Back Regional launch in Eastern Partnership countries for HELP course on Women's Access to Justice

The Council of Europe and its member states have made specific commitments to improve women’s access to justice and prevent and combat violence against women. The role of justice system professionals in ensuring and strengthening women’s access to justice is essential in achieving substantive equality and guaranteeing equal rights to all in the society.

During the live streamed event of 8 June 2021, legal training institutes for judges and prosecutors from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, came together with legal practitioners, non-governmental organisations and international organisations for the regional launch of the Council of Europe Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) course on Access to Justice for Women.

The launch event, with more than 130 participants, featured a keynote speech by Dr Shazia Choudhry, Professor of Law at Queen Mary University of London, on why women’s access to justice is a relevant and timely topic in nowadays societies with an emphasis on the role legal professionals play on ensuring not only that procedural aspects of the justice act are respected and observed but that substantively, rights are protected without discrimination and at the highest level of quality standards for justice system and its components.

Six national tutored courses on Access to Justice for Women will be implemented in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, reaching over 100 judges and prosecutors who will be better equipped to deliver justice to everyone in their societies in line with Council of Europe gender equality standards.

This regional launch is organised in the framework of the project “Women’s Access to Justice : delivering on the Istanbul Convention and other European gender equality standards”, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in their Partnership for Good Governance II.

 Access the Council of Europe HELP online platform to take the free course on Access to Justice for Women

Online 8 June 2021
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Strasbourg, France Strasbourg, 1-2 July 2024
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Addressing hate speech and hate crime: regional gathering of the network of Equality Bodies from the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership Region

A two-day workshop on addressing hate speech and hate crime took place at the premises of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, involving Equality bodies from the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership regions.  The event supported by the EU and Council of Europe, gathered 50 representatives from both regions who discussed and exchanged on the best practices, measures and common challenges when addressing hate speech and hate crime. Through monitoring and reporting, policy advocacy, raising awareness and supporting victims equality bodies play a fundamental role in protecting human rights and ensuring that all individuals are treated equally.

In her opening remarks, Angela Longo, Head of Anti-discrimination Co-operation Unit, Council of Europe, underlined the significant progress in engaging with Equality Bodies through this network, regularly exchanging best practices and addressing the challenges of hatred and intolerance in societies. She highlighted that this new chapter of discussion delves into the grey area between hate speech and hate crime, addressing issues of incitement and biases,

Representatives from Equality Bodies had the opportunity to discuss and enhance their knowledge on the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers Recommendation to member States on combating hate crime, adopted on 7th May 2024, as well as gain a clearer understanding of EU standards in the field of hate crime. Moreover, participants engaged in exchanges with peers from the Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia (OBERAXE), who shared insights on addressing hate speech in the public discourse. The National Office Against Racial Discrimination (UNAR) in Italy provided practical examples for developing counter-narratives and raising awareness initiatives.

They also explored opportunities to advocate for legislative reform, foster multisectoral co-operation, enhance data collection, and overall improve national mechanisms to counter hate crimes.

This seminar was organised within the action “Promoting equality and combating racism and intolerance in the Western Balkans” and the project “Promoting equality and non-discrimination: towards more resilient and inclusive societies” – co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe  under the joint Programmes “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” and “Partnership for Good Governance”.

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