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NBA to lead gender reforms in justice sector

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John Austin Unachukwu

THE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is set to enforce a sexual harassment and gender policy, its  General Secretary Joyce  Oduah has said.

Oduah said this would aid efforts to reform the justice sector to entrench dignity for women and end discrimination against them in the legal profession.

She spoke at the weekend as a guest on a special Independence Day Programme on House of Justice Radio/TV, Kaduna, which had the theme “Independence & its meaning to the Nigerian female”.

Other guests on the programme,  hosted by Chief Executive Officer of the House of Justice,  Gloria Mabeiam Ballason, were former Dean of Faculty of Law at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and former Uited Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking, Prof. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo; former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu; and Sidikat Bello-Adegboye of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA.

Read Also: House, NBA, NHRC to collaborate on reform

They decried the workplace discrimination, sexual harassment and degrading treatments women lawyers and judges face, stating that freedom from discrimination would not be a reality if the legal profession was just as plagued as the rest of society.

The participants also condemned the practice whereby women judges who deserve to be heads of courts or appointed to superior courts of records were often shoved aside for their male colleagues of lower ranks or who were less qualified.

Odinkalu said independence of the judiciary and the legal profession was nothing except it meant respect for the agency of women and equality, dignity and opportunity for all women.

He noted that this was far from being the reality of women in Nigeria due to degrading and discriminatory acts against them.

Prof Ezeilo observed that Nigeria was “running a relay on one foot” due to its neglect of its women population, noting that Rwanda’s rebuilding effort after the genocide was a sterling example of what is possible when women are allowed to exercise their potential.

Bello-Adegboye highlighted how culture, religion and patriarchy usurp the agency of women, stating that independence was a high threshold and could only be attained with deconstruction of myths and perceptions.

Responding, Oduah, who is NBA’s second woman General Secretary in 60 years, said her leadership of the secretariat of the NBA would ensure a sexual harassment policy was put in place and backed up by adequate training for lawyers as a step towards protecting the rights of women.

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