Dear Catherine Klein and other list members, Yes, I agree that we should keep records of the court cases and then, maybe at the end of the year, try to meet and discuss plans of actions or publish a book etc.
Concerning training of judicial officers, many groups working on the issues of domestic violence often come up with that proposal, some say that they have had training workshops with very good results. Unfortunately, I often wonder whether I am living and working on another planet as I do not see such a training program being attended by Mauritian judges and magistrates unless it is organised by academics (especially from abroad). They will attend such meetings as 'experts', listen then go back, still very sure of their alleged knowledge. The crux of the problem is the power of judges and magistrates; this power can hardly be challenged, at least not in my country. All the judicial officers, the police, probation officers, court officials, magistrates and judges will always give their opinion on violence against women even if they have never read a single serious article/ paper/book on the subject. They rely on the inherent power of their functions. I have neither the time nor the desire to run courses for them. I am more interested in working with women and trying to work with other women's organisations or academics regionally and internationally to find ways and means to make the issue become unacceptable. Domestic violence cannot be condoned, there can be no justification to domestic violence, we must build up a zero-tolerance culture. How do we do it? How do we change the rules and practice from 'outside'. What about mainstreaming of violence against women and children when other issues, e.g health, economic development, the environment, labour issues etc are being discussed? How do we put the issue on the agenda of other international organisations/fora e.g WHO, World Economic Summit, International Office etc. How do we move forward in a more positive, 'aggressive' manner rather than be always (almost) on the defensive and trying to meet the 'other' on his terrain - trying to change the self-important judges and magistrates may take us centuries. All this sounds pessimistic - I, of course, despair when I am face to face with these pundits and it happens almost everyday as I am a lawyer. What do other women think of the problem? Rada Gungaloo ***End-violence is sponsored by UNIFEM and receives generous support from ICAP*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe end-violence OR type: unsubscribe end-violence Archives of previous End-violence messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/end-violence/hypermail/
