Breaking Barriers: Institute for African Women in Law Launches Bold Gender Equality in Law Campaign (GELC) ACCRA, Ghana: The Institute for African Women in Law (IAWL), a non-profit organization committed to globally empowering African women in law, has launched its continent-wide Gender Equality in Law Campaign (GELC). The campaign aims to raise awareness about the challenges women face in the legal profession.  The GEL Campaign aims to advocate for institutional and policy reforms to create a more inclusive work environment. This is part of the second phase of IAWL’s Women’s Excellen ..read more

Adv. Kemi Behari MALE Ally and Board Member Institute for African Women in Law In the legal profession, we spend the majority of our time each day in the workplace. We interact with colleagues and stakeholders focusing on official functions. Rarely do we consider our own safety and the impact of our actions and inactions on others,  and our own safety. Most incidents of bullying and harassment are predominantly targeted against women judicial officers and lawyers and are very often from male colleagues and managers. My perspective is supported by regular national and international report ..read more

David J. Sachar, J.D. Director, Center for Judicial Ethics – National Center for State Courts  Equality is a cornerstone principle for a free society. Without gender equality, the legal profession is not living up to that ideal. The legal system should be a leader – a beacon of progress for equal rights. If the public can see a lack of gender equality in the courts and legal profession, why would they believe that the system is fair? Gender equality is a necessary goal for the legal profession.   First, we must address the fact that gender equality is a major issue and how it becam ..read more

Dr. Willy Mutunga Former Chief Justice, Kenya Patriarchy has been a negative factor in gender relations. It has perpetrated false masculinity and perpetuated economically and socially costly discriminatory tendencies and exclusionary practices. Whereas the feminist movement has made considerable progress in expanding our knowledge of the retrogressive dynamics and effects of our patriarchal gender system, a lot still needs to be done to disrupt the patriarchal order. Women's representation in high decision-making positions is still comparatively lower; the IAWL reports on women in law and lea ..read more

A Digest of IAWL’s 2024 International Women’s Day Event For the 2024 International Women’s Day, the Institute for African Women in Law (IAWL) organized a professional development ,,event on gender equality in the workplace. The event, held on March 7, 2023, was in collaboration with the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice.  IAWL is set to launch a Gender Equality in Law Campaign (GELC) in April of this year. As such, the collaborative event was designed to align with the campaign and theme for International Women’s Day.  Two of the focus areas for IAWL’s GELC - equi ..read more

On February 29, 2024, lawyers in Kenya will vote for the 51st President of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK). Is Kenya ready for another woman to lead the bar? Will this LSK election break the cycle of women as Deputy Chairpersons of the LSK, just as Chief Justice Martha Koome’s appointment broke the cycle of women as Deputy Chief Justices? Will Kenya ,,get it right this time with the election of a woman leader? For this election, the three women in the race are: Faith Odhiambo Mony, Carolyne Kamende Daudi and Harriet Njoki Mboce, HSC. In 2001, Ambassador Raychelle Omamo made hist ..read more

THE HANDBOOK ON CIVIL PROCEDURE & PRACTICE IN GHANA: Rules, Cases, Commentary & Precedents. By: Francisca Serwaa Boateng The book, The Handbook on Civil Procedure & Practice in Ghana, was launched on Friday, 8th September 2023, at FSB Law Consult’s premises in Accra. It covers 42 chapters and spans across 1,197 pages. It is the first comprehensive book on Civil Procedure ever written by a female lawyer in Ghana. The book comes complete with a discussion of the rules of civil procedure in the trial Circuit and High Courts (and, to some extent, the appellate courts), as well as deci ..read more

IAWL Celebrates International Day of Peace 2023 What does peace mean to you? Amid the crisis some parts of the African continent are facing, is peace simply the absence of war or is there more to peace than we have always thought? The United Nations sets aside the 21st of September as Peace Day each year to reinforce the importance of peace in our world and observe 24 hours of cease-fire and non-violence. The theme for this year is “Actions for Peace: Our Ambition for the Global Goals”. This theme calls on us to rise up and contribute towards creating a world of peace, free from conflict, ine ..read more

PRESS STATEMENT 30th August 2023 WASHINGTON, DC: On Monday, 14 August 2023, female students of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar in Nigeria, with some of their male colleagues, protested against gender-based exploitation and harassment in their department by their Dean of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon. Professor Ndifon was previously accused of sexual misconduct in 2015. The school authority subsequently suspended him after he was alleged to have raped a 20-year-old law student in his office. Eventually, his suspension was lifted under mysterious circumstances. In other African univer ..read more

by Linda Kasonde My book, ‘Women, Resilience, and the Will to Lead’, tells the story of my journey into leadership, from my upbringing as a child to a chance encounter with a classmate who made me realize that just putting oneself forward is half the battle in becoming a leader. My story is intertwined with political events in Zambia from 2011 to 2021, which saw my country on the path to democratic decline, and the role I played to try and restore Zambia’s democracy. It touches on difficult topics such as losing a child, mental health, and the sexism faced by women in leadership. It ends with ..read more