Graça Machel calls for units specialized in violence against women and girls in district courts – Watch

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Graça Machel calls for units specialized in violence against women and girls in district courts – Watch

8:28 CAT | 14 Dec 2021

Screen grab: FDC - Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da Comunidade / União Internacional de Juízes de Língua Portuguesa

Social activist and president of the Foundation for Community Development (FDC), Graça Machel, appealed to the administration on justice in Maputo last Thursday (09-12) for the introduction of a section specialized in combating violence against women and girls, so as to speed up the bringing to trial of crimes of this type.

The appeal was to be found in a lecture by Machel entitled: “The performance of the judiciary from the perspective of civil society”.

The lecture, promoted as part of a partnership between the Mozambican Association of Judges (AMJ) and the Foundation for Community Development (FDC), was attended by various Mozambican justice stakeholders, as well as civil society organizations from East Timor, Portugal, Brazil and Angola.

During the lecture, Graça Machel pointed out that Mozambique is on the list of the ten worst countries in the world for premature marriages, that is, forced premature unions, being the second worst on the African continent after Niger. It is alleged that 48% of marriages in Mozambique fall into this category.

The speaker maintained that the appeal aims to forge closer ties between the AMJ, the Mozambican Association of Magistrates of the Public Prosecution Service (AMMMP), the National Forum of Judges of Domestic and Family Violence (FONAMAVID), the police and other justice stakeholders in the country, with a view to better understanding the functioning of the justice system.

“The institutions of the administration of justice are not aware of the difficulties that exist in communities, which is why we want to embrace each other and talk about the challenges of our society. We want to bring the institutions of the administration of justice together and foster empathy between them,” Machel said.

In turn, the president of the AMJ, Carlos Mondlane, said that the judges’ concern was to guarantee access to justice for all, especially children, girls and women in vulnerable situations.

“On the AMJ and AMMMP side, there is a commitment that our associations have to ensure that Mozambican civil society has real access to justice, which is why we do this in symbiosis with FDC,” Mondlane said. “Count on us, Mama Graça, and all the good people who promote human rights. This is just the first of a series of activities that we have and which aim to consolidate our rule of law and social justice.”
“Looking at the reality of the country, it is indeed justified today to create specialized sections of family and minors at the level of district courts so that they can generally and holistically judge disputes of a social nature with a family background,” Mondlane said in conclusion.

For FONAMAVID, Nilza Pene reiterated her organization’s role in training judges in matters related to human rights, with the main focus on children, girls and women in vulnerable situations.

She cited AMJ’s commitment to providing FDC paralegals and collaborating technicians with basic tools on procedures for access to justice.

Among other guests, Mozambique’s ombudsman, Isaque Chande, the representative of the Bar Association (OAM), judges, prosecutors, members of staff of the Ministry of the Interior and members of civil society also attended the lecture.

Watch the video below.

Source: Carta de Moçambique