At home and abroad the Government of Canada is committed to supporting the implementation of gender-based analysis across Government departments and development initiatives.
According to H.E. Marie Legault High Commissioner to Barbados and the OECS, this will ensure that gender implications are considered in all government policies, programs, and legislation and is a cross cutting theme for all their development work within the region.
She explained that this also means that women’s views, interests and needs shape the development agenda as much as those of men, and that the development agenda supports progress toward more equal relations between women and men.
“We recognize that every policy, program and project affects women and men differently and therefore, policies, programs and projects must address the differences in experiences and situations between and among women and men,” she stressed.
“Achieving gender equality does not mean that women become the same as men. Instead, equality means that one’s rights or opportunities do not depend on being male or female.”
The High Commissioner was at the time addressing the Handover Ceremony of Gender Equality Protocols for Magistrates and Judges in Barbados, developed under the Judicial Reform and Institutional Reform (JURIST) project in collaboration with the Caribbean Association of Judicial Officers and UN Women.
She expressed her confidence in the Protocols, stating that they contribute to producing a more gender-responsive Barbadian judiciary in which judicial officers and court personnel make decisions that promote substantive equality between men and women.
High Commissioner Legault acknowledged that across the Caribbean region there have been significant achievements in eliminating discrimination embedded in laws and policies, and highlighted Barbados’ recent update of its Domestic Violence legislation demonstrating its commitment to increasing access to justice for the most vulnerable in the society.
“Notwithstanding this there remain significant barriers in the administration of justice that hinder men’s, and more so women’s opportunity to access justice and receive equitable outcomes from the justice system,” she indicated.
“Gender stereotypes about women’s and men’s roles continue to influence judicial decision-making. Such judicial decision-making is not unexpected given that everyone experiences gender socialisation. Its influence on the functioning and behaviour of judicial officers and court personnel can be hard to avoid, particularly when such socialisation reproduces acceptance or tolerance of rigid gender roles and unequal power relations between women and men.”
High Commissioner Legault also observed that there are more than a few ways gender norms and stereotypes within the justice system contribute to women’s marginalisation, reinforce limiting stereotypes regarding masculinity and ultimately stifle access to justice for women and men. (TL)