A/HRC/40/45 54. On 29 May, UNAMA/OHCHR released its report titled Injustice and Impunity: Mediation of Criminal Offences of Violence against Women. On 17 July, it convened a national conference gathering 40 high-level representatives of Government, civil society, the international community and United Nations partners, aimed at fostering joint action for the implementation of the recommendations in the report. Between June and November, UNAMA/OHCHR organized some 23 advocacy meetings with State and non-State partners on the implementation of the recommendations. In October, the Office of the Attorney General established a directorate on alternatives to imprisonment tasked with developing a policy on non-custodial sentencing options in line with the 2017 Penal Code. UNAMA/OHCHR advocated that such a policy should include alternatives to imprisonment for less serious crimes of violence against women. 55. In June, the Government commenced the implementation of the 2017 Law on Elimination of Harassment against Women and Children with the establishment of a high commission to oversee the Government’s implementation efforts. Harassment of women and children is a crime under the Penal Code and the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women, but underreporting of cases remains a challenge in identifying key trends and patterns. With the Penal Code criminalizing forced gynaecological testing of females, in March, civil society organizations established a working group on protection and support for women against forced gynaecological testing to coordinate strategic advocacy aimed at the eradication of the practice. The Ministry of Interior Affairs subsequently issued a countrywide verbal directive in April prohibiting law enforcement entities from forcing female detainees to undergo such tests. 56. On 29 July, the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disability and the United Nations Children’s Fund released their report Child Marriage in Afghanistan: Changing the Narrative. The report provided a contextualized analysis of the knowledge, attitudes and practices of communities in five provinces. In August, UNAMA/OHCHR began advocacy with provincial and district partners on the importance of ending the practice, which is a crime under the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women, and because of the long-term harm it causes to young girls. Of concern, between August and November, in drought- and poverty-affected areas, particularly Herat and Badghis provinces, internally displaced families sold 161 of their children, due to extreme circumstances. C. Women, peace and security 57. In March, the High Peace Council Joint Secretariat increased the number of women in provincial peace councils from two to three in each of the 34 provinces. Of the 114 women in peace councils, 102 are represented at the provincial peace councils and 12 in the High Peace Council. Although this is commendable progress, women remain underrepresented in peace processes and local peace initiatives. 58. On 31 July, the Government launched its second progress report on the implementation of the Afghan national plan for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), covering the period from September 2016 to September 2017. In the report, the Government noted an increase in the number of women in national security sector institutions, including in the higher-level and command roles, from 1.3 per cent in 2015 to 2.5 per cent in 2016 for the national army and from 0.5 per cent in 2015 to 0.6 per cent in 2016 for the national police.7 59. Despite the low number of rural women registering for the 2018 parliamentary election, 35 per cent of the 8.5 million registered voters were women (an 8 per cent increase compared with the 2014 presidential election). Of the 2,565 candidates that contested the 249 parliamentary seats, 417 were women. There were 7,429 polling stations for women compared with 11,667 for men, and about 13,000 Afghan women served as election observers. 7 10 “2017 Status Report on the Afghanistan’s National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 (Women, Peace and Security)”, 2017, p. 13.