A/HRC/30/70 18. Ms. Monárrez Fragoso pointed out that 17 countries in Latin America had the specific crime of femicide on their statute books. She stressed that, when addressing femicide, States should not only take into consideration gender, but also the causes and challenges more broadly. She said that femicide was linked to social class, the geopolitical position of a country, political, structural and hierarchical issues, the distribution of wealth, the security policies of States, and even organized crime. She urged States to allocate adequate budget and resources, to make publicly available gender disaggregated data on all forms of violence against women, including transgender women, to provide funding for women’s rights institutions and ensure their independence, to strengthen men and youth groups working for gender equality, and to end impunity for violence against women. She also asked for particular attention to be paid to women who were particularly vulnerable, such as women in the prison system or who had been recently released. 19. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 23/25, which called for an update on the outcome of the open-ended intergovernmental expert group meeting on gender-related killing of women and girls, Mr. Pfeiffer presented the outcome of that meeting, which had taken place from 11 to 13 November, in Bangkok. He said that States had discussed promising practices and made practical recommendations on the prevention and prosecution of and punishment for gender-related killing. He said that they had acknowledged that the killing of women and girls often represented the final event in a continuum of domestic and other forms of violence, which continued as a result of high levels of impunity and a lack of accountability. 20. He said that recommendations included the need for more systematic and disaggregated data collection and analysis and cooperation with civil society organizations, community and religious leaders, women’s organizations, human rights defenders and the private sector. He said that experts at the meeting had stressed the importance of laws, policies, procedures and practices to prevent and address not only the killings, but violence against women and girls, and to utilize existing international standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice. 21. He said that the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice had adopted a follow-up resolution that called for further action by Member States and the United Nations system to enhance their knowledge base on gender-related killings and to accelerate efforts towards preventing them. Mr. Pfeiffer said that UNODC stood ready to partner with Member States and United Nations entities to intensify action against domestic violence and other forms of violence. C. Interventions by representatives of States members of the Council, observer States and other observers 22. During the discussion, States agreed that the elimination of violence against women was a priority. Concern was expressed that violence against women continued to be one of the most pervasive human rights violations and that domestic violence was the most prevalent. A number of speakers noted that domestic violence included sexual violence such as marital rape, which should not be treated as a private matter but rather as a criminal act. It was noted that domestic violence continued to be shrouded in a culture of silence that placed the shame on the victim rather than on the perpetrator, where it belonged. It was also pointed out that often, culture, tradition and religion were used to justify violence against women and domestic violence. 23. It was highlighted that violence against women occurred both during armed conflict and peace, that it increased in disaster settings and was not limited to one culture, region or a particular group of women within a society. It was usually underpinned by gender 6