A/HRC/35/29 historical and legal realities and in relation to the acts of a diversity of duty and rights holders alike. As such, the living-law approach is inherently grounded in particular contexts and moments in time. This methodology thus requires examining a multitude of ways and means States have used to achieve successful outcomes in terms of fulfilling their obligations regarding women’s human rights, along with a robust consideration of processes and actors in play, including those that overcome and perpetuate barriers to substantive achievement. This exploration process has not focused on identifying or ranking “best practices”, but rather has examined the ways and means through which States can promote substantive equality, recognizing that progress is not always linear and that de facto change requires multiple strategies; effective responses to lessons learned from mistakes made; context-specific interventions; and sustained time and resources. International human rights framework and good practices 27. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which has been ratified almost universally and is considered by many jurists to be part of customary international law, determines that States have the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil women’s right to non-discrimination and to the enjoyment of equality in all fields. Those rights are also enshrined in other international and regional human rights conventions. The scope of the Convention includes and goes beyond de jure discrimination, requiring nothing less than substantive equality, or women’s full de facto enjoyment of their rights. National legal frameworks must be developed, adopted and implemented from a holistic rights-based approach that addresses the fullness of State obligation, including: (a) respecting rights by repealing and eliminating laws or any other State action that directly or indirectly discriminate against women; (b) protecting rights by acting with due diligence to ensure that neither State or non-State actors violate women’s rights and ensuring redress for violations; and (c) fulfilling rights by ensuring that laws and attendant policies contain comprehensive measures to guarantee their meaningful implementation and impact on women’s empowerment. The scope of State obligation under the Convention requires active measures to combat patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes that shape an environment in which discrimination against women is tolerated and normalized, both in the law and in the application of the law. The Convention demands multi-pronged strategies to promote social change, not only isolated actions to improve women’s access to existing systems. States are obliged to establish a strong legal infrastructure to support women’s de jure and de facto equality as an important step in the cultivation of good practices. C. Selected case studies 28. The case studies offer both practical and conceptual insights into good practices and have the potential to serve as road maps. Some are promising practices that have not fully come into fruition or that have been derailed but are nevertheless illustrative and important for understanding what is required to develop and sustain good practices in the elimination of discrimination. Although contexts vary, core principles that create ameliorating environments for women’s human rights are transferable, even when a practice is not directly replicable. 29. The cases are organized under the themes of the Working Group’s reports to date, with a fifth section highlighting a salient theme that emerged from the research process: the role of autonomous women’s organizing. Owing to space limitations, each case is offered in summary format; more detailed renderings are included in an appendix to the report available on the Group’s website. 1. Political and public life 30. The right to participate in all areas of political and public life is an essential prerequisite for the fulfilment of many other rights. Despite progress in many States, women’s representation in elected office — especially at the senior level, the judiciary, civil service or in entities such as unions, national human rights institutions or international agencies, including the United Nations — falls short of the good practice standard of equal representation. 7