that provision must be made for the protection of children “solely on the basis of their own best interests” when a marriage is dissolved and that equal rights must be recognized by law for children born in and out of wedlock (article 17(4) & (5)). Everyone also has the right to a given name and to the surnames of one or both parents (article 18). The ACHR has a separate provision on the rights of the child: “[e]very minor child has the right to the measures of protection required by his condition as a minor on the part of his family, society, and the state (article 19).” This article is listed among those that may not be suspended in time of war, public danger, or other emergency (article 27(2)).
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women 1979
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has been described as an international bill of rights for women. It defines what constitutes discrimination against women and establishes an agenda for States Parties to act to end it. The Preamble, in invoking the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, notes its affirmation of the principle of the inadmissibility of discrimination and its proclamation “that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind, including distinction based on sex.” This kind of statement forms the backdrop for certain rights set forth in CEDAW, even though girls specifically are mentioned only once: the obligation of States Parties to ensure the reduction of female student drop-out rates and the organization of programs for girls and women who have left school prematurely (article 10, in part). States Parties are also to take appropriate steps “to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the eli