Chapter CEDAW’s Contribution to a Gender-Sensitive Criminal Justice System

Overview & Synopsis

This chapter analyses the contribution of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) to advancing more gender equal criminal justice systems. Just like Johanna Niemi has questioned the assumed gender neutrality of the law, the CEDAW Committee has confronted the supposed gender neutrality of justice. The chapter shows how the Committee has embedded gender equality concerns in the justice systems, criminal procedures and access to justice through standards developed across the General Recommendations adopted over the past twenty-five years. The chapter identifies and discusses three ways in which the Committee has advanced more gender equal criminal justice systems: it has embedded intersectionality in its access to justice standards; it has combated gender stereotypes in the justice system; and it has developed gender-sensitive criminal procedures. In bringing together issues of gender equality and (criminal) justice access and procedures, the analysis seeks to commemorate Johanna Niemi’s scholarly contribution to these intersecting areas.