Fight for gender equality, law students told

LAW students around have been urged to equality issues as the their legal career. While officiating at the Inter Tertiary Law School Moot Competition, Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Mereseini Vuniwaqa, said the law is a key contributor to the advancement of gender equality and empowerment of women.

“I am pleased to know that the theme for this Inter Tertiary Law School Moot Competition is based exclusively on gender issues, especially on rights of young women in education, gender discrimination in workplaces and women’s economic empowerment.”

“Advancing gender equality requires the changing of mind-sets and this can be done the country hold gender mainstay of through advocacy, awareness programs, legal reform, settling legal issues through court cases, and indeed restructuring archaic social, economic, and legal systems and mechanisms which have entrenched patriarchy in its make up.”

Minister Vuniwaqa said that the spirit of winning this Moot competition must be the same for the law students when they go out and practice law in the gender context in the bigger world.

“In Fiji and across the globe, the economic impacts of COVID-19 are being disproportionately felt by women. Across the world, women and girls are facing increased domestic violence, unpaid care duties, unemployment and poverty.”

“Each fight for gender equality will be a fight worth fighting – not only for present times but for every generation that will follow.”

Minister Vuniwaqa also added that the Fijian Government recognised the gendered impact of COVID-19 and is prioritising the importance of gender responsive national recovery plans and the critical role that all women and girls play as leaders and in building resilience.

“Collectively, we can all pledge to create an inclusive and equal Fiji and act towards it. As students gearing to enter one of the most important fields in making Human Rights real, the responsibility to have gender lenses is extremely crucial and the fire to fight for justice, fairness and equality must always remain ignited within you.” Minister Vuniwaqa also thanked the Inter Tertiary Law School Moot Competition organisers for basing this year’s Moot competition on gender-based violence to mark Internationals Women’s Day celebrations in Fiji.