The Council of Europe HELP online course on Access to justice for women was launched in an online event gathering judges and prosecutors from South East Europe on 9 June 2021. The regional launch was organised by Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) Programme of the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and GIZ Open Regional Funds for South East Europe -  Legal reform.

The participants got familiarised with the HELP Programme and its online platform that includes a catalogue of 38 courses on human rights as well as the newly published Guidelines on Gender-sensitive approach for adjudicating gender-based violence cases.

The group was welcomed by Amer Kapetanovic, Head of Political Department, Regional Cooperation Council, Eva Pastrana, Head of HELP Unit, Council of Europe and Jana Schuhmann, Team Leader of GIZ ORF Legal Reform Project.

The tutors, Anca Ciupa and Jelena Ristik will be guiding the participants through the course in the following 7 weeks. They offered details on the implementation of the course and presented the materials prepared. The participants also had the possibility to share their expectations from the course and exchange with their colleagues.

Following the online launch event, all participants will be enrolled on the course page and will go through the online course. Those among them who successfully complete it will receive HELP certificates issued by the Council of Europe and the Regional Cooperation Council.

The HELP online course on Access to justice for women provides a comprehensive overview of International and European women’s rights and gender equality standards, case-law and good practices. It is the first HELP course to provide a single resource on gender equality and justice covering the extensive Council of Europe standards, monitoring reports and soft-law instruments on the matter.

The course consists of six substantive modules addressing the concept of access to justice, international and European framework, discrimination on the grounds of sex and gender, gender stereotyping, practical guidance to improve access to justice, gender sensitive approach to the practice of law.

The HELP online course on Access to justice for women is also available in a self-learning format on the HELP e-learning platform to any legal professional interested in the topic. It can be followed in English and French as well as Bosnian, Greek, Macedonian and Ukrainian. Those who complete it in self-learning mode can obtain an electronic ‘Statement of accomplishment’.

This course has been produced as part of a project co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe in the framework of the Partnership for Good Governance.