o they “constitute a denial of the dignity and/or integrity of the individual” and a violation of their human rights o they constitute discrimination limiting the capacity of girls to fully participate in society o they are practices that “are prescribed and/or kept in place by social norms that perpetuate male dominance and inequality of women and children, on the basis of sex, gender, age and other intersecting factors o they are “imposed on women and children by family members, community members or society at large” regardless of the victim’s lack of or inability to consent. 63. Moreover, article 1(g) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa defines harmful practices as ‘all behaviour, attitudes and/or practices which negatively affect the fundamental rights of women and girls, such as their right to life, health, dignity, education and physical integrity. Furthermore, article 5(a) of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women puts an obligation on States to take measures to eliminate and practice founded on the inferiority of girls and stereotyped role of girls. 64. The Committee notes that the mandatory pregnancy testing of girls and their expulsion from school when found pregnant or married impairs the enjoyment of their rights under the Charter and that such practice is discriminatory within the ambit of article 3 of the Charter and violates the right to dignity, freedom from torture, and the right to privacy of girls, among others. Moreover, the Committee stresses that schoolgirls who are married and fall pregnant are victims of a larger pattern of gender-based discrimination which the Respondent State is required to address by taking the necessary safeguards through law and practice as well as providing redress to victims. Article 21(2) explicitly prohibits child marriage and puts an obligation on States to eliminate the practice. The Respondent State is required to adopt laws, policies, and other administrative measures to prevent child marriage and teenage pregnancy and ensure that child marriage is prohibited by law with no exception.77 Moreover, the Respondent State has the obligation to undertake institutional measures toward the elimination of child marriage and such institutional measures should also include measures of redress to girls already married which includes assistance to continue with their education.78 Hence, married schoolgirls are victims of a violation of their rights under the Charter and should be provided support. Nevertheless, the Education (Expulsion and Exclusion of Pupils from School) Regulations, 2002 G.N. No. 295 of 2002 explicitly provides that a married student will be expelled from school. Moreover, the expulsion of pregnant schoolgirls based on the morality clause of the Expulsion policy is guided by the notion that all pregnant girls have committed an immoral act. By the same token, the illegal detention of pregnant girls is practised on the same notion that pregnant girls have contributed to the alleged criminal act. The Committee notes that such grounds are based on harmful stereotypes and practices that discriminate against girls. Moreover, the discrimination has resulted in the violation of the rights of the affected girls which makes the practices qualify as harmful as per the 77 ACERWC and ACHPR, Joint General Comment on Ending Child Marriage in Africa, 2017, para 18. 78 As above, para 42. JN 27