Equality Now, the ERA Coalition, Unchained at Last, the US End FGM/C Network and the Alliance for Universal Digital Rights (AUDRi) present the following submission in advance of the 139th session of the Human Rights Committee (‘the Committee’) taking place between October 9 and November 3, 2023, where it will consider the United States’ Fifth Periodic Report.
This submission focuses on four specific areas: 1) the longstanding failure by the State party to enshrine an explicit right to equality on the basis of sex in the US Constitution; 2) the continuing legality of child marriage in the majority of US states; 3) the lack of comprehensive protections against female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C); 4) the prevalence of discrimination, harassment and gender-based violence in the digital space, and lack of protection or effective remedy for online sexual exploitation and abuse (OSEA).