Access to Justice in Cases of Gender-Based Violence: The Challenging Journey between Judgment and Implementation of Remedies
On November 30, 2023, the Academy of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, in collaboration with the LL.M. Board and ReLeG (Latin American Network of Strategic Gender Litigation), organized a panel titled "Access to Justice in Cases of Gender-Based Violence: The Challenging Journey between Judgment and Implementation of Remedies."
The event took place virtually through the Zoom platform as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, observed from November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to December 10 each year.
Professor Claudia Martin, a Law Professor at WCL and Co-Director of the Academy moderated the panel. Claudia highlighted the activism and struggle of the three panelists and emphasized the importance of their cases before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, stressing the contextualization of the Court’s judgments.
We had the privilege of hosting three distinguished panelists. Norma Aidé Jiménez Osorio, a survivor of sexual torture in Atenco, State of Mexico, represented a collective of women who brought their case to the highest regional human rights body. The IACHR ruled on November 28, 2018, condemning the Mexican State in the Case of Women Victims of Sexual Torture in Atenco vs. Mexico.
Linda Loaiza López Soto, an attorney specializing in International Human Rights Law and author of the book "Double Crime," where she narrates her own victimization, was also a panelist. Linda is the first woman to bring a case of gender-based violence against Venezuela before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The judgment in the case, known as López Soto at. al. vs. Venezuela, dates back to September 26, 2018, resulting in a historic decision that recognized the structural situation of violence against women, including the justice system.
Finally, Rosa Franco, an attorney and mother of María Isabel Véliz Franco, a victim of sexual violence, participated. Rosa succeeded in presenting her daughter's case at the regional level. The Court issued the judgment on May 19, 2014, under the name Case Véliz Franco at. al. vs. Guatemala.
All panelists spoke about progress, achievements, and challenges in their countries and the region. In particular, Rosa Franco emphasized her testimony, recounting the experience of facing the forced disappearance of her daughter and the obstacles she had to overcome in a justice system that did not respond to her demands for justice and truth clarification.
Linda Loaiza described how the implementation of her judgment had been completely ignored by the Venezuelan state, with most of the remedies ordered by the Inter-American Court still pending. Linda also offered a technical approach to the denial of justice she experienced.
Norma Jiménez underscored the importance of survivors of sexual violence not being understood as a constant need for re-victimization, forcing them to relive the trauma, but rather as a continuous effort to demand justice for the commitments and structural changes that states must implement to ensure that what happened in their cases does not happen again.
It was concluded that much remains to be done, but significant advances have been made in Mexico and Guatemala, such as the creation of gender protocols in prosecutors' offices and training for state personnel.
Students Beatriz Martínez Ríos and Carmen Ponce Morena, members of the LL.M. Board, were the organizers and captioners of the event. Gabriel Ortiz, Academy’s Coordinator of the Inter-American Moot Court Competition, assisted in the event's development.
If you wish to learn more, please watch the event recording: https://bit.ly/3GyWIhR.