A/67/287 (a) participation in; (b) access to; and (c) contribution to cultural life. The Special Rapporteur has further elaborated that this includes the right to access and enjoy tangible and intangible heritage. Some key elements with regard to women are as follows. 25. Participation covers not only the right of individuals to act freely, to choose one’s own identity and to manifest one’s own cultural practices, but also the right not to participate in specific traditions, customs and practices, particularly those that infringe on human rights and dignity. 26. In many ways, the “[f]reedom to participate in cultural life stands at the very core of liberty”. 26 Women must have the freedom to join and leave any given cultural community and be associated with different communities simultaneously. As stated by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “no one shall be discriminated against because he or she chooses to belong, or not to belong, to a given cultural community or group, or to practise or not to practise a particular cultural activity. Likewise, no one shall be excluded from access to cultural practices, goods and services.” 27 27. In the area of freedom of religion or belief, the Human Rights Committee, for its part, considers that States parties [to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights] must take measures to ensure that freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and the freedom to adopt the religion or belief of one’s choice — including the freedom to change religion or belief and to express one’s religion or belief — will be guaranteed and protected in law and in practice for both men and women, on the same terms and without discrimination. These freedoms, protected by article 18, must not be subject to restrictions other than those authorized by the Covenant and must not be constrained by, inter alia, rules requiring permission from third parties, or by interference from fathers, husbands, brothers or others. Article 18 may not be relied upon to justify discrimination against women by reference to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. 28 28. From a human rights perspective, participation must ensure decision-making (A/HRC/20/26, para. 43). Women must enjoy the freedom to create new communities of shared cultural values around any markers of identity they want to privilege, new cultural meanings and practices without fear of punitive actions, including any form of violence. This means that women must be able to embrace or reject particular cultural practices and identities as well as to revise and (re)negotiate existing traditions, values or practices, regardless of their provenance. Active engagement in the cultural sphere, in particular, the “liberty to contest hegemonic discourses” and “given” cultural norms offers women, as well as other marginalized groups and individuals, crucial possibilities to (re)shape meanings. It also helps to build central traits of democratic citizenship, such as critical thinking, creativity, sharing and sociability. 29 __________________ 26 27 28 29 10 Madhavi Sunder, From Goods to a Good Life: Intellectual Property and Global Justice (Yale University Press, 2012), p. 11. General comment No. 21 (2009), para. 22. General comment No. 28 (2000) on equality of rights between men and women, para. 21. See Sunder. 12-45930