The obstacles of women representation in the Guatemalan judiciary
The British Embassy organised a Great Talk as part of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
The Law Society of England and Wales, UN Women Guatemala and the law firms Denton’s Muñoz, BLP, Aguilar Castillo Love took part in the discussions.
The purpose of the activity was to encourage the legal profession in Guatemala to take stronger leadership in tackling gender inequalities in the judicial sector.
The discussion began with an introduction to the transforming the future of the legal profession through gender equality in the context of Latin America and Central America by Lizzette R. de Howarth, from the Law Society and Adriana Quiñonez, UN Women country representative.
The second part of the discussion gave Conchita Mazariegos, former president of the Constitutional Court and María Mercedes Castro, in-house lawyer for Chiquita Banana the space to share their experiences, challenges and obstacles in the judiciary.
Finally, Alejandra Colom moderated an exchange around the importance of readdressing gender inequalities in the legal sector among legal academics, legal practitioners, in-house counsels, law firms, and relevant civil society organisations.
During the activity, a medium-term project was presented by the Law Society, which aims to build an evidence-based business case for women in the legal profession.
Barbara Amono-Oceng, Deputy Chief of Mission said:
The UK is working with international partners to ensure that gender equality is a central theme. We are conscious that we cannot build a future without gender equality or without empowering women and girls.