On the occasion of International Day of Women Judges (10 March), the infographic “Black Sea Women & Access to Justice” includes data on the freedoms of women in six BSEC countries (Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, the Republic of Türkiye and Ukraine), and on their confidence in the judicial system and courts.
HIGHLIGHTS
According to OECD data, in 2023 the majority of women (65,6%) in these countries don’t feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where they live.
At the same time, 6,1% of women and girls have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months.
At the same time, there is a high level of mistrust in the judicial system (58,3%).
In an effort to reverse this situation, the project “Women's Access to Justice: Implementing Council of Europe’s Gender Equality and Violence Against Women Standards” is a good practice that focuses on addressing and eliminating the systemic barriers which women encounter when accessing justice.
The project’s several activities included, labour inspectors, psychologists and social workers were trained to identify and support victims of sexual violence; law Schools were supported in gender mainstreaming their curricula; NGOs received funding to inform the general public about the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women.
Sources: OECD Development Centre/OECD (2024), "Gender, Institutions and Development (Edition 2023)", OECD International Development Statistics (database), https://doi.org/10.1787/7b0af638-en (accessed on 01 March 2024)
Council of Europe, Women's Access to Justice: implementing Council of Europe’s gender equality and violence against women standards, https://www.coe.int/en/web/genderequality/women-s-access-to-justice-implementing-council-of-europe-s-gender-equality-and-violence-against-women-standards, https://www.coe.int/en/web/genderequality/-/co-operation-projects-highlights-in-2023-making-gender-equality-a-reality-for-all-women (accessed on 04 March 2024)
UN Women and the Council of Europe, Guidance Note “Framework for measuring access to justice including specific challenges facing women”, https://rm.coe.int/framework-for-measuring-access-to-justice-including-spesific-challenge/1680a876b9 (accessed on 04 March 2024)
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