specifically outlaw the worst forms of discriminatory practice, whether direct, such as racial profiling, unequal sentences etc. or indirect. Similarly the law must provide clear and specific models for accountability where violations occur. Gender Dimensions The legal framework must also be able to take account of hidden or structural gender biases which intersect with questions of race. The Commission has had a long familiarity with this dimension, such as Afrodescendant women defenders in Honduras or in the armed conflict in Columbia, or indigenous women leaders, all of whom are targeted and our jurisprudence have emphasized this structural defect. More recent examples demonstrate how deeply race and gender prejudices can run, when the Commission heard recently of Afrodescendant women who, although victims of trafficking are prosecuted before the justice system as prostitutes. The US has recently been introducing laws in several states to prohibit this law enforcement response. Juveniles Race is an important variable in the injustices and excesses that we see in juvenile justice. For example, because of the phenomenon of gangs and maras, there is a trend to increase penalties for youth; lower the age of criminal responsibility (Brazil); and institute draconian Gang Laws, all of which disproportionately penalize minorities in the current context. The result is an increasing tendency to criminalise youth belonging to minority groups, particularly males, subjecting them to incarceration and harsh penalties, emphasizing the punitive instead