Raise awareness within professional organisations and support services 22. Engage with professional bodies with a view to promoting, respecting and fulfilling the human rights of persons of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity (including medical associations, bar associations, psychologists associations, and educational professional associations). 23. Engage with and educate the media on the human rights issues relating to persons of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity. Use the media in a creative manner as a platform to promote messages to the general population about the human rights of persons of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity and to promote a balanced approach by the media. 24. Encourage discussion between health professionals, and intersex and transgender people about the issues relating to medical procedures affecting them. 25. Network with parental/family associations to encourage understanding of persons of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity and build support systems to access parents/families accordingly. Monitoring We recommend NHRIs: 26. Consider the use of national inquiry powers to document and monitor the human rights situation of persons of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity. 27. Recognise persons of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity as groups that are vulnerable to human rights violations and monitor the progress towards ensuring the human rights (including economic, social and cultural rights) of persons of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity are respected, protected and promoted. 28. Ensure that persons of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity are included in NHRI activities, for example, in projects on trafficking, access to justice, health, housing, education and poverty. 29. Respond in an urgent manner to instances of torture as well as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of persons of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity. 30. Document and respond to issues of discrimination brought forward by persons of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity in order to assist them to find the appropriate remedy. 31. Ensure that NHRIs’ complaints mechanisms (where these exist) are accessible to those who suffer human rights violations on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. In particular, NHRIs should be able to receive complaints about discrimination, including by non-State and private actors. 32. Where there is no complaints function, NHRIs should advocate for all allegations of human rights violations perpetrated against persons of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity to be investigated thoroughly by the appropriate independent body and that those responsible are held accountable for their actions. ACJ Report: Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 36