E/C.12/CRI/CO/4 page 3 15. The Committee regrets that indigenous communities and Afro-descendants suffer from higher levels of poverty and unemployment than the national average. Additionally, indigenous communities suffer from high illiteracy rates, limited access to water, housing, health and education. 16. The Committee further regrets that indigenous communities are not represented at high-level positions in the public service. 17. The Committee is concerned about the persisting wage gap between men and women and the high unemployment rate among women. 18. The Committee is concerned about disadvantageous working conditions affecting in particular domestic workers, most of whom are migrant women, who are paid the lowest minimum wage, working over 8 hours a day with inadequate rest, pensions and vacations. 19. The Committee is concerned about the high proportion of workers in the informal sector, affecting disadvantaged and marginalized groups and individuals, including immigrants and refugees, mainly Nicaraguan and Colombian, as well as ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities. It is further concerned about poor working conditions in rural and remote areas, which contribute to the increasing migration from rural to urban areas. 20. The Committee is concerned about reported cases of harassment, blacklisting and dismissal of trade unionists, in particular in the banana industry, where dismissals of unionized workers in large numbers have been reported. The Committee regrets that the State party has failed to effectively implement the Committee’s previous recommendations regarding the incompatibility of restrictions placed on the participation of foreigners in trade unions with article 8 of the Covenant. 21. The Committee is concerned about the continuing insufficient coverage in the social pension system, particularly for the marginalized and disadvantaged individuals and groups, including domestic, agricultural and migrant workers, despite the progress made in the coverage of the national health system. 22. The Committee regrets that various legal and institutional measures taken by the State Party to offer redress to victims of domestic violence have been insufficient to address the increase in domestic violence against women and children. 23. The Committee is concerned about the fact that corporal punishment within the family, in the form of “moderate correction”, is still allowed under article 143 of the State party’s Family Code. 24. The Committee is deeply concerned about the increase in sexual and commercial exploitation, sex tourism and trafficking in persons, especially women and girls, in the State party, despite institutional measures and plans of action to combat this scourge. The Committee is concerned about the lack of any specific legislation and case law on human trafficking and the lack of disaggregated data on the nature, extent and causes of this phenomenon.