48 e. f. g. h. take all appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to amend or repeal existing laws and regulations or to modify legal or customary practices which sustain the persistence and tolerance of violence against women; Establish fair and effective legal procedures for women who have been subjected to violence which include, among others, protective measures, a timely hearing and effective access to such procedures; Establish the necessary legal and administrative mechanisms to ensure that women subjected to violence have effective access to restitution, reparations or other just and effective remedies; and, Adopt such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to this Convention. 224. As the Inter-American Court has held, Article 7.b of the Convention of Belém do Pará 216 requires States to act with due diligence in investigating and punishing violence against women. That provision creates specific obligations and complements the State’s obligations as regards complying with 217 the rights enshrined in the American Convention. 225. The IACHR has ruled that among the most important principles, the State’s obligation in cases of violence against women includes the duty of investigating, prosecuting, and punishing the guilty, 218 along with the duty to “prevent these degrading practices.” The IACHR has stated that judicial ineffectiveness in cases of violence against women creates a climate of impunity that is conducive to violence “since society sees no evidence of willingness by the State, as the representative of the society, 219 to take effective action to sanction such acts.” The IACHR has further noted that the obstacles such women face in securing access to suitable and effective judicial remedies to redress the violations they suffer can be even more daunting in that they suffer from a combination of various forms of discrimination: as women, because of their ethnic or racial origin, and/or by virtue of their socio-economic 220 status. 226. In a case involving the murder of three young women in a context of widespread violence against women, the Inter-American Court stated that the judicial authorities’ failure to respond to such incidents “sends the message that violence against women is tolerated; this leads to their perpetuation, together with social acceptance of the phenomenon, the feeling women have that they are not safe, and 221 their persistent mistrust in the system of administration of justice.” 227. In the case at hand, the IACHR finds that the Peruvian authorities’ failure to investigate the complaints lodged on behalf of Gladys Carol Espinoza fostered a climate of impunity in this and many other cases of torture, rape, and other forms of violence against women that occurred during the internal armed conflict in Peru. 228. Since more than 17 years have gone by since the acts of sexual violence against Gladys Carol Espinoza were reported and no investigations have been opened, the State failed in its duty to prevent, investigate, and punish violence against women. The State also failed to meet that obligation by failing to investigate the torture inflicted on Ms. Gonzales Espinoza on August 5, 1999, while she was in 216 I/A Court H. R., Case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgment of November 25, 2006, Series C No. 160, para. 378 217 I/A Court H. R., Case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgment of November 25, 2006, Series C No. 160, para. 379. 218 IACHR, Report on Merits, No. 54/01, Maria Da Penha Fernandes (Brazil), April 16, 2001, para. 56. 219 IACHR, Report on Merits, No. 54/01, Maria Da Penha Fernandes (Brazil), April 16, 2001, para. 56. 220 IACHR, Access to Justice for Women Victims of Violence in the Americas, OEA/Ser. L/V/II. doc.68, January 20, 2007, para. 195, available at: www.cidh.oas.org/women/Acceso07/indiceacceso.htm. 221 I/A Court H. R., Case of González et al. (“Cotton Field”) v. Mexico, Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgment of November 16, 2009, Series C No. 205, para. 400.