Justice systems don't favour women–C. J

Daily Graphic, Spread, Thursday, Nov. 20/08

Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho

THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, has noted that the justice systems in many countries, particularly those in Africa, are not kind to women and attributed the African version of the problem to the high illiteracy rate on the continent.
She said this when she opened a two-day colloquium on “The role of the judiciary in promoting justice in Africa”.
It was hosted by the Judicial Service and brought together 60 participants from across Africa.
The colloquium, which is an initiative of the Partners for Gender Justice (PGJ), was organised in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC), the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) and the Bandies University.
The PGJ, which was launched in 2004, is an informal partnership of interested state actors, non-governmental organisations, United Nation actors, international and regional organisations and academic institutions that are interested in promoting gender justice.
The Chief Justice said, "Laws need to be demystified and made accessible to the public, especially women," adding that the legal maxim that presumed everybody to know the law was fiction and had no place in Africa where majority of the population was illiterate.
Mrs Justice Wood said although on paper national constitutions, laws and international conventions, instruments and protocols seemed to promote equality between men and women, the reality was still a mirage.
She observed that "in most African countries equitable and sustainable development has been stunted because women are marginalised and gender considerations not given the needed attention," adding, "Human development, if not engendered, is endangered."
She said women’s issues were now recognised as human rights issues and were required to receive maximum attention at both national and international levels, adding that "unfortunately, the status of most women is still deplorable, compared to that of men”.
She said the Ghanaian judiciary had taken steps to ensure that the theme for the next couple of years, "Access to Justice", was a reality and not just a sound bite.
The UNDP Country Representative, Mr Daouda Toure, in an address, said Ghana had made modest gains in women’s access to justice since Beijing but added that there were still some barriers that needed to be dealt with.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Director and Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery of the UNDP, Ms Kathleen Cravero, said gender justice empowered women to contribute to a society based on the rule of law, adding that it meant taking positive measures to educate women and secure their equal representation in all legal issues.