Women's Views on News |
| Baroness Hale on a white male judiciary Posted: 13 Aug 2014 04:15 AM PDT
One of the strongest advocates for a change in the justice system has called again for more parity in the appointment of judges. Baroness Hale, Britain's only female Supreme Court Judge and the first family lawyer to fill the post, has called for action which will ensure women are raised into positions of power in the judiciary. She has often spoken out about the seemingly self-selecting pool of predominately white men who have similar social and academic backgrounds including boy's boarding school and Oxbridge. And the stats speak volumes. Less than 28 per cent of upper tribunal judiciary are women; only 16.7 per cent of High Court judges are female; 11.4 per cent of Court of Appeal judges are women; and the percentages for BME women in the judiciary are almost impossible to find. Speaking to female members of the judiciary at the Fiona Woolf Lecture recently, Baroness Hale called on women who have advanced in male fields to support other women to do the same – drawing on the quote from Madeleine Albright that "there is a special place in Hell for women who don't help other women". She asked her audience to think about society's vision of a judge and asked whether the complexities and the power that are invoked in that title have to be inherently male. And she argued that we need to loose the idea that judge equals male. The judiciary, she said, needs to embrace diversity, not only for the principal but for the sake of legitimate democracy. She called upon the women present to reflect on the oaths that they take as judges; “…justice, fairness and equality are the underlying principles of laws we swear to uphold. “We judges swear a very moving oath, 'to do right to all manner of people, after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will’. “These are the underlying values of a democratic society: a democracy which values each person equally even if the majority do not. “If the people in charge of the justice system are overwhelmingly from one section of society, then the justice system does not reflect the very values it is there to uphold." Because of the notions of power and privilege that run through the veins of the judiciary, the steps taken so far such as the introduction of more rigorous recruitment procedures, will not fully address the problem, Baroness Hale said. She has painted a picture that shows how hard it is for women to progress in the judiciary. The answer, she said, is affirmative action, not positive discrimination, to address the structural imbalances in the current system. This would include mentoring, with personal qualities and potential rather than experience being deciding factors in appointments. Ultimately, she would like to see targets and quotas and real political energy behind the recruitment of women judges. She doesn't comment strongly on whether women judges would make significantly different decisions to those made by male judges but instead encourages us to believe that "diverse courts are better courts".  |
| A terrible burden: mental health matters Posted: 13 Aug 2014 01:09 AM PDT
Did you know that nearly one fifth of the global population is comprised of youth aged 15-24 years? On a global level, approximately 20 per cent of them experience a mental health condition each year. Clicke here and help increase awareness about the lives of youth with mental health conditions and reduce stigma. UN Women's executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka had this message for International Youth Day: On 12 August, International Youth Day, we joined the UN campaign #mentalhealthmatters to reinforce the message that "mental health matters". We have to break through the difficulties and prejudice that still surround mental ill health, at the same time tackling the principal causes where we can. We know that psychological well-being is central to the ability to enjoy life, to deal robustly with challenges, to grow to become intellectually and emotionally fulfilled, and to be able to work and to contribute to society and the economy. For young people and particularly for young women today, that ideal is ruptured on many levels, with their own families, communities, societies and economies contributing challenges to mental equilibrium, denying the existence of difficulty, and in too many places, failing to provide sufficient and appropriate support, care and treatment. To suffer mental illness is already to carry a terrible burden. To be stigmatized can be disastrous, resulting in social and economic exclusion, and a downwards spiral. The sheer scale of mental ill health globally must make us question why as a global community we have not acted sooner and fuel the urgency to act now. As the World Health Organization's 2014 report ‘Health for the World's Adolescents’ shows, globally, among adolescents, depression is the number one cause of illness and disability, and suicide is the number three cause of death. All over the world, young lives are being damaged as a result of mental illnesses and the complex mental health effects of extreme stressors, such as war or disasters. We know the vulnerabilities of young women as refugees and internally displaced persons. For example, a recent UN Women study into gender-based violence amongst Syrian refugees reported women's feelings of a lack of a future, hopelessness, anxiety for their children and perception of being trapped. UN Women is working to tackle the root causes of many of these stressors and to build opportunities for women to participate as equal partners in development and humanitarian responses within the framework of addressing gender equality and women's empowerment. Our focus on ending violence against women and girls includes domestic/intimate partner violence, sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence, female genital mutilation, and early, forced and child marriages. We know that gender inequality, discrimination, imbalances of power, and social and cultural norms all contribute to making women and girls more vulnerable to mental health conditions and less able to access services to meet their needs. Stigmatization of mental ill health creates a further barrier to access to services. Women are having to cope with the initial hardship of the illness, or the violent acts such as rape that have caused it, their own responses to the situation, including fear, self-blame and depression, and then face a further barrier to seeking or receiving treatment. Once women are in a position to be able to lift their voices, they are powerful advocates against stigma and discrimination, and for the rights of those affected with mental health conditions. They are essential partners in the design of prevention campaigns and treatment services. Young women must be integrally involved in prevention services and awareness campaigns so that services respond to the specific needs of young people, and in particular to the needs of young women, and cumulatively benefit society as a whole.  |
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