In Africa we are working to provide ongoing support and assistance to lawyers conducting strategic litigation in women’s human rights. INTERIGHTS held a strategic litigation seminar in Mombasa, Kenya to build the legal capacity of lawyers litigating in this area.

BACKGROUND: WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA

Recent developments in Africa have begun to create an enabling environment for conducting strategic litigation in women’s human rights. The introduction of new Constitutions which contain expansive provisions on women’s rights, the advent of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa and the expansion of sub-regional courts able to look into human rights violations are just some of the opportunities. Despite this, there is still a huge discrepancy between the number of women’s human rights violations in Africa, and subsequent litigation before domestic and sub-regional courts, regional human rights systems and other international bodies to hold states accountable for their failure to protect women.

In April 2008, INTERIGHTS organised a meeting of experts on women’s human rights from across Africa to identify challenges and opportunities for litigating women’s human rights in Africa. The meeting provided an opportunity for INTERIGHTS to enhance our expertise on the regional context for women’s human rights litigation. A key recommendation of the meeting was therefore the need to develop capacity for strategic litigation on women’s human rights in Africa through providing ongoing training, assistance and support.

The meeting, held in Dar es Salaam, recognised that lawyers working on women’s rights in Africa are unable to focus solely on strategic litigation. Many women’s rights organisations are experiencing strategic litigation fatigue, perpetuated by the misunderstanding that strategic litigation and repeat / volume litigation are mutually exclusive. Many lawyers lack the training needed to frame cases as violations of human rights or for strategic litigation.

SEMINAR ON LITIGATING WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA

To strengthen and expand its work on women’s human rights in Africa, INTERIGHTS held a strategic litigation seminar in Mombasa, Kenya. The seminar, organised over four days between 29 April and 2 May 2009 was designed to identify and provide substantive support for cases involving human rights that could be pursued through domestic and international fora.

Participants were sought amongst lawyers with experience of litigating women’s human rights in Africa, who were invited to submit details of at least one case they were litigating which involved fundamental women’s human rights violations. Forty six applications were received and ten participants were invited to present their case for discussion during the seminar. The process ensured that only the most relevant and strategically important cases were selected. The application process also revealed the pervasiveness of issues surrounding property, inheritance and succession rights for women in Africa – the majority of case submitted addressed violations of these rights.

Over the four days ten lawyers presented cases around key thematic areas including violence against women, sexual harassment, divorce, inheritance and succession, bodily integrity and reproductive rights. Each presentation was followed by a discussion of the case, enabling the lawyers to benefit from the insight and experience of fellow participants and INTERIGHTS staff.

“The event will be extremely useful to my work. I will apply the knowledge learnt to my program and disseminate the information to other colleagues”

INTERIGHTS lawyers also presented information on strategic litigation, litigation before the African Commission and methods of redress beyond domestic courts. The aim was to enhance participants understanding of strategic litigation before domestic courts, regional and international bodies, and to encourage recognition of women’s human rights violations within everyday situations.

“The meeting demystified the application of international law and the procedure for litigating cases in regional courts”