1. SLIDE "I was in court when an opposing attorney commented that at least I would had come to other court dates so he'd have something nice to look at." - C
2. SLIDE "I was representing a male client in a family law case, and the opponent and the judge told me that I was 'a mom who doesn't understand another mom'." - A
3. SLIDE "I was asked to do certain activities that were generally perceived as women-specific, as serving coffee or secretarial work. Comments from male colleagues whom were asked to do the same activities were along the lines of 'I'm taking a skirt, also' or 'Well, that person does that because she's a woman'. They made me feel inferior and derided, reduced to my abilities to serve and be a pleasant face to other men." - C
4. SLIDE "I was young and at the beginning of my career as a lawyer when I felt for the first time the power and abuse of the male partner. I felt discriminated against when, after returning from parental leave, it was no longer me who was promoted as a manager but my male colleague. I felt that I was discriminated against because I had missed with the motive of raising a child and because I am a mother." - A
Gender equality. Some think it is just about equal pay, others think it is about equal access to healthcare, education, job places or voting. In reality, gender equality means more.
For example, for women it means not being omitted from the handshake in a professional context, when all the other men in the room greet each other in this way. Not being reduced to only their bodies. Not to be treated with distrust and judged for their experiences. When they reach positions of power, not to be the target of speculation and insinuations about "how" they got there. Not to listen to jokes about their physical appearances.
You see, the justice system is not excluded from the list of places where gender discrimination happens.
The stories I told you earlier do not belong to us. They are part of the 28 stories we collected in August from female lawyers, legal advisers, judges, prosecutors and not only about the discrimination they have observed or experienced themselves within the justice system.
The problem is that gender discrimination is not only specific to the justice system, but to the whole society in which we grow up and live. Because of the uncomfortable feeling it creates in us, we get to not talking enough about how this kind of discrimination affects all of us, those in this room and outside. And we get it not to be an invitation for change, but become a taboo subjects which we don’t get to discuss enough.
The role of the justice system in this ecosystem is to treat victims of discrimination with respect and empathy and not to perpetuate biases and gender stereotypes. But we as professionals do not always have the necessary tools to handle such cases efficiently and empathetically in relationship with the victims and we do not understand the trauma.
And then arises in a natural manner the question “what can we do?” How can we contribute to diminish a problem that we all feel and weighs on all of us? - A
For us, the way in which we feel we can contribute is to build together a more empathic justice system and society. Therefore we have created SAVVY, an educational and justice project regarding sexual violence. Through this project, we will be preparing future generations of justice professionals to approach cases of sexual violence with more empathy and understanding, using study cases, discussion with the professionals, exercises through which we understand how our conduct, as professionals, has an impact on the victims. 165 students from 7 universities in Bucharest have applied for the first edition.
Through SAVVY we will bring in one room law students and future police officers together with experts from the legal domain(as lawyers, judges, prosecutors, police men, legal counselors) but also people from the social field(such as psychologists and gender equality experts working in theNGO environment) in order to learn together about the phenomenon of sexual violence. About how our own prejudices affect our legal activities. About how we end up re-traumatizing, perhaps unwillingly, victims of sexual violence through our conduct as professionals. About how to become better prepared to handle such cases. About how we can communicate with more empathy and understanding so that we have a justice system that is educated to see the man, not just the procedure that applies to him.
SAVVY is our solution for a society that does not tolerate discrimination and does not remain silent in the face of injustice, but it is not the only one.
We invite each and every one of you to get actively involved in this change, in whatever form it is comforable. Whether it's informing yourselves more about what gender discrimination means, or supporting an NGO that is helping to reduce this type of discrimination, or giving a voice to the stories that have not yet had the courage to make themselves heard. This is the society we want to build. One that is open, that talks about the discrimination cases that are based on gender, are going this way and fight for a equitable and empathetic justice.
