A/HRC/7/6 page 9 • Process indicators refer to policy instruments, programmes and specific interventions; actions taken by States and individuals to protect and fulfil rights • Outcome indicators, directly or by proxy measures, document the realization of rights. These are often the slowest to move, due to the interdependence of human rights 29. In the present report, the measurement of violence against women is an outcome indicator, while structural (institutional) and process indicators cover State responses. 3. Why indicators? 30. Establishing violence against women indicators is a human rights obligation, linked to both human rights jurisprudence and the due diligence principle,12 which calls upon States, among other things, to ensure that interventions designed to combat violence are based on accurate empirical data. This necessitates not just the compilation of accurate information, but also of indicators that make the data accessible for non-specialist decision makers and allow for public scrutiny of interventions. 31. States responding to my questionnaire welcomed the indicators project, expressing strong support for the development of transnational measurements, stating the importance of setting benchmarks; the collection, collation and publication of data; and most importantly, assessing progress by and between States. States called for proposals to address all forms of violence against women, including violence against girls, and that the indicators be methodologically and conceptually sound, meaningful, achievable and more than the lowest common denominator. The question of inconsistent definitions was frequently mentioned, as was the question of capacity and transparent technical guidance. A number invoked culture and tradition as barriers to undertaking research and/or compiling other kinds of data. 32. The adoption by States, at intergovernmental forums, of a common understanding of violence against women and a set of indicators will therefore stimulate and enhance initiatives to standardize data at the national and international levels, inform the general public and mobilize action around the problem. Standards and challenges 33. To be an indicator, something has to be “measurable” in an accurate and relatively accessible way. While institutional indicators are not difficult in this sense, process and outcome ones are more complex. Not only is it possible to create a yes/no measure of “women’s empowerment” or “sense of safety”, but there are many potential ways of doing so. 12 See my report on the due diligence standard as a tool for the elimination of violence against women (E/CN.4/2006/61).