A/71/398 counterarguments should be taken into account. Prime among them is that the real challenge in dealing with the issue of violence against women does not lie in legal inadequacies but rather in implementation. Another argument against a global treaty on violence against women is that some regions, including the Americas, Africa and Europe, could rightfully claim that there is no normative gap. In this regard, a campaign to develop, ratify and implement an additional treaty mechanism would divert efforts and resources that would be better spent on strengthening the existing regional systems of protection. Such an objection can be countered, however, by the fact that Asia and Oceania do not have the benefit of regional protection, yet very grave manifestations of violence against women occur in the Arab, Asia and Oceania regions in general. The Special Rapporteur considers that the adequacy of the legal framework on violence against women is highly nuanced, but that a global treaty would certainly neither impede nor nullify progress in the elimination of violence against women and that, were careful formulation and strategy employed, it could result in gains for the increased protection of women. She also considers that, if a global treaty on violence against women prescribed clear and legally binding enforcement mechanisms at both the international and national levels, it could create some useful harmony to address the fragmentation of policies and legislation to address gender-based violence. F. Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice 22. The Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice believes that it is neither necessary nor feasible at the present time to invest energy and resources in the development of a new stand -alone convention on violence against women. It would instead be advisable to invest the limited resources available in measures to strengthen existing mechanisms. The Working Group notes that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women addresses the issue of violence against women systematically in all its constructive dialogues with State parties, which are subsequently reflected in its concluding observations. In addition, general recommendation No. 19 of the Committee has provided effective international substantive and normative guidance on the issue. Updating it would present a valuable opportunity to strengthen that guidance. The Working Group is of the view that transforming the recommendation into a legally binding protocol could be, at some point and resources p ermitting, a welcome development. G. Conclusion 23. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences believes that the views of and input from the international and regional mechanisms on the adequacy of the international framework on violence against women have provided the international community with additional information and assessments on the basis of experience gained by these mechanisms in monitoring the implementation of global and regional instruments on violenc e against women. 16-16456 9/24