To achieve justice, we need more women in the justice system. The recognition of this need is reflected in General Assembly resolution 75/274, which designates 10 March as the International Day of Women Judges.
Today, we hear from Elisa Samuel Boerekamp, a High Court judge and the Director of the Centre for Legal and Judicial Training of Mozambique and a champion of equal rights and opportunities for women judges in Mozambique and beyond.
“The gender perspective is not magic.”
Elisa Samuel Boerekamp, a High Court judge in Mozambique, says it is obvious why promoting gender equality in the justice sector is an essential for a fair, citizen-friendly judiciary.
“I’ll give you the example of the Ndvalela prison,” she says, referring to a women’s prison in Mozambique. “We see that many of the women who are there have committed serious crimes. Yet the whole investigation – the whole process of prosecution and judgement – has left out the gender perspective. It hasn't analysed the facts that gave rise to that crime.”
Perhaps, Elisa says, the woman was a victim of violence committed by her partner, husband, brother, or father, and she resorted to defending herself – a motivation which should be considered in the criminal justice process. “These social and family issues need to be identified because they influence the behavior of women. In some cases, we see that the sentences are exorbitantly high for women and don’t take into account the context of why she committed the crime – nor that she may have children, infants even, who may still be breastfeeding.”
Ensuring fair gender representation strengthens the judiciary and its ability to deliver fair decisions, Elisa continues. Women can bring a nuanced understanding with which they can address the conflicts and challenges faced by women both in conflict with the law and victims of crimes.
This is not simply a matter of achieving some feminist or populist ideal, Elisa argues. Rather, it is “a necessity for a democratic state governed by the rule of law that respects, promotes and guarantees the fundamental rights of everyone, including women.”
Reflecting on the progress achieved in Mozambique over the past 20 years in the field of gender equality in the judiciary, Elisa welcomes the fact that gender parity has nearly been achieved in district and provincial courts, with nearly half of leadership positions in these courts currently held by women.
In the Courts of Appeal and in the Supreme Court, however, most of the presiding judges are currently male, she says.
“This is the challenge. Women get in, but then they don't go up.”
To change this paradigm, she says, “we must create the conditions as a system to meet the needs of women judges in order to promote their greater participation in management positions and judicial leadership,” speaking particularly of the challenges faced by women in the process of relocating to other cities throughout their careers.
Elisa calls for continued efforts to dismantle barriers and create pathways for women to ascend to leadership positions, congratulating the recently launched Association of Women Judges of Mozambique (AMJuíza). The network, the first of its kind amongst lusophone African countries, aims to empower women judges in Mozambique and ensure that their voices shape the course of justice.
She underscores the cooperation with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), who has been working with Mozambique to strengthen the capacity of the judiciary, including judges and prosecutors. For instance, UNODC and Centre for Legal and Judicial Training of Mozambique have trained judiciary officials on how to process cases of violent extremism involving women and children as victims and perpetrators through mock trials. As director of the Centre, Elisa underscores the importance of integrating gender perspectives into legal curricula, fostering a deep understanding of the complexities surrounding women's interactions with the justice system.
Elisa also highlights that barriers to education must be fully removed in order to ensure that girls can continue going to school, all the way up to university. The Centre is intensifying its outreach to law students and graduates through forthcoming initiatives aimed at fostering closer engagement with academic institutions. These initiatives will involve conducting lectures and workshops to provide students with insights into pursuing careers in the judiciary.
More broadly, she emphasizes the importance of amplifying the career path and achievements of women judges with a view to inspire future generations of women in Mozambique to pursue such a career.
Encouraging women to pursue careers within the judiciary and empowering women within the judiciary can pave the way for a more just and inclusive society, where every voice is heard and every individual is afforded equal dignity and respect.
