Men actively leading gender-based violence talks, sextortion and femicide were key issues discussed at the 17th biennial International Association of Women Judges Conference (IAWJ) in Cape Town, South Africa.

District Court Judge Alalatoa Rosella Papalii was the lone representative of women in the Samoan judiciary. Her attendance was made possible by a cohort scholarship received from the NZ Association of Women Judges, the Pacific Judicial Sector Programme and the Samoa, Government.

 She co-moderated the first plenary session on the second day of the Conference (11 April) on the topic of "Judicial Activism in Gender Based Violence Related Cases."

The event was from 9-12 April and attended by almost 900 judicial officers from around the world including Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia.

She was The theme of the Conference was "Resilience: Women in Leadership to End Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Femicide."

The President of the Republic of South Africa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa opened the event with a powerful and captivating key address. It was a timely reminder of the collective responsibility to combat gender-based violence and femicide.

He strongly advocated that each country must make men and boys part of the conversation for awareness and education to prevent GBV, femicide and sextortion.

He said closing the gaps and loopholes in the law is in the best interest of the public and courts as it provides clarity and promotes consistency in the application of the law especially during bail and sentence.

“Whilst the Courts are enjoined to dispense justice without fear or favour, the maxim that not only must justice be done but be seen to be done should be kept in mind.  In the context of gender equality and high level of GBV cases, for justice to be seen to be done, it means laws on GBV must not only be written but enforced at all levels,” he said.

“It means perpetrators must be held accountable and the sentence imposed reflects the seriousness of their crimes.  It means that fairness isn't just about the accused's right to a fair trial but that it should also apply equally to the fair treatment of survivors by our courts and that they should not be subject to bias and victim blaming.

It also means the cautionary approach in some countries to child victim /complainants testimony in sex offending cases should be abolished. Advocacy of women jurists and IAWJ must be brought to bear in this regard because the cautionary rule runs contrary to the commitment to fight against GBV and femicide.”

The conference is an opportunity to sharpen the collective commitment to laws that heal, courts that should transform and systems that should centre on humanity and respect for women.

Another important issue that was discussed at the conference was sextortion where males used their senior position to use their power dynamic over women to extort sex from junior staff members in favour of promotion.