Earlier this year, Helena Alviar García became the first female dean of the Law School at the University of the Andes in Bogotá (Colombia). The school’s press release is here.
Last month at an International Association of Law Schools Conference on Teaching, Legal Education and Strategic Planning, Dean Alviar García presented on “How to Incorporate Gender Redistribution into the Classroom: The Experience of the Gender Studies Program at the University of Los Andes Law School.” Here is an excerpt from her written remarks:
Ten years ago, when I finished my doctorate in law, I had an interview with the director of the Latin American Gender Equality in the World Bank. In that conversation, she told me that in terms of laws and regulations, in Latin America we had done everything that was needed. This statement continues to puzzle me today, because even though it is true that there is an equality clause in most constitutions, there are laws criminalizing domestic violence and a range of regulations to include women, the fact is that the unequal distribution of resources among gender lines continues to be prevalent in the region and in Colombia specifically. * * *
[L]egal education plays a fundamental role in raising consciousness about pressing inequality issues and the effective exercise of existing rights as well as expanding the academic discussion about the redistribution of resources across gender lines. Therefore, the question that we have tried to answer in our law faculty is: What is the best way to create an intellectual space in legal academia that promotes thinking about, producing knowledge and promoting an improved distribution of resources across gender lines?
A copy of Dean Alviar García’s full written remarks are here.
-Bridget Crawford
