A/HRC/27/21 61. The criminalization of all forms of gender-based and sexual violence, including rape in marriage and domestic violence, has been recognized as necessary to break the silence around and create a mandate to prevent and punish such violence. National laws should be harmonized to ensure consistency and clarity. Policy and contextual obstacles, such as requirements for medical certificates in rape cases, should similarly be reformed.70 62. Gender-sensitive training and capacity-building for security sector and law enforcement institutions to respond to gender-based and sexual violence is critical. In Rwanda, standard operating procedures for child, domestic and gender-based and sexual violence have been developed, along with a training curriculum. An important development has been the establishment of women’s police stations or specialist gender-based and sexual violence units in the police and military in Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste and Kosovo. The units are often staffed exclusively by female officers, or specially trained staff, and both directly support victims’ access to justice and contribute to raising awareness about gender-based and sexual violence in the community and the institutions. In Kosovo, the creation of a police gender desk helped bring human trafficking and forced prostitution into the open.71 In Rwanda, the Gender Desk of the military has conducted training on women’s rights and gender-based violence for almost 5,000 members of the armed forces, as well as civilians, with support from the United Nations.72 More efforts are needed to ensure that those units are adequately resourced, including with appropriate physical and communications infrastructure, such as private interview and medical examination spaces. Additional support is needed within the justice sector to enable effective prosecution of cases. 63. Notwithstanding the importance of justice and security sector reforms, institutional reforms must also focus on ending gender discrimination more broadly, including through constitutional guarantees of gender equality, repealing discriminatory legislation, and adopting laws and policies which advance women’s rights. For example, reforms that strengthen women’s rights in relation to marriage, divorce, land and inheritance can contribute to addressing the economic insecurity and dependence that leaves women vulnerable to gender-based and sexual violence. VIII. Conclusions and recommendations 64. There has been notable progress in addressing gender-based and sexual violence by transitional justice processes, for instance, by focusing on the effective participation of victims of such violence and their particular needs, and striving to have a transformative impact. Recent examples show that greater attention has been given to such violence and some good practices have developed. Nevertheless, more efforts are needed to ensure that transitional justice processes address the full spectrum of gender-based and sexual violence. The good practices highlighted in the present study should be emulated in other countries concerned, while taking into account the specific national context. The study also contains recommendations about how transitional justice measures can be improved to address gender-based and sexual violence. 65. States play an important role in shaping the legal framework of new institutions and undertaking reforms. Judges and prosecutors, as well as legislators 70 71 72 18 See for example A/67/792–S/2013/149, para. 35. UN-Women, Gender-Sensitive Police Reform, p. 5. UN-Women, Case Studies of Gender-Sensitive Police Reform in Rwanda and Timor-Leste (2009), pp. 2 and 11.