A/HRC/4/34 page 24 often means conformity to traditional norms of patriarchy. Conflict and the perceived need to rally around the flag of group identity or the wider cause are instrumentalized as a pretext to further entrench patriarchal control within the group or merely trivialize women’s movements. 64. Similar dynamics are often observed in immigrant, minority or indigenous communities that very often experience ethnic or religious discrimination. In an effort to define themselves in opposition to the majority that rejects them, members of these groups may adopt essentialist or fundamentalist interpretations of their own culture. In order to preserve a group identity perceived to be under threat by a majority that seems unwilling to accept cultural, religious or ethnic difference, men as makers of culture very often impose rigid codes of conduct on women who are regarded as transmitters and bearers of culture. Violence is used where necessary to enforce women’s compliance with these impositions.46 65. Militarization also transforms culture, introducing socially accepted norms of violence.47 Women are very often specifically affected by these developments. I received reports, for instance, that women belonging to Wayuu indigenous communities in Colombia face more drastic and even lethal violence in the domestic sphere. As armed groups seek to draw these communities into the ongoing armed conflict, a gun culture is introduced into the communities while indigenous cultural norms calling for a respect for life and restraint in the use of violence are eroded.48 66. Concern must also be expressed about failing and failed States: where the rule of force has fully replaced the rule of law, the worst “cultural” forms of violence against women tend to occur. Also worrisome are reactionary donor agendas that reinforce conservative norms and threaten gains made by women. Recent policies on reproductive rights as well as HIV and AIDS, which give preference to sexual abstinence and fidelity over condom use, are particularly illustrative. They not only fail to recognize the problems that oppressed women face in asserting their sexual rights against their male partners, but also reinforce ideologies of men’s control over women’s sexuality (however they may be culturally framed) and thereby contribute to the perpetuation of the root cause of many forms of violence against women. 46 See the report of my mission to Sweden (A/HRC/4/34/Add. 3). 47 The United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala, for instance, has documented linkages between the forced inclusion of indigenous populations in paramilitary units during the Guatemalan armed conflict and a culture of public lynchings that prevails up to this day. Misión de Verificación de las Naciones Unidas en Guatemala, Los linchamientos: un flagelos que persiste, 2002. 48 Cf. also Mesa de Trabajo “Mujer y conflicto armado”, above at note 40, finding that the armed conflict continues to affect women in indigenous communities with special intensity.