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IV. Conclusion and Recommendations
76. The present report articulates the challenge of 20 years of normativity, without
legality, in addressing violence against women, largely through the use of soft law
approaches. Despite the existence of interpretative guidelines and monitoring by
human rights treaty bodies and the universal periodic review, the limitations of large
and varied monitoring mandates, coupled with time constraints when examining State
party reports, result in insufficient interrogation concerning the information relating
to violence against women, its causes and consequences, and insufficient assessment of
responses. Furthermore, the lack of specific legally enforceable standards further
impacts attempts to ensure appropriate responses and also accountability for acts of
violence against women, which is acknowledged as a widespread and systematic
human rights violation.
77. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Human Rights Council
undertake an inquiry into the normative gap, in a quest to further strengthen efforts
to eliminate violence against women.
78. As regards the other challenges raised in the present report, the Special
Rapporteur recommends that the Secretary-General initiate a study on the impact of
such challenges in the quest to eliminate violence against women.