E/C.12/MUS/CO/4 21. The Committee is concerned that, according to the Employment Rights Act of 2008 section 30, women with less than 12 months’ continuous employment with the same employer are not entitled to paid maternity leave. It is further concerned that, according to section 31 of the same Act, men are entitled to paid paternity leave only if they have contracted civil or religious marriage to the mother of their child (art. 10). The Committee recommends that the State party revise the Employment Rights Act, ensuring that all working mothers be accorded paid maternity leave, and that all fathers exercising parental responsibilities are entitled to paid paternity leave, regardless of their marital status. 22. The Committee is concerned at the persistent domestic violence against women in the State party, and that domestic violence is not specifically categorized as a criminal offence and can only be prosecuted as “assault”. The Committee is particularly concerned that marital rape is not criminalized (art. 10). The Committee recommends that the State party combat violence against women by making domestic violence a specific criminal offence, effectively implementing the Protection from Domestic Violence Act of 1997 and evaluating the National Action Plan to Combat Domestic Violence launched in 2007. The Committee also recommends that the State party ensure victims’ access to justice, by encouraging the reporting of crimes and ensuring that perpetrators are prosecuted and punished. The Committee calls upon the State party to ensure that marital rape constitutes a criminal offence. It further requests the State party to raise public awareness, through the media and education programmes on violence against women. 23. The Committee is concerned at the persistent problem with cases of child abuse and neglect in the State party (art. 10). The Committee recommends that the State party take the necessary measures to combat child abuse and neglect, including explicitly prohibiting corporal punishment at home and in alternative care settings and as a disciplinary measure in the penal system. 24. The Committee is concerned at cases of sexual exploitation of children, including reports that some schoolgirls voluntarily work in conjunction with prostitution rings, while others are forced into prostitution (art. 10). The Committee recommends that the State party take all the necessary measures, including of a legal nature, to combat the sexual exploitation of children. It further recommends that the State party ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, signed by the State party in 2001, and amend its laws to be fully compliant with this Protocol. 25. The Committee is concerned that abortion is criminalized in all settings, including when the mother’s life is at risk, and when the pregnancy is the result of rape. It is further concerned by the failure of the State party to provide exact information on sexual and reproductive health services and education (arts. 10 and 12). The Committee recommends that the State party amend section 235 of the Criminal Code in order to allow for abortion in cases of therapeutic abortion and when pregnancy is result of rape or incest. It further recommends that the State party make sexual and reproductive health services widely available, and mainstream sexual and reproductive health education in schools. 26. The Committee is concerned that 10 per cent of Mauritians are estimated to be living in poverty, and, in particular, that about 40 per cent of the population on Rodrigues Island 5