Skopje, 7 March 2025 (MIA) - The issues of gender equality, violence in all forms and femicide as the most flagrant violation of the right to life and the practice and standards of the European Court of Human Rights and the response of the judiciary in the countries of the region to these problems will be the focal point of the third Gender Equality and the Western Balkans Judicial Forum, held Friday in Skopje ahead of the observance of the 75th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has established a developed court practice for protection of gender equality, protection from violence in all forms and from femicide, being the most flagrant violation of the right to life, said judge Ivana Jelić, Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights. “In our jurisprudence, we have developed important principles that the countries, signatory parties, should apply. Their application lies primarily in the national courts and the whole society should understand these standards because they are the result of the joint value we are sharing,” she told a news conference ahead of the event.

The ECHR’s primary task, she added, is to interpret and implement the European Convention on Human Rights, which requires all signatory countries to have their legal frameworks and to have established operational and preventative procedures for effective investigations into such cases.

“Even though we’re talking all the time about gender equality and gender-based violence, in fact, we’re talking about general human rights, and this refers to both sexes – men and women – and to both genders, even though in the region, the accent is more on protection of women,” the ECHR judge said.

The judiciary isn’t the only response to gender violence, yet, it plays a key role because it gives the victims of gender violence the opportunity to seek and get justice, said Biljana Braithwaite, Western Balkans Programme Director at the AIRE Centre's Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme, one of the organizers of today’s forum.

According to her, gender-based violence is not a matter of culture, it is considered a criminal offense. “We’ll be discussing this topic and we’ll see what we have accomplished with all the participants in this so-called eco-system, including social workers, the police, prosecutors and judges. On the eve of March 8, we have to call for an emphasis on this matter,” said Braithwaite underlying the role of the media in raising public awareness on eliminating gender-based violence.

Daniel Fieller, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Skopje, said the event sends a strong message that justice must be served and justice must serve all. Gender equality is not only a social issue, it is also a legal issue, an issue of human rights protection, of the rule of law, according to him.

We’re all aware, he said, that laws are not enough and progress is measures not only through legislation, but also in reality, through the ways given to women to seek and get justice without having any fear.

Friday’s forum is organized by the AIRE Center in partnership with the European Court of Human Rights and the British Embassy to North Macedonia. It brings together local and international judges, prosecutors, government officials and legal experts to discuss the role of the judiciary in tackling gender-based violence and femicide.

Photo/video: MIA