By Laura Molloy
Despite women’s increased engagement in public life, they remain significantly underrepresented in decision-making positions. In fact, a relatively small number of women have been, or are part of, the judiciary, particularly at senior judicial leadership positions.
Women’s representation in the judiciary is key to ensuring that courts represent their citizens, address their concerns and hand down sound judgments. By their mere presence, women judges enhance the legitimacy of courts, sending a powerful signal that they are open and accessible to those who seek recourse to justice.
The entry of women judges into spaces from which they had historically been excluded has been a positive step in the direction of judiciaries being perceived as being more transparent, inclusive, and representative of the people whose lives they affect.
International Day of Women Judges is held every March 10th to recognise the contributions of women judges worldwide and is part of a global effort to ensure gender equality and to address gender-related judicial integrity issues. It aims to incorporate women’s representation issues into judicial systems
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