CEDAW/C/GC/35 (c) Repeal, including in customary, religious and indigenous laws, all legal provisions that are discriminatory against women and thereby enshrine, encourage, facilitate, justify or tolerate any form of gender -based violence. 47 In particular, repeal the following: (i) Provisions that allow, tolerate or condone forms of gender -based violence against women, including child 48 or forced marriage and other harmful practices, provisions allowing medical procedures to be performed on women with disabilities without their informed consent and provisions that criminalize abortion, 49 being lesbian, bisexual or transgender, women in prostitution and adultery, or any other criminal provisions that affect women disproportionally, including those resulting in the discriminatory application of the death penalty to women; 50 (ii) Discriminatory evidentiary rules and procedures, including procedures allowing for the deprivation of women’s liberty to protect them from violence, practices focused on “virginity” and legal defences or mitigating factors based on culture, religion or male privilege, such as the defence of so-called “honour”, traditional apologies, pardons from the families of victims/survivors or the subsequent marriage of the victim/survivor of sexual assault to the perpetrator, procedures that result in the harshest penalties, inc luding stoning, lashing and death, often being reserved for women and judicial practices that disregard a history of gender-based violence to the detriment of women defendants; 51 (iii) All laws that prevent or deter women from reporting gender -based violence, such as guardianship laws that deprive women of legal capacity or restrict the ability of women with disabilities to testify in court, the practice of so-called “protective custody”, restrictive immigration laws that discourage women, including migrant domestic workers, from reporting such violence, and laws allowing for dual arrests in cases of domestic violence or for the prosecution of women when the perpetrator is acquitted; (d) Examine gender-neutral laws and policies to ensure that they do not create or perpetuate existing inequalities and repeal or modify them if they do so; 52 (e) Ensure that sexual assault, including rape, is characterized as a crime against the right to personal security and physical, sexual and psychological integrity 53 and that the definition of sexual crimes, including marital and acquaintance or date rape, is based on the lack of freely given consent and takes into account coercive circumstances. 54 Any time limitations, where they exist, should __________________ 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 12/19 Following the guidance provided in general recommendation No. 33. Article 16 (2) of the Convention; and joint general recommendation No. 31/g eneral comment No. 18, para. 42 and para. 55 (f), regarding the conditions under which marriage at an earlier age than 18 years is allowed, in exceptional circumstances. See the summary of the inquiry concerning the Philippines ( CEDAW/C/OP.8/PHL/1); communication No. 22/2009, T.P.F. v. Peru, views adopted on 17 October 2011; and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 22. The Committee recalls General Assembly resolutions 62/149, 63/168, 65/206, 67/176, 69/186 and 71/187, in which the Assembly called upon all States that still maintained the death penalty to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing it. See, among others, the concluding observations of the Committee on the following periodic reports of States parties: Afghanistan (CEDAW/C/AFG/CO/1-2); Jordan (CEDAW/C/JOR/CO/6); Papua New Guinea (CEDAW/C/PNG/CO/3); and South Africa (CEDAW/C/ZAF/CO/4); and the report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (A/HRC/35/23). General recommendation No. 28, para. 16. See Vertido v. Philippines. See Vertido v. Philippines and R.P.B. v. Philippines. 17-12719