A/HRC/23/50 unequal power relations, demanding accountability, defending rights and achievements, and advocating for systemic and cultural change in societies, institutions and States. Women’s autonomous civil society organizations are crucial to women’s participation in public and political life. 47. Women’s rights advocates engage actively in different normative regimes, including religious communities and indigenous or customary groups. They do so, among others, by initiating hermeneutic projects within their respective religions. In their cultural communities, women express their opinions on politics also through the arts, including writings, music and plays, and their works have been attacked, criminalized and condemned by State and non-State actors. In certain contexts, economically independent women playing leadership roles are stigmatized and attacked as witches.24 Lesbian, bisexual and transgender women who defend their human rights are vulnerable to attacks on their civil rights and personhood25 where there is a climate of intolerance arising from their perceived challenge to established norms of gender identity, gender roles and sexuality.26 48. The new space and opportunities created by revolutionary developments in ICTs have enabled women to initiate or enhance their participation in political and public life. Women who are confined in private homes have used ICTs as a means to break out of their isolation and take part in collective action. Women who live under threat of attack because of their sexual orientation have found safety in the anonymity of the Internet, which allows them to freely speak out, establish virtual communities and participate in public debates. During moments of political unrest, women have utilized SMS, micro-blogging and social networking to provide “bodyguard” protection to each other on the ground.27 49. In the negotiation of political settlements during political transitions or in law reform, the inclusion of women’s civil society organizations and women leaders or spokespersons from sectoral or minority communities is crucial to ensure the equal benefit of reform to all citizens. As political transitions do not always lead to inclusive democracy, the empowerment of autonomous women’s movements is of equal priority to the process of state-building and the reform of political institutions. 4. Democratic deficit 50. The democratic deficit undermines women’s substantive participation in political and public life. Patronage politics, corruption, and undemocratic local government reduce women’s effectiveness in the political arena, as they prevent transparency and accountability in decision-making and in the distribution of resources. Gender discriminatory policies and regulations have been applied by autonomous local governments even when national or federal laws mandate gender equality. Empowering women’s participation in political and public life from the community level up helps build a culture of accountability, as it broadens the constituency for democratic decision-making, and is crucial to the effective application of good governance at all levels. 51. The delegation of political or public power to religious institutions or indigenous communities that are exempt from the requirement to include women in their leadership and decision-making bodies cancels women’s right to participate in significant aspects of 24 25 26 27 12 See Partners for Law in Development, Targeting of Women as Witches: Trends, Prevalence and the Law in Northern, Western, Eastern and Northeastern Regions of India (2013). See A/HRC/19/41. Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition, Global Report on the Situation of Women Human Rights Defenders (2012), p. 89. Association for Progressive Communications (APC) submission to the Working Group, January 2012, second page.