ICAAD Conducts Workshop for Lawyers from 12 Pacific Island Countries at Gender and the Law Conference in Fiji
ICAAD Conducts Workshop for Lawyers from 12 Pacific Island Countries at Gender and the Law Conference in Fiji
Role of Gender Stereotyping and Cultural Norms on Sentencing
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Nadi, Fiji – December 10, 2014: On Human Rights Day and the final day of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, we are reminded about the importance of bringing human rights awareness to every level: local, regional, and international. Recently, lawyers from across the Pacific Region ( 12+ countries) gathered for a Regional Consultation on Gender and the Law that was hosted by the Regional Rights Resource Team ( RRRT) and Fiji Women’s Rights Movement ( FWRM). This brought together over 50 attorneys (including observers) representing various governments ( Attorney General’s Offices), private practitioners, and civil society.
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ICAAD and our pro bono counsel, DLA Piper Australia, attended the regional consultation from Nov. 17-21st and delivered a presentation and workshop on Nov. 20th. Being a part of this Consultation gave us the opportunity to engage individuals working within different sectors of society who have the ability to work towards effective implementation of human rights within their respective countries. Securing multi-sectoral participation to assure awareness and impact on gender based violence was a predominant theme throughout the week-long event.
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Regional Consultation on Gender and the Law – Nadi, Fiji Nov. 17-21st
Hansdeep Singh, ICAAD Co-Founder, center bottom row;
Emily Christie, DLA Piper Australia & ICAAD pro bono counsel, bottom row right
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ICAAD / DLA Workshop
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As part of our Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action, the workshop focused on the role of cultural norms and gender stereotypes leading to low sentencing decisions in sexual assault and domestic violence cases. Hansdeep Singh ofICAAD, and Emily Christie of DLA Piper presented data on case law analysis of approximately 1,000 cases covering 10 Pacific Island Countries (PICs).
Following the presentation, we ran a comprehensive workshop that placed lawyers in the decision making role of the judge, and asked each country group to apply an analysis to sexual and domestic violence cases based on experiences from their respective jurisdictions.
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Access to Justice through Art
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Additionally, the attendees adopted an Outcomes Document (organized by a Working Group) that referenced two topics that ICAAD raised during the Consultation, sentencing and pro bono:
- “We note that while there is new legislation on family and sexual violence, generally sentencing for domestic violence offences are too low to act as deterrents for perpetrators.”
- “Further, we call upon members of the legal profession to develop pro-bono assistance . . . [for] survivors of VAWG as a form of mitigating the barriers of accessing legal services which makes access to justice difficult for most women.”
The importance of the Outcomes Document is that lawyers, some representing government, will take back this aspirational Document to their respective countries and advocate to implement the suggested changes.
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The Many Barriers Women Face
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We would like to thank our hosts, RRRT and FWRM for inviting us to attend an expertly conducted Consultation. Also, we want to acknowledge all the participants from around the region who were extremely engaged and who we learned a lot from.
Our team looks forward to continued engagement with RRRT and FWRM as they work to promote the advancement of women’s rights in Fiji and the Pacific region. Moreover, we hope to assist participants back in their home countries as they implement what they learned during the Consultation.
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Defining Key Concepts From the Consultation
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Substantive Equality: Working toward equality of outcomes rather than a one size fits all approach
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Feminist Analysis: Zeroing in on the lived experiences of women
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Gender Mainstreaming: Women’s interests are considered when viewing organizational/ governmental policies and structures
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PESTAL Analysis: When looking at barriers to access to justice, consider: political, economic, social/ cultural, technological, legislative, and environmental framework
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