clinics that provide those services on the ground that women do not have the authorization of husbands, partners, parents or health authorities, because they are unmarried* or because they are women. Other barriers to women’s access to appropriate health care include laws that criminalize medical procedures only needed by women punish women who undergo those procedures. 15. The obligation to protect rights relating to women’s health requires States parties, their agents and officials to take action to prevent and impose sanctions for violations of rights by private persons and organizations. Since gender-based violence is a critical health issue for women, States parties should ensure: (a) The enactment and effective enforcement of laws and the formulation of policies, including health-care protocols and hospital procedures to address violence against women and sexual abuse of girl children and the provision of appropriate health services; (b) Gender-sensitive training to enable health-care workers to detect and manage the health consequences of gender-based violence; (c) Fair and protective procedures for hearing complaints and imposing appropriate sanctions on health-care professionals guilty of sexual abuse of women patients; (d) The enactment and effective enforcement of laws that prohibit female genital mutilation and marriage of girl children. 16. States parties should ensure that adequate protection and health services, including trauma treatment and counselling, are provided for women in especially difficult circumstances, such as those trapped in situations of armed conflict and women refugees. 17. The duty to fulfil rights places an obligation on States parties to take appropriate legislative, judicial, administrative, budgetary, economic and other measures to the maximum extent of their available resources to ensure that women realize their rights to health care. Studies such as those that emphasize the high maternal mortality and morbidity rates worldwide and the large numbers of couples who would like to limit their family size but lack access to or do not use any form of contraception provide an important indication for States parties of possible breaches of their duties to ensure women’s access to health care. The Committee asks States parties to report on what they have done to address the magnitude of women’s ill-health, in particular when it arises from preventable conditions, such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. The Committee is concerned about the evidence that States are relinquishing these obligations as they transfer State health functions to private agencies. States and parties cannot absolve themselves of responsibility in these areas by delegating or transferring these powers to private sector agencies. States parties should therefore report on what they have done to organize governmental processes and all structures through which public power is exercised to promote and protect women’s health. They should include information on positive measures taken to curb violations of women’s rights by third parties and to protect their health and the measures they have taken to ensure the provision of such services. 18. The issues of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases are central to the rights of women and adolescent girls to sexual health. Adolescent girls and women in many countries lack adequate access to information and services necessary to ensure sexual health. As a * See Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/49/38), chap. I, sect. A, general recommendation 21, para. 29.