100 406. As established previously, at the time of the facts, the public authorities were aware of a context of disappearances, violence and murders of young women and girls (supra para. 129). 407. The independent expert for the United Nations study on violence against children has stated that “[v]iolence against children takes a variety of forms and is influenced by a wide range of factors, from the personal characteristics of the victim and perpetrator to their cultural and physical environments.” Economic development, social status, age, sex and gender are among the many factors associated with the risk of lethal violence. He also stated that “sexual violence predominantly affects those who have reached puberty or adolescence,” and that girls face greater risk of this type of violence.416 408. This Tribunal has established that boys and girls have special rights which give rise to specific obligations for the family, society and the State. Moreover, their status requires special protection that must be understood as an additional right that complements all the other rights that the Convention recognizes to each individual.417 The prevalence of the best interest of the child must be understood as the need to satisfy all the rights of children and adolescents, which obligates the State and affects the interpretation of all the other rights of the Convention when a case concerns minors.418 Furthermore, the State must pay special attention to the needs and rights of the alleged victims owing to their condition as girls who, as women, belong to a vulnerable group.419 409. In this case, the Court finds that the State had the obligation to adopt all the positive measures necessary to ensure the rights of the disappeared girls. Specifically, the State had the obligation to ensure that they were found as soon as possible, once the next of kin had reported that they were missing; above all because the State was aware of the existence of a specific context in which girls were being disappeared. 410. Despite the existence of legislation for the protection of children,420 together with specific state policies,421 the Tribunal underscores that the evidence provided by the State does not show that, in this specific case, these measures translated into effective measures for initiating a prompt search, activating all resources to mobilize 416 United Nations, Report of the independent expert for the United Nations study of violence against children, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 60/231, A/61/299, 29 August 2006, paras. 25, 29 and 30. 417 Cf. Juridical Condition and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory opinion OC-17/02 of August 28, 2002. Series A No. 17, paras. 53, 54 and 60; Case of the Gómez Paquiyauri Brothers v. Peru. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of July 8, 2004. Series C No. 110, para. 164, and Case of the Yean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of September 8, 2005. Series C No. 130, para. 133. 418 Cf. Juridical Status and Human Rights of the Child, supra note 417, Jean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic, supra note 417, para. 134. paras. 56, 57 and 60 , and Case of the 419 Cf. CEDAW, General recommendation 24: Women and health, twentieth session, A/54/38/Rev.1, 1999, para. 6, and Case of the Jean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic, supra note 417, para. 134. 420 Cf. Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, Article 4 (case file of attachments to the answer to the application, attachment 43, volume XXVIII, folio 9816) and Law for the Protection of the Rights of Girls, Boys and Adolescents, published in the Federation’s Official Gazette on May 29, 2000, Articles 2 to 5 (case file of attachments to the answer to the application, attachment 103, volume XLIII, folio 16049). 421 Such as the creation of the National Council for Children and Adolescents (case file of attachments to the answer to the application, attachment 104, volume XLIII, folios 16065 to 16068); the National System for the Integral Development of the Family (merits case file, volume III, folio 1082); the National Action Plan to Prevent, Deal With and Eliminate the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (merits case file, volume III, folio 1082), and the Campaign to Prevent Child Abuse (merits case file, volume III, folio 1085).