A/HRC/33/57 and to combat malnutrition as well as infant, child and maternal mortality. In its general comment No. 15 (2013) on the right of the child to the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee interpreted the right to health of all children as including the right to grow and develop to their full potential and live in conditions that enable them to attain the highest standard of health through the implementation of programmes that address the underlying determinants of health. 50. Unfortunately, alarming gaps in child health indicators persist between indigenous and non-indigenous populations globally. Infant mortality rates remain significantly higher among indigenous groups than among their mainstream counterparts.27 Indigenous women and children can be vulnerable to violence, malnutrition, malnourishment, anaemia and malaria.28 Some of these discrepancies are attributable to inequalities in social determinants of health. Disproportionately large numbers of indigenous children live in poverty (general comment No. 11) and in remote areas with limited access to health care, quality education, justice and participation opportunities (see E/C.19/2005/2, annex III). 51. Indigenous peoples continue to experience intergenerational trauma owing to the removal of children from families and residential schooling. The health impacts of such practices are profound and include mental illness, physical and sexual abuse, self-harm and suicide, and drug or alcohol addiction. A correlation has been demonstrated between the intergenerational effects of those events and suicide29 and sexual abuse during childhood.30 52. Indigenous children and youth are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations, because of their age and the intersectional nature of the discrimination experienced by indigenous peoples. Children and youth have not historically been recognized as holders of rights; that is especially the case for indigenous children, who are frequently deprived of fundamental rights concerning their families, communities and identity. The combined effect of intergenerational trauma and lack of progress towards the realization of indigenous human rights has resulted in many indigenous children experiencing a multitude of early and traumatic life experiences, placing them at risk of ill health, mental illness, suicide and contact with the criminal justice system. 31 53. Indigenous youth frequently find themselves caught between their indigenous languages, customs and values and those of the wider community. They often migrate from their traditional communities to urban areas to seek out increased employment and educational opportunities, incurring increased health risks. Indigenous youth not only experience higher rates of unemployment than their non-indigenous counterparts: they are also vulnerable to depression, substance abuse and other risky health outcomes that occur in the absence of strong social support and in the presence of discrimination. 54. In addition to difficulties experienced by indigenous peoples in accessing appropriate and good-quality health services, indigenous children and youth face three key issues compounding their social and economic disadvantage, relating to education, family and community integrity, and mental health. 27 28 29 30 31 14 Ian Anderson and others (see footnote 12). Submission by the Indigenous Women’s Network, India. Zahra Rehman, presentation to the Expert Seminar on Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Health. Gregory Corosky, presentation to the Expert Seminar on Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Health. Hannah McGlade, Our Greatest Challenge: Aboriginal Children and Human Rights (Canberra, Aboriginal Studies Press, 2013).