4. Reproductive rights and ­human rights standards and principles case,51 the Committee found that a state had violated its obligation under Article 12.2 to provide appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period by failing to provide proper obstetric care following the delivery of a stillborn foetus, which led to the death of the mother. In connection with this case, the Committee refuted the argument that the state could be free of responsibility due to the service provider being a private enterprise. This was a case of triple discrimination where the Committee found the victim to have been discriminated against not only due to her sex but also due to her ethnicity, being of African descent, and socio-economic background. In addition to the recommendations directly concerning the provision of healthcare, the Committee stressed the need for effective remedies and, in this connection, the provision of training for the judiciary and law enforcement personnel. The obligations to take measures to reduce infant mortality, including ensuring access to essential health services for the child and pre- and post-natal care for mothers, and to adopt effective and appropriate measures to abolish harmful practices, such as early marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), can be found in General Comment No. 14. According to it, states have an obligation to ensure that adolescents can participate in decisions affecting their health and receive appropriate information and counselling and to provide youth-friendly health care, including appropriate sexual and reproductive health services. 51 CEDAW/C/49/D/17/2008, Ms. Da Silva Pimentel vs. Brazil Adolescents are an especially vulnerable group where reproductive rights are concerned. Health services should take into account the needs of children and adolescents, including HIV-related information, counselling and testing, confidential sexual and reproductive health services, and free or low-cost contraceptive methods and services, as well as HIV-related care and treatment. Special care should be taken to reach vulnerable children, such as children with disabilities, indigenous children, children belonging to minorities, and children living in rural areas or in extreme poverty. Testing should be conducted only after informed consent has been given. In the case of children, either the parent/guardian or the child must consent. States should also focus on vertical transmission and work on the prevention of HIV among parents-to-be and the prevention of unintended pregnancies in HIV-positive women. The necessary anti-retroviral drugs and the necessary antenatal, delivery and post-partum care, should be available.52 Adolescent health should be prominent in states’ policies in order to promote reproductive rights. There should be minimum legal ages (equal for boys and girls) for sexual consent, marriage and the possibility of medical treatment without parental consent. Harmful practices, including early marriage and female genital mutilation, should be eliminated by awareness-raising campaigns, education programmes and legislation. In relation to STIs, goods and services necessary to prevent and treat them 52 Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 3 on HIV/AIDS and the rights of the child, from 2003, paras. 20- 26. 111