General ­Recommendation General ­Recommendation No. 21 – Equality in marriage and family relations, 1994 Provisions related to Reproductive Rights According to Paragraph 16, “A woman’s right to choose a spouse and enter freely into marriage is central to her life and to her ­dignity and equality as a human being. An examination of States parties’ reports discloses that there are countries which, on the basis of custom, religious beliefs or the ethnic origins of particular groups of people, permit forced marriages or remarriages. Other countries allow a woman’s marriage to be arranged for payment or ­preferment and in others women’s poverty forces them to marry foreign nationals for fi nancial security. Subject to reasonable ­restrictions based for example on woman’s youth or consanguinity with her partner, a woman’s right to choose when, if, and whom she will marry must be protected and enforced at law.” According to Paragraph 21, “The responsibilities that women have to bear and raise children affect their right of access to ­education, employment and other activities related to their p ­ ersonal ­development. They also impose inequitable burdens of work on women. The number and spacing of their children have a similar impact on women’s lives and also affect their physical and mental health, as well as that of their children. For these reasons, women are entitled to decide on the number and spacing of their children.” 140