CAT/C/TGO/CO/3 regular and unannounced visits to all places of deprivation of liberty. It takes note of the appointment of new multidisciplinary members of the Commission, their recent assumption of office on 25 April 2019 and the visits so far conducted, and welcomes the objective criteria and independent status enshrined in article 8 of Organic Act No. 2018-006. However, it is concerned about the perceived lack of effective independence of some of the current members of the Commission, specifically those who also work as civil servants. The Committee is also concerned that the Commission’s budget has not been increased in line with the new responsibilities it has taken on as the national preventive mechanism, and that its annual budgetary allocation is provided in the form of a grant, which is negotiated on a yearly basis and is therefore unpredictable, all of which raises questions as to the Commission’s managerial autonomy, effective independence and ability to carry out its mandate as the national preventive mechanism (art. 2). 29. The Committee urges the State party to ensure that the members of the National Human Rights Commission are fully independent, both from a personal and institutional standpoint, and to provide the Commission with adequate and predictable financial, human and material resources to enable it fully to perform its duties as a national institution and as the national preventive mechanism in an independent, impartial and effective manner. Violence against women and girls 30. While it welcomes the provisions set out in the new Criminal Code, whose articles 212 and 232 define, criminalize and sanction gender-based violence, including domestic violence and marital rape, and further welcomes the adoption of the Personal and Family Code, the implementation of a national strategy to combat gender-based violence in 2012 and the implementation of numerous awareness-raising campaigns, the Committee regrets that, in practice, many Togolese women continue to be victims of violence. Women continue to be subjected to forced and early marriages and the practice of female genital mutilation, which has continued despite the adoption of Act No. 98-016 of 17 November 1998 prohibiting female genital mutilation in Togo and the extensive efforts made to raise awareness in this regard. While it thanks the State party for having provided statistics on the convictions secured between 2016 and 2019, the Committee regrets that these data have not been disaggregated by age, ethnic origin, nationality, region, type of complaint and sentencing court, in such a way as to make it possible to identify the root causes of such violence and to design strategies to prevent and limit it (arts. 2 and 16). 31. The State party should: (a) Ensure the effective implementation of the provisions of the Criminal Code sanctioning gender-based violence and thoroughly investigate all cases of such violence to ensure that the perpetrators are prosecuted and duly punished and that victims obtain redress; (b) Organize mandatory training on the prosecution of acts of sexual and gender-based violence for all law enforcement and judicial officers and pursue existing awareness-raising campaigns; (c) Ensure that all victims of gender-based violence have access to shelters and receive the necessary medical care, psychological support and legal assistance; (d) Continue efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation. Violence against children 32. With reference to its previous concluding observations, the Committee is concerned that, in spite of articles 353–356 and 376 of the Children’s Code, which criminalize the corporal punishment of children in all settings and contexts, many children continue to be victims of multiple forms of abuse on a daily basis and are exposed to various harmful practices, such as forced and early marriage, or face accusations of witchcraft. Taking note of the recent findings of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, on her visit to Togo from 27 to 31 May 2019, the Committee is deeply concerned about the exploitation of children, with many children GE.19-14561 7