Establish gender equality
Urges Chief Justice Muzammel Hossain
Since women among the two sexes are more vulnerable in society, all concerned should unite in establishing gender equality without compromising on the quality, dignity and majesty of state institutions, said Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain yesterday.
“Cultural, geographical and economic barriers mostly affect women while they become more vulnerable and victims of human rights violations,” he said.
He was speaking as chief guest at a “national workshop on gender in justice sector” organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Bangladesh Women Judges Association (BWJA) at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka.
“Considering the condition and position of women in society, our justice service provisions should be more women-friendly. The physical environment of the country's courts need to be appropriate for enhancing women's access to justice.
“By promoting a women-friendly court environment, we improve women's access to justice and protect those facing human rights violations,” he said.
Justice Muzammel said the justice sector, both the bench and the bar, and law enforcement agencies are seeing a remarkable and rising trend in the enrollment of women. “We need to ensure a gender-friendly workplace for women.”
The chief justice said an independent, capable and proactive judiciary is indispensable for the protection and advancement of women's rights and gender equality.
“Despite substantial advancement towards equality and women empowerment, lack of respect for human dignity and tolerance, the rise of extremist ideologies and its consequences continue to haunt women around the globe.
“Acts of discrimination, harassment and violence targeting women continue to be waged and the perpetrators of gender-based violence and sexual harassment sometimes go unpunished,” he said.
He, however, said Bangladesh's judiciary firmly believes in and works for advancing gender equality and follows a zero-tolerance policy against violence on and harassment of women by state employees.
The judiciary is highly sensitised about women's rights and status under international covenants and treaties ratified by Bangladesh and those under its constitution and laws, he added.
There were no women judges in the Bangladesh Supreme Court before 2000. “On May 28, 2000 a woman judge, for the first time, was elevated to the High Court Division. As of today we have six honourable judges in the Supreme Court, including one in the Appellate Division.
“As far as the subordinate judiciary is concerned, the situation is more encouraging. At present there are 244 woman judges and magistrates in the subordinate judiciary,” said the chief justice.
The number of women judges is increasing, the majority of whom are greatly contributing to dispensing quality justice, he said.
“This proves that Bangladesh's judiciary did not compromise on the question of quality while striving to minimise gender imbalance.”
The Supreme Court set up a special committee on judicial reform to improve people's access to justice while focusing on gender. “I am confident of this high profile committee's capacity in working to put the gender issue in justice on the table and move forward to achieve our ultimate goal.
“I, therefore, believe that there is no room for complacency. We still have a long way to go to realise gender equality,” he said.
Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana and Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain of the Appellate Division; Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Naima Haider of the High Court Division; Stefan Priesner, country director of UNDP Bangladesh; its gender expert Sookhee Kwak; Supreme Court lawyers Fawzia Karim Firoze and Shahdeen Malik; and BWJA President Laila Salma Banu also addressed the programme.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments