A/HRC/22/45 experience, the Working Group recognizes that women are often at the forefront of the struggle against enforced disappearances. They often form organizations and associations seeking to establish the circumstances of enforced disappearances and the fate of disappeared persons, and to assist victims themselves. 88. Women and girls are often affected by enforced disappearances as disappeared persons, but also as relatives or as persons suffering harm as a result of an enforced disappearance. The effects of enforced disappearances are endured in different ways by them all because of gender roles, which are deeply embedded in history, tradition, religion and culture. Gender equality and the empowerment of women are essential tools to addressing the situation women victims of enforced disappearance face. In order to prevent and eradicate effectively the enforced disappearances of women, the Working Group recognizes the importance of States developing a comprehensive national policy from a gender perspective on the basis of the principles of gender mainstreaming. The Working Group encourages States to use the general comment on women affected by enforced disappearances as a tool to provide gender equality and empowerment of women. E. Children and enforced disappearances 89. In 2012, the Working Group adopted a general comment on children and enforced disappearances. 90. The enforced disappearance of a child constitutes an exacerbation of the violation of the multiplicity of rights protected by the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and an extreme form of violence against children.46 91. Children’s evolving stages of physical and mental maturity, as well as their reliance on adults, places them in a situation of particular vulnerability. As such, the specific nature of the violation of rights and the specific obligations of the State in cases of child victims of enforced disappearance must be properly understood and underscored. 92. The Working Group recognizes that children must be afforded special protection and acknowledges the salience of relevant instruments that specifically address violence against children. 93. Given that enforced disappearance is a continuous crime, its specific effects on a child could continue even after he or she has reached majority. Thus, the Working Group notes that the obligations of the State that arose when the child was under the age of 18 continue as long as those obligations are not fully complied with. 94. The Working Group considers that States should address, in dealing with situation of enforced disappearances, the different challenges and needs faced by girls and boys, adolescents and younger children, refugee and internally displaced children, children recruited into armed forces and groups, children from different religious and ethnic and racial backgrounds and children with disabilities. A gender-sensitive approach should include a focus on the protection of the rights of girls and on addressing their particular needs. 46 22 See A/61/299.