Gender Violence: Legal Challenges in International Contexts

By FBA International Law Section Secretary Linda Strite Murnane, Associate Justice on the High Court of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Federal Bar Association International Law Section Chair, Judy Wood, and past section chair Federica Dell’Orto, participated in an international webinar on July 9, 2024 titled “Gender Violence: Legal Challenges in International Contexts.”

The Program, which was co-sponsored by the New York State Bar Association, the Milan Bar Association, and the FBA International Law Section, was organized by FBA member Federica Dell’ Orto.  The program featured speakers from both Italy and the U.S. Among the speakers were Fabio Roia, Judge, President of the Court of Milan; Giuseppe Ondei, Judge, President of the Court of Appeal of Milan; Constance De La Vega, Law Professor at the University of San Francisco; and Rula Jebreal, Foreign Policy Analyst, Journalist, Writer, and Screenwriter.

The speakers discussed such critical issues as standardizing gender-based violence norms in international courts and establishing a consistent basis to monitor compliance with the Convention to End Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as tools by which to combat the increasing trend of violence based on gender throughout the globe.

Other speakers addressed the definition of gender-based violence in international law, and some speakers addressed specific legislative efforts, particularly in Italian courts, to tackle this growing problem.

Chair Wood spoke about her specific experiences in representing individuals, in particular women, who are victims of gender-based violence.  Chair Wood has spoken often about the challenges faced by these litigants, whose stories are so horrific in some cases that they are dismissed as unbelievable.  Additionally, a lack of understanding by hearing officials often results in a less-than-optimal outcome due to the behavior patterns often seen in victims of gender-based violence.

Chair Wood also discussed the intersectionality of asylum claims, which often include the need to overcome stereotypes and misinformation not only about the testimony of victims of gender-based violence but may also be complicated by the same misinformation relating to race, religion and gender.

Among the tools presented by speakers from the Milan Bar, they shared that in cases of gender-based violence, under Legislative Decree 149/2022:

• If allegations of domestic or gender violence have been presented, the parties do not need to appear personally before the Judge under article 473-bis.21 of the civil procedure code.
• If the parties decide to appear in front of the Court, the Judge will not try to reach an agreement, and the parties will be scheduled to appear at different times
• The possibility to resort to family mediation is excluded in matters where allegations of domestic or gender violence have been presented
• The judge can autonomously order the acquisition of evidence for the protection of victims of violence, regardless of the limits established by the civil code, with respect to the adversarial process and the right of rebuttal.

Speakers also addressed additional vital efforts to address gender-based violence, by tackling issues like child marriage and female genital mutilation and discussed the establishment of Anti-Violence Centers to assist in these efforts.

Among the international agreements and conventions discussed in the presentations, there was information relating to CEDAW, the Istanbul Convention (Article 12), the International Labor Convention No. 190 of 2019, the Directive of the European Parliament of April 25, 2024, and references to national legislation in Italy.

While each of the presenters was an expert and provided relevant and valuable information, the presentation of Consolee Nishimwe, a survivor of the Rwanda Genocide, addressing technology-based gender-violence against women, provided specific insight to the ways in which the challenges of gender-based violence are being made worse with the use of technology.

The program was presented on-line and materials presented in the program are available through the New York State Bar Association’s website.

Our thanks to Chair Wood and Federica Dell’Orto for their involvement in this important presentation.