Ingrid Angela, the adviser on Democracy for the Baku office of the OSCE, informed a news conference on 24 November that the Baku office of the OSCE will organize a conference dedicated to women rights in Azerbaijan in Baku on 27-28 November 2006, Trend reports.
She noted that the event will bring together experts from the United States, Germany, UK, Austria, Macedonia, Iran, Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, as well as local specialists. MPs, representatives of the Constitution Districts and Economic Courts of Azerbaijan, the State Committee on Family, Woman and Child Problems and the Justice Ministry and 10 female police are also amongst those invited.
An official of OSCE noted that there was insufficient number of women being represented in the law enforcement Department. 50% of the students in the legal faculties of the universities are women yet after graduation they are unable to find jobs by profession and are obliged to work for NGOs or in the business sector.
With the organizing of such a conference, the OSCE wants to give impetus to the resolution of the problem. The event will raise an issue at the Government of Azerbaijan and juridical firms on attracting more women to this sector, she noted.
Angela related passive participation of women in the work of the law-enforcement bodies with culture of the nation and absence of terms for functioning in this sector. She emphasized that the men dominate the legal system in Azerbaijan and there are no female leaders. She also stressed that a rise in the number of women in court also helped to promote the protection of women's interests. The problem exists not only in Azerbaijan, but other countries as well.
The conference will initiate the establishment of a woman legal staff group to discuss the issue with the officials of the Justice Ministry who will be represented there.