24 effectiveness has been based on case studies, anecdotal information, and surveys conducted before and after training sessions. However limited this evidence may be, it nonetheless suggest that these efforts are both constructive and essential (for example, see: Rashid, 2001; Villanueva, 1999).

Training of judges and judicial personnel is also important. A survey of a small number of judicial personnel in El Salvador, for example, revealed that while the vast majority considered the problem of family violence to be important and believed that the existing legislation on family violence was necessary, none had received any training on recent reforms to the family violence law (CLADEM, n/d). This situation is not uncommon in the region.

Judicial training should focus on interpretation and enforcement of domestic legislation on gender based violence; it should also cover the application of international human rights conventions such as CEDAW, Belém do Pará and other broader human rights legal frameworks <u>to which countries are signatories. (See Box 2.3 for an example of training of</u> judges in international conventions.) Other justice-sector institutions where training is necessary include prosecutors, social services, ancillary institutions, public defenders and pathologists (Villanueva, 1999).

Evaluations of training initiatives suggest a number of common themes. First, changing attitudes towards violence against women and children is a challenging, long-term process. The quality of the content and skills of the trainer is essential. Training appears to be most effective when all levels of personnel receive training (including high level officials), and when training is backed up with changes throughout the institution, such as policies, procedures, adequate resources, and continual monitoring and evaluation.

# **_GBV in the context of transition from inquisitory to accusatory legal systems_**

While training of judges and judicial personnel can improve the quality of judicial services for survivors of GBV, it does not address the structural and systemic problems that plague many judicial systems of the region; corruption, lack of transparency, procedural delays and often quite simply a lack of judicial presence in rural areas that translates into a lack of access to judicial services for the poor. If these broader themes of access to justice are to be addressed, the most promising approach to improve access to judicial services for survivors of GBV may in the context of an overall reform of the judicial system that addresses these more systemic problems. This approach allows issues of quality of services and access to services to be dealt with simultaneously.

The most important judicial reform in the Latin American and Caribbean region in recent years has been the shift from the inquisitive system (inherited from the Spaniards) to the accusatory system based on the U.S. or U.K. adversarial model. Little is known about the impact of this change in legal systems on the treatment of cases of GBV. A recent study by Casas and Mera (2004), however, does examine the effect of the reform of the Chilean criminal code in 1999 on the handling of cases of GBV. In addition to moving toward an