Online course on Women’s Access to Justice

The Council of Europe (CoE) is pleased to be an active member of the SYNERGY Network against Gender-based and Domestic Violence, and has followed with great interest the work undertaken in SYNERGY meetings and conferences in Oslo, Bucharest and Prague. With the aim of supporting the continued collective learning of SYNERGY members, the Council of Europe would like to offer SYNERGY, for the first time, an online course on Access to Justice for Women.

This tutored, online regional course for SYNERGY members will provide a comprehensive overview of international and European women’s rights and gender equality standards, case-law and promising practices. It is the first course on the European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) platform to provide a single resource on gender equality and justice, covering the extensive CoE standards, promising practices and other international instruments on the matter.

The CoE HELP course on Access to Justice for Women was developed to support governmental and non-governmental actors to understand barriers for women to access justice and apply a gender sensitive lens in their daily work. The course has been designed to be useful for legal professionals including government officials, court staff, and law enforcement, and is also applicable and beneficial for social workers, National Human Rights Institutions (Ombudsperson/Offices), civil society organisations, and the media.

The online tutored course takes approximately 20 hours to complete over 10 weeks, and consists of the following six substantive modules:

• Introduction to the concept of access to justice
• International and European legal framework
• Discrimination on the grounds of sex and gender
• Avoiding gender stereotyping
• Practical guidance to improve women’s access to justice
• Gender sensitive approach to the practice of law

The topics are explored by using interactive screens, case studies, knowledge tests and reflective exercises. The course will be held in English.

The online regional course will be facilitated by a specially trained HELP Tutor who will guide SYNERGY members in their interaction with the platform, suggest additional resources and exercises and moderate online discussions. An online kickoff meeting will gather the HELP tutor, SYNERGY members and CoE staff to gain familiarity with the platform as well as define the learning outcomes of the course. A certificate of completion will be provided at the end of the course.

This tutored online course is sponsored by the Council of Europe, and is being offered to CoE member states who also function as members of the SYNERGY EEA/Norway Grants Network against Gender-based and Domestic Violence.