A/HRC/41/33/Add.2 Tribunal has 3 women judges out of 15. The Supreme Court has 10–25 per cent women in its various chambers. 21. During the visit, it was widely acknowledged that women faced social and cultural barriers preventing them from occupying the most senior-level positions in the political life of the country. In this respect, the initiatives taken by NGOs aimed at encouraging women to be interested and equipped as candidates are welcome, and they need to be complemented by further legal and policy measures by the Government. The 2015 proposal introducing an alternating zipper system for electoral lists put forward in order to enhance the chance of women being elected has been met with strong resistance and is currently stalled. Views were expressed during the visit, including by the Government Plenipotentiary for Civil Society and Equal Treatment, that adoption of such measures would be anti-constitutional. 22. The Working Group reiterates that special measures, including quotas for women, as recommended in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, are necessary to achieve equality between men and women in political and public life, in order to contend with the underlying structural disadvantaging of women. The Working Group has found that the most significant increase in the number of women in national parliaments over the years had been witnessed in countries where special measures, such as gender quotas, had been effectively implemented (see A/HRC/23/50). B. Women human rights defenders 23. Women’s rights organizations have been a key part of the vibrant civil society in Poland and have an essential role to play in the country’s effort to eliminate discrimination against women and ensure the empowerment of women. They have cooperated with State authorities and assumed essential public functions in a range of areas, conducting sexuality education and providing support to victims/survivors of gender-based violence. 24. The Working Group is concerned that their capacity to operate is being undermined, with cuts in State funding and an increasingly intimidating atmosphere. The simultaneous search of premises and seizure of computer hard drives containing sensitive information of four women’s rights organizations (and some others), in connection with proceedings regarding the abuse of authority by a public officer, a day after the “black protests” in October 2017 in which the leaders of the organizations had actively participated, has left a lingering effect of fear and uncertainty. 25. The Working Group learned of the trend in recent years of excluding women’s rights groups from State funding, while preference seems to be given to organizations affiliated with the Church, often with a conservative agenda. Although the selection is through an open competition, as submitted by the Government, numerous interlocutors pointed out that feminist organizations today have little chance of receiving State funding. Indeed, several well-established NGOs with a proven record in providing services for women victims/survivors of domestic violence and training on gender equality in schools have experienced funding cuts since 2016. Some of them received the explanation that providing support only to women violated the gender equality principle, as it discriminated against men. This demonstrates a profound lack of understanding of the concept of substantive gender equality, which requires the adoption of targeted measures to challenge women’s disadvantage. 26. The Working Group further echoes the concerns expressed by civil society organizations, the Commissioner for Human Rights and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe regarding the recent establishment of the National Freedom Institute – Centre for the Development of Civil Society as the sole institution with the power to distribute public funds among non-governmental organizations. The centralization of government funds for public organizations in the control of a single entity could have a negative impact on the functioning of civil society. 6