A/HRC/7/23/Add.2 page 3 refer discrimination cases for prosecution, conduct studies and promote non-discrimination programmes and activities. While welcoming the role of HALDE and civil society organizations in prosecuting discrimination on a case-by-case basis, she emphasized that targeted and more robust approaches are required to have a deeper and far-reaching impact on persistent discrimination experienced by minorities. Penalties for acts of racial discrimination should be sufficiently severe to act as a deterrent to future violations. Given the level and nature of inequalities in France, fulfilling the negative obligation of non-discrimination is not enough to secure equality in practice. The State is under a positive obligation to create favourable conditions for the exercise of the rights of minorities. The independent expert calls for the promotion of equality through affirmative action policies in the field of employment that should help to transform the ranks of the civil service, the police, and other public and private institutions to fully reflect the broad diversity within French citizenry. France has historically rejected the concept of minority rights and recognition of minority groups or collective rights as incompatible with the French Constitution and the principles of the Republic, which prioritize individual rights, equality, unity and universalism. This has been an obstacle to the adoption of policy initiatives that by their nature must acknowledge the reality of discrimination against specific population groups within French society. It has prevented any serious consideration of affirmative action programmes or the collection of statistical data concerning the socio-economic status of population groups that can be disaggregated by ethnicity or religion. The independent expert recommends that such government measures, rather than being considered to violate the Constitution, should be seen as essential to achieving a true vision of “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité”. The acknowledgement of ethnicity, religion and heritage should not be considered to threaten the principles of unity and equality that are the foundation of French society. Minority women voiced specific additional concerns, including the rights and protection of minority women in abusive relationships; concerns over access to social services and protection mechanisms; access to justice; the legal status of women of immigrant origin in cases of divorce, encompassing the right to remain in France after divorce and the execution by French courts of foreign divorce judgements based on gender-biased laws; the rights of minority women relating to inheritance, housing and property; specific issues relating to the education of girls of Muslim faith; security issues and the high incidence of rape of women in disadvantaged minority communities in suburbs; and the lack of access to political participation of minority women. The independent expert also received information regarding the situation of the Gypsy/Travellers, the Jewish community and linguistic minorities including the Breton, Basque, Catalan and Occitan communities.