CEDAW/C/GC/35 III. State party obligations in relation to gender-based violence against women 21. Gender-based violence against women constitutes discrimination against women under article 1 and therefore engages all obligations under the Convention. Article 2 provides that the overarching obligation of States parties is to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women, including gender-based violence against women. That is an obligation of an immediate nature; delays cannot be justified on any grounds, including economic, cultural or religious grounds. In general reco mmendation No. 19, it is indicated that, with regard to gender-based violence against women, the obligation comprises two aspects of State responsibility for such violence, that which results from the act s or omissions of both the State party or its actors, on the one hand, and non-State actors, on the other. A. Responsibility for acts or omissions of State actors 22. Under the Convention and general international law, a State party is responsible for acts or omissions of its organs and agents that constitute genderbased violence against women, 30 which include the acts or omissions of officials in its executive, legislative and judicial branches. Article 2 (d) of the Convention provides that States parties, and their organs and agents, are to refrain from engaging in any act or practice of direct or indirect discrimination against women and ensure that public authorities and institutions act in conformity with that obligation. Besides ensuring that laws, policies, programmes and procedures do not discriminate against women, in accordance with articles 2 (c) and (g), States parties must have an effective and accessible legal and legal services framework in place to address all forms of gender-based violence against women committed by State agents, whether on their territory or extraterritorially. 23. States parties are responsible for preventing such acts or omissions by their own organs and agents, including through training and the adoption, implementation and monitoring of legal provisions, administrative regulations and codes of conduct, and for investigating, prosecuting and applying appropriate legal or disciplinary sanctions, as well as providing reparation, in all cases of gender -based violence against women, including those constituting international crimes, and in cases of failure, negligence or omission on the part of public authorities. 31 In so doing, the diversity of women and the risks of intersecting forms of discrimination should be taken into consideration. B. Responsibility for acts or omissions of non-State actors 24. Under general international law, as well as under international treaties, acts or omissions of a private actor may engage the international responsibility of the State in certain cases, which include the following: __________________ 30 31 8/19 See International Law Commission, articles on responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts, article 4, Conduct of organs of a State. See also Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts, article 91. See footnote 6 above and general recommendation No. 33. 17-12719