Africa: Removing Gender Biases from Judicial Processes
The scene was a courtroom in Tanzania, where the presiding judge was listening to an appellant contesting a ruling that had dissolved his marriage because he had physically abused his wife. Her complaint, he claimed, was nothing more than a simple marital dispute.
Many judges might have agreed, given deeply-rooted beliefs about marital privacy and male privilege. But this appellant had drawn then-judge Natalia Kimaro. Judge Kimaro cited Tanzanian laws and international human rights conventions to describe his actions as a form of gender-based violence. She upheld the original ruling.
Kimaro, now a High Court Justice, is one of more than 1,400 judges who have taken part in the Jurisprudence of Equality Programme run by the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ). The training provided through this programme, initiated with support from the Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, responds to the fact that while many countries have laws to prevent violence against women and have agreed in principle to uphold international human rights standards, in practice human biases as well as a lack of knowledge get in the way. After its successful start in Tanzania in 2000, the programme was extended to three Southern African countries: Botswana, South Africa and Zambia.
