A/HRC/26/38 work on the intersections between culture and violence. In her reports she also addressed the political economy of women’s human rights and the development of effective implementation and enforcement strategies, including by exploring the utility of the due diligence standard for enforcing State responsibility30 and the development of indicators on violence against women and State responses.31 The Special Rapporteur suggested that advocacy and policy and justice initiatives could be strengthened at the national and international levels. This would require systematic measurement and reporting of levels of violence, social tolerance, State responsiveness, institutional action and protection measures.32 55. The Special Rapporteur’s reports between 2004 and 2009 consistently reiterate discussions of women’s economic, social and cultural rights, and how the denial of these rights contributes to discrimination and violence against women. She also evaluated relations of power and the cultural relativist arguments that purport to excuse culturally motivated violence.33 While condemning the cultural relativist discourse as legally impermissible34 and acknowledging growing concerns about polarized power structures between the global North and South, the Special Rapporteur recommended engagement in cultural negotiations to challenge discriminatory and oppressive behaviour and encouraged local support for discourses on the universality of human rights.35 By situating women’s human rights within a neo-liberal political context, the Special Rapporteur, in her final report in 2009, raised concerns about the disconnect between the way States view violence against women and how they address gender inequality in general.36 Noting that women do not share equal social and economic rights with men, nor have equal access to productive resources, she articulated how capital markets exacerbate women’s social and political inequality in a way that impacts their health rights; food and water security; education and housing; livelihoods and labour markets; migration; and conflict, peace and nationbuilding.. 56. The current Special Rapporteur assumed her functions in August 2009 and has continued to build on the work of her predecessors, especially with regard to the themes of intersectionality and State responsibility, while investigating less mainstream aspects of violence against women, such as, reparations for victims of violence; the continuum of violence from the home to the transnational sphere; gender-related killings of women; violence against women with disabilities; and the issue of violence and incarcerated women. In her reports, the Special Rapporteur generally further develops the principle of State responsibility to act with due diligence as a legal framework for the elimination of violence against women, and notes the gap between the normative acceptance of State responsibility for violence and the practical reality for women seeking redress. 57. In her 2010 report (A/HRC/14/22), the Special Rapporteur considered the shortcomings of the due diligence standard in respect of reparations for women who have experienced violence, whether in times of peace, conflict, post-conflict or in authoritarian settings. In her 2013 report (A/HRC/23/49), the Special Rapporteur further deepened the theme of State responsibility to eliminate violence against women and concluded that, while most States accept that violence against women is a pervasive and systemic human rights violation facing countries, this has not led to the adoption of coherent and sustainable 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 E/CN.4/2006/61. A/HRC/7/6 and A/HRC/7/6/Add. 5. A/HRC/7/6. A/HRC/4/34, para. 56. Ibid. Ibid., para. 37. A/HRC/11/6. 15