This document provides an overview of gender responsive training for legal aid service providers. It discusses: 1) The importance of designing gender responsive legal aid programs, policies, and activities that address the different roles, needs, and interests of women, men, girls, and boys. 2) Key aspects of promoting gender equity during training, such as ensuring equal participation and creating a safe space for women. 3) Common forms of gender bias, like discriminatory laws and teaching materials, and the need to challenge arguments against prioritizing gender issues. 4) The importance of achieving gender equality in law to protect human rights and how discriminatory laws still restrict women's freedoms in many places.

1. BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF LASPS ON THE UTILIZATION AND
APPLICATION OF THE TRAINING CURRICULUM FOR LASPS.
A GENDER RESPONSIVE TRAINING
By Jannette Abalo
Consultant PCI

2. Gender Responsive Training
By the end of the module, you will be able to
Design a gender responsive justice program
Identify discriminatory laws, policies and practices

3. Gender Responsive Justice Program
WHAT IS IT?
A gender responsive activity or policy addresses gender-based barriers, respects
gender differences,
Enables structures, systems, and methodologies to be sensitive to gender,
Ensures gender equality is promoted and evolves to close gaps and eradicate
gender-based discrimination.
Group work: How do you address the different situations, roles, needs, and
interests of women, men, girls, and boys in the design and implementation of
legal aid activities, policies, and programs.

4. What Gender Responsive Training
promotes?
 It promotes equity and equality between women, men, girls and boys, in
legal aid.
 It deals with the needs of women, men, girls and boys in particular and
other special populations.
 It guarantees gender friendly facilities, curricula and teaching and
learning processes.
 It socializes women, men, girls and boys in a non-violent environment.
It addresses issues of sexual and reproductive health and promotes

5. Promoting Gender Responsive Training
Ensuring equal treatment and interaction of all regardless of
gender or ability.
Ensuring positive dialogue between women, men, girls and
boys.
Where necessary create a safe space for women to participate
in the training including understanding gender roles [ e.g. are
there social norms that do not allow women to talk, be
assertive, to contradict men?
Training women, men, girls and boys on legal aid services.

6. Gender Lenses During Training
 How are the curricula developed?
 Are women and men involved in determining what subjects will be
covered?
 Are women and men involved in drafting the contents?
 What is the content of the curricula?
 Is the language gender-sensitive?

7. DURING TRAINING…
 Are both men and women encouraged to speak-up during training? How often do men speak
up? How often do women?
 What is done to help women participants overcome their shyness/intimidation in groups also
containing men?
 Who receives the training?
 What proportion of the trainees are men? Women?
 Are the training sessions held at times and places convenient for both women and men
participants, given gender-based constraints, such as restricted mobility, lack of access to
money for transport, and household/childcare responsibilities?
 Is there an equity plan to ensure that all employees get access to training?
 Is this plan enforced?

8. Gender
Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, responsibilities, and identities
for girls, boys, women, and men and how these are valued in society. They are
culture-specific and they change over time. Gender identities define how girls,
boys, women, and men are expected to think and act. (WHO, 2011)

9. Awareness Of Gender Bias In Training
 Culture – Some cultures perceive women and girls as secondary to men and
boys and this affects the roles and responsibilities that are assigned to them.
Culture is not static- How have communities changed their cultural
practices based on gender impacts
For example some cultures do not encourage girls to pursue an Training in
legal aid because they perceive the role of girls and women as limited to
marriage, motherhood and the domestic realm, and in such roles a ‘formal
Training’ is not necessary.

10. Awareness Of Gender Bias In Training
 Teaching and learning methods- some textbooks are gender
biased, in terms of pictures and language used.
 For example lawyers are always represented as male figures.
This implies the wrong message that only boys can become
lawyers.

11. Common Arguments We Need To
Challenge
‘Gender is not as important as other issues but’’
“Addressing gender equality is something the gender experts should do.”
“Gender issues are too sensitive here, I can’t change the culture.”
“Gender equality is an idea from outside—it doesn’t apply to us.

12. Gender Inequality
Gender inequality is an affront to human dignity, a challenge to the rule
of law and an obstacle to development.
Denying women, men, girls and boys of their rightful place in society – by
depriving them of equal access to education, justice or livelihood – means
robbing societies of the talent and potential of half of their members.
Although gender equality is increasingly a feature of national
Constitutions, the law often continues to restrict women's rights and
freedoms, dictates their submission to male relatives, or limits what they
may own or inherit.
https://www.idlo.int/Accelerating-action-for-gender-equality

13. Discriminatory Laws
Globally, over 2.5 billion women and girls are affected by
discriminatory laws.
Legal gaps have dire implications to women’s human
rights – marriage and family life, employment, health,
education, sexual and reproductive rights, land and
natural resources, political participation, among others

14. Gender Responsive Laws…
The importance of gender equality in law and in practice has been laid
out and reaffirmed through;
Various global commitments – from the Convention of the Elimination
of all Forms of Discrimination against Women
 The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action to the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development and
 Our Common Agenda,
National constitutions of many countries around the world.

15. Accelerating Action For Gender
Equality
Equality in law is crucial to gender equality.
Laws can protect, promote and fulfil the human rights of women
and girls and signal that discrimination is not acceptable or
tolerated.
Brainstorming: How can you integrate gender in legal aid? How
important is it?
When a gender is not integrated, does it have a negative impact on
legal aid practice?

16. GROUP WORK
Group one: Does your organisation have gender related programing or policies
Did you attend a training on gender equality? If yes, on what topics?
Have you worked on gender issues before? If yes, on what areas?
All: What gender issues affect legal aid services?
What gender issues are most important when designing legal aid trainings?
Group two: How do we bring about the end of discriminatory laws?
What challenges persist in expanding political will and supporting gender-
responsive legal reform?
All: What are promising approaches and practical entry points in achieving
gender equality in law and practice?

17. CALL TO ACTION
Without the protection of the law, women, men, girls and boys,
especially those facing intersectional discrimination, continue to be
left behind in accessing and enjoying their human rights, especially in
challenging contexts, such as during conflict and fragility, Covid-19
and other pandemics, and climate disasters.