E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2 page 51 religious matter and that some of them are even contrary to religion.278 Enlightened religious officials have an important role to play in informing women of their rights, especially when such rights, which have been established by religious precepts, are misunderstood, infringed or manipulated by conflicting patriarchal traditions or customs. 206. Religious instruction, whether or not imparted by religious officials in denominational private or State schools, should convey a positive image of women and eliminate misconceptions that reinforce women’s inequality. States must be held accountable for the content of such education within their territory.279 It is clear that these objectives can be achieved only if States pay particular attention to the training of religious officials, which has to be more rigorous and incorporate a perspective of tolerance and non-discrimination towards women. (g) Gender parity 207. As women make up one half of society, they do not constitute a minority or specific group. However, owing to the persistence of inequalities based on cultural traditions, they have been excluded from public life and from discussion and decision-making forums concerned with issues that affect them in the same way as men. Gender parity is from that perspective a form of positive discrimination that makes it possible progressively to restore equality and take into account the demographic composition of society. States should ensure that male-female parity figures prominently in all policies and programmes in which women should be involved (health, employment, elections, public service, judicial administration, etc.) and establish, where appropriate, a body with responsibility for overseeing and implementing such a policy. (h) Combating extremism 208. Any strategy to improve women’s status in the light of religion and traditions calls for relentless and all-embracing efforts to combat extremism, which is founded on simplistic and obscurantist ideas. States must be particularly careful to avoid being trapped by extremist strategies and to safeguard religion from political exploitation, including by the ruling power, since such exploitation is especially detrimental to the status of women and society in general. 2. Protection 209. In the area of human rights protection and particularly with regard to women’s rights, some traditional practices go beyond the State because of their often ancient origins. That fact must not mask the primary responsibility of the State in whose territory such practices are perpetrated, even where the discrimination or abuse is committed by private individuals. In its Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women of 1993, the General Assembly proclaimed that States should “[e]xercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons”. Measures of protection are thus necessary. (a) Law enforcement 210. States should be encouraged to take effective and necessary steps to implement existing legislation and in particular ensure women’s right to equality before the law and equal protection of the law. They should remain vigilant in prohibiting polygamy and practices that pose a threat