A/HRC/35/29 Key lessons 91. The presence of a solid constitutional court and an effective judicial remedy that enables citizens to demand their constitutional rights without undue cost or burden creates an enabling legal environment for addressing women’s human rights violations. 92. Active participation of women rights holders and autonomous women’s organizations in the development, monitoring, assessment and implementation of judicial decisions and public policies is essential to ensuring responsivity and impact. (c) Together for justice protocol 93. In one State in the Western Europe and others group, indigenous women and girls continued to be the target of racially motivated sexual and gender-based violence that began with colonization, as affirmed in a 2015 inquiry report by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in which the Committee noted grave and systemic violations of indigenous women’s rights, exacerbated by entrenched discrimination that impeded access to justice. In a rural, predominantly indigenous region of the State, a series of high-profile cases, including the acquittal of federal police officers for sexual assault and the death of an indigenous man in police custody, had led to the mobilization of civil society organizations and public outcry, precipitating a government review of the police force in 2010. Local women’s organizations lobbied for inclusion in order to push for an improved response by the justice system to violence against women. 94. In that context, an indigenous women’s organization in a small community initiated a protocol with the local federal police force that mandated: ongoing engagement, including police training and capacity-building, to address the interrelated phenomena of violence directed towards indigenous women and lack of due diligence in investigating crimes; open dialogue sessions to promote cultural awareness; and community-police feedback and knowledge-sharing sessions, during which information on the justice system and community rights would be offered. 95. Project reviews and research have showed a profound impact on police-community relations, with open dialogue and collaboration promoting enhanced understanding and cooperation on issues of concern. The civil society organization has reported attitudinal and behavioural shifts that have exceeded their expectations. The police have developed a better understanding of the physical security issues that women in the community face, and have helped to increase access to relevant domestic violence and sexual assault resources, including shelters. 96. The protocol is reviewed and adjusted annually by both parties to take into account challenges and shifting needs, ensuring ongoing responsivity to community concerns. Successes of the project have been shared with other women’s organizations, and a similar protocol has been subsequently adopted with the federal police force in the largest city in the region. Discussions are under way in other indigenous communities to press for similar protocols. 97. The bottom-up approach of the practice, which was developed at the impetus of women’s organizations — while demonstrative of the innovative means used by the community to address the structural reality of the situation of violence and discrimination in which they live — has raised the question as to why grave and well-documented human rights violations have not been addressed on a systematic or institutional level within the federal police and Government. Political will to support, expand and institutionalize this good practice is required for its replication and sustainability. In all post- and ongoing colonial contexts, the disproportionate and intersectional discrimination faced by indigenous women, often aided and abetted by legal systems, must be systematically addressed by State duty holders. Key lessons 98. Legal frameworks and partnership protocols that formalize the collaboration and participation of citizen or civil society organizations or autonomous women’s rights organizations in developing, monitoring and implementing the law, can help to address 17