Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-Publications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG

146 PRACTITIONERS GUIDE No. 12
dissolutions, child custody decisions and other family law
proceedings for cases involving domestic violence or child
abuse adequately safeguard victims and the best interests of
children”. 380
It is necessary to understand why women do not wish to come
forward with complaints which means that women’s views
about obstacles to justice need to be sought. This could be
done through qualitative surveys. For example, the European
Union Fundamental Rights Agency undertook a survey on
gender-based violence and discovered that it was necessary to
reform police cultures, as women tend not to report violence
because they do not think the police will believe their accounts
of violence or conduct effective investigations and prosecutions.
In domestic violence cases, it was noted that arrests of
perpetrators and the obtaining of civil protection orders, which
rely on the police and justice systems, should be supplemented
by specialist victim support services. 381
Initiatives to address violence against women, in all its forms,
are necessarily complex, involving parliamentarians, judges,
police, lawyers and medical professionals. In accordance with
best practice, government officials should also facilitate the
engagement of women’s human rights defenders and civil
society organizations in designing laws and practices, and
supervising and reporting on the measures implemented. 382
Article 7 of the Istanbul Convention requires that States
undertake comprehensive and coordinated policies that “place
the rights of the victim at the centre of all measures and are
implemented by way of effective co-operation among all
relevant agencies, institutions and organisations”. Article 10 of
380
Updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the
Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention
and Criminal Justice, adopted by the General Assembly under its
resolution 65/228 (2010), paragraph 14(d).
381
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, “Violence against
women: an EU-wide survey. Main results” (Luxembourg: Publications
Office of the European Union, 2014), page 68.
382
Istanbul Convention, above note 378, Article 9.