E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2 page 21 ownership of family property or at the end of a marriage or de facto relationship (paras. 28 and 33); discrimination in favour of men in matters of inheritance in the event of the death of the husband or father (paras. 34 and 35);73 and early marriage, which has a detrimental effect on women personally and the family and on women’s access to employment (para. 37). 2. Convention on the Rights of the Child 73. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted on 20 November 1989, is a key instrument in the protection of the status of girls from harmful cultural and religious practices. The protection provided for by the Convention in this respect is of two kinds: (a) Protection that is of a general nature but can have an impact on aspects of the issue. That applies to the definition of child (art. 1); the right to life (art. 6); the right to be registered immediately after birth (art. 7); the right to health (art. 24); the right to protection from exploitation, in particular economic and sexual exploitation (arts. 32, 34 and 36), to protection from violence (art. 19) and to protection from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (art. 37); and freedom of religion (art. 14). All those provisions can entail situations affecting the status of girls in the light of religion and traditions and in that respect afford protection, for example in regard to early marriage, infanticide, genital mutilation, freedom to wear or not to wear distinctive religious symbols, etc.; (b) Protection that is more direct and can apply specifically to the status of girls in the light of religion and traditions. For example, States are required under article 24, paragraph 3, to take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children. Those practices come within the mandate of the Committee on the Rights of the Child where they affect children, in particular girls, and, as will be seen, many such practices have their origins in traditions and customs based on age-old cultural interpretation of religion.74 74. The Convention has been ratified by virtually all States of the world.75 However, like the Women’s Convention, it has been the subject of many reservations and interpretive declarations based on religious considerations. The reservations are either of a general nature76 or relate to provisions, in particular those concerned with freedom of conscience and religion, adoption (which is considered banned under Islam), family planning, transmission of nationality by the mother, and rights of inheritance.77 Many of these reservations have been the subject of objections on the ground that they conflict with the object and purpose of the Convention and with the relevant principles set forth in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.78 3. Other specific texts, instruments and mechanisms 75. In the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993), certain traditional practices are rightly included among the enumerated forms of violence against women: “Violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to, the following: (a) physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including … dowry-related violence … female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women” (art. 2). As noted by the Special Rapporteur on traditional practices affecting the health of women and children, violence is one of