A/HRC/59/62 Rights. The Committee’s general comments No. 5 (1994) on persons with disabilities and No. 16 (2005) on the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights (2005) also incorporate the concept of intersectionality. 16. Special procedures have provided further guidance to States on their obligations to address intersectional discrimination under international human rights law.17 For example, the thematic report on global extractivism and racial equality18 of the Special Rapporteur’s predecessor has been recognized for its comprehensive and systemic analysis of how the extractivism economy involves multiple and intersectional social categories and structures of domination. 19 Another example is a report of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls in which the Working Group established that, for legal guarantees of gender equality to benefit all women, implementation frameworks and strategies must be responsive to the intersections of sex-based discrimination with other grounds of discrimination, such as race, ethnicity, religion or belief, language, political affiliation, health, status, age, class, caste, national or social origin, property, birth, and sexual orientation and gender identity.20 17. Other international human rights instruments also contain references to intersectionality. Notably, in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, it is recognized that, when referring to sexual violence as a weapon of war, “that the intersection of discrimination on the grounds of race and gender makes women and girls particularly vulnerable to this type of violence, which is often related to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”. An expert group meeting on gender and racial discrimination held in Zagreb in 2000, in the run-up to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, explored in detail the intersection between race and gender. In the outcome document, the expert group stressed the importance of the development of a methodology that could be implemented to harness existing human rights standards to identify and address intersectional discrimination, including structural subordination.21 The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action also contains an acknowledgement of the interlocking systems that affect women’s enjoyment of their human rights. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and various United Nations agencies have also provided useful guidance on intersectionality.22 18. The work of the international human rights system is complemented by the incorporation of some intersectional analysis by regional mechanisms. For example, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted the Principles and Guidelines on the Implementation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa also contains specific provisions on the special protection of older women and women with disabilities. The Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women includes some intersectional analysis on the increased vulnerability of women on account of their race, ethnicity and/or migration status. Within the European system, key provisions on equality and non-discrimination, including article 14 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights) and article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, have consistently been interpreted according to a single-axis approach to discrimination. 23 However, there are 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 6 See, for example, A/78/227, A/HRC/13/23, A/HRC/20/28, A/HRC/30/56, A/HRC/31/18/Add.2, A/HRC/33/61/Add.2, A/HRC/46/27, A/HRC/50/28 and A/HRC/52/40. A/HRC/41/54. Jens T. Theilen, “Intersectionality’s travels to international human rights law”, Michigan Journal of International Law, vol. 45, No. 2. A/HRC/20/28, para. 13. A/CONF.189/PC.2/20. See, for example, A/HRC/57/67; and United Nations network on racial discrimination and the protection of minorities, Guidance Note on Intersectionality, Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. OHCHR, Protecting Minority Rights; and submission from European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. GE.25-07755