A/HRC/35/30/Add.3 I. Introduction 1. At the invitation of the Government, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Dubravka Šimonović, visited Argentina from 14 to 21 November 2016. 2. During her eight-day mission, the Special Rapporteur visited the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the Provinces of Buenos Aires, Tucumán and Corrientes. She met with the President and representatives of the National Women’s Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, representatives of the Ministries of Health, Education, Social Development and Security, the National Audit Office, the Office of the Under-Secretary for Social Development, the Office of the Prison System Ombudsman, the Office of the UnderSecretary for Relations with the Judiciary, the Office of the Under-Secretary for Prison Management, the Domestic Violence Office of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Public Prosecution Office of the Nation, the Secretariat of the National Council for Bioethics and Human Rights, the Public Defence Office of the Nation and the Public Defence Office of the City of Buenos Aires. She also met with the following: the Under-Secretary for Gender and Diversity and representatives of the provincial Public Defence Office in the Province of Buenos Aires; the Mayor of San Miguel de Tucumán, representatives of the Observatory on Violence against Women and the Working Group on Gender-based Violence in the Province of Tucumán; and the National Council for Women and representatives of 30 municipal departments for women in the Province of Corrientes. 3. The Special Rapporteur also met with representatives of the Office of the National Ombudsman and held consultations with over 100 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), representatives of academic institutions in Buenos Aires, Tucumán and Corrientes Provinces and United Nations officials. 4. The Special Rapporteur expresses her gratitude to the Government for its excellent cooperation and to the civil society organizations, academics and other stakeholders for their valuable input. She would like to thank in particular the women and girls who shared with her their personal stories, placing their trust and some of their hopes in her hands. She would also like to thank the United Nations country team, the Resident Coordinator — who personally supported the Men for Equality network — and the Human Rights Adviser for the assistance extended prior to and during the mission. II. General context 5. Argentina is a federal State with a complex structure and a division of competencies among the federal Government, 23 provinces and the autonomous city of Buenos Aires, which have their own constitutions, laws and executive, legislative and judicial authorities. The governance of certain areas relating to gender equality and violence against women, in particular health, education and large sectors of criminal law, are within the jurisdiction of the provinces and the autonomous city of Buenos Aires. The complex government structure and division of competencies result in particular challenges in implementing State obligations under international human rights instruments on women’s rights and violence against women, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará). 6. The federal structure results also in different levels of government being responsible for different aspects of women’s rights and in a large variety of protocols on the enjoyment of those rights and mechanisms for their implementation. As such, victims are faced with a real institutional maze when trying to seek protection and free themselves from situations of violence. 7. Virtually all stakeholders with whom the Special Rapporteur met referred to the strong prevalence of a “machismo” culture, which permeates the entire society and creates an environment of tolerance with regard to violence against women. Entrenched patriarchal attitudes and gender stereotypes coupled with a lack of uniform incorporation and 3