Chapter 3 • The Major Regional Human Rights Instruments and the Mechanisms for Their Implementation among others, the right to be free from all forms of discrimination, as well as the right to be valued and educated free of stereotyped patterns of behaviour (art. 6). 3.4.2 The undertakings of the States parties The States parties agree in particular “to pursue, by all appropriate means and without delay, policies to prevent, punish and eradicate” violence against women (art. 7), and also “to undertake progressively specific measures”, such as programmes “to promote awareness and observance of the right of women to be free from violence”, “to modify social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women” and “to promote the education and training of all those involved in the administration of justice, police and other law enforcement officers” (art. 8). 3.4.3 The implementation mechanisms The mechanisms of implementation foreseen by the Convention are threefold: v the reporting procedure: in the first place, the States parties shall include in their national reports to the Inter-American Commission of Women, inter alia, “information on measures adopted to prevent and prohibit violence against women” and any difficulties they have observed in applying those measures (art. 10); v advisory opinions: the States parties and the Inter-American Commission of Women may request of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights advisory opinions on the interpretation of the Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (art. 11); and, finally, v individual petitions: any person or group of persons, or any non-governmental entity legally recognized in one or more member States of the OAS “may lodge petitions with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights containing denunciations or complaints of violations of Article 7 of this Convention by a State Party”, that is, of its duties to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women as described in that article (art. 12; emphasis added). The Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women is the only international treaty exclusively aimed at the elimination of gender-based violence. The Convention covers violence occurring in all spheres of society, whether public or private. The implementation mechanism consists of: (1) a reporting procedure to the Inter-American Commission of Women; and (2) the possibility of submitting individual petitions to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Both the States parties and the Inter-American Commission of Women may request advisory opinions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the interpretation of the Convention. 94 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers