Around the world, advocates and organizations have been working tirelessly to promote women’s rights, invest in protecting human rights, and enhancing the rule of law. The debatable understanding and subsequent implementation of these human rights have led to countless abuses, including the denial of basic legal rights. This is a central concern of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), a global network of lawyers that work towards the empowerment of women through the facilitation of her economic independence and social status through access to justice specifically in the form of legal aid battle creek mi.
FIDA Cameroon has a long history of working to support women’s rights domestically-in the form of various legal support programs for women and their children-and globally-as in their recently launched Female Refugee Center Project (FRPC) to provide legal assistance to vulnerable women in Cameroon who have fled war-torn Central African Republic (CAR). Their mission is to bring a practical approach to the promotion of human rights and the protection and empowerment of women.
Like many countries, women in Cameroon are subjected to various forms of gender-based violence and systemic obstacles that undercut their ability to access justice. FIDA Cameroon recognizes the impact that insufficient legal protections have on the socio-economic development of women throughout Cameroon. However, their plans to establish multiple “Civic and Anti-Corruption Clubs” in public secondary schools targeted at students ages 14 to 17, indicate their perception of the greater societal issue. For them, women’s rights are fundamental to the legal system that governs their everyday lives. Highlighting the legal grounds for their short-term and long-term recommendations, FIDA Cameroon underscores the need for women to positively engage in the development of laws and legal instruments in Cameroon. They firmly believe that an entry point to this engagement is through the removal of financial barriers to legal aid.
According to FIDA Cameroon’s 2017 report on the status of women and justice in Cameroon, over 60% women did not have access to justice and over 75% had never heard of legal aid. In Battle Creek, MI, State Funded Legal Aid exists in many forms and is readily available to Kent County residents. Legal Aid of Western Michigan (LAWM), Michigan’s oldest non-profit, provides free civil legal assistance to low-income individuals, which includes a Legal Resource Center that conducts intakes and evaluates cases to determine the appropriate services for each client. With approximately 65% of their assistance going to women, it is without a doubt that LAWM fills a vital role in the fight for women’s rights in the US.
While LAWM provides a wide range of services to women in Kent County, there are an estimated 24,000 women who are potentially eligible for legal aid; yet, only 2,700 low-income women were served by legal aid in Battle Creek last year. In addition to the continued underfunding and understaffing, the inability to serve women and their families who may face homelessness, violence, incarceration, and other legal issues is due in part to the lack of awareness that low-income women have of their legal rights-specifically their right to free legal aid.
Many advocates for women’s rights have made the argument that ensuring access to legal services is not only beneficial to women, but is essential to empowering them and bridging the gap between gender equality and inequality. With 81% of the cases that legal aid takes in Battle Creek being family law cases, there lies a complex multifaceted issue of resources that are beyond the scope of LAWM to address alone. 72% of women self-report a lifetime of psychological abuse; additionally, research shows a direct correlation between the level of psychological abuse and post-separation physical violence. This presents a complicated scenario in which women may find themselves repeatedly returning to court as payments are missed and child custody agreements are challenged. Fewer resources lead to less representation and thus a greater likelihood that women will lose custody of their children if they cannot represent themselves in court. Women who find themselves in this dilemma are often forced to choose between losing custody of their children or personally handling the matter on their own with or without free legal aid. On the flip side, legal aid workers are faced with the challenge of determining how to properly serve the needs of women who have been repeated victims of violence.
Access to legal aid is not only essential when helping women recognize and assert their rights, but also when assisting them in overcoming the challenges they may face in obtaining legal aid. Community organizations have also recognized the importance of providing relevant legal resources and information to women in Kent County, supporting the efforts of laws that not only make women’s rights legally enforceable but also promote educational outreach about women’s basic rights under the law.
Integration of legal aid initiatives into strategic development plans have allowed for access to legal protections, such as legal institutional reforms, to take place internationally. This type of integration is essential when examining the conditions faced by women who attempt to take part in the legal system and may enhance advocacy effort to improve the quality of legal aid. Since 2005, FIDA Cameroon’s flagship project, the Female Lawyers Support Program (FLSP), has provided legal aid to poor women in Cameroon through increased use of law to advance gender equality and address violations of women’s rights. Both LAWM’s legal aid services and the efforts of FIDA Cameroon are geared towards not only empowerment, but also increasing the demand for services that advocate for the elimination of all forms of discrimination.
For more information on legal aid resources, you can visit LawHelp.org.