A/HRC/30/41 denial of broader rights. Women also play a primary role in overseeing the health and wellbeing of their families and communities, and can be particularly affected by the suffering of children and other family members. Their gender and role as child-bearers also make them vulnerable to specific health difficulties. 33. A grave gender-specific health concern is the issue of indigenous women’s sexual and reproductive health. Indigenous women face many barriers to sexual and reproductive rights, such as a lack of culturally appropriate sexual and reproductive health advice, geographical access to facilities and lack of supplies, such as contraceptives, poor quality care and, in some cases, legislation banning abortion services, even in cases of pregnancy following rape. That leads to higher-than-average maternal mortality rates; disproportionate representation of indigenous girls in teenage pregnancy indexes; low voluntary contraceptive usage; and high rates of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. 34. There have also been severe historical violations of indigenous women’s rights in relation to sexual and reproductive rights in the context of denial of their rights to selfdetermination and cultural autonomy. Those violations include forced sterilization of indigenous women and attempts to force indigenous women to have children with nonindigenous men as part of policies of cultural assimilation. Indigenous women may also face barriers to preventive services that support their right to health, such as screening for ovarian and breast cancer. Cultural rights 35. Abuses of indigenous people’s cultural rights are endemic, owing to a sustained unwillingness on the part of many States to celebrate indigenous culture or to promote the use of indigenous languages in schools as part of the cultural diversity of citizens within their borders. That has a cross-cutting effect on the rights of indigenous women and children. Lack of respect for indigenous cultures is evident across all violations of indigenous peoples and is a fundamental part of the experiences of indigenous women and girls. The commodification of the cultures and cultural heritage of indigenous peoples is a common experience for many indigenous peoples. For example, indigenous territories have been declared World Heritage Sites without their free, prior and informed consent, thereby turning them into tourist areas. In most cases, the people who reap the biggest benefits are foreign or national travel and tour agencies or hotel owners. In those cases, indigenous women often end up as menial employees or entertainers for tourists. At worst, prostitution is encouraged and criminal syndicates promote trafficking of indigenous women and girls. C. Civil and political rights Racism and racially motivated discrimination 36. As indicated in the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, indigenous peoples face persistent and multifaceted forms of racism and racial discrimination. Such discrimination is intimately interconnected and mutually reinforcing with the spectrum of violations experienced by indigenous peoples. 37. Indigenous women and girls experience racism and racial discrimination as members of indigenous communities. Such violations of their rights also increase their vulnerability to other human rights abuses, as they are part of the intersecting forms of discrimination and inequality that they face. Participation in public and political life 38. Indigenous women have the right, to participate in public and political decisionmaking processes. That right stems broadly from the right to self-determination, as well as 10