Training workshop on gender mainstreaming in the criminal justice sector

Doreen Namyalo Kyazze, PRI Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, presenting at training workshop.

On the 17-19th July, a training workshop on gender mainstreaming was held with officers of the Directorate of Public Prosectution at the Rosewood Hotel, Mbale in Uganda. The aim of the workshop was to improve access to justice for women in the criminal justice sector.

Topics discussed included the role of state prosecutors in mainstreaming gender; practical challenges faced by female offenders in accessing justice; mental health; and international standards on gender mainstreaming.

“When a woman leaves prison, it’s like she is carrying a sign on her forehead of ‘offender’.”

Ms Samalie Wakooli, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the Department of Gender, Children and Sexual Offences, stated that “prosecutors need to appreciate the different circumstances for which women and men offend”. Remarking further on the gendered double standard, she noted that “when a woman leaves prison, it’s like she is carrying a sign on her forehead of ‘offender’ but if a man leaves prison after several years, society will say ‘he has changed'”.

The workshop was held as part of PRI’s FATE (From Access to Equality) project, funded by the Dutch embassy.

Photo taken with officers of the Directorate of public prosecution during a training workshop on gender mainstreaming in the criminal justice sector.