79 conflicting requirements. At all times, enterprises need to be aware of any risks that a particular course of action may pose to affected stakeholders and take these into account in their decisions. It is particularly likely that where enterprises face challenges of this type, their conduct will be under closer scrutiny from stakeholders. Enterprises should be able to account for their efforts to maintain respect for human rights in these situations and it will often be advisable to report on them, provided that doing so does not increase risks to human rights. In the rare situations where local law or other requirements put an enterprise at risk of being involved in gross abuses of human rights such as international crimes, it should carefully consider whether and how it can continue to operate with integrity in such circumstances, while also being aware of the human rights impact that could result from terminating its activities. Q 84. Why should the risk of being involved in gross human rights abuses be considered a matter of legal compliance? If enterprises are at risk of being involved in gross human rights abuses, prudence suggests that they should treat this risk in the same manner as the risk of involvement in a serious crime, whether or not it is clear that they would be held legally liable. This is so both because of the severity of the human rights abuses at stake and also because of the growing legal risks to companies as a result of involvement in such abuses. Enterprises can cause gross human rights abuses through their own activities, for example if they use slave labour or treat workers in a manner that amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. They may also contribute to gross human rights abuses that are committed by other parties, for example security forces. Such indirect contribution to gross human rights abuse can give rise to allegations of either legal or non-legal complicity. The commentary to Guiding Principle 17 states that “as a legal matter, most national jurisdictions prohibit complicity in the commission of a crime, and a number allow for criminal liability of enterprises in such cases. Typically, civil actions can also be based on an enterprise’s alleged contribution to a harm, although these may not be framed in human rights terms. The weight of international criminal law jurisprudence indicates that the relevant standard