the victims/witnesses. 158 This also applies to the availability of skilled interviewers. Individuals who have not undergone the required training should refrain from interacting with victims and witnesses of sexual and gender-based violence. Not addressing a victim properly could generate retraumatization. Instead, those lacking proper training may offer comfort to the victim/witness and should be sufficiently prepared to refer them to those with the required level of knowledge and experience. Skilled and experienced interviewers have been trained to understand that building rapport is of critical importance when collecting victim/witness accounts. A lack of cultural sensitivity surrounding the subject matter of sexual and gender-based violence can be particularly damaging in this respect. It may, for example, be a cultural taboo to talk about sexual issues in public or to talk about sexual conduct at all. In these circumstances, those carrying out the interview may wish to carefully consider direct references to sex or sexual and gender-based violence that may offend local customs.159 In addition, victims/witnesses may use a particular vocabulary or local figures of speech to describe sexual acts, sexual or gender-based violence, and genitalia. Those involved in collecting testimonial information on sexual or gender-based violence should be familiar with such vocabulary to avoid misunderstanding or misinterpretation. 160 Interviewers should be able to respond appropriately to victims if s/he becomes distressed in the course of the interview. 161 They furthermore need to pay particular attention to verbal and non-verbal signals of those giving testimony. See Section 3.4 for general guidelines and best practices on 158 World Health Organization, WHO Ethical and safety recommendations for researching, documenting and monitoring sexual violence in emergencies, 9 (2007), available at http://www.who.int/gender/documents/OMS_Ethics&Safety10Aug07.pdf. 159 Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Prosecution of Sexual Violence: Best Practices Manual for the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Violence Crimes in PostConflict Regions: Lessons Learned from the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, 37 (2014), available at http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/publications/ICTR-Prosecution-of-Sexual-Violence.pdf. 160 Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Prosecution of Sexual Violence: Best Practices Manual for the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Violence Crimes in PostConflict Regions: Lessons Learned from the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, 40 (2014), available at http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/publications/ICTR-Prosecution-of-Sexual-Violence.pdf. 161 Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Prosecution of Sexual Violence: Best Practices Manual for the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Violence Crimes in PostConflict Regions: Lessons Learned from the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, 44 (2014), available at http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/publications/ICTR-Prosecution-of-Sexual-Violence.pdf. 110