WUNRN
Gender
Justice Uncovered Awards: Judicial decisions from around the world under
scrutiny
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE AWARDS: http://www.womenslinkworldwide.org/wlw/new.php?modo=premios&lang=en
For more
information about the winners: http://www.womenslinkworldwide.org/wlw/new.php?modo=premios&tp=ganadores&y=2012&lang=en
The best and worst decisions or court rulings associated with
gender equity will receive the Gender Justice Uncovered Awards during an event
in Barcelona that portrays the work of the organization Women's Link Worldwide.
In this fourth edition of the Awards, 91 decisions, from 32
countries, which include Spain, Malaysia, Colombia, United Kingdom, South
Africa, USA, Honduras, among others, were nominated.
These awards seek to signal the influence that judges have in
advancing or limiting the rights of women and girls and urge civil society to
participate in monitoring what happens in courts.
This year’s distinguished panel of judges is composed by: Thai
lawyer and professor, Virada Somwasdi, former judge of the
Constitutional Court of South Africa, Albie Sachs, and Ángela
Patricia Janiot, Colombian journalist for CNN in Spanish.
Bludgeon awards
(Judicial decisions that adversely affect gender equality)
The Bronze Bludgeon is given to the Supreme Court of the United
States who used a procedural argument that prevented one and a half
million women all employees of a large department store (Wal-Mart) from
obtaining reparations for gender-based discrimination they had suffered.
The Supreme Court ruled that the women did not have enough in common to file a
class action lawsuit against the company to denounce the policy of gender
discrimination in relation to wages and promotions.
The Silver Bludgeon is given to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, this
court determined that a married woman who was beaten by her lover is not
entitled to protection against-gender based violence within an “adulterous”
relationship because according to the court this law is intended solely to
protect women in a traditional marriage.
The Gold Bludgeon is for the Judicial Commission of Afghanistan
for the Gulnaz case, in which an afghan woman who, upon reporting that she had been a
victim of rape was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the crime of
adultery. Subsequently the authorities offered her freedom in exchange
for agreeing to marry her attacker.
Gavel awards
(Judicial decisions that positively affect gender equality)
The Bronze Gavel is for the Electoral Tribunal of the Federation
Judiciary of Mexico. In this case the court required the political parties to
respect the electoral quota laws for women in order to avoid the phenomenon
known as “Las Juanitas”, a name for the women who, once elected, yield their
positions to an alternate male under orders from their party. It is
noteworthy that the court decides to comment on how the law should be applied
in order to fulfill its objective.
The Silver Gavel is given to the Supreme Court of Bangladesh for a
case in which the court states that forcing a woman to wear a veil publicly and
classifying a woman as a prostitute for not wearing a veil, is a violation of
women´s rights and contrary to the Bangladesh Constitution. This is a
tremendously bold decision within its context.
The Gold Gavel is awarded to the Administrative Tribunal of Cairo
(Egypt), for its decision on banning the military practice called
“virginity tests” in military prisons to female detainees following the 2011
“Arab Spring” demonstrations. The court finds that the conduct of the
armed forces in conducting these tests violates the constitution and represents
a violation of the sanctity of the bodies of women and a violation of their
human dignity. This decision is extremely important given the statements by
senior military officers that this case did not include “descent” women because
they were protesting on the street alongside men.
Anyone can present nominations online for the Gender Justice Uncovered
Awards, and any person, as well, may vote online for any of competing decisions
for each subject matter. This year we received 2800 votes from the public and
according to the number of votes, the public’s awards were granted to the
following decisions:
The Public´s Bludgeon award is given to the Supreme Court of
Justice of Nicaragua. The court reduced a rape conviction on the grounds that
the defendant was in a state of sexual agitation as a result of alcohol
consumption and the argument that the victim had been cooperating with her
attacker.
The Public´s Gavel award is given to the Judiciary of Madrid
(Spain). This court convicts a police officer for sexual harassment
and stated that the harassment caused great suffering and psychological damages
to the victim, showing the defendant as especially cruel in abusing his
position of authority in order to satisfy his sexual desires.
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For more information:
Cristina
Sánchez Velázquez
Women's Link Worldwide
Mobile: +34 669 464 490
Office:
+34 91 185 19 04
prensa@womenslinkworldwide.org
Madrid (Spain)