State responsibility for eliminating violence against women 2013, para. 58
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Employees have often not undergone any training on violence nor on risk-assessment which would enable them to identify situations of risk in order to decide on suitable preventative measures to protect the victims of violence, if necessary. The focus on preserving the family unity results in employees advising the victims to return home to perpetrators, or warning them that they will be separated from their children should they go to a shelter. The priority given by such services to family reunification is worrying, as the mediation or reconciliation processes followed rarely acknowledge or have any methodology to address the power imbalances which exist between victims and abusers.
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Non-negotiated soft law
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Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences