Conference of the Council of Europe
Gender Equality Commission

Kursaal Congress Centre, Kornhausstrasse 3
Bern, Switzerland
15-16 October 2015

Women’s limited access to justice is a complex social phenomenon that combines a series of inequalities at the legal, institutional, structural, socio-economic and cultural levels. Ensuring access to justice implies providing women of all backgrounds with access to fair, affordable, accountable and effective remedies so that women and men can enjoy both equal rights and equal chances to assert them. The concept of access to justice covers contact with, entry to and use of the legal system. It is more than simply ensuring the efficiency of justice systems. It is about ensuring the sensitivity and responsiveness of such systems to the needs and realities of women, as well as empowering them throughout the justice chain. Reducing the impact of obstacles faced by women not only facilitates greater accessibility, but is also an essential step towards achieving substantive gender equality.

This Conference is the third in a series of three events on women’s access to justice organised by the Gender Equality Commission of the Council of Europe. The first event, in December 2013, focused on the access to justice of women victims of violence. The second event, in June 2014, focused on the gaps in research and data regarding women’s access to justice. The third event will take account the results of the first two meetings and will focus on the measures needed to address persistent barriers to women’s equal access to justice, including through the work of member states, international and regional organisations, as well and non-governmental organisations.

Presentations and Speeches

In the language of their delivery

 Alain Berset, Head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs, Switzerland - Opening remarks 

Snežana Samardžić-Marković, Director General of Democracy, Council of Europe - Opening remarks

Francois Tulkens, Member of the Scientific Committee of the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency, former judge and vice-president of the European Court of Human Rights - Presentation

François Paychère, President of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) Working Group on quality of justice, Council of Europe - Presentation

Helen Keller, Judge, European Court of Human Rights - Presentation - Speech

Feride Acar, Professor of Political Science and Gender and Women’s Studies, and President of GREVIO - Presentation

 Patricia Schulz, Professor of Political Science and Gender and Women’s Studies, and President of GREVIO - Presentation

 Veronica Birga, Chief, Women's Human Rights and Gender Section, Research and Right to Development Division, Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights - Presentation

 Judith Wyttenbach, Professor of Swiss constitutional and public international law, Faculty of Law of University of Bern, Vice-President of the Swiss Federal Commission for Women’s Issues Rights - Presentation

 Rian Ederveen, Stichting LOS, membre de PICUM, Pays-Bas - Presentation - Speech

 Eva Fehringer,Deputy Head, International and European Social Policy and Labour Law, Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, Austria - Presentation

 Liesbet Stevens, Deputy Director of the Institute for Equality of Women and Men, Belgium - Presentation

 Ioanna Pilavaki, Research Fellow at the Gender Equality Committee in Employment and Vocational Training, Cyprus - Presentation

 Marta Silva, Head of Gender-based and Domestic Violence Unit, Portugal - Presentation

 Aner Voloder, Lawyer, Office for Gender Equality of the Municipality of Zurich, Switzerland - Presentation

 Teresa Marchiori, Consultant, UN Women - Presentation

 Gabriela Pastorino, Head, Training Unit, Women’s Office of the Supreme Court, Argentina, Representative of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) - Presentation - Speech

 Jessica Machacova, Project Officer, European Network of Equality Bodies (Equinet) - Presentation

 Genoveva Tisheva, Director, Women’s Human Rights Training Institute, Bulgaria - Presentation

 Tania Sordo Ruz, Staff Attorney, Women’s Link Worldwide, Spain - Speech

 Doina Ioana Străisteanu, General Rapporteur - Conclusions and Recommendations