they should serve to lead the transformation to higherlevel representation and not perpetuate low levels of representation. In addition, the need for transparency and gender-balanced nomination boards for candidate selection was noted as one of the critical aspects in rendering the political sphere more open to women. Combating Violence against Women 28 Democratization Violence against women, which can take the form of physical, sexual or psychological abuse, remains widespread and constitutes a major impediment to achieving gender equality. This abuse deprives women of their right to security and dignity and infringes on their enjoyment of other basic rights in the political, social and economic fields. Several participating States in the OSCE region have taken an important step by adopting comprehensive legal instruments for combating various forms of violence against women and are successfully implementing other approaches to prevent violence and protect victims. Many other participating States are contemplating possible legal and policy reforms to address existing gaps in law and policies. The Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM) on Gender Equality, which was held in November and focused on combating violence against women, served to take stock of the progress and remaining challenges in promoting gender equality and the implementation of relevant measures to prevent and combat violence against women. The meeting highlighted approaches and measures that have proven most successful with regard to three priority areas: prevention, protection and prosecution. Most significantly, the meeting underscored the immediate obligation of all participating States to take necessary legal and policy steps to provide both immediate and long-term protection to women who have been victims of this violence and to combat the culture of impunity for perpetrators by strengthening law enforcement authorities’ capacity to intervene and put an end to all forms of violence against women. trafficking and terrorism. Second, national authorities need data on the actual number of people crossing their borders in order to provide necessary services, such as education and health care, and for the provision of necessary documents. Handled properly, these challenges can be met, and increased migrant flows can bring benefits both to countries of origin and destination. In cases where there is a shortage of domestic labour, for example, the workers needed to keep an economy growing can be found abroad. And in cases where people move abroad for work, remittances are often an important source of income for their families and the wider community, and even a significant factor in the national economy. Numerous OSCE commitments call on the participating States to facilitate the movement of people and to protect the human rights of all migrants. In some cases, restrictions on freedom of movement result from a lack of awareness of the good practices that have been developed through the experience of other participating States. Thus, ODIHR’s role is to gather and share the knowledge needed to ensure that migrants’ rights are protected. Population Registration Most, but not all, OSCE participating States keep a register of the place of residence and vital life events of the people residing on their territory. Where such a system is part of the administrative tradition and when it functions properly, it can facilitate freedom of movement and free choice of place of residence, and can also be used as a source of data for the compilation of voter lists. In some participating States, however, remnants of pre-transition systems of population registration and other technical defects pose obstacles to freedom of movement and free choice of place of residence, as well as limiting the right to vote. Migration and Freedom of Movement Guidelines on Population Registration With improvements in transportation and communications technologies, modern populations are now more mobile than at any previous point in history. This fact poses a number of challenges, but it can also bring benefits. First, the increased flow of migrants requires increased vigilance on the part of law enforcement authorities regarding cross-border crime, including In recent years, ODIHR has been called upon by participating States to provide much-needed assistance in reforming population-registration systems to ensure that they respect freedom of movement and comply with international human rights standards. In light of this, ODIHR began work in 2008 on compiling the publication Guidelines on Population Registration, which was ODIHR Annual Report 2009