A/HRC/7/6 page 32 internationally comparable indicators on violence against women in the work of the United Nations. This project should be taken forward by a small expert working group with representatives from relevant United Nations agencies and mechanisms, academics and experts on violence against women from developed and developing countries. This group should create the technical manual and oversee pilots in resource-rich and poor contexts, in countries with longer and shorter histories of engagement with violence against women. The technical guidance should be revised following piloting. 117. A concurrent process should be building support for the management of the data systems at the national level, with the project the lead responsibility of national women’s machinery, in partnership with national statistical agencies/offices and relevant partners. It is anticipated that the calculation of national and international indicators should, where appropriate, be done by national statistical agencies/offices working with independent experts from the non-governmental organizations and academic communities. What is undoubtedly needed are partnerships for mutual benefit, combining the legitimacy and credibility of the national statistical agencies/offices in many (but not all) States with the understanding and creativity of researchers and NGOs who have specialized in the field of violence against women. One possibility would be standing committees, linking statisticians, violence researchers on violence against women, national women’s machineries and service providers with the task of ensuring indicator data are collated and that a rich research culture is encouraged and enabled. 118. In closing, attention needs to be drawn to the “paradox of violence against women”: as States do more - change laws, increase protection, provide resources for NGO support services - it appears that levels of violence increase. This is because the initial baseline for reporting was so low. Increased reporting to institutions and in surveys should not only be expected, but understood as an indicator of success in challenging tolerance and increasing women’s sense that they have a right to protection and redress.