A/HRC/17/23 12. Criminal legislation was specifically mentioned by respondents as a field where the inclusion of provisions on violence against women is deemed to have a preventive effect. In this context, several States, including Madagascar, Malaysia, Panama, Singapore and Suriname, underlined reforms undertaken to improve protection of women in their penal code, such as the inclusion of measures to combat human trafficking and sexual tourism, greater deterrence for sexual related offences, or the inclusion of marital rape as a crime. In Slovakia, the Police Act was amended in 2008 to allow police officers to ban alleged domestic violence offenders from the shared household. 13. According to the Division for the Advancement of Women (now part of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women)), early legislative responses to violence against women tended to focus solely on criminalization and thus did not attempt to address the root causes of violence against women. Over time, however, the importance of including preventive measures in legislation has been increasingly emphasized. The Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women, prepared by the Division, states that legislation should prioritize prevention of violence against women and include provisions on measures of awareness-raising activities regarding women’s human rights, gender equality and the right of women to be free from violence; use of educational curricula to modify discriminatory social and cultural patterns of behaviour; and sensitization of the media regarding violence against women.7 A comprehensive approach to legal reform on violence against women should include a revision of existing laws, adoption of specialized legislation, and development of policies and procedures to implement and evaluate the laws. B. Policy measures 1. Institutions 14. Many respondents noted that the establishment of State institutions focusing on policy development relating to gender equality and/or violence against women had yielded positive results. The institutions mentioned are of various kinds, with either a general or very specific function and purpose, of a temporary or more permanent nature, located in different State institutions (governmental, legislative, administrative, judiciary), and with varying degrees of decision-making power. Ensuring inter-institutional coordination and partnerships with other stakeholders, especially civil society and community-based groups, is often indicated as the main objective behind the establishment of institutions dedicated to women’s rights. 15. Examples of such national bodies include a gender observatory in Argentina, the National Inter-Agency Committee to Combat Gender-based Violence in Armenia, the national Technical Working Group on Gender, provincial gender focal points and gender mainstreaming action groups in Cambodia, the National Coordinator for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Violence against Women in Guatemala, the National Commission on Violence against Women in Indonesia, the National Women’s Institute in Mexico, the Myanmar National Committee for Women’s Affairs and the Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation, an observatory on gender-based violence and the National Women’s Institute in Panama, and the Government Delegation on Gender Violence and the State Observatory on Violence against Women in Spain. 16. In 2005, Turkey formed an inquiry commission to research the causes of acts of violence against children and women and “honour killings” and identify measures to 7 6 United Nations publication, Sales No. E.10.IV.2.