A/HRC/51/28/Add.1 indigenous affairs because they do not entail asking the indigenous people concerned about its culture, society and world view, in keeping with the right to self-determination. 71. Indigenous peoples’ right of effective access to justice comprises access to both the State legal system and their own systems of justice. Yet there is no clarity about how the two systems interact. The Special Rapporteur received reports of a failure to recognize indigenous law and a lack of mechanisms for collective redress. Some indigenous communities informed the Special Rapporteur that the State was unaware of the decisions of indigenous authorities and indigenous courts. He also received reports about the “imposition of the Western system” on indigenous peoples and governments by requesting that they meet culturally inappropriate administrative requirements that take no account of their oral tradition or justice systems. G. Indigenous women 72. Indigenous women play a crucial role in defending indigenous lands, territories and resources and in passing on their language, culture and scientific knowledge to the next generation. Indigenous women and youth reported an increase in attacks, intimidation and threats, which is detrimental to their social role of passing on indigenous scientific knowledge, reduces food sovereignty and hampers the development of their entrepreneurial skills. 73. The Special Rapporteur met with several indigenous women’s organizations and was informed of, among other things, the distress suffered by women in the context of indigenous land conflicts. Some women reported daily verbal abuse, including threats, and physical violence, sometimes even against children, by non-indigenous persons. 74. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the National Child Welfare Agency’s handling of some cases involving indigenous children engaged in land requisition processes. According to reports received, the Agency deems this conduct to be an act that triggers the process of removing minors from their families and resettling them in facilities outside their indigenous territories of origin, sometimes without interpretation into their native language. The Special Rapporteur recalls that, under international law, State authorities should, when determining indigenous children’s best interests, take into account their cultural rights and their need to exercise those rights collectively with members of their own people. 12 75. Despite the important role they play within their communities, indigenous women are generally excluded from decision-making, do not exercise proportional political or economic power and do not own land or manage resources. Moreover, some women complained of the sexist and degrading attitudes that some members of their people have towards them. The Special Rapporteur received reports that women working plots of land have no access to the Programme of Payments for Environmental Services managed by the comprehensive development associations. 76. The Special Rapporteur wishes to specifically acknowledge the indigenous women who have clear suggestions for building a genuinely plurinational State in which there is a desire to recognize, among other things, the critical role that they play in caring for forests and in preserving biodiversity, in passing on scientific knowledge to future generations and in securing tenure of their lands. Indigenous women’s organizations, such as the National Forum of Indigenous Women, express regret over their lack of resources and the failure of State institutions to recognize their work. V. Economic, social and cultural rights 77. Indigenous peoples continue to suffer severe inequalities, for example with respect to the full enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights. The Special Rapporteur observed, during his visit, high levels of poverty among indigenous peoples, exacerbated for vulnerable groups, such as women, persons with disabilities and persons with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. It has not been possible to locate official information about 12 12 Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 11 (2009), paras. 30–33. GE.22-11025