A/HRC/19/53 A. Awareness-raising and public education 55. Awareness-raising and public human rights education are critical to the advancement of women‘s de facto enjoyment of the right to adequate housing, and must take place at multiple levels. Participants in the e-consultation from different countries and regions emphasized this point repeatedly, noting how ―there is clearly a need for rights education at all levels of society so that access to adequate housing is understood and accepted as a basic human right‖ and how ―we need information campaigns, not only among women but also among those in power too. … training policymakers, police officers, judiciary on women‘s land and housing rights is also something gravely lacking …‖. 56. With these gaps in mind, awareness-raising programmes and campaigns aimed at the general public ought to be launched, so as to challenge discriminatory attitudes which may be widely shared. Such programmes and campaigns should actively promote women‘s equality in all matters related to housing and land and combat these discriminatory attitudes within the broader society, which should be addressed through media campaigns, public education and outreach, and discussion of these issues within public forums. 57. Awareness should also be raised about women‘s right to adequate housing amongst key audiences, including traditional, religious and customary leaders; law-makers; lawyers, legal advocates, and members of the judiciary; law enforcement authorities; housing authorities and administrative personnel; gender ministries; and those engaged in the development and/or implementation of land policy and/or land reform. Each of these groups should be made fully aware of the norms protecting women‘s right to adequate housing at the domestic level, as well as those norms in international law. 58. Women must also be made aware of their right to adequate housing, both as it is recognized under domestic legislation as well as under the international human rights framework. This right should be actively promoted so as to ensure that women know what it entails in all aspects. However, it is also important to go beyond ―rights awareness‖ so that women are actually able to know and understand what services are available locally to assist them in claiming their rights and holding actors accountable for violations of these rights. With the foundation of rights awareness, women must have a seat at the table of decision-making, so that they are able to effectively and meaningfully able to participate in all aspects related to the formulation, design and implementation of housing law, policy and programming. B. Ensuring adequate legal enforcement and legal aid 59. In order to ensure proper enforcement and implementation, it is also important for the legal system to be accessible to women and itself gender-sensitive, and that it is specifically enabled to protect women‘s right to adequate housing. In this regard, it is vital for women to have access to affordable or free legal aid which can assist them in seeking justice and enforcing their right to a remedy. Women must also be able, should they so choose, to file legal complaints against the State as well as private and third-party actors for gender-discrimination in housing and other violations of women‘s right to adequate housing, and to have those complaints decided by a fair and impartial tribunal. 60. Adequate legal enforcement also requires that all human rights violations, such as forced evictions, disinheritance, violence against women carried out within the context of eviction be vigorously investigated, prosecuted and punished. Police units operating at the local level should be adequately supported to assist women with issues stemming from violations or potential violations of their right to adequate housing, such as property 17