Project Descriptions

During the second year of the Access to Justice Practice in Brazil, the selected intern will work in Women in Law Mentoring Brazil (WLM) part of the Women in the Profession (WIP) in Brazil. Through the Practice, WLM proposes to carry out legal research on current legislation, regulations and policies to guarantee access to justice and address discrimination against Afro-descendant or “Preta” women.

Why is it necessary to develop this pro bono project in Brazil?

Although black and brown people make up more than 50% of the population in Brazil, many Afro-descendant women, or “pretas”, still suffer discrimination. In the judicial system, 62% of convicted and imprisoned women are black or brown. In the labor market, while the wage gap between men and women is 30%, black and brown women earn approximately 60% less than white men. Finally, with the recent amendment of the Racial Crime Law through Federal Law no. 14,532/2023 and classification of the crime of racial injury, the topic receives greater visibility.

What will the project entail and how will it be implemented?

The object of the project is to have a young lawyer conduct legal research on the current legislation, regulations, and policy to secure access to justice and address discrimination against afro-descendant women or “pretas”. The practitioner will use the research to conduct a qualitative legal analysis with the legal community in Brazil to identify challenges to the access to justice of women who declare as “pretas”. The practitioner will also support the organization and substantive content of a working group of women lawyers analyzing these challenges. The practitioner may also connect with pro bono institutions and non-profits in Brazil to conduct a form of partnership to research the topic and issues that are in greater demand, to also have qualitative data on the matter.

The practitioner will organize a series of roundtables with the legal community to present the key findings and suggest follow-up efforts to improve access to justice in alignment with the qualitative date collected from pro bono institutions and non-profits related to the matter. The practitioner will also produce a report including the research results, key findings, and recommendations.

Why is Women in Law Mentoring an ideal space to carry out this work?

WLM has been a part of the Women in the Profession Program group for several years, and and its team is eager to collaborate on this new front, since it complements the purpose to drive women in the legal profession to leadership and protagonism.

WLM has a study group called “Esperança Garcia” (named after the first “preta” lawyer in Brazil) focusing on the intersections of race and gender. Over the last 3 years WLM has made several strides towards understanding and seeking to increase the number of lawyers that identify as “pretas” both in the association and the mentoring program.

During the second year of the Access to Justice Practice in Chile, the selected Practitioner will work at Fundación Pro Bono Chile to help with a habitability problem that has grown explosively in Chile in recent years; overcrowding and crowding.

Why is there a need for this pro bono project in Chile?

This project seeks to help in a problem that in Chile has grown explosively in recent years regarding habitability; overcrowding(1) and crowding(2)

The little preparation of the country for the arrival of migrants from neighboring countries, as well as a deficient housing policy, added to the COVID 19 pandemic, made many people return to their parents’ house, having to arrive with their own families, which has caused many cases of overcrowding. In addition the other alternative lack of opportunities to rent, since, this alternative is not granted those who do not have their documentation up to date (the so-called illegal immigrants) have made the cases of allegation rise.

1 Overcrowding is defined as when more than two members live in the home for each room used for sleeping.

2 Allegation is the strategy used by households and family units to solve the lack of housing, sharing a home with another

What will the project entail and how will it be implemented?

This program seeks, from the side of the small owners; help them to regularize the land of those who have a property and have not been able to acquire their domain correctly, due to lack of knowledge or bureaucratic obstacles, which results in the existence of land and houses in the indivision; and it also seeks to help with the leasing system, both in the drafting of contracts and in lawsuits on the return of unpaid properties, among other problems from the legal field.

Why is the Fundación Pro Bono Chile well-positioned to carry out this work?

Fundación Pro Bono Chile has lawyers who are experts in real estate law, which can not only help with the symptom but also with the disease, that is, help in cases that are detected and analyze what are the legal reforms that should be proposed to that the system can support people to get out of overcrowded and crowded conditions.

Fundación Pro Bono Chile has a network of members from 49 law firms and 10 prosecutor’s offices, which not only have their own compliance program, but also advise large clients on these matters.

In addition, in these 20 years of operation of the Pro Bono Foundation, one of our main clients has been the NGOs, advised on different matters by our members, so that they can easily detect which is the best crime prevention model for each one. .

During the second year of the Access to Justice Practice, one of the lawyers will work on a project with Alianza Pro Bono Peru in favor of the transgender female population.

Why is there a need for this pro bono project in Peru?

Peru is a country with a population of 25.9% in a situation of extreme poverty[1] and this situation of economic disadvantage places this population in a situation of vulnerability to access justice and assert their rights. Within this economically vulnerable population we find sectors that for other reasons are even more disadvantaged in asserting their rights, such as “bias” or social prejudices that hinder their social inclusion. Such is the case of the population of trans women from the LGTBIQ+ community. 95.8% of trans women have been victims of violence, 62.2% are engaged in sex work due to the lack of employment opportunities and only 5.1% have finished secondary education. This situation makes them even more excluded in society and victims of greater violations of their rights by both private and public institutions[2]. Likewise, homosexual, trans and bisexual people are the most discriminated against in Peru[3].

[1] Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. “Pobreza afectó al 25,9% de la población del país en el año 2021”. Mayo 2022. Disponible en: https://m.inei.gob.pe/prensa/noticias/pobreza-afecto-al-259-de-la-poblacion-del-pais-en-el-ano-2021-13572/#:~:text=El%20INEI%20inform%C3%B3%20que%2C%20en,en%202%2C3%20puntos%20porcentuales

[2]La población trans femenina suele ser víctima de asesinatos, violencia física, acoso y discriminación por parte del Estado y de las instituciones privadas, entre otros. Como se desprende del Informe del Centro de investigación interdisciplinaria en Sexualidad, Sida y Sociedad – CIISSS/UPCH; Proyecto Unicxs – Personas Trans por Inclusión Social; y, Observatorio de Derechos Humanos LGBT. “Informe Anual del Observatorios de Derechos LGTB 2019”. Junio 2020. Disponible en: http://cvcdiversidadsexual.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Informe_observatorio_2020.pdf

[3] IPSOS y Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos. “II ENCUESTA NACIONAL DE DERECHOS HUMANOS: POBLACIÓN LGBT”. Disponible en:  https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2020-06/presentacion_ii_encuesta_nacional_ddhh.pdf

What will the project entail and how will it be implemented?

The project seeks to contribute so that trans women can exercise their rights: to gender identity, non-discrimination, health, work, education and freedom. In this way, they will be able to have a better quality of life, demanding respect for their rights and being aware of what legal mechanisms can be activated in case they are violated.

A research work will be carried out with the organizations that group and work with the female trans population and the repeated and main attacks against the rights of this population regarding gender identity, non-discrimination, health, work, education will be identified. and to freedom and the possible legal paths that contribute to its solution will be considered in an easy-to-read guide. This guide will have a virtual and printed version, since many trans women do not have the purchasing power to pay for the internet and download the document. The guide will be distributed to organizations that work with trans women.

Why is the Alianza Pro Bono Peru well-positioned to carry out this work?

The Alianza Pro Bono Peru makes efforts to make justice more accessible to all, promoting the provision of free legal services in favor of people in a state of vulnerability and non-profit organizations that assist them and work for the benefit of society.

The organization has been articulating projects aimed at trans women in different geographical areas of the country with the Casa Trans in Lima Norte, Casa Trans in Iquitos and Piura, such as: a report and recommendations on the gender identity bill that is currently pending approval in the Congress of the Republic; holding different workshops on the name change process, workshops on discrimination and processes to demand respect for their rights in the face of arbitrary arrests; sponsorship in judicial processes of name change, sponsorship in cases of discrimination and support in the preparation of a guide on the criminalization of HIV, among others.