Tool 2: Policing and Gender In-depth research is often needed to understand the causes of gendered inequalities, discrimination and violence, and ways in which the justice system might contribute to or mitigate them. Case study 1 is an example of how academic research built an evidence base for legal reform around “image-based abuse” in Australia. 4.3 Planning and co-ordinating gender justice reform Achieving a justice sector which integrates a gender perspective and promotes gender equality requires sustained, comprehensive and co-ordinated efforts within and beyond the justice sector. These efforts must have the full support and engagement of other agencies in the criminal justice system and the government. Once evidence has been gathered and analysed, a strategy and/or action plan for gender justice reform can be developed. This should involve all stakeholders from the outset, including judicial and legal professionals, court administrators, women’s groups, human rights and other civil society groups. Recognizing that men are usually overrepresented in policy-making and decision-making, the plan should include women and men of all sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions in decision-making and leadership roles. This will help ensure that the plan is sufficiently context-specific and responsive to the needs of diverse groups. A gender justice strategy and/or action plan should stipulate, at a minimum, measures to: Ê strengthen access to justice for women Ê expedite investigation, prosecution and punishment of perpetrators of GBV Ê promote and protect the rights of women, girls and people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions Ê promote gender diversity within the justice sector and within the justice reform programme itself. It is important that strategies and plans are designed and monitored to achieve gender justice outcomes, rather than merely activities.* Any justice reform plans require co-ordination with all actors engaged in the justice sector, especially police, prisons and probation services, and across activities. For instance, if part of the plan is to encourage more people to report GBV, police, prosecutors and judges should first be sensitized to GBV crimes, their prevalence and their likely impact upon victims’ behaviour. Specialized training, new procedures and resources may be needed.^ Moreover, co-ordination should include actors beyond the justice sector that facilitate access to justice, such as CSOs providing support to victims of crime, or the Ministry of Health. A gender strategy or action plan for the justice sector will usually be connected to a gender equality and/or GBV policy, which may be developed alongside (see section 4.6). It might be connected additionally to a WPS national action plan, given that a range of justice-related tasks are addressed in the UN Security Council resolutions on WPS, including legal and judicial reform, access to justice and efforts to eliminate GBV and prosecute perpetrators.** 4.4 Generating budgetary, political and judicial support for gender justice reform For any justice sector to adjust, or reform, in order to integrate a gender perspective and promote gender equality, there must be high-level political support and the requisite resources, including budgetary provision. Funding is necessary, for instance, for courts to * Refer to Tool 15, “Integrating Gender in Project Design and Monitoring for the Security and Justice Sector”, for further guidance on these aspects. ^ See case study 5 on gender and justice reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina. ** Tool 1 on “Security Sector Governance, Security Sector Reform and Gender” discusses WPS national action plans in more detail. 31