General Comment General ­Comment No. 20 – Non-­ Discrimination in Economic, Social and ­Cultural Rights, 2009 Provisions related to Reproductive Rights According to Paragraph 8, “Eliminating discrimination in practice requires paying suffi cient attention to groups of individuals which suffer historical or persistent prejudice instead of merely comparing the formal treatment of individuals in similar situations. States parties must ­therefore immediately adopt the necessary measures to prevent, ­diminish and eliminate the conditions and attitudes which cause or perpetuate substantive or de facto discrimination.” Paragraph 11 on discrimination in the private sector states, ­“Discrimination is frequently encountered in families, workplaces, and other sectors of society. For example, actors in the private ­housing ­sector (e.g. private landlords, credit providers and public housing p ­ roviders) may directly or indirectly deny access to housing or ­mortgages on the basis of ethnicity, marital status, disability or ­sexual orientation while some families may refuse to send girl children to school. States parties must therefore adopt measures, which should include legislation, to ensure that individuals and entities in the private sphere do not discriminate on prohibited grounds.” According to Paragraph 29, “unequal access by adolescents to sexual and reproductive health information and services amounts to discrimination”. 136