right to receive legal assistance and legal representation. They should also be informed of any potential protective measures in effect and be oriented relevant services. d. Women must be well represented among the members making up the personnel of these specialized units, so that women and girls who are victims or witnesses of sexual violence may interact with female personnel if they wish. e. These units must have sufficient financial, material and human resources to enable them to properly perform their duties. Explanatory Notes: South Africa, Department of Justice, National Guidelines for Prosecutors in Sexual Offence Cases (1998); Sex Crimes Units within the Victim Support Units of the Police Service in Zambia; OMCT (World Organisation Against Torture), Human Rights Violations in Zambia, Part 2: Women’s Rights, Shadow Report, UN Human Rights Committee, 90th session (July 2007). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Handbook on effective police responses to violence against women (2010); United Nations General Assembly, Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, Resolution 40/34 (1985); Circular No. 005, Ministry of Justice of Côte d’Ivoire, 18 March 2014, on complaints filed with police services about physical attacks. f. Adopting and disseminating protocols for investigation and prosecution: States are encouraged to adopt standardized protocols for procedures and techniques for the investigation and prosecution of acts of sexual violence and for the methods for supporting victims and witnesses to guarantee a minimum standard of professionalism in dealing with such acts. States must ensure that these protocols are widely disseminated to units charged with specialized investigation and prosecution, where these exist, and to other appropriate services of the medical and justice sectors. 40. 3. Legal assistance and legal representation a. States must take the necessary measures to guarantee the availability and accessibility of legal assistance and legal representation at no cost for the victims of sexual violence in order to guarantee their effective right to justice. b. To guarantee adequate, effective legal representation for the victims of sexual violence, States must take the necessary measures to create lists of legal counsels specialized in cases of sexual violence and make these lists available to victims. The right of victims to freely choose their legal representative must be guaranteed. Furthermore, States are encouraged to put in place centres providing legal assistance and legal representation to victims of sexual violence and to promote the involvement of national bar associations in processing such cases. c. Beginning from the preliminary investigation phase, States must take measures to ensure that victims benefit from the assistance of an interpreter specialized in the follow-up of cases related to acts of sexual violence, as necessary and where the victims wish it. d. States must allocate sufficient financial and human resources to ensure the proper functioning of the legal assistance and legal representation system. 40. 4. Evidence-gathering a. General principles i. States must ensure that forensic and legal services apply international standards in gathering, using, preserving and archiving evidence related to acts of sexual violence. 32 GUIDELINES ON COMBATING SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES IN AFRICA