Vance Center Launches Project on Women in the Legal Community in Guatemala
The initiative aims to support women lawyers in Guatemala’s legal field and build long-term capacity for their professional growth and collaboration.
On January 10, the Vance Center hosted a launch event for a new project, “Strengthening and protecting the role of women in the legal community in Guatemala through network building.” The project seeks to strengthen the role of women in Guatemala’s legal profession, identify solutions to challenges affecting their work, and build capacity for long-term support of women lawyers in the country.
Prior to the launch event, the Vance Center distributed a questionnaire to evaluate the current state of women’s participation and visibility in Guatemala’s legal profession. More than 45 respondents answered the questionnaire; those responses formed the basis for an in-depth analysis and discussion during the launch event. The roster of program participants includes lawyers from Guatemala, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States.
The project will culminate in an in-person event that will bring together women lawyers from sectors across Guatemala’s legal profession, along with a smaller group of lawyers from the other participating countries, planned for later in 2024. This event will set the foundation for a network that facilitates discussion around best practices and strategies to empower women lawyers in Guatemala, address the specific challenges they face in the workplace, and advance collaboration across diverse legal sectors, especially those related to good governance and justice.
The project is supported by the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, through the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).