A/HRC/17/23 young men who participated in the programme for two years were 33 per cent less likely to commit acts of physical and sexual violence against their intimate partners. 50. Respondents highlighted the existence of education trainings for law enforcement and other State officials on issues related to violence against women and gender equality, including specific trainings for the police (in Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi and Spain, among others), State border officials (in Latvia and Switzerland, for instance), personnel from migration offices and consulates (in Spain and Switzerland), personnel in detention facilities (in Thailand), and military and other civil personnel sent on peace missions (in Serbia and Switzerland, among others). 51. The Women Prisoners Welfare Society reported on a gender and juvenile sensitization programme carried out in the province of Sindh, Pakistan, to train judiciary, police and prison officials with the core purpose of raising awareness on the prejudices that perpetuate injustices faced by women. The Society insisted on the audience-driven selection of trainers, who were well-respected figures of authority and expertise, such as judges and professors. Some respondents, including Cambodia, Georgia, Latvia, Serbia and the Malawi Human Rights Commission, reported specific trainings for judges and prosecutors as good practice. 52. Many respondents considered the sensitization training of service providers, in particular health-service providers and social workers, on issues relating to violence against women to be essential for preventing re-victimization when women seek help and treatment. States where such trainings are taking place include Belgium, Latvia, Mauritania (focus on female genital mutilations/cutting), Serbia, Tajikistan and Thailand. Such trainings allow health and social professionals to improve the detection of cases of violence and intervene adequately, improve understanding of violence against women, its causes and consequences, and improve the collection of evidence for legal and investigative purposes; they also create networks of experts who can in turn train other professionals. 53. Finally, several respondents stressed the importance of working with and training religious leaders on issues relating to violence against women. In Mauritania, imams were educated on the consequences of female genital mutilations; this culminated in ulemas (Islamic scholars) emitting a national fatwa prohibiting female genital mutilations in 2010. Suriname reported the organization of training for priests on domestic violence, and Turkey similar trainings for imams, while in 2009, UNFPA launched a two-year project for priests in Armenia, in cooperation with the Armenia Inter-Church Charitable Round Table Foundation of the World Council of Churches. The project developed a manual for priests and a brochure for parishioners on gender-based violence; capacity-building for clergy on the development of community plans; and cooperation with Christian education centres for delivering courses on gender-based violence prevention for school children and their parents. UNFPA reported that this project had greatly increased the trust and readiness of community members to approach priests to seek support regarding concerns relating to gender-based violence. 54. The Interfaith Center of New York carried out a project in 2010 where 25 religious leaders, diverse in gender and religion, were selected to attend a six-month training on domestic violence. The curriculum of the training was shaped through prior conversations with over 60 religious leaders. The objective was to educate the leaders on the impact of domestic violence on their community, how to recognize domestic violence, and how to negotiate legal and other resources. 4. Other projects, programmes and activities 55. Respondents referred to specific projects, activities and other programmes which develop and/or use a variety of tools to contribute to the prevention and elimination of 14