Strength of a woman

As Jamaica joins the rest of the world in recognising the valuable contribution of female judges, the island’s female jurists continue to shatter the notion that a women’s place is in the kitchen, with female judges tripling the number of male judges on the bench.

Thursday marked the inaugural celebration of International Day of Women Judges, following a declaration last May by the United Nations General Assembly for the day to be set aside for the recognition of women judges.

Acting President of the Court of Appeal of Jamaica, Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop, in a message posted on the website of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, highlighted the strides made by women in the Jamaican judiciary who, despite the odds, have broken through various barriers and have positioned themselves in places of prominence in post-colonial Jamaica.

The appellate court judge, in reflecting on the journey of women judges over the last 60 years of the country’s Independence from colonial rule, said women were subjugated and severely curtailed in their pursuit for self-determination and upward mobility. This, she said, led to an entrenched gender inequality favouring men and a corresponding unfair treatment of women, particularly in the workplace.

However, she said the women were able to rise above the gender imbalance and inequality, and today have outnumbered the male counterparts in the judiciary.

“In 2022, the latest statistical data of gender representation in the judiciary of Jamaica reveals that there are 95 female and 30 male judges in the judiciary - a staggering imbalance favouring females - although male judges now occupy the top positions at each level,” she said.

“That notwithstanding, I am confident that many persons would agree that the emergence of a female-dominant judiciary in Jamaica is an outstanding feature in our nation’s history that should take centre stage as we observe International Day of Women Judges.”

The Court of Appeal has nine women and four men, Supreme Court accounts for 28 women and 12 men, while the parish courts have a total of 58 women and 14 men.

Justice McDonald-Bishop also recognised the pioneering female judges who have championed the progress towards equality and female dominance in the judiciary.

ONLY ONE WOMAN

She mentioned Ena Collymore Woodstock, who in 1958 became the first woman to be appointed as a resident magistrate; Ena Allen, the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court in or around 1974; and Marjory (Madge) Morgan, who was the first female appointed judge of the Court of Appeal over a decade later, in 1988.

At the same time, the judge noted that “only one woman, Zaila McCalla, has ever held the top position of chief justice (2007-2018), and no woman has ever been appointed president of the Court of Appeal”.

According to the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute fellow, her reflection was being done against the background of an unenlightened comment made by one of her male colleagues at the turn of the 21 century.

Justice McDonald-Bishop recalled him saying that “women do not belong on the bench but, rather, at home in the kitchen”.

“That comment evoked no response from me then, because it was palpably clear that the speaker was stuck in the past with the backward perspective that rendered him utterly oblivious to the dawning of a new day for the judiciary of Jamaica. By then, more and more young women had started populating the bench in unprecedented numbers. I was one of them,” she said.

However, turning to the extraordinary accomplishments of the women judges today, she said even as Jamaica celebrates, the country must also reflect on the plight of the men, which is reflected in the statistical data.

“A painful truth that confronts us in Jamaica is that, for whatever reason, the streams that supply men for the Jamaican judiciary - the feeder universities and law school – are, seemingly, fast running dry.

“The reality is that women far outnumber men in these critical tertiary institutions. If we were to continue on this same path, an all-female Jamaican judiciary is a very live possibility in the not-too-distant future. But is the administration of justice ready for such a phenomenon?” Justice McDonald-Bishop asked.

The justice, however, lamented that the gender imbalance that now faces the male is the same one that the female had endured decades ago.

As such, she said, amid the celebration, there are some pertinent questions to be asked.

“They are: what impact would this reversed imbalance in the gender composition of the judiciary have on the administration of justice in Jamaica? Is the justice system better or worse off now, with gender inequality favouring women? Should there be increased advocacy or a concerted effort to attract men to the judiciary? And, above all, where are the men?” she questioned.

International Day of Women Judges is being commemorated to promote the full and equal participation of women at all levels of the judiciary, celebrate the progress that has been made, and raise awareness about the challenges ahead.

editorial@gleanerjm.com