Gender Mainstreaming within Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector (GJLOS)

Strengthening Gender Mainstreaming within Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector (GJLOS)

1. Enhance Judicial Capacity:

• Train Judges, Magistrates, Chiefs, and Police: Conduct comprehensive and ongoing training programs on laws relating to women's property rights, including:

• Focus on Case Law: Emphasize High Court decisions confirming women's inheritance and property rights.

• Develop a Training Manual: Create a comprehensive manual for magistrates and customary leaders, clearly outlining case law that establishes the primacy of statute law over discriminatory customary law.

• Monitoring and Evaluation: Implement a system of "spot checks" to monitor court decisions and ensure adherence to the principles outlined in the training.

• Authority: This approach aligns with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which emphasizes the importance of judicial education and enforcement of women's rights.

2. Improve Access to Justice:

• Disseminate Knowledge:

• Public Awareness Campaigns: Utilize various channels, such as radio plays, pamphlets (like FIDA's "ABC of Property Law"), and community forums, to disseminate information about women's property rights and how to enforce them.

• Market Surveys: Conduct market surveys (as recommended by GJLOS) to assess the effectiveness of these dissemination efforts and identify areas for improvement.

• Reform Legal Framework:

• Prioritize Key Legislation: Focus on reforming critical legislation such as Part IV of the Companies Act, the Chattels Transfer Act, and security law, ensuring they align with international best practices (e.g., Article 9 of the US Uniform Commercial Code, adapted for common law countries like New Zealand).

3. Enhance Financial Inclusion:

• Improve Credit Information Exchange:

• Establish a Credit Reference Bureau: Facilitate the efficient exchange of credit information between financial institutions, particularly between microfinance institutions (MFIs) and banks, to improve access to credit for women-owned businesses.

• Promote Financing Mechanisms:

• Encourage Support from FIs and Development Institutions: Advocate for increased provision of financing mechanisms specifically designed for women-owned businesses, leveraging both local and international financial institutions.

4. Strengthen Gender Mainstreaming within GJLOS:

• Integrate Gender Considerations: Ensure that gender considerations are explicitly integrated into all aspects of the GJLOS reform program. This includes:

• Data Collection and Analysis: Collect and analyze gender-disaggregated data to identify specific challenges faced by women in accessing justice.

• Budget Allocation: Allocate adequate resources for gender-specific interventions within the GJLOS program.

• Monitoring and Evaluation: Establish robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track the impact of the reforms on women's lives.

1. Data-Driven Decision Making:

• Gender-Disaggregated Data Collection: Systematically collect and analyze data on the impact of the reforms on women and men. This data should include:

• Access to Justice: Track the number of women who access justice in different legal areas, such as property rights, family law, and criminal justice.

• Court Outcomes: Analyze court decisions to identify any gender biases in sentencing, bail decisions, and other judicial outcomes.

• Barriers to Access: Investigate the specific barriers that women face in accessing justice, such as lack of awareness, affordability, and cultural norms.

• Use Data to Inform Policy: Use this data to inform policy decisions, budget allocations, and program design within the GJLOS reforms.

2. Empowering Women's Organizations:

• Increase Funding and Support: Increase funding and provide technical support to women's rights organizations working on issues related to access to justice.

• Partnerships and Collaboration: Foster strong partnerships between government agencies, civil society organizations, and women's groups to ensure that women's voices are heard and their needs are addressed in the reform process.

• Capacity Building: Provide capacity building opportunities for women's organizations on issues such as legal advocacy, community mobilization, and data collection.

3. Addressing Cultural and Social Norms:

• Community-Based Interventions: Implement community-based interventions to address harmful gender norms and stereotypes that hinder women's access to justice. This could include:

• Community dialogues: Facilitate discussions with community members, including traditional leaders, to raise awareness about women's rights and challenge discriminatory norms.

• Sensitization programs: Conduct sensitization programs for community members, including men and boys, on gender equality and women's empowerment.

• Incorporate Traditional Justice Mechanisms: Where appropriate, incorporate traditional justice mechanisms that are more accessible and culturally sensitive to women, while ensuring that these mechanisms respect women's rights.

4. Ensuring Gender-Responsive Service Delivery:

• Train Justice Sector Personnel: Train all justice sector personnel, including police officers, prosecutors, and court staff, on gender-sensitive approaches to service delivery.

• Provide Women-Friendly Services: Create women-friendly spaces within justice institutions, such as separate waiting areas, private interview rooms, and child-care facilities.

• Ensure Confidentiality and Safety: Ensure the confidentiality and safety of women who seek justice, particularly survivors of violence.

5. Long-Term Sustainability:

• Establish Gender Mainstreaming Units: Establish dedicated gender mainstreaming units within the Ministry of Justice and other relevant government agencies to oversee the implementation of gender-responsive policies and programs.

• Regular Reviews and Adjustments: Conduct regular reviews of the GJLOS reforms to assess their impact on women and make necessary adjustments to ensure their effectiveness.

• Promote Gender Equality as a Core Value: Promote gender equality as a core value within the justice sector and throughout society.

By implementing these strategies, the GJLOS reforms can be more effectively strengthened to ensure that they address the specific needs and challenges faced by women in accessing justice.

Gender equality as a discourse is scattered in various legislation and judicial pronouncements. In order to take manities stock of the existence and progress of the rights of women, a law dubbed 'The Recognition of Gender Equality Act' ought to be enacted. Such a law will help the government in setting and reviewing the status and progress on the diverse components of gender disparity including mortality inequality; natality inequality; basic facility inequality; special opportunity inequality; professional inequality; ownership inequality; and household inequality among 132 others.  

That law will thus be useful in making more informed conclusions and actions onthe basis of more accurate status reports. Feminists have strived to advance a philosophy of continued connivance to disadvantage women by legislative, policy and decision making organs including the judiciary. It is that footing that this book recommends that in order to accurately ascertain the status of gender inequality, feminism as an approach ought to be guided by the ideals of good faith, soundness, objectivity and gender harmony.