143. Firstly, when looking at the verbal assaults used against the Victims, such as „slut‟ and „whore,‟ it is the opinion of the African Commission that these words are not usually used against persons of the male gender, and are generally meant to degrade and rip off the integrity of women who refuse to abide by traditional religious, and even social norms. 144. Secondly, the physical assaults described above are gender-specific in the AC HP R sense that the Victims were subjected to acts of sexual harassment and physical violence that can only be directed to women. For instance, breasts fondling and touching or attempting to touch „private and sensitive parts‟. There is no doubt that the Victims were targeted in this manner due to their gender. 145. Thirdly, the alleged threats against some of the Victims who were accused of practicing prostitution when they refused to withdraw their Complaints can also be classified as being gender-specific. 146. The standard for determining whether discrimination has taken place was canvassed by the Inter -American Court when it made its Advisory Opinion on the proposed Amendments to the Naturalization Provisions of the Constitution of Costa Rica. The Court stated that “…no discrimination exists if the difference in treatment has a legitimate purpose and if it does not lead to situations which are contrary to justice, to reason or to the nature of things….”39 This was also reflected by the UN Human Rights Committee when it held that “Not every differentiation of treatment will constitute discrimination, if the criteria for 39 Proposed Amendments to the Naturalization Provisions of the Constitution of Costa Rica, Advisory Opinion Oc-4/84, January 19, 1984, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (Ser. A) No. 4 (1984) para 57. 41