WUNRN
UN News Centre
UN EXPERT CALLS FOR INTEGRATION OF
GENDER PERSPECTIVE INTO CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS
21 October 2011 - A gender perspective needs to be integrated into countries’ criminal justice systems to ensure women are not “ruled out of the law,” the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Gabriela Knaul said today.
“Given the historical and pervasive discrimination against women throughout the world, we have to look at how women are represented and treated in the criminal justice system,” Ms. Knaul said, presenting her latest annual report in New York to the General Assembly.
Ms. Knaul said integrating a gender outlook is a fundamental step towards allowing equal access to justice for men and women and stressed that “we all have an essential responsibility to integrate a gender perspective into our own mandates and work.”
Given the historical and pervasive discrimination against women throughout the world, we have to look at how women are represented and treated in the criminal justice system.
Ms. Knaul also expressed particular concern for the lack of integration and women’s points of view into judicial procedures, noting that women’s representation should be encouraged and “traditional notions of judging and judicial authority must be challenged.”
“I hope this report will encourage stakeholders to properly study, understand, assess, and challenge the impacts and effects that gender-based stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination have on both women and men in their access to and engagement in the justice system as a whole, and the criminal justice system in particular,” Ms. Knaul said.
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http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10405&LangID=E
UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ESTABLISHED
WORKING GROUP ON DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN LAW & PRACTICE
1 October 2010 - The Human Rights Council this morning adopted a resolution in which it established for a period of three years a Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practise......
In the resolution on discrimination against women, the Council called upon
States to fulfil their obligations and commitments to revoke any remaining laws
that discriminate on the basis of sex and remove gender bias in the
administration of justice, taking into account that those laws violate their
human right to be protected against discrimination. It decided to establish,
for a period of three years, a Working Group of five independent experts on the
issue of discrimination against women in law and practice........