4. Reproductive rights and ­human rights standards and principles and welfare; a different minimum age is furthermore a violation of the general prohibitions of discrimination based on gender that can be found in, among others, Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Men and women have the right to marry and to found a family; nonetheless there is a need for free and full consent of the intended spouses. A minimum age for marriage is necessary to make full and free consent possible. Furthermore, the possibility to procreate being inherent in the right to found a family should entail family planning policies which are compatible with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other human rights conventions and, as such, neither discriminatory nor compulsory.34 It is a duty of states to treat men and women equally in relation to the right to marry; a minimum age for marriage (the same for both sexes) that enables an informed and un-coerced decision must be set, and rules making the guardian’s consent to marriage more important than the consent of the bride-to-be must be prohibited. This free choice must also be a reality for rape victims; laws extinguishing or mitigating criminal responsibility for the rapist in case of marriage or reducing the marriageable age of rape victims should be eliminated.35 with disabilities have the right to protection and support in relation to motherhood and pregnancy. Such rights are often ignored, for example by the sterilization of, or performance of abortions on, women with disabilities without prior informed consent, constituting a serious violation of Article 10 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,36 and human rights standards. According to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, women have a right to freely choose their spouses and enter freely into marriage; this right must be protected, for example against forced and coerced marriages, and enforced by law. Women’s reproductive rights are not protected if they cannot freely choose with whom to establish a family. In addition, women are to be considered equal to men in marriage. The often subordinate role of women makes it more difficult for them to refuse sex and to demand safe sexual practices. Moreover, women’s responsibilities to bear and raise children affect their right of access to education, employment and other activities related to their personal development and their physical and mental health; this emphasizes the need for women to be able to decide on the number and spacing of their children.37 Persons with disabilities also have the right to marry and establish a family, and women 34 HRC, General Comment No. 19 on the protection of the family, the right to marriage and equality of the spouses, paras. 4-5. 35 HRC, General Comment No. 28 from 2000 on equality between men and women. 36 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 5 on persons with disabilities, adopted in 1994, paras. 30-31. 37 Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, General Recommendation No. 21, adopted in 1994, paras. 16 17 and 21. 105