(;r'ACHPR . . ,~ '(J.nv.o '.. African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Human Rights our Collective Responsibility is no evidence to contrary, the Commission finds a violation of Article 2 of the African Charter. 184. In addressing the violations of Article 18(3) of the Charter, the Complainants submitted that the victims were subject to gender stereotypes and that the State failed to adequately investigate their claims of violence and to prosecute the perpetrator; and that the State's inactions owing to the underlying criminal justice system constituted their secondary victimisation. 185. Analysing the testimonies provided by the Complainants to establish whether the allegations were indeed gender-specific, and discriminatory, primarily based on gender and political opinion together, the Commission consider 2lnaracteristics· of violence commonly committed against women and men to differ. It affirms that only by analysing the nature of the violence that the Commission can effectively draw its conclusions as follows; a. Firstly, considering the sexually demeaning terms or verbal assaults used against the Victims, such as prostitute, bitch and slut,157the Commission is of the firm opinion that these words are usually meant to degrade and rip off the integrity of women who refuse to abide by traditional religious and even social norms. The Commission recall its position in EIPR and INTERIGHTS v Egypt158 in which it considered that the use of terms such as "whore" and slut" amounted to sexual humiliation, in combination with sexual molestation. 1/ b. Secondly, the physical assaults spearheaded by the virginity test, described above are gender-specific in the sense that the Victims were subjected to acts of sexual harassment and physical violence that can only be directed at women. For instance, breasts fondling and touching or attempting to touch' private and sensitive parts and the Virginity test. The Commission finds no doubt that the Victims were targeted in this manner due to their gender. 157 See, Paragraph 120 158 See, para 143 431 P age :,fNt_~~ Afri<;an~\.· l.Jnionx,,"1