CEDAW/C/CHE/CO/4-5 Gender-based violence against women 26. The Committee commends the State party for the efforts being made to address gender-based violence, but remains concerned about: (a) The high prevalence of gender-based violence against women, including domestic violence and stalking, as evidenced by the statistics provided by the State party (3,173 assaults against women in 2011, compared with 948 against men); (b) The underreporting of gender-based violence to the police and the low prosecution and conviction rates, resulting in impunity for the perpetrators; (c) The lack of a national action plan to combat violence against women and disparities between cantons in addressing the issue; (d) The insufficient number of shelters available to provide specific support services for victims and the limited time frame during which victims can avail themselves of these services; the disparities between cantons in terms of funding and regulating shelters, and the lack of support to non-governmental organizations providing assistance to victims; and the lack of support available when women leave the shelters in terms of covering daily living expenses, childcare and so forth; (e) The delay by the State party in ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), signed in 2013; (f) The negative impact of uncontrolled arms in the private possession of men in the State party on the lives of women and girls. 27. The Committee recalls its general recommendation No. 19 (1992) on violence against women and reiterates its previous recommendations that the State party: (a) Enhance its efforts to combat all forms of gender-based violence against women, including domestic and sexual violence, paying particular attention to minority women, and introduce new legislation to prevent stalking; (b) Increase reporting by women of incidents of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, providing capacity-building programmes for judges, prosecutors, police officers and other law enforcement officials on the strict application of criminal law provisions on violence against women, raising their awareness of the cultural background of minority and migrant women, raising awareness among the general public of the criminal nature of such acts and ensuring that all cases of violence against women are effectively investigated and perpetrators prosecuted; (c) Expeditiously adopt a national action plan, in consultation with civil society organizations, to combat gender-based violence against women and ensure that adequate human, technical and financial resources are allocated for its implementation, monitoring and assessment; (d) Strengthen services for women who are victims of gender-based violence, including by establishing additional shelters to ensure that adequate victim-centred services are available in all cantons, and ensure the availability of psychosocial rehabilitation and reintegration programmes; 16-20858 9/19