E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2 page 14 47. For example, in its general comment 19 on article 23 of the Covenant, the Committee reaffirms that no marriage may be entered into without the free consent of the intending spouses. However, the Committee sees the registration, by civil authorities, of “a marriage celebrated in accordance with religious rites” as merely an option for the State and not as a specific obligation (para. 4). In addition to the fact that such marriages are not defined and can vary depending on the religion or rite concerned, it is precisely the requirement that marriages be registered by the State authorities that provides a way of protecting women against harmful traditional and religious practices. That obligation can afford a woman protection against early marriage and polygamy where it is forbidden and also safeguard her rights relating to ownership and administration of property, family responsibilities, inheritance in the event of her husband’s death, etc.37 The recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) provide for greater protection in this regard.38 48. While this general comment 19, in its paragraph 6, advocates equality in matters of nationality, use of family names, residence, running of the household and education of children, the Human Rights Committee considers these issues from the viewpoint of equality of spouses in marriage and not specifically from that of the wife, who, generally speaking, is the main or sole victim when discrimination is perpetrated in the name of religion or tradition or in cases of cultural or ethnic identity crisis or religious extremism. Equality as provided for in the Covenant and in the Committee’s general comments is too abstract. It applies equally to men and women, whereas, in these matters, women are in a fundamentally unequal de facto and de jure situation. 49. General comment 28, adopted on 29 March 2000, concerning article 3 of the Covenant is of major importance to the subject of the present study.39 It represents considerable progress in relation to general comment 19 and marks a positive development in the perception and experience of United Nations bodies in relation to the issue.40 It is significant that many paragraphs of general comment 28 deal with women’s status in the light of religion and traditions. Also, most of the practices referred to extend beyond the strict framework of article 3 of the Covenant. This is an actual re-reading of the entire Covenant, which was undertaken by the Committee in the light of traditional or religious practices affecting women’s health,41 including female infanticide, widow burning and dowry killings (para. 10); genital mutilation (para. 11); enforced prostitution (para. 12); corporal punishment and clothing restrictions (para. 13), impairment of freedom of movement and exercise of parental powers over adult daughters or marital powers over the wife (para. 16);42 restrictions on the giving of evidence (para. 18); restrictions on ownership or administration of property and practices that prevent women from being treated or acting as persons before the law, in particular when they are given, as objects, to the family of the deceased husband together with his property (para. 19); practices relating to rape, restrictions on marriage to men who profess no religion or a different religion, and polygamy (para. 24); repudiation and restrictions on inheritance (para. 26); and honour crimes and discrimination in regard to adultery and in the areas of employment and pay (para. 31).