International
In May 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new joint report Justice for Women Amidst COVID-1913 stated that curtailed access to justice institutions, rising intimate partner violence, growing injustice against female workers – including those on the front lines of the crisis – and discriminatory laws are some of the major risks to women’s lives and their livelihoods associated with COVID-19. The report suggests that roughly 2.73 billion women around the world live in countries where stay-at-home orders are in place which increases the risk of intimate partner violence. Moreover, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in its May 2020 report, also confirmed that whilst the contribution of women to the design and implementation of responses to COVID-19 is essential, women continue to be absent from decision-making and leadership positions14. Additionally in her report of September 2020, the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Dubravka Šimonovic, highlighted that the intersection between the COVID-19 pandemic, its lockdown measures and the epidemic of violence against women, has exposed pre-existing gaps and shortcomings in the prevention of violence against women. This is a human rights violation that had not been sufficiently addressed by many States even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic15. The United Nations Office of the High Commission of Human Rights (OHCHR) has called on the global community to take urgent steps to end the epidemic of gender-based violence16. In this context, law societies, bar associations, and lawyers can play a significant role in ensuring access to justice without discrimination. On 25 September 2020, the Law Society of England and Wales released a report “Law under lockdown: COVID-19 measures, access to justice and vulnerable people”17. The report highlighted that the Coronavirus crisis has had a disproportionate impact on some of the most vulnerable in society. The report also analyses the impact of emergency measures and the resulting ability of vulnerable people to access justice and legal advice. To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Law Society joined forces with the InterAmerican Bar Association (IABA), the ILO and The Bridge Project at an event entitled “Gender violence and Administration of Justice: Progress and Setbacks”. Speakers from Argentina, Peru and the United Kingdom reflected on gender-based violence and the role that the administration of justice plays in offering effective judicial protection and guarantees to equitable treatment before the law. Panellists sought to identify the risks that have been exacerbated during the pandemic and discussed potential measures to resolve these issues. The COVID-19 pandemic has been an especially dangerous time for female victims of domestic violence because lockdown measures make it even more difficult to escape from their perpetrators. COVID-19 has highlighted that there is still a long way to go in terms of protecting women and it is a sad reminder that gender equality remains an aspiration. In the context of a double pandemic – COVID-19 and genderbased violence – added to the threat of a global economic downturn, gender equality is not only an urgent moral and social imperative but a critical economic challenge. Both men and women must work hand in hand with inclusion, respect, and mutual recognition of each other to achieve it. If not now, then when? ■
Lizzette Robleto de Howarth
International Programmes Manager The Law Society of England and Wales
1. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/54/134 2. 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/endingviolence-against-women/take-action/16-days-of-activism 3. “Las Mariposas: The Mirabal Sisters’ Role as Heroines of the Dominican Republic”, Victoria Sanchez https://stmuhistorymedia.org/las-mariposas-themirabal-sisters-role-as-heroines-of-the-dominicanrepublic/#marker-73049-5 4. ‘I shot the cruellest dictator in the Americas’, 27 May 2011, BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latinamerica-13560512 5. “Last Surviving Mirabal Sister Died at the age of 88”, 04 February 2014, LatinTrends https://latintrends.com/lastsurviving-mirabal-sister-died-at-the-age-of-88/ 6. The Mirabal Sisters: The three “butterflies” who were killed because of their activities against the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, 19 April 2017, The Vintage News https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/04/19/themirabal-sisters-the-three-butterflies-who-were-killedbecause-of-their-activities-against-the-dictatorship-ofrafael-trujillo/ 7. “Assassination Of The Mirabal Sisters Of The Dominican Republic”, 25 November 2014, ISIS International http://www.isiswomen.org/index.php?option=com_ content&view=article&id=1744:history-of-theinternational-day-for-the-elimination-of-violence-againstwomen-november-25 8. Conference “Under the Wings of the Butterflies", UNESCO http://www.unesco.org/new/en/ unesco/events/major-events/?tx_browser_ pi1%5BshowUid%5D=2482&cHash=5acea5e644 9. “Three women who defeated a Dictator: The Mirabal Sisters”, 25th November 2015, by Dilara Gürcü, Young Feminist Europe https://www.youngfeminist.eu/2015/11/threewomen-who-defeated-a-dictator-the-mirabal-sisters/ 10. Global Study on Homicide: Gender-related killing of women and girls (2018) https://www.unodc.org/documents/dataand-analysis/GSH2018/GSH18_Gender-related_killing_ of_women_and_girls.pdf 11. Violence against women: Key Facts, 29 November 2017, World Health Organisation https://www.who.int/news-room/ fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women 12. Gender-Based Violence (Violence Against Women and Girls), 25 September 2019, The World Bank https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/socialsustainability/ brief/violence-against-women-and-girls 13. Justice for Women Amidst COVID-19, May 2020, UN Women, IDLO, UNDP, UNODC, The World Bank and Pathfinders for Justice, and supported by The Elders https://www. unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/5/press-releasecovid-19-sparks-urgency-around-justice-for-women 14. COVID-19: G7 nations need to get gender equality right for a better future for women at work, 14 May 2020, International Labour Organisation https://www.ilo.org/global/about-theilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_744753/lang--en/index.htm 15. Violence against women, its causes and consequences, 24 July 2020 file:///C:/Users/012862/Downloads/A_75_144-EN.pdf 16. “Urgent action needed to end pandemic of genderbased violence”, 14 July 2020, OHCHR https://www. ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews. aspx?NewsID=26085&LangID=E 17. “Law under lockdown: COVID-19 measures, access to justice and vulnerable people”, 25 September 2020, The Law Society https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/en/contact-or-visit-us/ press-office/press-releases/law-under-lockdown-covid19-measures-access-to-justice-and-vulnerable-people LegalWomen | 29
