CEDAW/C/GC/33
(c) Take effective measures to protect women against secondary
victimization in their interactions with law enforcement and judicial
authorities, and consider establishing specialized gender units within law
enforcement, penal and prosecution systems;
(d) Take appropriate measures to create supportive environments that
encourage women to claim their rights, report crimes committed against them
and actively participate in criminal justice processes, and take measures to
prevent retaliation against women seeking recourse in the justice system.
Consultations with women’s groups and civil society organizations should be
sought to develop legislation, policies and programmes in those areas;
(e) Take measures, including the adoption of legislation, to protect
women from Internet crimes and misdemeanours;
(f) Refrain from conditioning the provision of support and assistance to
women, including the granting of residency permits, upon cooperation with
judicial authorities in cases of trafficking in human beings and organized
crime; 15
(g) Use a confidential and gender-sensitive approach to avoid
stigmatization, including secondary victimization in cases of violence, during
all legal proceedings, including during questioning, evidence collection and
other procedures relating to the investigation;
(h) Review rules of evidence and their implementation, especially in
cases of violence against women, and adopt measures with due regard to the
fair trial rights of victims and defendants in criminal proceedings, to ensure
that the evidentiary requirements are not overly restrictive, inflexible or
influenced by gender stereotypes;
(i) Improve the criminal justice response to domestic violence, including
through recording of emergency calls taking photographic evidence of
destruction of property and signs of violence and considering reports from
doctors or social workers, which can show how violence, even if committed
without witnesses, has material effects on the physical, mental and social
well-being of victims;
(j) Take steps to guarantee that women are not subjected to undue
delays in applications for protection orders and that all cases of gender -based
discrimination subject to criminal law, including cases involving violence, are
heard in a timely and impartial manner;
(k) Develop protocols for police and health-care providers for the
collection and preservation of forensic evidence in cases of violence against
women, and train sufficient numbers of police and legal and forensic staff to
competently conduct criminal investigations;
(l) Abolish discriminatory criminalization and review and monitor all
criminal procedures to ensure that they do not directly or indirectly
discriminate against women; decriminalize forms of behaviour that are not
criminalized or punished as harshly if they are performed by men;
decriminalize forms of behaviour that can be performed only by women, such
as abortion; and act with due diligence to prevent and provide redress for
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15
15-13094
See Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking (United
Nations publication, Sales No. E.10.XIV.1).
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