For immediate release
May 6, 2021
Washington, DC— The Institute for African Women in Law has launched the Gender Scorecard tracker, an initiative spearheaded by our research on women in the legal professions across Africa.
The gender scorecard is our data portal on the gender equality and symbolic representation of women in law firms and courts across Africa and around the globe. The data collected are analyzed to assess the representation of women in a given time and moment and over a longitudinal period. Periodic reviews and assessment of the data are conducted to keep abreast with changing trends.
In line with the African Charter on the Rights of Women (Maputo Protocol), UN Sustainable Development Goals ( particularly #5 and # 16), and other international treaties and protocols such as CEDAW, the Institute is fostering an innovative and data-driven approach to the study of women in law.
Speaking on the need for the scorecard, Dr. J. Jarpa Dawuni, founder and executive director of the Institute noted that "the gender scorecard is the first step to a larger research project by the Institute to understand women's representation in law. The data collected will be instrumental in our understanding of leadership gaps, and how we can best address those gaps and challenges women in law face."
The dataset will be updated continuously with more country-level data being added soon.