A/RES/65/228 Taking note of Human Rights Council resolution 11/2 of 17 June 2009 on accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women, 11 Recalling the inclusion of gender-related crimes and crimes of sexual violence in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 12 as well as the recognition by the ad hoc international criminal tribunals that rape can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide or torture, Expressing deep concern about the pervasiveness of violence against women in all its forms and manifestations worldwide, and reiterating the need to intensify efforts to address that challenge, Recognizing that effective and integrated criminal justice responses to violence against women require close cooperation among all key stakeholders, including law enforcement officials, prosecutors, judges, victim advocates, health professionals and forensic scientists, Stressing the importance of a comprehensive, well-coordinated, effective and adequately resourced response by the United Nations system to all forms of violence against women, Recalling the joint dialogue of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on addressing violence against women through legal reform, held in New York on 4 March 2009 within the framework of the fifty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women, Recalling also Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice decision 17/1 of 18 April 2008, 13 in which the Commission requested the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to convene an intergovernmental group of experts with equitable geographical representation, in cooperation with the institutes of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network, the Commission on the Status of Women and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, to review and update, as appropriate, the Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Strongly condemns all acts of violence against women, whether those 1. acts are perpetrated by the State, by private persons or by non-State actors, and calls for the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence in the family, within the general community and where perpetrated or condoned by the State; Stresses that “violence against women” means any act of gender-based 2. violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life; Takes note with appreciation of the work done at the meeting of the 3. intergovernmental expert group to review and update the Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held in Bangkok from 23 to 25 March 2009; 14 _______________ 11 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/64/53), chap. III, sect. A. 12 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2187, No. 38544. 13 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2008, Supplement No. 10 (E/2008/30), chap. I, sect. D. 14 See E/CN.15/2010/2. 3