such impunity ends up normalizing this type of violence and undermining the rule of law all sectors of society need to play a role in changing the cultural and social acceptance or discounting of this violence the criminal justice system has a leading role in efforts to prevent and respond to violence against women criminal legislation sets the standards for what society deems unacceptable conduct and provides criminal justice officials with the authority to investigate prosecute and punish genderbased crimes the objectives of any criminal justice system in cases involving violence against women and girls should be to ensure the victim s safety while holding the perpetrator accountable for his actions and to send a clear message to society that violence against women will not be tolerated prosecutors have a crucial part to play in ending impunity for violence against women and girls