CEDAW/C/62/D/53/2013 Committee also recalls that, under article 1 of the Convention, discrimination against women is defined as “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex, which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise by women … of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field”. According to the Committee’s general recommendation No. 19, gender -based violence is a form of discrimination against women and includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty (para. 6). 8.4 As stated in paragraph 10 of its general recommendation No. 32 on the genderrelated dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women, the Committee recalls that the provisions of the Convention reinforce and complement the international legal protection regime for refugees an d stateless women and girls, especially because explicit gender quality provisions are absent from relevant international agreements, notably the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereto, the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The Committee further notes that, under international human rights law, the principle of non-refoulement imposes a duty on States to refrain from returning a person to a jurisdiction in which he or she may face serious violations of human rights, notably arbitrary deprivation of life or torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The principle of non -refoulement also constitutes an essential component of asylum and international refugee protection. 15 The essence of the principle is that a State may not oblige a person to return to a territory in which he or she may be exposed to persecution, including gender -related forms and grounds of persecution. 16 8.5 The absolute prohibition of torture, which is part of customary international law, includes the prohibition of refoulement to a risk of torture, which entails the prohibition of any return of an individual where he or she would be exposed to a risk of torture. The same holds true for the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of life. Gender-based violence is outlawed under human rights law primarily through the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Committee against Torture, in paragraph 18 of its general comment No. 2, has explicitly indicated that gender-based violence and abuse fall within the scope of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Deg rading Treatment or Punishment. 17 8.6 The Committee recalls that, under article 2 (d) of the Convention, States parties undertake to refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and to ensure that public authorities and institutions act in __________________ 15 16 17 15-21603 See article 33 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. See communication No. 33/2011, M.N.N. v. Denmark, para. 8.8, and communication No. 35/2011, M.E.N. v. Denmark, para. 8.7 (see footnote 13 above). See Human Rights Committee, communications No. 2149/2012, M.I. v. Sweden, views adopted on 25 July 2013, and No. 1465/2006, Kaba v. Canada, views adopted on 25 March 2010. It is also worth noting that the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter -American Commission on Human Rights have found instances of rape of detainees to be tantamount to acts of torture. In addition, “rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity” constitutes a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. 11/16