Tool 2: Policing and Gender experience discrimination that impedes their access to justice in both direct and indirect ways. Their other challenges often seem more important than seeking justice or protection against domestic violence: “Because they desperately need food, medicine, money, jobs, housing, or other ‘more important’ (essential) services, the women do not want to bother social workers with more ‘trivial’ problems, such as domestic violence.”20 They are frequently illiterate or have limited access to sources of information about how and where to seek justice, and are often distrusted by and distrustful of the non-Roma community. Elsewhere, such as in Romania, domestic violence is regarded by outsiders as being part of Romani culture and so not often taken as seriously as it might otherwise be, which discourages Roma women from seeking justice.21 Integrating a gender perspective in the justice sector – identifying and responding to ways in which access to justice may be compromised for women and LGBTI people – creates more equitable access to justice. More equitable access to justice can, in turn, contribute to reducing poverty and socio-economic inequalities by providing avenues for the protection of the economic and property rights of women and other marginalized groups. This, in turn, helps guard against exploitation, such as unequal pay, GBV and other harms. Conversely, where gendered inequalities impede access to justice, inequalities and their manifestations can become more extreme. For instance, without adequate recourse to justice, women and people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions are more vulnerable to exploitation in the workforce and to GBV within and outside the home – especially if they are poor and their property rights are not protected in the law. In other words, access to justice and gender equality are mutually reinforcing. 2.6 A representative justice sector increases fairness, trust and confidence The pursuit of gender equality helps to ensure the justice sector is more inclusive and equally representative of men, women and persons of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions. While the law and the justice sector may purport to be objective and impartial, they are inherently subjective and gendered; the law is often made by men and the justice system is often dominated by men of a specific or privileged demographic. Because of the operation of gender and other biases, discussed above, this can adversely affect the ability of some people to access justice and the type of justice they receive. In essence, diversity is critical to a fair and impartial judiciary. What is more, when the demographic composition of the justice system does not mirror that of the population at large, the perception of judges and prosecutors as belonging to a “closed club” to which ordinary citizens do not have access is further reinforced, negatively impacting upon public trust and confidence in judicial institutions. In 2017 OSCE/ODIHR conducted a study on gender and diversity among justice system actors. It examined recruitment and selection of a diverse workforce and workplace equality, and the effects of diversity on the perceived fairness of outcomes. The research confirmed that gender balance and minority representation in justice systems are important factors in fairer justice system outcomes. This is due to a number of factors, including greater public trust in justice systems where justice sector workforces are visibly more diverse. In addition, the study revealed that workplace diversity can help to make justice sector practitioners more sensitive to different considerations for different groups, and thus overcome implicit bias and unconscious stereotyping. The study found that even in states where there is gender parity among justice system actors, gender-based barriers to promotion and career advancement persist, and ethnic minorities remain underrepresented among justice system actors.22 13