definition of the Charter as well as other international human rights instruments. The Committee concurs with the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights that the failure of State Parties to ensure compliance with the minimum age of marriage set at 18 is a violation of article 21 of the Charter.79 Moreover, the policy and the practice of the Respondent State subject victims to secondary victimization and hinder the apprehension of perpetrators of sexual violence by shifting the blame on the victims. 65. Concerning the measures, the Respondent State is undertaking to eliminate harmful practices and teenage pregnancy, the Committee acknowledges the efforts undertaken by the Respondent State towards the elimination of harmful practices. However, in this particular case, the Committee notes that the measures undertaken against pregnant and married girls and the mandatory pregnancy testing of schoolgirls are not in conformity with the measures that should be undertaken to eliminate harmful practices in line with the provisions and principles of the Charter. 66. Therefore, the issue of mandatory pregnancy testing, expulsion of pregnant and married girls with no re-entry, and the detention of pregnant girls are results of negative stereotypes which are harmful practices, and further perpetuate harmful practices prohibited under article 21 of the ACRWC. The Committee, hence, finds the Respondent State in violation of article 21 of the ACRWC. Alleged violation of article 4 of the ACRWC on the best interests of the child 67. The Complainants have alleged that the Respondent State, through its acts and omissions, has failed in its obligation to consider the best interests of girls who are forced to undergo mandatory pregnancy testing; are expelled from school for being pregnant or married, and are denied re-entry to these schools thereafter. The Respondent State alleges that the best interests of girls who fall pregnant and have children before they have finished their schooling are to be removed from school and, further, that keeping pregnant and married learners in school will negatively impact their peers and society. 68. The issues under investigation require that the Committee considers what the best interests of the child entail in these instances and whether the Respondent’s State’s acts of mandatory pregnancy testing, expulsion and denial of re-entry are in line with the best interests of the children affected. Finally, the way these practices violate the best interests of the child must be expanded upon so that these violations will not be repeated. 69. The best interests of the child, as stated in article 4 of the Charter, shall be the primary consideration ‘in all actions undertaken by any person or authority’ as it concerns children. Furthermore, the Committee’s General Comment No. 5 states that ‘there are 79 ACHPR, Application 046/2016, Association pour le Progrès et la Défense des Droits des Femmes Maliennes (APDF) and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) v Republic of Mali, Judgment, 11 May 2018, para 78. JN 28