E/C.12/1/Add.107 page 8 54. The Committee urges the State party to continue to take necessary measures to ensure that the minimum wage enables workers and their families to enjoy an adequate standard of living and that the minimum wage standard is effectively enforced, particularly in rural areas and in western areas. The Committee further encourages the State party to establish a wage enforcement mechanism that periodically adjusts minimum wages to the cost of living, facilitate the redress of wage claims, and take sanctions against employers who owe wages and overtime pay and impose fines and penalties on their workers. 55. The Committee urges the State party to amend the Trade Union Act to allow workers to form independent trade unions outside the structure of the All China Federation of Trade Unions. Further, the Committee strongly urges the State party to consider withdrawing its declaration on article 8, paragraph 1, of the Covenant. 56. The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen the redistributive mechanisms between regions and levels of government, so as to ensure that local authorities receive additional funds necessary for adequate provision of welfare and social services to their populations. The Committee urges the State party to extend non-contributory social assistance to the rural areas that are presently not covered, as a means to combat poverty among the rural populations. 57. The Committee requests that the State party provide, in its next periodic report, detailed information on the extent of domestic violence, in particular violence against women, and on the legislative and other measures taken by it to address this phenomenon, including facilities and remedies provided for victims. The Committee urges the State party to provide training to law enforcement officials and judges regarding the serious and criminal nature of domestic violence, in particular violence against women. 58. The Committee urges the State party to adopt legislation that specifically criminalizes the trafficking of human beings and to establish mechanisms to effectively monitor its strict enforcement and provide protection and assistance to victims of sexual exploitation. The Committee requests the State party, in its next periodic report, to provide detailed information, including comparable statistical data, on the extent of the problem of sexual exploitation of women and children in the State party, including prostitution, sale and trafficking in persons. 59. The Committee strongly recommends that the State party take immediate measures, inter alia by increasing allocations, for the protection of economic, social and cultural rights of persons living in disadvantaged areas, in particular with regard to adequate housing, food and water, health services and sanitation. The Committee calls upon the State party to develop a mechanism for measuring the poverty level and to monitor it closely, and refers the State party to the Committee’s statement on poverty adopted in May 2001. 60. In line with its general comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee urges the State party to undertake effective measures to improve the delivery of health services in rural areas and ethnic minority regions, inter alia, by allocating adequate and increased resources. The Committee encourages the State party to take urgent measures to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, including through sex education in schools and awareness-raising campaigns to eliminate discrimination against HIV-positive persons.