In this International Day of Women Judges, Medel recalls its Santiago Statement of November 2019: we need measures to eradicate structural and systemic inequalities that affect the administration of justice. You can read the Santiago Statement below:
Today, in the European sphere, we have the necessary regulatory framework in place to implement gender equality policies. This is a framework that supports the creation of plans and bodies for equality, driven by networks of women jurists whose purposes go beyond the legal domain and are transmitted to society at large.
This is the moment in which MEDEL, as a progressive association, has to undertake to promote measures aimed at eradicating the structural and systemic inequalities that affect the administrations of justice, and, as responsible parties in the design of legal systems, for working towards changes in aspects such as their operational and organizational standards; working conditions and responsibilities; promotion in professional careers; the recognition of merits; and legal language.
Judges and Prosecutors have the responsibility to administer justice in the knowledge that there are still inequalities between men and women in society and that stereotypes must be broken also within the judiciary. We have the responsibility of evaluating the positive impact that any type of professional intervention may have on women.
The time is now; we are responsible for the legacy we will leave for the coming generations, and we cannot and must not postpone this duty.