gender balance throughout the court. Human rights bodies and mechanisms, including the Commission on Human Rights, also needed to develop greater expertise on women’s human rights issues. The Commission’s catalytic role in that regard could facilitate such efforts, and women’s non-governmental organizations could increase their visibility at and contributions to such mainstream forums in order to shape their agendas. An optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, with broad standing for individuals and groups, was seen by many representatives as an essential step in strengthening the Convention. 21. Several speakers noted that a gender perspective needed to be mainstreamed into all human rights activities and machineries at the national and international levels. More and better data collection, more systematic use of data, and more research on women’s human rights issues were essential. Women’s human rights needed to be an integral part of the development of economic, trade and fiscal policies. It was stated that economic indicators providing benchmarks of women’s and men’s economic realities, which were often overlooked, should be developed. 22. As a matter of principle, a call for action was made to address violations of women’s and girls’ human rights in particular countries, including Afghanistan. Concern was expressed about the situation of women and children in Algeria and Palestine and for Palestinian women, who remained refugees and were unable to return to their homeland. The human rights impact of the embargo on women in Iraq was also mentioned. C. Violence against women: Moderator’s summary 23. At the 8th meeting, on 5 March 1998, the Commission held a panel discussion on violence against women, one of the critical areas of concern in the Platform for Action. Presentations were made by the panellists: Barbara Prammer (Austria), Federal Minister for Women’s Affairs and Consumer Protection; Bonnie Campbell (United States of America), Head of Violence against Women, Office of the Justice Department; Maria Lisbeth Guevara (Venezuela), Coordinadora de la Comisión de Legislación, Consejo Nacional de la Mujer; and Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka), Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on violence against women. 24. Participants in the panel discussion and the dialogue recalled that the Beijing Platform for Action had identified violence against women as a priority concern of the international community and had defined it, in line with the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (General Assembly resolution 48/104), as an act of gender-based violence occurring in public or private life. The Platform for Action emphasized the need to take integrated measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women and to study the causes and consequences of violence and the effectiveness of preventive measures. 25. Participants emphasized that violence and fear of violence in public and private life remained one of the main concerns of women worldwide. Violence continued to be an obstacle to the achievement of equality, development and peace, since it had a direct impact on women’s economic, social and political participation. Thus, violence against women in all its forms constituted a flagrant violation of women’s human rights, which could only be tackled through a multidisciplinary and coordinated approach. -68-