ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND SOCIAL INCLUSION:
THE ROAD TOWARDS STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY IN BOLIVIA

CHAPTER V

WOMEN’S RIGHTS 

A.         Introduction

298.     The human rights situation of Bolivian women, who according to the latest census constitute 50.16% of the population,[237] was one of the issues to which the Commission gave special attention during its visit, and on which it received information from State institutions and from civil society organizations.

299.     With respect to the international and constitutional framework, Bolivia is a party to the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women[238] and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (hereafter “the Convention of Belém do Pará”).[239] The Constitution of Bolivia contains a clause on equality without distinction as to sex,[240] among other categories.  It also regulates the institution of matrimony in the context of equality of rights and duties among spouses.[241]

300.     As to internal legislation, the Commission observed that the Bolivian State has been incorporating specific rules relating to women's rights. This is the case with Law 1674 of 1995 on family or domestic violence, the objective of which is to prevent and eradicate violence against women in public and private spaces; Law 2033 of 1999 on the protection of victims of crimes against sexual freedom, which defines certain crimes and establishes interdisciplinary teams to cooperate in investigations and the establishment of centers of care and support for victims; Law of 1997 on 30% quotas in the electoral system, establishing minimum percentages that must be filled by women in popularly elected bodies; and Supreme Decree 24.864 of 1997 on equal opportunities between men and women, which provides for equality in the political, economic, social and cultural fields, and the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in public policies.

301.     As well, various laws on more general topics have included the gender perspective and even some rules to counter the discrimination that women have historically faced. For example, the 1999 law on political parties requires that the constitution of each political party must reject discrimination of all kinds and establish a 30% quota for female participation at all levels of party leadership; Law 1551 of 1993 on popular participation incorporates the principle of equal opportunity in municipal development processes; Law 2828 of 2004 on municipalities promotes women's participation in the formulation, control and monitoring of municipal development plans; and Law 3545 2006 on renewal of the agrarian reform guarantees and prioritizes women's participation in the process of land regularization and distribution.

302.     While civil society regards this legal framework as "advanced", there are neither the resources nor the institutions necessary to enforce it.[242] The obstacles to implementing legislation on these issues will be addressed in detail in this section.

303.     The Commission was concerned at the continued existence of some provisions that are highly discriminatory and consequently run counter to international standards on women's rights.  The Constitution of Bolivia declares, in Article 157.1, the duty of the State to issue special regulations governing working conditions for "women and minors".  In fact, certain provisions of the General Labor Act still prohibit women from work that could affect their "morals and good customs,"[243] and they even prohibit nighttime work, except that related to nursing or domestic service.[244]

304.     Moreover, although the 1997 reform of the Criminal Code changed the heading of crimes against "morals and good customs" to crimes against "sexual freedom", the Commission is concerned that Article 317 of the Criminal Code remains in force, according to which a person convicted of a sexual crime can win remission of punishment by marrying the victim before the sentence is confirmed.

305.     Another rule criticized by civil society is Article 44 of the Family Code which sets the minimum age of marriage for men at 16 years and for women at 14 years.  Also questioned is Article 52 of that code which provides that a woman who is widowed or divorced or whose marriage has been annulled must wait 300 days after the death of her husband, the decree of personal separation of the spouses, or the declaration of annulment, before she can marry again.

306.     The Commission reminds the State that legal distinctions by reason of sex, among other categories, must be strictly scrutinized as to their necessity and their proportionality.  The Commission has held that the categories of "traditional values,” "morals" and "good customs" cannot justify any legal distinction against women, and that they constitute a violation not only of the right to equality before the law and equal protection under the law, enshrined in Article 24 of the American Convention, but also the right to privacy enshrined in Article 11 of the Convention.[245]

307.     As well, the Commission has held that de jure equality alone is not sufficient to achieve gender equality. The practices and conducts that generate and perpetuate women's position of inferiority in society must also be undone.  Nevertheless, the Commission does not underestimate the importance of formal equality and stresses the importance of the law in effecting social change.[246]

308.     De jure discrimination is a flagrant violation of the international commitments freely assumed by States and, although formal equality does not guarantee the elimination of instances of discrimination, recognizing it makes it possible to encourage transformations in society, thereby enhancing the authority of this right.[247]

309.     With respect to the institutional framework, as part of the restructuring carried out by the current government, the former Vice Ministry of Women, under the Ministry of Sustainable Development, was relocated as a Vice Ministry for Gender, Generational and Family Affairs under the Ministry of Justice.  The Commission noted that this change was seen by some sectors as downgrading government strategies and policies to promote women's rights, because in their opinion this could weaken the specific and exclusive features that gender equity policies must have at all levels, and not only in the family sphere.[248]

310.     The Commission noted the initiatives of these Vice Ministries, such as the design of the National Plan of Public Policies for the Full Exercise of Women's Rights 2004/2007; creation of the Departmental Gender Units, Creation of the Municipal Women's Offices, and creation and implementation of the Comprehensive Municipal Legal Services for the prevention and immediate redress of cases of violence against women, but only in 30% of municipalities.[249]  As well, the National Police has created Family Protection Brigades with the capacity to respond more promptly at the scene of acts of violence against women and to provide better help than the regular police.

311.     Yet the State and civil society agree that institutional action on the rights of women has been affected by political instability and changes of government, and by the lack of budgetary allocations to support the policies adopted.  This is reflected in the excessive workload of officials in these institutions, the lack of equipment and materials for fulfilling their functions, and the constant turnover of personnel.[250]  The Commission also observed that there is no coordination between the local and national levels, and that the monitoring of government initiatives is left to NGOs and the Ombudsman.

312.     During its visit, the Commission held meetings with various government institutions and civil society organizations involved primarily with the human rights of women in Bolivia.  From the information received, the Commission was able to verify some situations that had been brought to its attention in recent years.  In the following paragraphs the Commission will detail its observations on several issues identified as those of greatest concern in the situation of women's rights in Bolivia: participation in the civil service; violence; access to justice; other forms of gender-based discrimination.

B.         Women's participation in public affairs

313.     As mentioned in the introduction, the Commission welcomes the progressive legal framework for women's political participation in Bolivia, consisting of the Elections Code, the 1997 30% Quotas Law, and the 1999 Law on Political Parties.  The Commission also notes that these laws have in fact increased the levels of women's participation in various decision-making bodies.[251] Nevertheless, the percentages stipulated by law as mandatory quotas for women have not been achieved.[252]

314.     The Commission was also informed that there is a large gender gap in the conformation of various decision-making bodies in the three branches of government. Following are the percentages on female participation to the year 2005: 10.17% in the executive branch, 20.90% in the legislative branch, and 25% in the judicial branch.[253]

315.     The Commission received some alarming complaints over various forms of professional and/or sexual harassment against women who join the public function.  In particular, the Commission learned of pressure and harassment by male candidates for positions won by women in municipal councils, with the clear intention of forcing them to resign their seats.  Although these events have been publicly denounced, the affected women have received no response from the electoral authorities.[254]

316.     The Commission also received complaints of professional harassment against women who are members of the State security corps, both the National Police and the Armed Forces.  In addition to the wide gender gap, the communications media have carried complaints from women who claimed to have been sexually harassed by their male colleagues and to have faced gender-based discrimination in the work they perform.[255]

317.     Finally, there were complaints of a kind of dual discrimination against indigenous and peasant women who have been unable to obtain identity documents and have thereby been prevented de facto from forming or joining political parties and participating individually in elections.

318.     The Commission reiterates that achieving free and full participation by women in political life is a priority for the American Hemisphere.[256]  Consequently, States must assure that women have appropriate representation at all levels of government, at the local, provincial, state and national levels; develop strategies to increase the integration of women in political parties; and take further steps to fully incorporate the sectors of civil society, including those that represent the interests of women, into the process of developing and implementing policies and programs.[257]  In this respect, the Commission urges the State to adopt the necessary measures to consolidate the process begun with the legal initiatives described above, and to guarantee full access for women to the civil service on equality.
 

C.         Violence against women

319.     The Commission was shown alarming figures on various forms of violence against women, particularly cases of "femicide"; family or domestic violence, both physical and psychological; and sexual violence.  According to information received, at least seven of every 10 Bolivian women suffer some form of violence.[258]  In the last half of 2003 and the first half of 2004, 88% of women suffered some kind of violence, compared to 12% of men.[259]

320.     Based on the 2003 National Demographic and Health Survey, 54% of women married or living permanently with a partner reported being the victim of some form of psychological violence, especially expressions of verbal violence.  According to the same survey, 41% of women in rural areas were forced to have sexual relations with men they did not know.

321.     With respect to "femicide," civil society organizations reported that between 2003 and 2004 there were 439 women killed by their husbands, boyfriends, lovers, partners, relatives or neighbors; only 18 of these cases produced conviction, and 2 are still pending trial.  During a public hearing in March 2006 on this issue, the Commission learned of a study confirming 373 killings of women in Bolivia in those same years; 7.7% of the victims were girls under 20 years of age, 6.17% were women between 21 and 30 years, 2.9% were women between 31 and 40 years, 4.02% were women over 41 years, and 80.16% were women whose age was unknown.

322.     The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women noted recently that very severe forms of sexual aggression against women and girls were still being reported, culminating in many cases in “femicide.”[260]  The Commission was also informed that such cases are underreported to the police and the Prosecutors’ Office,[261] and that

the few cases that are reported and reach the preliminary investigation stage are treated as "homicide of passion", which implies a reduced penalty.[262]

323.     From the little information available on family violence, it may be said that while its occurrence is independent of social class, race, religion or political persuasion, the problem is rooted in fundamental cultural factors, aggravated by poverty and social inequality.[263]

324.     According to comparative analyses of family violence cases recorded by the Family Protection Brigades and the Integral Municipal Legal Services, some 54% of women living in the principal cities of Bolivia have been subjected to physical, psychological and sexual violence over the last five years.[264]

325.     As mentioned in the introduction, the measures taken by the State have not been implemented with the necessary continuity.  The 2003 UNDP Human Development Report on Gender in Bolivia notes that as of 1997 some important objectives had been achieved and the Family Protection Brigades had been implemented, but that the entire governmental structure dedicated to this issue had stagnated because of the country's institutional and political situation, which left it with untrained personnel and new priorities, meaning that the program had been reduced to sporadic action.[265]

326.     As detailed in the following section, legislation against family violence and sexual violence is not fully enforced, in part because of procedural bureaucracy, lack of staff training, corruption, and family, social and official pressure against reporting cases.[266]

327.     The Commission noted the scarcity and discrepancy of figures from various civil society organizations and government entities, particularly with respect to violence against indigenous and peasant women in the countryside. This suggests that violence against women is rendered “invisible” as a consequence of the failure to report cases and the lack of mechanisms for recording and establishing statistics on the issue. This situation is directly related to that indicated in the introduction regarding the discontinuity and absence of effective measures for implementing policies against violence, for there is no thorough diagnosis of the dimension of the problem.

328.     The Commission reiterates that, under the Convention of Belém do Pará, the obligation of the State to act with due diligence takes on a special meaning in cases of violence against women.  That Convention reflects a hemisphere-wide concern over the gravity of the problem of violence against women, its relationship to the discrimination that women have historically endured, and the need to adopt comprehensive strategies to prevent, punish and eradicate it.[267]

D.         Access to justice

1.         General aspects

329.     Internal studies have concluded that men have greater access to justice, in terms of the likelihood of successful outcomes, than do women, even though women are more active presenting judicial claims.  It is important to mention that the number of male judges is much more than twice the number of female judges. For example, in the district of La Paz, 75% of judges are men.  As well, trial lawyers are for the most part men, for there is a widespread perception, even among women, that men are intellectually better suited to litigation.[268]

330.     The main grounds for women to turn to the justice system are family violence, sexual violence, conjugal conflicts, and matters relating to their children. With respect to family assistance, 97% of claims are filed by women, and in cases of family violence, the figure is 89%.[269]

331.     It has been demonstrated that women turn to the courts only as a last resort, when their problems have made their situation untenable, and when they have exhausted extrajudicial routes, and particularly when their children are directly affected.[270]  Although the gender bias appears in all instances,[271] the Commission paid special attention to the particular problem of impunity in cases of family violence and sexual violence.

2.         Impunity in cases of family violence

332.     The Commission welcomes the creation of a specific legal framework for dealing with family violence, as a demonstration that the Bolivian State intends to prevent and punish practices of this kind. Nevertheless, there have been serious shortcomings in implementing the law and in prosecuting cases, even after introduction of the accusatorial criminal prosecution procedure.[272]

333.     While Law 1674 on family violence may be an important instrument for prevention and punishment, it does not constitute criminal legislation and the penalties it imposes are of an administrative or financial kind. On this point it should be noted that Bolivian criminal legislation does not make family or domestic violence a crime, and the only means of obtaining a criminal judgment against such acts is to subsume them under criminal attacks on personal integrity such as injuries or threats.[273]

334.     According to the foregoing, victims of family violence may pursue the case through the family courts or through the criminal courts, and these two routes are mutually exclusive.[274]  Legally, only the victim can decide which route to follow, but in practice the severity of the case is determined by the officials responsible for prevention and investigations, on the basis of subjective criteria that are not standardized.  These officials, moreover, do not advise victims of the fact that two routes are open, or of the consequences of choosing one route over the other, so that they can make a conscious and informed decision.[275]  The only objective criterion used is the number of days of disability caused by physical violence.[276]

335.     With respect to the manner in which cases are handled, two major problems were identified.
 

336.     In the first place, the system in effect selects cases for prosecution, which means that of the great number of complaints received only very few result in a judgment.  According to figures from a recent study, 77% of cases reported are lost or abandoned between the filing of the complaint with the Family Protection Brigade and its registration in the courts. Only 11.04% of cases receive a judicial response, the great majority of these through the family courts, and only a minimal percentage (0.04%) receive a response from the criminal courts.[277]

337.     The second problem relates to the inadequate handling of cases by the officials responsible for receiving, processing and investigating complaints. What frequently happens - and this is one reason why proceedings seldom advance beyond the initial stage - is that officials persuade or induce the victim to opt for conciliation with the aggressor.  The Commission received information showing that these "conciliations" may end up putting the blame on the victim herself, and they consistently evoke the idea that the woman is the only person responsible for keeping the family together.[278]

338.     The Commission reiterates that conciliation presupposes that the parties involved are negotiating under conditions of equality, and this is not true in family violence cases. It is internationally recognized that conciliation in cases of family violence is not advisable.  It has been found that agreements reached through mediation increase women's physical and emotional risk, because of the unequal power relationships between the parties. Moreover, such agreements are generally not respected by the aggressor, and they do not address the causes and consequences of violence.[279]

339.     Given the inadequate infrastructure and the lack of a standard protocol for use by all institutions that receive complaints, victims must wait a long time to tell their story, which they must do several times in settings that offer no privacy and before official personnel who are not properly trained and are moreover subject to constant rotation and occupational instability.[280]

340.     In addition to these problems, there are economic obstacles, particularly to the criminal route, because despite legislative provisions, the practice is to demand that complaints be submitted in writing together with medical certificates that the victim must pay for.[281]

341.     The Commission welcomes the initiative to create the Family Protection Brigades in Bolivia as a way of assisting victims of domestic violence who report situations of risk.  Nevertheless, mechanisms of this kind are very difficult to implement in terms of staffing, infrastructure, training and sensitization, etc.[282]

342.     All of these problems are aggravated by the fact that there is no systematic keeping of files on complaints received about family violence, and the way each case is handled, and this tends to obscure the lack of access to justice in this area and impedes the creation of policies to eradicate it.[283]

343.     As the Commission has established, States' obligations in cases of violence against women include the duty to prosecute and convict those responsible, and to prevent such degrading practices.[284] In the presence of clear and decisive evidence for concluding a trial, there should be no undue delay in taking decisions, and criminal proceedings should be completed promptly and effectively.[285]  The Commission has held that “judicial ineffectiveness also creates a climate that is conducive to domestic violence, since society sees no evidence of willingness by the State, as the representative of the society, to take effective action to punish such acts.”[286]

3.         Impunity in cases of sexual violence

344.     The Commission received alarming indicators of impunity in cases of crimes against sexual integrity, occasioned by various factors.

345.     With respect to legal provisions, the Commission noted that, while Law 1678 of 1997 reformed the Criminal Code to include these offenses as contrary to "sexual integrity" and not to "morals and good customs", such crimes are still classed of public action that requires the filing of a private complaint.  This means that, although a complaint has to be filed, it is still the responsibility of the public prosecutor to promote the investigation.  Yet in practice, the prosecutors and police in charge of investigations have interpreted this provision erroneously and have taken a passive attitude, placing the entire burden of proof on the plaintiff.  This situation is especially serious in crimes against sexual integrity because their proof requires technical and scientific evidence that is difficult to obtain privately.[287]

346.     On the other hand, the Commission noted that the legislation retains a provision for "legal absolution" when the aggressor marries the victim before the judgment is handed down, in offenses qualified as rapto (kidnapping for purposes of a sexual crime).[288]  The Commission reiterates that such rules are discriminatory and contrary to international standards, in particular those of the Convention of Belém do Pará that Bolivia ratified in 1994.[289]

347.     In general terms, it may be said that there is no policy for prosecuting these offenses as crimes,[290] and that, as in cases of family violence, there are many shortcomings in the processing of these offenses, to the detriment of the victims, notwithstanding the protection contained in Law 2033 of 1999.

348.     As detailed above (paragraph 121), when the accusatorial criminal prosecution procedure was introduced there was an increase in the number of cases rejected through dismissal.  It is noteworthy that approximately 40% of such cases involved sexual crimes.[291]  The Commission was informed that between the Judicial Police and the Prosecutors’ Office, 83% of complaints are abandoned or lost, generally for lack of evidence, because the burden of proof lies with the victim.  In addition, 94% of the few cases that make it beyond the preliminary stage are abandoned or lost before they reach the trial tribunal.  Of the small minority of cases that went to trial, only one judgment was identified in which the victim was older than 18 years.[292]

349.     As was noted in the handling of family violence cases, there is no protocol for dealing with or helping victims in cases of crimes against sexual integrity, and the Commission verified situations of discriminatory treatment at various stages of proceedings.[293]

350.     At the complaints stage, the victims must wait a long time to obtain a medical certificate, and must then present their claim in writing, because verbal complaints are not accepted.  The facts of the case have to be repeated many times without any privacy, and the victims are heard by untrained official staff who do not advise them of the means they can use to protect their health, or the precautions they must take to ensure that evidence of the crime is not lost.  The little information provided is not given in native languages, which means that complaints may not be properly received or the victims properly informed.[294]  In some cases, the victims have to prove their identity, and this constitutes an additional obstacle since in most cases rural women have no identification documents.[295]

351.     From the time the complaint is submitted there will be repeated attempts at conciliation, without providing sufficient information to the victim. Conciliation is generally used as a mechanism for short-circuiting the judicial backlog, despite the fact that the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that reparation through conciliation does not extinguish a crime against sexual integrity. In practice, conciliation has the effect of terminating proceedings because the victim will drop the matter and, given the mistaken interpretation of the burden of proof, the prosecutor will reject the complaint and close the case, or declare it dismissed for lack of evidence.[296]

352.     In the processing of cases, police and public prosecution officers take an attitude of skepticism about the complaint, in most cases associating sexual violence with physical violence and thereby minimizing it,[297] especially if the woman is an adolescent or adult.

353.     The Commission received information that victims are subjected to repeated forensic medical examinations that in most cases do not respect the minimum conditions of hygiene.  Moreover, the language used is too technical for the victim to understand, and she is not clearly advised of how the case is proceeding.  The actions of the police betray serious errors in the collection and preservation of evidence, while the prosecutors fail to request DNA tests unless the victim is pregnant.  This situation is of particular concern in that the forensic certificate demonstrating physical violence and rupture of the hymen constitutes the “trump card” of evidence, the value of which diminishes as the victim's age and her likelihood of leading an active sexual life increases, or if it shows that she was inhibited in her resistance to an act of rape.[298]

354.     In addition to the foregoing, the geographic disparity in the location of police and prosecution offices impedes institutional coordination during the investigation, especially in rural areas where it is also difficult to find forensic medical services.[299]

355.     On the shortcomings in the investigation of cases of sexual violence, the Commission has verified the need to consider evidence beyond medical findings of physical injury and testimonial proof when it comes to substantiating cases of violence against women, particularly cases of sexual violence. On this point, the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the International Criminal Court consider factors that may inhibit a victim from physically resisting sexual aggression, even if she does not consent to the act, and how these factors may be considered in judicial proceedings.[300]  According to those rules, these factors may include: "force, threat of force, coercion or taking advantage of a coercive environment" that have "undermined the victim's ability to give voluntary and genuine consent."[301]  The European Court of Human Rights has indicated a series of circumstances that may inhibit physical resistance by the victim, including the atmosphere of coercion created by the aggressor, which translates into the lack of direct and testimonial evidence of sexual aggression.[302]  This implies that forensic medical reports that are limited to physical observations, such as determining the integrity of the victim's hymen, are only part of a set of evidence that must be evaluated to clarify the facts in a case of sexual violence.[303]

356.     With respect to the trial stage, the Commission received no further information, and State institutions recognized that neither the Prosecutors’ Office nor the judicial branch have relevant statistics such as the status of cases, the number of cases resolved through summary proceedings, the number of judgments, the type of sentences, follow-up to reparations, among other aspects, that would allow measures to be taken to address the problems presented in this stage.[304]

357.     On this point, the Commission reiterates its previous assertion that, given the public interest in statistical information on the problem of violence against women, states must have appropriate legal and administrative mechanisms for guaranteeing broad access to such information, and must establish means for publicizing it and fostering debate and public scrutiny over policies in this area.[305]

E.         Other forms of discrimination

358.     In addition to the problems detailed to this point, the Commission learned of other events that reflect clear discrimination against women.

359.     The Commission received reports on de facto distinctions in the exercise of economic, social and cultural rights by women. With respect to the right to work, as indicated in the introduction, women and juveniles are placed in the same category in labor legislation, where there are still rules cast in discriminatory language that in practice is the cause of continuing discrimination against women's opportunities in the labor market.[306]

360.     There are complaints that gender has a direct impact not only on women's occupational hierarchy but on their incomes, which may be up to 50% lower than men's incomes in both urban and rural areas,[307] regardless of their levels of education. In particular, women in the countryside earn 29% of what men earn.

361.     Civil society organizations reported that men continue to dominate management positions in government and in business: 69% of management positions are occupied by males, compared to 31% for women.

362.     When it comes to education, female illiteracy rates are more than 100% higher than those for men, according to the 2001 census.[308] Among the restrictions on women's access to education, there were complaints that girls are required to assist in the daily housework; family members attach little importance to women's education; and the geographic isolation of many rural villages forces girls to travel long distances to reach school. With respect to access to land ownership, there are differences in the awarding of title to men and women: 24% of men have property title, and only 6% of women.[309]

363.     On the right to health, the Commission learned that Bolivian women are severely misinformed about their sexual and reproductive rights. The maternal mortality rate is still among the highest in the continent, and is especially severe in rural areas.  The main causes of maternal mortality are obstetrical complications, hemorrhaging, and infections.

364.     Figures on reproductive rights indicate that two women die in Bolivia every day from complications during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. The maternal mortality rate is the highest in South America; 58% of births are high-risk; of every 91 women of childbearing age, one will die from maternity causes during her fertile life; in rural areas, one of every 44 women of childbearing age may lose her life due to maternity; women with no education have 6.8 children in comparison to 2.1 for women with higher education; 40% of births over the last five years were unwanted; approximately 22% of the Bolivian population would like to have some form of birth control, but has no access to it; Bolivian teenage girls have the highest fertility rates in the region, one out of every three women 19 years of age has been pregnant once; of the 21% of teenage girls who declare themselves sexually active, only 1.6% use a contraceptive method; and seven out of 10 women are never tested for cervical cancer.[310]

365.     To address these problems, which continue to affect women, the Sexual and Reproductive Rights Act was approved on May 5, 2004. In the Commission's opinion, this could constitute an important instrument for mitigating the situations described above.  The Commission regrets, however, that the promulgation and subsequent implementation of this law, adopted by the legislative representatives of all sectors of society, has been obstructed. The Commission hopes that this law can be enacted soon given its relevance for protection of women rights.
 

F.         Recommendations

366.     By virtue of the foregoing, the Commission recommends that the Bolivian State:

1.       Enforce existing national legislation and policies to protect women against acts of violence and discrimination, and their political, economic and social consequences, and allocate sufficient funding to enforce them effectively throughout the country.

2.       Design a comprehensive and coordinated policy, with sufficient public funding to permit continuity, to ensure that the victims of violence have full access to adequate judicial protection to remedy their suffering and to prevent, investigate, punish and provide reparations for acts of violence.

3.       Implement measures and publicity campaigns targeted at the general public, on the duty to respect women's civil, political, economic, social, cultural, sexual and reproductive rights; on the judicial services and remedies available for women whose rights have been violated; and on the legal consequences for the perpetrators.

4.       Develop educational programs for citizens, starting at a young age, to promote respect for women as equals and to recognize their particular needs as women, and to respect their right not to suffer violence and discrimination.

5.       Identify and institutionalize new forms of training for public employees in all sectors (justice, security, health and education) that will include a comprehensive approach to women's right to live free of violence and discrimination, and the need for public servants to respect women's physical and psychological integrity, in the exercise of their functions.

6.       Ensure effective enforcement of laws that guarantee women's participation in public affairs, and take the steps necessary to prevent and punish any act of discrimination against women who accede to public office, in all circumstances.

7.       Create and strengthen systems for recording statistical and qualitative information on incidents of violence against women within the systems for the administration of justice. Strengthen the recording of cases of violence against women to guarantee that such records are uniform, accurate and transparent.

8.       Strengthen the institutional capacity of judicial bodies, such as the Prosecutors’ Office, the police, the courts and the tribunals, and the forensic medical services, in terms of both human and financial resources, to combat the pattern of impunity in cases of violence against women, through effective criminal investigations followed by appropriate judicial action, thus guaranteeing proper punishment and reparations. This will involve the purchase of the necessary technical equipment to conduct chemical and forensic tests, as well as all the evidence required to clarify the facts investigated.

9.       Take immediate steps to provide effective training about women's rights to all public officials involved in handling cases of violence against women (including prosecutors, police officers, judges, court-appointed lawyers, administrative officials and forensic medical professionals) so that domestic and international standards can be applied for prosecuting these crimes, and so that the integrity and dignity of victims and their relatives will be respected when they complain of such events and during their participation in the judicial process.

10.      Take steps to institutionalize cooperation and the exchange of information among the authorities responsible for investigating acts of violence and discrimination, in particular between the Prosecutors’ Office and the police.

11.      Design protocols to facilitate and promote effective, uniform and transparent investigation of acts of physical, sexual and psychological violence, including a description of the complexity of the evidence, and a detail of the minimum proof that must be compiled to substantiate charges, including scientific, psychological, material and testimonial evidence. It is important to encourage multidisciplinary investigation of such crimes.