A/HRC/40/60 95. States must review, amend and repeal laws that restrict the rights of human rights defenders, including the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, assembly and association. Laws should not be used to harass or criminalize women defenders. Instead, laws should protect women defenders from discrimination, marginalization, slander, hate speech and hate crime, on- or offline. 96. National human rights institutions play an important role in monitoring and investigating the situation of human rights defenders and should have the independence and resources to achieve these aims, as noted in a report submitted by a previous mandate holder (A/HRC/25/55). Priority 4: Document and investigate all forms of risk, threats and attacks against women human rights defenders, ensuring that perpetrators – both State and nonState actors – are brought to justice and that these defenders have access to an effective remedy, including gender-responsive reparations 97. The risks, threats and attacks faced by women defenders should be monitored and trends analysed so that precautionary measures can be taken. States should clarify how and with whom women defenders should report concerns and lodge complaints about risks, threats and attacks. Reports of risks, threats, and attacks originating in both the private and the public sphere should be taken seriously. 98. States should ensure the prompt and effective investigation of intimidation, threats, violence and other attacks against women defenders, whether committed by State or nonState actors. Prosecutors and judges should take these threats and attacks seriously, operating independently and with gender sensitivity to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice while safeguarding the dignity and security of women defenders. Priority 5: Develop protection mechanisms and initiatives that incorporate the Special Rapporteur’s seven principles underpinning good protection practices 99. Women defenders need access to the right protection initiatives and resources on an ongoing basis, especially in emergencies. Funders have developed processes and mechanisms to ensure that women around the world have access to fast, flexible and responsive support when they face immediate threats. Other valuable responses include urgent actions, emergency relocation, legal aid and accompaniment. Protection strategies must focus on the gender-based violence faced by women defenders, including when it occurs in families, organizations or communities. 100. The Special Rapporteur has previously highlighted seven principles that underpin good protection practices, namely, they should adopt a rights-based, inclusive approach; recognize that defenders are diverse and might not self-identify as human rights defenders; exhibit gender sensitivity, with an intersectional approach to assessing risk and designing protection initiatives; focus on the “holistic security” of defenders, in particular their physical safety, digital security and psychosocial well-being; be oriented to protecting groups, family members and loved ones, along with individual defenders; invite participation, not least by involving defenders in the choice of strategies and tactics; and prove flexible, so that the specific needs and circumstances of defenders are taken into account (see A/HRC/31/55). Priority 6: Recognize that security must be understood holistically and that it encompasses physical safety, digital security, environmental security, economic stability, the freedom to practice cultural and religious beliefs and the mental and emotional well-being of women defenders and their families and loved ones 101. The security of women defenders is multidimensional and should not be understood as physical safety alone. It is therefore critical for women defenders to be provided with multidimensional forms of support. In the face of online attacks and increased surveillance in particular, digital security has become increasingly important. Women defenders have also highlighted concerns about their economic security and their mental and emotional well-being. 17