S/2017/249 22. Barriers to reporting sexual violence are as much socioeconomic as they are logistical. In addition to war-ravaged infrastructure, poor transportation and communications networks, there are cultural taboos and a general lack of awaren ess that rape is a serious crime. In terms of service provision, only 32 per cent of recorded victims received emergency assistance within 72 hours of the incident, owing to the lack of available health services and the prohibitive cost of travel from remote locations. Income-generating activities have been shown to enhance both self-reliance and safety. For example, the United Nations Police has supported the creation of women’s associations in displacement camps, enabling women to acquire livelihood skills in order to reduce the risk of sexual exploitation. 23. Continuing insecurity has paralysed the justice system, resulting in most rape cases being resolved through “amicable settlements”, such as promises of marriage, including the payment of a dowry or other financial compensation. Forced marriage, as a negative coping mechanism to protect the victim’s “honour”, has also increased. The Ministry of Justice issued a circular in March 2016 requiring sentences for sexual violence crimes to be upgraded from “correctional” to criminal sanctions, to provide a stronger deterrent. However, the lack of forensic capacity, with just one medical examiner in the country, constrains investigation. Nonetheless, progress has been made to activate the joint rapid response unit to combat sexual violence, in accordance with the recommendation of my previous report (S/2016/361). The Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict visited Bangui in June and urged the Government to accelerate efforts to appoint national police and gendarmerie officers to the unit. In November, the United Nations Police supported training for members of the unit. The Team of Experts has endeavoured to ensure that conflict-related sexual violence will be central to the work of a special criminal court established by law in 2015. The process of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, due to start in 2017, will include support for women combatants and those associated with armed groups, and a specific budget has been allocated to address conflict-related sexual violence concerns. Recommendation 24. I encourage the Government to activate the joint rapid response unit to combat sexual violence and ensure that its staff are trained and equipped, as well as to extend cost-free services to sexual violence survivors and to accelerate efforts to establish the special criminal court. Colombia 25. In November 2016, four years of negotiations between the Government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP) culminated in a final peace accord. This marked an end to five decades of conflict in which, as the Constitutional Court of Colombia affirmed in 2008, sexual violence was widespread and systematic. Informal peace dialogues between the Go vernment and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional, the second-largest guerilla group in Colombia, also continued during the reporting period. 26. During a joint visit to the Havana talks in July by my Special Representative and the Executive Director of UN-Women, the Government and FARC-EP publicly 17-05090 9/33