United Nations A/RES/65/228

Distr.: General
General Assembly 31 March 2011

Sixty-fifth session
Agenda item 105

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly

[on the report of the Third Committee (A/65/457)]

65/228. Strengthening crime prevention and criminal justice

responses to violence against women
The General Assembly,
Reaffirming the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women 1
and the Beijing Declaration 2 and Platform for Action 3 adopted by the Fourth World
Conference on Women, and, in particular, the determination of Governments to
prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women,
Reaffirming also the Programme of Action of the International Conference on
Population and Development, 4 as well as the outcome of the twenty-third special
session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development
and peace for the twenty-first century” 5 and the declarations adopted at the
forty-ninth 6 and fifty-fourth 7 sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women,
Recognizing that the term “women”, except where otherwise specified,
encompasses “girl children”,
Reaffirming the obligation of all States to promote and protect all human rights
and fundamental freedoms, and reaffirming that discrimination on the basis of sex is
contrary to the Charter of the United Nations, the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women 8 and other international human rights
instruments and that its elimination is an integral part of efforts towards the
elimination of all forms of violence against women,

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1
See resolution 48/104.
2
Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annex I.
3
Ibid., annex II.
4
Report of the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 5–13 September 1994
(United Nations publication, Sales No. E.95.XIII.18), chap. I, resolution 1, annex.
5
Resolution S-23/2, annex, and resolution S-23/3, annex.
6
See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2005, Supplement No. 7 and corrigendum
(E/2005/27 and Corr.1), chap. I, sect. A; see also Economic and Social Council decision 2005/232.
7
See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2010, Supplement No. 7 and corrigendum
(E/2010/27 and Corr.1), chap. I, sect. A; see also Economic and Social Council decision 2010/232.
8
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378.

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Stressing that States have the obligation to promote and protect all human
rights and fundamental freedoms for all, including women and girls, and must
exercise due diligence to prevent and investigate acts of violence against women
and girls and punish the perpetrators, eliminate impunity and provide protection to
the victims, and that failure to do so violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment
of their human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Emphasizing the importance of preventing violence against migrant women
through the implementation, inter alia, of measures aimed at combating racism,
xenophobia and related forms of intolerance,
Deeply concerned that all forms of discrimination, including racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and multiple or aggravated forms
of discrimination and disadvantage, can lead to the targeting or particular
vulnerability to violence of girls and some groups of women, such as women
belonging to minority groups, indigenous women, refugee and internally displaced
women, migrant women, women living in rural or remote communities, destitute
women, women in institutions or in detention, women with disabilities, elderly
women, widows, women in situations of armed conflict, women who are otherwise
discriminated against, including on the basis of HIV status, and women victims of
commercial sexual exploitation,
Greatly concerned that some groups of women, such as migrant women,
refugees and women in detention, in situations of armed conflict or in territories
under occupation, might be more vulnerable to violence,
Recognizing that women’s poverty and lack of empowerment, as well as their
marginalization resulting from their exclusion from social policies and from the
benefits of sustained development, can place them at increased risk of violence and
that violence against women impedes the social and economic development of
communities and States, as well as the achievement of the internationally agreed
development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals,
Reaffirming its resolution 52/86 of 12 December 1997, in which it adopted the
Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against
Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,
Recalling its resolutions 61/143 of 19 December 2006, 62/133 of 18 December
2007, 63/155 of 18 December 2008 and 64/137 of 18 December 2009 on the
intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women,
Recalling also the Bangkok Declaration on Synergies and Responses: Strategic
Alliances in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, adopted at the Eleventh United
Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, 9 in which
Governments recognized that comprehensive crime prevention strategies could
significantly reduce crime and victimization and urged that such strategies be
developed at the local, national and international levels and that they, inter alia, take
into account the Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime, 10 and emphasized the
importance of promoting the interests of victims of crime, including taking account
of their gender,

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9
Resolution 60/177, annex.
10
Economic and Social Council resolution 2002/13, annex.

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Taking note of Human Rights Council resolution 11/2 of 17 June 2009 on

accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women, 11
Recalling the inclusion of gender-related crimes and crimes of sexual violence
in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,12 as well as the recognition
by the ad hoc international criminal tribunals that rape can constitute a war crime, a
crime against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide or torture,
Expressing deep concern about the pervasiveness of violence against women
in all its forms and manifestations worldwide, and reiterating the need to intensify
efforts to address that challenge,
Recognizing that effective and integrated criminal justice responses to violence
against women require close cooperation among all key stakeholders, including law
enforcement officials, prosecutors, judges, victim advocates, health professionals
and forensic scientists,
Stressing the importance of a comprehensive, well-coordinated, effective and
adequately resourced response by the United Nations system to all forms of violence
against women,
Recalling the joint dialogue of the Commission on the Status of Women and
the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on addressing violence
against women through legal reform, held in New York on 4 March 2009 within the
framework of the fifty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women,
Recalling also Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
decision 17/1 of 18 April 2008, 13 in which the Commission requested the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to convene an intergovernmental group of
experts with equitable geographical representation, in cooperation with the institutes
of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network,
the Commission on the Status of Women and the Special Rapporteur on violence
against women, its causes and consequences, to review and update, as appropriate,
the Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against
Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,
1. Strongly condemns all acts of violence against women, whether those
acts are perpetrated by the State, by private persons or by non-State actors, and calls
for the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence in the family, within the
general community and where perpetrated or condoned by the State;
2. Stresses that “violence against women” means any act of gender-based
violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological
harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary
deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life;
3. Takes note with appreciation of the work done at the meeting of the
intergovernmental expert group to review and update the Model Strategies and
Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held in Bangkok from 23 to 25 March 2009; 14

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11
See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/64/53),
chap. III, sect. A.
12
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2187, No. 38544.
13
See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2008, Supplement No. 10 (E/2008/30), chap. I,
sect. D.
14
See E/CN.15/2010/2.

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4. Adopts the guidelines in the updated Model Strategies and Practical

Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice, annexed to the present resolution;
5. Urges Member States to end impunity for violence against women by
investigating, prosecuting with due process and punishing all perpetrators, by
ensuring that women have equal protection under the law and equal access to justice
and by holding up to public scrutiny and countering those attitudes that foster,
justify or tolerate any form of violence against women;
6. Also urges Member States to enhance their mechanisms and procedures
for protecting victims of violence against women in the criminal justice system,
taking into account, inter alia, the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for
Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, 15 and to provide to that end specialized
counselling and assistance;
7. Calls upon Member States to advance effective crime prevention and
criminal justice strategies that address violence against women, including strategies
aimed at preventing revictimization by, inter alia, removing barriers that prevent
victims from seeking safety, including barriers related to custody of children, access
to shelter and availability of legal assistance;
8. Also calls upon Member States to develop and implement crime
prevention policies and programmes to promote the safety of women in the home
and in society at large in a manner that reflects the realities of women’s lives and
addresses their distinct needs, taking into account, inter alia, the Guidelines for the
Prevention of Crime 10 and the important contribution that educational and public
awareness-raising initiatives provide to the promotion of the safety of women;
9. Urges Member States to evaluate and review their legislation and legal
principles, procedures, policies, programmes and practices relating to crime
prevention and criminal justice matters, in a manner consistent with their legal
systems and drawing upon the updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures, to
determine if they are adequate to prevent and eliminate violence against women or
if they have a negative impact on women and, if they do, to modify them in order to
ensure that women enjoy fair and equal treatment;
10. Also urges Member States to take into account the special needs and
vulnerabilities of women within the criminal justice system, especially women in
detention, pregnant inmates and women with children born in detention, including
through the development of policies and programmes to address such needs, taking
into account relevant international standards and norms;
11. Further urges Member States to recognize the needs and special
vulnerabilities of women and children in situations of armed conflict and in
post-conflict situations, migrant women, refugee women and women subject to
forms of violence because of their nationality, ethnicity, religion or language;
12. Urges Member States to provide appropriate assistance to women victims
of violence, including by ensuring that those women have access to adequate legal
representation where appropriate, in particular so that they can make informed
decisions regarding, inter alia, legal proceedings and issues relating to family law;

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15
Resolution 40/34, annex.

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13. Invites Member States to establish a multidisciplinary, coordinated

response to sexual assault that includes specially trained police, prosecutors, judges,
forensic examiners and victim support services to contribute to the well-being of the
victim and increase the likelihood of the successful apprehension, prosecution and
conviction of the offender and to prevent revictimization;
14. Encourages Member States to design and support programmes to empower
women, both politically and economically, in order to assist in preventing violence
against women, in particular through their participation in decision-making processes;
15. Calls upon Member States to set up and strengthen mechanisms for the
systematic collection of data on violence against women with a view to assessing
the scope and prevalence of such violence and to guiding the design,
implementation and funding of effective crime prevention and criminal justice
responses;
16. Urges Member States and the United Nations system to give attention to,
and encourages greater international cooperation in, systematic research and the
collection, analysis and dissemination of data, including data disaggregated by sex,
age and other relevant information, on the extent, nature and consequences of
violence against women and on the impact and effectiveness of policies and
programmes for combating violence, welcomes in that context the establishment of
the Secretary-General’s coordinated database on violence against women, 16 and
urges Member States and the United Nations system to regularly provide
information for inclusion in the database;
17. Calls upon the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to support
national efforts to promote the empowerment of women and gender equality in order
to enhance national efforts to eliminate violence against women, including by
strengthening throughout its programme of work its crime prevention and criminal
justice efforts in response to violence against women;
18. Urges the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Member States
and invites the institutes of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice
programme network to continue to offer training and capacity-building
opportunities, in particular for practitioners working in the area of crime prevention
and criminal justice and providers of support services to victims of violence against
women, and to make available and disseminate information on successful
intervention models, preventive programmes and other practices;
19. Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to intensify its
efforts to ensure the widest possible use and dissemination of the updated Model
Strategies and Practical Measures, including through the development or revision of
relevant tools, such as handbooks, training manuals, programmes and modules,
including online capacity-building modules for each section of the updated Model
Strategies and Practical Measures, as an efficient and practical way to disseminate
the relevant content, and invites Member States and other donors to provide
extrabudgetary contributions for that purpose, in accordance with the rules and
procedures of the United Nations;
20. Invites the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to strengthen
coordination in its activities in the area of violence against women with other
relevant entities of the United Nations system, particularly the United Nations

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16
Available from www.un.org/esa/vawdatabase.

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Development Fund for Women, the Division for the Advancement of Women of the
Secretariat, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Population
Fund and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences, as well as other relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations, so as to make efficient use of the financial, technical, material and
human resources in the application of the updated Model Strategies and Practical
Measures;
21. Also invites the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to cooperate
with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the Secretariat in the
development of training material based on the updated Model Strategies and
Practical Measures for military, police and civilian personnel of peacekeeping and
peacebuilding operations;
22. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Commission on Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice at its twenty-first session on the implementation of
the present resolution.

71st plenary meeting

21 December 2010

Annex
Updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence
against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Preamble
1. The multifaceted nature of violence against women necessitates different
strategies to respond to the diverse manifestations of violence and the various
settings in which it occurs, both in private and in public life, whether committed in
the home, the workplace, educational and training institutions, the community or
society, in custody or in situations of armed conflict or natural disaster. In the
updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence
against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the
importance of adopting a systematic, comprehensive, coordinated, multisectoral and
sustained approach to fighting violence against women is recognized. The practical
measures, strategies and activities described below can be introduced in the field of
crime prevention and criminal justice to address violence against women. Except
where otherwise specified, the term “women” encompasses “girl children”.
2. Violence against women exists in every country in the world as a pervasive
violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality,
development and peace. Violence against women is rooted in historically unequal
power relations between men and women. All forms of violence against women
seriously violate and impair or nullify the enjoyment by women of all human rights
and fundamental freedoms and have serious immediate and long-term implications
for health, including sexual and reproductive health, for example through increased
vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, and public safety, and have a negative impact on the
psychological, social and economic development of individuals, families, communities
and States.
3. Violence against women is often embedded in and supported by social values,
cultural patterns and practices. The criminal justice system and legislators are not
immune to such values and thus have not always regarded violence against women

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with the same seriousness as other types of violence. Therefore, it is important that
States strongly condemn all forms of violence against women and refrain from
invoking any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligation
with respect to its elimination and that the criminal justice system recognize
violence against women as a gender-related problem and as an expression of power
and inequality.
4. Violence against women is defined in the Declaration on the Elimination of
Violence against Women1 and reiterated in the Platform for Action adopted by the
Fourth World Conference on Women 3to mean any act of gender-based violence that
results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or
suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation
of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. The updated Model
Strategies and Practical Measures build on the measures adopted by Governments in
the Platform for Action, which was adopted in 1995 and subsequently reaffirmed in
2000 and 2005, the Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of
Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
adopted in 1997, 17 and relevant General Assembly resolutions, including resolutions
61/143 and 63/155, bearing in mind that some groups of women are especially
exposed and vulnerable to violence.
5. The updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures specifically
acknowledge the need for an active policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in
all policies, programmes and practices to ensure gender equality and equal and fair
access to justice, as well as establishing the goal of gender balance in all areas of
decision-making, including those related to the elimination of violence against
women. The updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures should be applied as
guidelines in a manner consistent with relevant international instruments, including
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 8
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 18 the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and
child pornography, 19 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 20 the
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women
and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime, 21 the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 12 and the
Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime,10 with a view to furthering their fair and
effective implementation. The updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures
reaffirm the commitment of States to promote gender equality and empower women
with a view to meeting Goal 3 of the Millennium Development Goals.
6. The updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures should be endorsed by
national legislation and implemented by Member States and other entities in a
manner consistent with the right to equality before the law, while also recognizing
that gender equality may sometimes require the adoption of different approaches
that acknowledge the different ways in which violence affects women as compared
to men. Member States should ensure that women have equal protection under the
law and equal access to justice in order to facilitate efforts by Governments to

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17
Resolution 52/86, annex.
18
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.
19
Ibid., vol. 2171, No. 27531.
20
See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
21
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2237, No. 39574.

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prevent and sanction acts of violence against women through comprehensive and
coordinated policies and strategies, and to deal with all forms of violence against
women within the criminal justice system.
7. The updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures recognize that crime
prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against women must be
focused on the needs of victims and empower individual women who are victims of
violence. They aim to ensure that prevention and intervention efforts are made to
not only stop and appropriately sanction violence against women, but also restore a
sense of dignity and control to the victims of such violence.
8. The updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures aim to contribute to
de jure and de facto equality between women and men. They do not give
preferential treatment to women but aim to ensure that any inequalities or forms of
discrimination that women face in accessing justice, particularly in respect of acts of
violence, are redressed.
9. The updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures recognize that sexual
violence is an issue of international peace and security, as outlined in Security
Council resolutions 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 and 1820 (2008) of 19 June
2008 on women and peace and security, particularly the need for parties to armed
conflict to adopt prevention and protection measures in order to end sexual violence.
10. The updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures recognize that some
special groups of women are particularly vulnerable to violence, either because of
their nationality, ethnicity, religion or language or because they belong to an
indigenous group, are migrants, are stateless, are refugees, live in underdeveloped,
rural or remote communities, are homeless, are in institutions or in detention, have
disabilities, are elderly, are widowed or live in conflict, post-conflict or disaster
situations and, as such, require special attention, intervention and protection in the
development of crime prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against
women.
11. The updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures recognize advances in
crime prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against women and the
importance of investing in the prevention of violence against women.
12. The updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures recognize that States
have the obligation to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental
freedoms of all people, including women, and that they must exercise due diligence
and take relevant measures to prevent, investigate and punish the perpetrators of
violence against women, to eliminate impunity and to provide protection to the
victims, and that failure to do so violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment of
women’s human rights and fundamental freedoms.

I. Guiding principles
13. Member States are urged:
(a) To be guided by the overall principle that effective crime prevention and
criminal justice responses to violence against women are human rights-based,
manage risk and promote victim safety and empowerment while ensuring offender
accountability;
(b) To develop mechanisms to ensure a comprehensive, coordinated,
systematic and sustained approach for the implementation of the updated Model
Strategies and Practical Measures at the national, regional and international levels;

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(c) To promote the involvement and participation of all relevant sectors of

government and civil society and other stakeholders in the implementation process;
(d) To commit adequate and sustained resources and develop monitoring
mechanisms to ensure their effective implementation and oversight;
(e) To take into account in the implementation of the updated Model Strategies
and Practical Measures the varying needs of women subjected to violence.

II. Criminal law

14. Member States are urged:
(a) To review, evaluate and update their national laws, policies, codes,
procedures, programmes and practices, especially their criminal laws, on an ongoing
basis to ensure and guarantee their value, comprehensiveness and effectiveness in
eliminating all forms of violence against women and to remove provisions that
allow for or condone violence against women or that increase the vulnerability or
revictimization of women who have been subject to violence;
(b) To review, evaluate and update their criminal and civil laws in order to
ensure that all forms of violence against women are criminalized and prohibited
and, if not, to adopt measures to do so, including measures aimed at preventing
violence against women, protecting, empowering and supporting survivors,
adequately punishing perpetrators and ensuring available remedies for victims;
(c) To review, evaluate and update their criminal laws in order to ensure that:
(i) Persons who are brought before the courts on judicial matters in respect
of violent crimes or who are convicted of such crimes can be restricted in their
possession and use of firearms and other regulated weapons, within the
framework of their national legal systems;
(ii) Individuals can be prohibited or restrained, within the framework of their
national legal systems, from harassing, intimidating or threatening women;
(iii) The laws on sexual violence adequately protect all persons against sexual
acts that are not based on the consent of both parties;
(iv) The law protects all children against sexual violence, sexual abuse,
commercial sexual exploitation and sexual harassment, including crimes
committed through the use of new information technologies, including the
Internet;
(v) Harmful traditional practices, including female genital mutilation, in all
their forms, are criminalized as serious offences under the law;
(vi) Trafficking in persons, especially women and girls, is criminalized;
(vii) Individuals who are serving in the armed forces or in United Nations
peacekeeping operations are investigated and punished for committing acts of
violence against women;
(d) To continually review, evaluate and update their national laws, policies,
practices and procedures, taking into account all relevant international legal
instruments, in order to effectively respond to violence against women, including to
ensure that such measures complement and are consistent with the criminal justice
system’s response to such violence and that civil law decisions reached in marital
dissolutions, child custody decisions and other family law proceedings for cases
involving domestic violence or child abuse adequately safeguard victims and the
best interests of children;

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(e) To review and, where appropriate, revise, amend or abolish any laws,
regulations, policies, practices and customs that discriminate against women or have
a discriminatory impact on women, and to ensure that provisions of multiple legal
systems, where they exist, comply with international human rights obligations,
commitments and principles, in particular the principle of non-discrimination.

III. Criminal procedure

15. Member States are urged to review, evaluate and update their criminal
procedures, as appropriate and taking into account all relevant international legal
instruments, in order to ensure that:
(a) The police and other law enforcement agencies have, with judicial
authorization where required by national law, adequate powers to enter premises and
conduct arrests in cases of violence against women and to take immediate measures
to ensure the safety of victims;
(b) The primary responsibility for initiating investigations and prosecutions
lies with the police and prosecution authorities and does not rest with women
subjected to violence, regardless of the level or form of violence;
(c) Women subjected to violence are enabled to testify in criminal
proceedings through adequate measures that facilitate such testimony by protecting
the privacy, identity and dignity of the women; ensure safety during legal
proceedings; and avoid “secondary victimization”. 22 In jurisdictions where the
safety of the victim cannot be guaranteed, refusing to testify should not constitute a
criminal or other offence;
(d) Evidentiary rules are non-discriminatory; all relevant evidence can be
brought before the court; rules and principles of defence do not discriminate against
women; and “honour” or “provocation” cannot be invoked by perpetrators of
violence against women to escape criminal responsibility;
(e) The credibility of a complainant in a sexual violence case is understood
to be the same as that of a complainant in any other criminal proceeding; the
introduction of the complainant’s sexual history in both civil and criminal
proceedings is prohibited when it is unrelated to the case; and no adverse inference
is drawn solely from a delay of any length between the alleged commission of a
sexual offence and the reporting thereof;
(f) People who perpetrate acts of violence against women while voluntarily
under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other substances are not exempted from
criminal responsibility;
(g) Evidence of prior acts of violence, abuse, stalking and exploitation by the
perpetrator is considered during court proceedings, in accordance with the principles
of national criminal law;
(h) Police and courts have the authority to issue and enforce protection and
restraining or barring orders in cases of violence against women, including removal
of the perpetrator from the domicile, prohibiting further contact with the victim and
other affected parties, inside and outside the domicile; to issue and enforce child
support and custody orders; and to impose penalties for breaches of those orders. If

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22
“Secondary victimization” is victimization that occurs not as a direct result of a criminal act but through
the inadequate response of institutions and individuals to the victim.

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such powers cannot be granted to the police, measures must be taken to ensure
timely access to court decisions in order to ensure swift action by the court. Such
protective measures should not be dependent on the initiation of a criminal case;
(i) Comprehensive services are provided and protection measures are taken
when necessary to ensure the safety, privacy and dignity of victims and their
families at all stages of the criminal justice process, without prejudice to the
victim’s ability or willingness to participate in an investigation or prosecution, and
to protect them from intimidation and retaliation, including by establishing
comprehensive witness and victim protection programmes;
(j) Safety risks, including the vulnerability of victims, are taken into account
in decisions concerning non-custodial or quasi-custodial sentences, the granting of
bail, conditional release, parole or probation, especially when dealing with repeat
and dangerous offenders;
(k) Claims of self-defence by women who have been victims of violence,
particularly in cases of battered woman syndrome, 23 are taken into account in
investigations, prosecutions and sentences against them;
(l) All procedures and complaint mechanisms are accessible to women who
are victims of violence without fear of reprisal or discrimination.

IV. Police, prosecutors and other criminal justice officials

16. Member States are urged, within the framework of their national legal systems,
as appropriate and taking into account all relevant international legal instruments:
(a) To ensure that the applicable provisions of laws, policies, procedures,
programmes and practices related to violence against women are consistently and
effectively implemented by the criminal justice system and supported by relevant
regulations as appropriate;
(b) To develop mechanisms to ensure a comprehensive, multidisciplinary,
coordinated, systematic and sustained response to violence against women in order
to increase the likelihood of successful apprehension, prosecution and conviction of
the offender, contribute to the well-being and safety of the victim and prevent
secondary victimization;
(c) To promote the use of specialized expertise in the police, among
prosecution authorities and in other criminal justice agencies, including through the
establishment, where possible, of specialized units or personnel and specialized
courts or dedicated court time, and to ensure that all police officers, prosecutors and
other criminal justice officials receive regular and institutionalized training to
sensitize them to gender and child-related issues and to build their capacity with
regard to violence against women;
(d) To promote the development and implementation of appropriate policies
among different criminal justice agencies to ensure coordinated, consistent and
effective responses to violence perpetrated against women by personnel within such
agencies and to ensure that attitudes of criminal justice officials that foster, justify
or tolerate violence against women are held up to public scrutiny and sanction;

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23
Battered woman syndrome is suffered by women who, because of repeated violent acts by an intimate
partner, may suffer depression and are unable to take any independent action that would allow them to
escape the abuse, including refusing to press charges or to accept offers of support.

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(e) To develop and implement policies and appropriate responses regarding

the investigation and collection of evidence that take into account the unique needs
and perspectives of victims of violence, respect their dignity and integrity and
minimize intrusion into their lives while abiding by standards for the collection of
evidence;
(f) To ensure that criminal justice officials and victims’ advocates conduct
risk assessments that indicate the level or extent of harm that victims may be
subjected to based on their vulnerability, the threats to which they are exposed, the
presence of weapons and other determining factors;
(g) To ensure that laws, policies, procedures and practices pertaining to
decisions on the arrest, detention and terms of any form of release of the perpetrator
take into account the need for the safety of the victim and others related through
family, socially or otherwise and that such procedures also prevent further acts of
violence;
(h) To establish a registration system for judicial protection, restraining or
barring orders, where such orders are permitted by national law, so that police or
criminal justice officials can quickly determine whether such an order is in force;
(i) To empower and equip police, prosecutors and other criminal justice
officials to respond promptly to incidents of violence against women, including by
drawing on a rapid court order, where appropriate, and by taking measures to ensure
the fast and efficient management of cases;
(j) To ensure that the exercise of powers by police, prosecutors and other
criminal justice officials is undertaken according to the rule of law and codes of
conduct and that such officials are held accountable for any infringement thereof
through appropriate oversight and accountability mechanisms;
(k) To ensure gender-equitable representation in the police force and other
agencies of the justice system, particularly at the decision-making and managerial
levels;
(l) To provide victims of violence, where possible, with the right to speak to
a female officer, whether it be the police or any other criminal justice official;
(m) To develop new or improve existing model procedures and resource
material and disseminate such procedures and material, to help criminal justice
officials to identify, prevent and deal with violence against women, including by
assisting and supporting women subjected to violence in a manner that is sensitive
and responsive to their needs;
(n) To provide adequate psychological support to police, prosecutors and
other criminal justice officials to prevent their vicarious victimization.

V. Sentencing and corrections

17. Recognizing the serious nature of violence against women and the need for
crime prevention and criminal justice responses that are commensurate with that
severity, Member States are urged, as appropriate:
(a) To review, evaluate and update sentencing policies and procedures in
order to ensure that they:
(i) Hold offenders accountable for their acts related to violence against women;
(ii) Denounce and deter violence against women;

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(iii) Stop violent behaviour;

(iv) Promote victim and community safety, including by separating the
offender from the victim and, if necessary, from society;
(v) Take into account the impact on victims and their family members of
sentences imposed on perpetrators;
(vi) Provide sanctions that ensure that the perpetrators of violence against
women are sentenced in a manner commensurate with the severity of the
offence;
(vii) Provide reparations for harm caused as a result of the violence;
(viii) Promote the rehabilitation of the perpetrator, including by promoting a
sense of responsibility in offenders and, where appropriate, reintegrating
perpetrators into the community;
(b) To ensure that their national laws take into account specific
circumstances as aggravating factors for sentencing purposes, including, for
example, repeated violent acts, abuse of a position of trust or authority, perpetration
of violence against a spouse or a person in a close relationship with the perpetrator
and perpetration of violence against a person under 18 years of age;
(c) To ensure the right of a victim of violence to be notified of the offender’s
release from detention or imprisonment;
(d) To take into account, in the sentencing process, the severity of the
physical and psychological harm and the impact of victimization, including through
victim impact statements;
(e) To make available to the courts, through legislation, a full range of
sentencing dispositions to protect the victim, other affected persons and society
from further violence, and to rehabilitate the perpetrator, as appropriate;
(f) To develop and evaluate treatment and reintegration/rehabilitation
programmes for perpetrators of different types of violence against women that
prioritize the safety of the victims;
(g) To ensure that judicial and correctional authorities, as appropriate,
monitor perpetrators’ compliance with any treatment ordered;
(h) To ensure that there are appropriate measures in place to eliminate
violence against women who are detained for any reason;
(i) To provide adequate protection to victims and witnesses of acts of
violence before, during and after criminal proceedings.

VI. Victim support and assistance

18. Member States are urged, as appropriate and taking into account all relevant
international legal instruments, in particular the Declaration of Basic Principles of
Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power: 15
(a) To make available to women who have been subjected to violence
relevant information on rights, remedies and victim support services and on how to
obtain them, in addition to information about their role and opportunities for
participating in criminal proceedings and the scheduling, progress and ultimate
disposition of the proceedings, as well as any orders against the offender;

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(b) To encourage and assist women subjected to violence in lodging and

following through on formal complaints by providing protection to the victims and
advising them that the responsibility for pursuing charges and prosecuting offenders
rests with the police and the prosecution;
(c) To take appropriate measures to prevent hardship during the detection,
investigation and prosecution process in order to ensure that victims are treated with
dignity and respect, whether they participate in the criminal proceedings or not;
(d) To ensure that women subjected to violence have access to prompt and
fair redress for the harm that they have suffered as a result of violence, including the
right to seek restitution from the offender or compensation from the State;
(e) To provide court mechanisms and procedures that are accessible and
sensitive to the needs of women subjected to violence and that ensure the fair and
timely processing of cases;
(f) To provide efficient and easily accessible procedures for issuing
restraining or barring orders to protect women and other victims of violence and for
ensuring that victims are not held accountable for breaches of such orders;
(g) To recognize that children who have witnessed violence against their
parent or another person with whom they have a close relationship are victims of
violence and need protection, care and support;
(h) To ensure that women subjected to violence have full access to the civil
and criminal justice systems, including access to free legal aid, where appropriate,
court support and interpretation services;
(i) To ensure that women subjected to violence have access to qualified
personnel who can provide victim advocacy and support services throughout the
entire criminal justice process, as well as access to any other independent support
persons;
(j) To ensure that all services and legal remedies available to victims of
violence against women are also available to immigrant women, trafficked women,
refugee women, stateless women and all other women in need of such assistance,
and that specialized services for such women are established, where appropriate;
(k) To refrain from penalizing victims who have been trafficked for having
entered the country illegally or for having been involved in unlawful activities that
they were forced or compelled to carry out.

VII. Health and social services

19. Member States, in cooperation with the private sector, relevant
non-governmental organizations and professional associations, are urged, as
appropriate:
(a) To establish, fund and coordinate a sustainable network of accessible
facilities and services for emergency and temporary residential accommodation,
health services, including counselling and psychological care, legal assistance and
other basic needs for women and their children who are victims of violence or who
are at risk of becoming victims of violence;
(b) To establish, fund and coordinate services such as toll-free information
lines, professional multidisciplinary counselling and crisis intervention services and
support groups in order to benefit women who are victims of violence and their
children;

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(c) To establish better linkages between health and social services, both public
and private, particularly in emergency situations, and criminal justice agencies for the
purposes of reporting, recording and responding appropriately to acts of violence
against women, while protecting the privacy of women subjected to violence;
(d) To design and sponsor sustainable programmes to prevent and treat
alcohol and other substance abuse, given the frequent presence of substance abuse
in incidents of violence against women;
(e) To ensure that violent acts and sexual crimes against children are
reported to the police and other law enforcement agencies when suspected by the
health and social services;
(f) To promote collaboration and coordination among relevant agencies and
services, including through the establishment, where possible, of specialized units
specifically trained to deal with the complexities and sensitivities of victims
involved in cases of violence against women where victims can receive
comprehensive assistance, protection and intervention services, including health and
social services, legal advice and police assistance;
(g) To ensure that adequate medical, legal and social services sensitive to the
needs of victims are in place to enhance the criminal justice management of cases
involving violence against women and to encourage the development of specialized
health services, including comprehensive, free and confidential forensic
examinations by trained health providers and appropriate treatment, including
HIV-specific treatment.

VIII. Training
20. Member States, in cooperation with relevant non-governmental organizations
and professional associations, are urged, as appropriate:
(a) To provide for or to encourage mandatory cross-cultural gender and
child-sensitivity training modules for police, criminal justice officials and
professionals involved in the criminal justice system on the unacceptability of all
forms of violence against women and on their harmful impact and consequences on
all those who experience such violence;
(b) To ensure that police, criminal justice officials and other professionals
involved in the criminal justice system receive adequate training and continued
education on all relevant national laws, policies and programmes, as well as
international legal instruments;
(c) To ensure that police, criminal justice officials and other relevant
authorities are adequately trained to identify and respond appropriately to the
specific needs of women victims of violence, including victims of trafficking; to
receive and treat all victims respectfully with a view to avoiding secondary
victimization; to handle complaints confidentially; to conduct safety assessments
and risk management; and to use and enforce protection orders;
(d) To encourage relevant professional associations to develop enforceable
standards of practice and behaviour and codes of conduct that promote justice and
gender equality.

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IX. Research and evaluation

21. Member States, the institutes of the United Nations crime prevention and
criminal justice programme network, relevant entities of the United Nations system,
other relevant international organizations, research institutes, non-governmental
organizations and professional associations are urged, as appropriate:
(a) To set up and strengthen mechanisms for systematic and coordinated data
collection on violence against women;
(b) To develop both modules and dedicated population-based surveys,
including crime surveys, for assessing the nature and extent of violence against
women;
(c) To collect, analyse and publish data and information, including data and
information disaggregated by gender, for use in carrying out needs assessments,
taking decisions and developing policy in the field of crime prevention and criminal
justice, in particular concerning:
(i) The different forms of violence against women; the causes, risk factors
and levels of severity of such violence; and the consequences and impacts of
such violence, including on different population subgroups;
(ii) The extent to which economic deprivation and exploitation are linked to
violence against women;
(iii) The patterns, trends and indicators of violence against women, women’s
feelings of insecurity in the public and private spheres and factors that can
reduce such feelings of insecurity;
(iv) The relationship between the victim and the offender;
(v) The effect of various types of interventions on the individual offender
and on the reduction and elimination of violence against women as a whole;
(vi) The use of weapons and of drugs, alcohol and other substances in cases
of violence against women;
(vii) The relationship between victimization or exposure to violence and
subsequent violent activity;
(viii) The relationship between the violence experienced by women and
women’s vulnerability to other types of abuse;
(ix) The consequences of violence on those who witness it, particularly
within the family;
(d) To monitor, and publish annual reports on, the number of cases of
violence against women reported to the police as well as other criminal justice
agencies, including arrest and clearance rates, prosecution and case disposition of
the offenders and the prevalence of violence against women; in doing so, use should
be made of data derived from population-based surveys. Such reports should
disaggregate data by type of violence and include, for example, information on the
sex of the perpetrator and his or her relationship to the victim;
(e) To evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice
system in meeting the needs of women subjected to violence, including with regard
to the way in which the criminal justice system treats victims and witnesses of acts
of violence, the use it makes of different intervention models and the degree to
which it cooperates with providers of services to victims and witnesses, as well as to
evaluate and assess the impact of current legislation, rules and procedures relating
to violence against women;

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(f) To evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of offender treatment,

rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, in consultation with relevant
stakeholders, including victims and victim service providers;
(g) To be guided by existing ongoing efforts at the international level to
develop a set of indicators to measure violence against women and to ensure a
multisectoral, coordinated approach to the development, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of data-collection initiatives;
(h) To ensure that data on violence against women are collected in a way that
respects the confidentiality and human rights of women and does not jeopardize
their safety;
(i) To encourage and provide sufficient financial support for research on
violence against women.

X. Crime prevention measures

22. Member States and the private sector, relevant non-governmental organizations
and professional associations are urged, as appropriate:
(a) To develop and implement relevant and effective public awareness and
public education initiatives, as well as school programmes and curricula, that
prevent violence against women by promoting respect for human rights, equality,
cooperation, mutual respect and shared responsibilities between women and men;
(b) To develop codes of conduct for personnel in public and private entities
that prohibit violence against women, including sexual harassment, and include safe
complaint and referral procedures;
(c) To develop multidisciplinary and gender-sensitive approaches within
public and private entities that seek to prevent violence against women, especially
through partnerships between law enforcement officials and services specialized in
the protection of women victims of violence;
(d) To develop programmes to assess perceptions of public safety and to
develop safety planning, environmental design and management of public space in
order to reduce the risk of violence against women;
(e) To set up outreach programmes and provide relevant information to
women about gender roles, women’s human rights and the social, health, legal and
economic aspects of violence against women in order to empower women to protect
themselves and their children against all forms of violence;
(f) To set up outreach programmes for offenders or persons identified as
potential offenders in order to promote non-violent behaviour and attitudes and
respect for equality and the rights of women;
(g) To develop and disseminate, in a manner appropriate to the audience
concerned, including in educational institutions at all levels, information and
awareness-raising materials on the different forms of violence that are perpetrated
against women and the availability of relevant programmes that include information
on the relevant provisions of criminal law, the functions of the criminal justice system,
the victim support mechanisms that are available and the existing programmes
concerning non-violent behaviour and the peaceful resolution of conflicts;
(h) To support all initiatives, including those of non-governmental
organizations and other relevant organizations seeking women’s equality, to raise
public awareness of the issue of violence against women and to contribute to the
elimination of such violence;

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(i) To facilitate the work at lower levels of government, including among

city and local community authorities, to promote an integrated approach that makes
use of the range of local services provided by institutions and civil society for the
development of preventive strategies and programmes.
23. Member States and the media, media associations, media self-regulatory
bodies, schools and other relevant partners, while respecting the freedom of the
media, are urged, as appropriate, to develop public awareness campaigns and
appropriate measures and mechanisms, such as codes of ethics and self-regulatory
measures on media violence, aimed at enhancing respect for the rights and dignity
of women, while discouraging both discrimination and gender stereotyping.
24. Member States and the private sector, relevant non-governmental
organizations and professional associations are urged to develop and improve,
where appropriate, crime prevention and criminal justice responses to the
production, possession and dissemination of games, images and all other materials
that depict or glorify acts of violence against women and children, and their impact
on the general public’s attitude towards women and children, as well as the mental
and emotional development of children, particularly through new information
technologies, including the Internet.

XI. International cooperation

25. Member States, in cooperation with United Nations bodies and institutes and
other relevant organizations, are urged, as appropriate:
(a) To continue exchanging information concerning successful intervention
models and preventive programmes on eliminating all forms of violence against
women and to update the resource manual and the compendium on the Model
Strategies and Practical Measures, as well as to provide information for inclusion in
the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women; 16
(b) To cooperate and collaborate at the bilateral, regional and international
levels with relevant entities to prevent violence against women; to provide safety,
assistance and protection for the victims and witnesses of violence and their family
members, as appropriate; and to promote measures to effectively bring perpetrators
to justice, through strengthened mechanisms of international cooperation and mutual
legal assistance;
(c) To develop provisions providing for the safe and, to the extent possible,
voluntary repatriation and reintegration of women victims of violence who have
been trafficked or kidnapped across borders;
(d) To contribute and provide support to the United Nations system in its
efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women;
(e) To take appropriate preventive action and to ensure full accountability in
cases of sexual exploitation and abuse involving troops and police in United Nations
peacekeeping operations.
26. Member States are also urged:
(a) To condemn all acts of violence against women in situations of armed
conflict, to recognize them as violations of international human rights, humanitarian
law and international criminal law, to call for a particularly effective response to
such violations, in particular when they involve murder, systematic rape, sexual
slavery and forced pregnancy, and to implement Security Council resolutions
1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008) on women and peace and security;

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(b) To work actively towards universal ratification of or accession to all

relevant treaties and to promote their full implementation, including the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Optional
Protocol thereto, 24 the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol thereto on the sale
of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and the Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,
supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime;
(c) To formulate any reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women in a manner that is as precise and as
narrow as possible and to ensure that any such reservations are not incompatible
with the object and purpose of that Convention;
(d) To work actively towards the ratification of or accession to existing
regional instruments and agreements aimed at combating violence against women,
and to promote their implementation;
(e) To include in periodic reports to the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women information on efforts made to implement the
updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures;
(f) To cooperate with the International Criminal Court, ad hoc international
criminal tribunals and other international criminal tribunals in the investigation and
prosecution of the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war
crimes, particularly of those crimes involving gender-based violence, and to enable
women who have been subjected to violence to give testimony and participate in all
stages of the proceedings while protecting the safety, interests, identity and privacy
of those women;
(g) To cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur on violence against
women, its causes and consequences and the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in
persons, especially in women and children, in performing their mandated tasks and
duties by supplying all information requested and responding to the Special
Rapporteurs’ visits and communications.

XII. Follow-up activities

27. Member States, United Nations bodies, the institutes of the United Nations
crime prevention and criminal justice programme network, other relevant
international and regional organizations, research institutes, non-governmental
organizations and professional organizations, including organizations seeking
women’s equality, are urged, as appropriate:
(a) To encourage the translation of the updated Model Strategies and
Practical Measures into local languages and to ensure their wide dissemination and
use in training and education programmes;
(b) To draw, as appropriate, on the updated Model Strategies and Practical
Measures in the development of legislation, procedures, policies and practices in
responding to violence against women;

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(c) To assist States, upon request, in developing strategies and programmes

to prevent violence against women and in reviewing and evaluating their criminal
justice systems, including their criminal legislation, on the basis of the updated
Model Strategies and Practical Measures;
(d) To support the technical cooperation activities of the institutes of the
United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network aimed at
eliminating all forms of violence against women;
(e) To develop coordinated national, subregional and regional plans and
programmes to implement the updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures;
(f) To design standard training programmes and manuals for police and
criminal justice officials based on the updated Model Strategies and Practical
Measures;
(g) To periodically monitor and review progress made at the national and
international levels in terms of plans, programmes and initiatives to eliminate all
forms of violence against women;
(h) To periodically review and update, if necessary, the updated Model
Strategies and Practical Measures.

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