Democratization Jasminka Džumhur, the Human Rights Ombudsperson of Bosnia and Herzegovina, speaks to journalists ahead of an expert workshop on national human rights institutions and the role they can play in promoting gender equality, Sarajevo, 4 December 2012. (OSCE/Vedran Pribilovic´) Project, publishing a Handbook for National Human Rights Institutions on W ­ omen’s Rights and Gender Equality. The Handbook, recog- nized as the first publication in the OSCE region to specifically focus on NHRI’s gender equality work, provides an overview of trends, examples of good practice and recommendations to guide NHRIs in strengthening their institutional capacity and practical work on women’s rights and gender equality. A draft of the Handbook was discussed with 25 NHRI experts 34 ODIHR Annual Report 2012 from Central Asia, the South Caucuses and Eastern Europe during a Regional Expert Workshop on National Human Rights Institutions and Gender Equality organized by the Office on 20 June in Almaty, in co-operation with the OSCE Centre in Astana and attended by June Zeitlin, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Gender Issues. Building upon the success of this event, ODIHR, in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, organized a second workshop, in Sarajevo on 4 December, which gathered 25 representatives of NHRIs and specialized equality bodies from South-Eastern Europe and the OSCE Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation. These events provided a platform for NHRI experts to share good practices, challenges and lessons learned in effectively protecting and promoting women’s rights and gender equality. ODIHR also presented the Handbook during the 11th International Conference of NHRIs, titled “Human Rights of Women and Girls: Promoting Gender Equality: The Role of NHRIs,” on 6 November in Amman. Combating Violence against Women Violence against women and girls is a persistent problem across the OSCE region. Exacerbated by its lack of visibility and institutionalized inequalities and stereotyping, it is often viewed as a private or domestic affair rather than a human rights violation. Yet violence against women has far-reaching implications for women’s inclusion in society and should be recognized as a manifestation of control over women, limiting decision-making in all spheres. For ODIHR, preventing and combating violence against women is, therefore, a precondition