International standards on gender-based violence: LWBC organizes an expert forum for the Salvadoran legal community

Lawyers Without Borders Canada (LWBC) organized an expert forum on international standards on gender-based violence for the Salvadoran legal community: justice actors, lawyers, students and leaders of civil society organizations.

The forum, which took place online on November 9, 2021, brought together more than 75 participants.

Canada’s Ambassador to El Salvador, Karolina Guay, was present to welcome participants. The forum is organized as part of the project “Better Access to Justice for Victims of Gender-Based Violence (Unid@s)”, funded by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada.

From Quebec City, Pascal Paradis, Executive Director of Lawyers Without Borders Canada, presented strategic litigation and its importance in the fight against gender-based violence. Experts Celia Medrano and Zaira Navas then spoke about the Inter-American Human Rights System and international standards on gender-based violence.

This forum is part of the Unid@s project, the beginning of which marks the intensification of the presence of Lawyers Without Borders Canada in El Salvador. The five-year project aims to strengthen access to justice for victims of gender-based violence, with a special focus on girls and women. Various means will be used to achieve this, including the use of strategic litigation, support for the legal representation of victims, the promotion of dialogue between public institutions and civil society, and the strengthening of the capacities of civil society organizations and actors in the judicial system.

Since 2018, LWBC has been collaborating with civil society organizations and the State of El Salvador, including through a capacity-building project for the criminal prosecution of cross-border crimes committed against women, girls and other persons in vulnerable situations.