Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-Publications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG

V
WOMEN’S ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE 123
“Pursuit of the goal of substantive equality… calls for an
effective strategy aimed at overcoming underrepresentation of
women and a redistribution of resources and power between
men and women”. 335
“Equality of results is the logical corollary of de facto or
substantive equality. These results may be quantitative and/or
qualitative in nature; that is, women enjoying their rights in
various fields in fairly equal numbers with men, enjoying the
same income levels, equality in decision-making and political
influence, and women enjoying freedom from violence.” 336
Article 5: Gender stereotyping should not undermine the
rule of law 337
Article 5 of the CEDAW Convention requires that States
eradicate gender stereotyping. It requires that “States parties
shall take all appropriate measures:
“(a) To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of
men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of
prejudices and customary and all other practices which are
based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either
of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women;
335
CEDAW General Recommendation No 25, above note 330,
paragraph 8.
336
Ibid, paragraph 9.
337
Regarding gender stereotyping and access to justice, see: Simone
Cusack, “Eliminating judicial stereotyping: equal access to justice for
women in gender-based violence cases”, submitted to the Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights (9 June 2014), available at URL
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WRGS/Pages/GenderStereot
ypes.aspx; and International Commission of Jurists, “Sexual Violence
against Women: Eradicating harmful gender stereotypes and
assumptions in law and practice” (April 2015), available at URL
http://www.icj.org/icj-addresses-harmful-gender-stereotypes-andassumptions/.