There are numerous human rights treaties and conventions passed to guarantee every one of us rights against being violated. Kenya, besides being a signatory to international and regional conventions that assure the citizens their fundamental rights, has made laws that protect the vulnerable groups such as women and children. e Penal

Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, the  Children Act and the Sexual O  ences  Act  are  among  laws  that  seekto  protect  these  groups  from  injustice. e Sexual O  ences Act passed in 2006 men against sexual  violence. But there are some questions on its application that are still being debated. And  while  the  debate  goes  on,  women,  girls,  children and  even  men  continue  to  be  exposed  to  violence  and discrimination. Cases of sexual violence, domestic violence, forced child marriages and other forms of rights abuse are on the increase. And, sadly, many more go unreported.

e Judiciary, whose role is to uphold and apply the law toensure  justice for  all,  has  done  a  lot to  guarantee  people’s freedoms from discrimination and violence. But we are not out of the woods yet. e  Kenya Women Judges Association (KWJA),  with the help of donors and the permission of the Hon Chief Justice, has been engaging in programmes that restate the guarantees to protection of women and children from violence. KWJA  promotes  the  advancement  of  women  through fair  administration  of  justice.  As  the  chairperson  of  the Association, I would like to develop, strengthen and protect the principles of the rule of law and the equality of all before the law and, in particular, to promote and encourage gender equality  in  all  matters  relating  to  the  administration  of justice.  

We  seek  to  promote  all  matters  of  the family unit, including child survival and development,  and  protect  the  sanctity of  the  family.  We  also  want  to  create awareness  among  the  public  on  all issues  relating  to  fair  administration  of justice as concerns women and children, besides conducting research and judicial exchange  and  training programmes that contribute  to  the  understanding  of  the critical  legal  issues  a  ecting  women, children and families.

I  thank  the  Government  for  elevating the  association’s  patron,  Hon  Lady Justice  Joyce  Aluoch  to  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeal and  the  Machakos  Chief  Magistrate  Hon  Lady  Justice Hellen Omondi to a judge.    is shows that the work and ability  of women judicial o   cers in the administration of justice is being recognised. I hope that more women will be considered in future appointments and promotions in the Judiciary.

I also thank the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)  for   nancing  the  publishing  of  this  publicationand  facilitating  other  programmes  for  members  of  the In this publication, we look back at what we have achievedin the past couple of years and forecast the future.  We alsopro  le a few of  our members and outline  their  hopes and aspirations. We hope to get another forum to pro  le the restof the KWJA family.We  welcome  comments,  obser vations  and  suggestions  on what  we can  do  to  improve the association. Forward yourfeedback to kenyawomenjudgesassocition@yahoo.com.
Happy reading.
Lady Justice Mary Ang’awa