Justice with a gender perspective in Chile and Peru

Laws that promote equality and punish violence are needed to ensure women’s access to justice. In addition, judges should have the tools and instruments they need to apply justice that is impartial and consistent with the principle of equality and non-discrimination between women and men.

The Supreme Court in Chile and the Judiciary in Peru are making efforts in this area by promoting strategies to incorporate the gender perspective into judicial action. This initiative is supported by EUROsociAL+, a programme that is funded by the Unión Europea and managed by FIIAPP.

The programme has organised two study visits to Spain and Germany during which the players leading the process in both Latin American countries learnt about the experience of European countries and the approach of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

In Spain’s case, experts such as Miguel Lorente and judges María Tardón, Lucía Avilés and Mar Serna, shared their experience in this area. The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) also received both delegations to give them a close look at the work being carried out by the Equality Commission and the Observatory on Domestic and Gender Violence.

In Germany, they had the opportunity to benefit from the experience of the German Constitutional Court and they also visited the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) based in Strasbourg, which stands out for its work on the recognition of women’s rights and the application of the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe tool to tackle violence against women.

These activities are part of the support given by EUROsociAL+, from its gender pillar, in the process in Chile and Peru, with contributions form Colombian and Spanish experts. As a result of this collaboration, Chile will prepare a guide for judges that incorporates a gender perspective and, for its part, Peru will implement the instruments and action guidelines it has adopted.