Engendering Justice - from Policy to Practice - The Fawcett Society

Chapter Five:Justice Needs WomenWomen as Workers in the Criminal Justice SystemWe want progress, real progress that we can believe in.Any progress also has to be maintained. The flow maystart as a trickle, but it must become a regular stream. 188(Lady Justice Arden DBE, Address to the Association ofWomen Barristers, 3 June 2008)Gender exists as one of the main cleavages of inequalitywithin all societies. Yet, gender is an inequality that is so‘normal’ that it often goes unexamined. The structuralinequalities that exist between men and women manifestthemselves in relationships of power which result in womenhaving less access to, or control over, resources and lessopportunity to participate in decision making processes.The criminal justice system is no different; with womenmaking inroads at the lower levels of each of the criminaljustice agencies but with the higher positions remainingstrongly male dominated. This dominance of men in thecriminal justice arena leads to men defining ‘the rules of thegame’ so that responses to female victims and offenderswithin the justice system and the law itself remain based onmale norms and values.The GED was seen as having the potential to transformthe criminal justice sector for staff working within thesystem, with employers across the criminal justice systemrequired to undertake initiatives to encourage women, andin particular ethnic minority women, to move into areas ofthe system where women are underrepresented. However,the Commission has found results disappointing to date.There has been some good policy development, such asthe development of gender equality schemes. However,in practice, the numbers of women within criminal justiceagencies in senior positions have only marginally improvedover the last five years.Therefore, while there is growing acknowledgement thatfemale victims and female offenders require a justicesystem that is responsive to their distinct needs, there isless recognition that justice needs women, with a greaterrepresentation of women, particularly in high level positions,crucial to make a gender responsive criminal justice systema reality. The idea of the involvement of women as central tojustice is not a new concept. Interestingly, representationsof justice in the western tradition have typically taken thefemale form. Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the“Justice Ideal” has been depicted as a woman, usuallydraped in flowing robes, with a sword in her right hand andscales in her left and sometimes wearing a blindfold. 189 The“idea” of justice has come to be identified with this image.There has been much debate as to why the participationof women in the justice sector and the promotion of therights, skills and experiences of women is important. Wedo not propose to explore these arguments in depth butwe do wish to highlight three central premises. Firstly,women make up half of the population of the UnitedKingdom and as such should be fairly represented withinhigh level decision-making roles within the justice sector.This is stipulated in Article 7 of CEDAW which provides forthe elimination of discrimination against women in publicand political life and in both CEDAW and the InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights which statesthat women shall enjoy “human rights and fundamentalfreedoms on a basis of equality with men.” 190 As onefemale judge told the Commission:I think it is important for women to be seen in all areasof the criminal justice system. Until this is true the systemis not reflective of society. I do not believe that there is adifference in the administration of justice because thereare women doing the job but that is an argument forwomen to do the job not to the contrary. 191Secondly, justice needs to be responsive and accessibleto all citizens, irrespective of gender. The suspects,defendants, offenders, victims and witnesses interactingwith the criminal justice system, are all of diversebackgrounds –across gender, class, race, religion, disabilityand sexual orientation. It is therefore important that thesenior staff within criminal justice agencies are equallydiverse so that the system is perceived as relevant andresponsive. The increased participation of women withinthe criminal justice sphere is also important in breakingdown gender roles more generally, as the increasedvisibility of women in senior positions and the emergence offemale role models can re-shape gender role expectationsand may also contribute to a decrease in gender-basedviolence.Thirdly, women’s experiences of the justice system andof everyday life, frequently differ from those of men. Theparticipation of women within criminal justice agencies istherefore crucial in order to ensure understanding of thePage 66