E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2 page 12 and ownership or administration of property or in other areas of family and social life are clearly discriminatory towards women regardless of the basis of the discrimination. In contrast to equality, equity in human rights is a variable and ambiguous concept which is thus malleable according to the wishes of its manipulator and cannot serve as a serious criterion for granting rights or for laying down restrictions on those rights. Moreover, in regard to the subject of the present study, equity is a dangerous concept that can be used to justify discrimination and inequality towards women on the grounds of, inter alia, physical or biological distinctions based on or imputed to religion. 37. It is ultimately a matter of pragmatism and realism, a dynamic compromise between, on the one hand, life and its constraints, necessary liberalization afforded by modernity, immense developments in knowledge and technology and achievements in the area of observance of human rights in general and those of women in particular, and, on the other, respect for religious beliefs and cultural traditions. 38. Broadly speaking, religion, in its cultural dimension, is necessarily imbued with the realities of every historical facet of its evolution over both time and space. That can encompass a wide diversity of religious practices in relation to women’s status across the world and sometimes contradictions between those practices within the same religion or the existence of the same practice or norm in different religions. But such diversity must not mask the fact that, while religion is a source of discrimination against women, that discrimination is primarily attributable to the culture reflecting the realities of each historical era. Yet realities are not immutable. Religions themselves have played an affirmative and sometimes revolutionary role in seeking to alter them in a manner favourable to the status of women within the family and in society. Such positive action and continuous reform effort should enable the different parties concerned with women’s status in the light of religion and traditions, and, in particular, States and the international community as a whole, to fulfil a forward-looking role in the emancipation of women, especially through the law. 39. The aim is obviously not to change religions or to challenge religious beliefs or persuasions or faith. It is rather to restore to religions the role that they have always had in altering the dominant patriarchal culture of their era. 40. To that end, it is first necessary to identify the legal situation in relation to the matter at issue (chapter I). A factual examination of the discrimination suffered by women in different religions and cultures will then enable us to assess the extent of the many harmful practices prevalent across the world (chapter II) before drawing the necessary conclusions and making recommendations to combat practices or norms that are detrimental to women’s status in the light of religion and traditions (chapter III). I. LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE LIGHT OF RELIGION AND TRADITIONS 41. An analysis of the many existing human rights instruments shows that the contribution of women-specific instruments (section B) and some regional instruments (section C) is relatively greater than that of general universal instruments (section A), although some of these general instruments have played and continue to play a not insignificant role in this respect.