Bray highlighted the lack of women’s voices in the design and implementation of transitional justice accountability mechanisms and processes. Bray raised concerns that women are rarely included in either formal or informal peace processes. Bray then turned to challenges related to access to justice. She noted that, in many rural contexts, there is a lack of access to justice mechanisms. She highlighted the need to reconcile legal systems with traditional justice mechanisms. She also noted that sexual and gender-based violence must continue to be addressed after conflict, as genuine peace cannot exist if patriarchy goes unaddressed. Bray then detailed some challenges related to prosecuting sexual and gender-based crimes in many contexts. These include: Thereafter, Bray focused on challenges related to inadequate reporting, documentation, and preservation, and the importance of creating enabling environments for reporting. She highlighted the importance of improving survivors’ ability to report sexual and gender-based violence crimes as this can assist access to essential medical and psychosocial care and support. Addressing the challenges that arise from the social stigma and ostracism, the threat of honour killings, and rampant impunity need to be prioritised, as these leave women and men at ongoing risk of attacks and with little hope of ever achieving justice. • the absence of specialised investigative and For Bray, documentation serves three key purposes. First, it contributes to the creation of a historical record. Second, it is important for purposes of advocacy and awareness. Third, documentation can be used in criminal justice processes. In this regard, Bray emphasised that those involved in documentation processes should be clear about the purpose and objectives of documenting. Bray argued that there is a gap exists in storing and protecting evidence and documents during conflict, and that better strategies need to be developed to address this gap while improving the capacity and expertise of those doing the work. • the lack of capacity among police, health and legal professionals, and the judiciary; • the lack or inadequacy of legislation that criminalises sexual and gender-based crimes; prosecuting units and/or specialised courts to address sexual and gender-based crimes, which often leads to the non-prioritisation of these cases; and • corruption and mismanagement in justice sectors, which results in widespread distrust in statutory institutions, especially as it relates to their capacity for justice delivery. Finally, Bray highlighted the lack of women’s voices in the design and implementation of transitional justice accountability mechanisms and processes. Bray raised concerns that women are rarely included in either formal or informal peace processes. They are often underrepresented, whether as civil society participants, representatives of warring factions, or mediators of peace negotiations. The norm has been to include women in criminal justice processes after they have begun. For Bray, women should be included from the start, and civil society should reflect on whether it is doing enough to facilitate this process. 12\ Accountability for conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence: Successes, challenges, narratives, and omissions

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