International standards on gender and freedom of expression 2/ : % < D"E9/ 5 : % > "() : ; % 23 # % 2 -% ! 3 " 68-"9/ 5 * 3 : ; % 9 / 5 : % > " (/ 5 : % : A # =" !A * +/ . % ! A F C . % & $+"& Source of international standards The right to freedom of expression and information is guaranteed under Article 19 of both the UDHR and the ICCPR. Both instruments explicitly state that this right is guaranteed without distinction between genders. UDHR Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. ICCPR Article 2.1: Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. ICCPR Article 3: The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the present Covenant. The UN Human Rights Committee’s General Comment on Article 3 of the ICCPR describes in more detail how non-discrimination should be understood.7 When considering freedom of expression and information, it requires states not to justify restrictions to women’s right to freedom of expression on the basis of traditional, historical, religious or cultural attitudes,8 including when those attitudes are the exercise of minorities’ rights to language, culture or religion.9 Instead, states must actively identify such attitudes and seek to modify them,10 paying particular attention to the fact that discrimination against women is often intertwined with discrimination on other grounds such as race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.11 It also requires states to address any laws or other factors which may prevent women from exercising their right to freedom of expression on an equal basis.12 States should: • ensure women are separated from men in prison and are guarded only by women13 ARTICLE 19 - Censored gender: Women’s right to freedom of expression and information in Myanmar - Page 17