Reimagining Justice as Care at CSW70

I learned firsthand how true the saying “justice delayed is justice denied” can be. In 2017, I accompanied a young girl, Thandiswa (not her real name), and her family through the court system after she was assaulted by her teacher. Over two and a half years, hearings were postponed, evidence was poorly presented, and critical harms were minimised. She testified in the same courtroom as her attacker, without special protections. When the case was finally dismissed for “lack of evidence,” her father told me quietly, “We will not proceed. I am tired.”

What stayed with me most was the exhaustion all around us. The family was worn down by years of waiting and reliving the trauma. But I also saw how overstretched the system seemed, officials managing heavy caseloads, trying to keep proceedings moving in a system that often gives them too little time and support to respond to the human weight of each case. The result was a courtroom that felt procedural rather than caring, a place where everyone, in different ways, seemed tired.

As the global community prepares for the 70th UN Commission on the Status of Women under the priority theme of ‘Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers’, we must ask a deeper question: what if justice systems provided not only legal infrastructure — but care infrastructure?

In the United Kingdom, the Council of Europe’s expert body GREVIO has noted that while there are many promising initiatives to address violence against women, protection remains patchy and crucial services are under-resourced. Demand for specialist support services exceeds available capacity. 

When services are overstretched, access to justice becomes uneven. And when survivor services are delivered with poor competence, when cases are mishandled, when trauma is minimised, when evidence is not properly presented, that is not simply inefficiency. It is a moral failure of the state. A state that invites survivors to come forward carries a responsibility to respond with competence and care.

Access to justice is not only about laws on paper. It is about whether a survivor is met with empathy at the police station, clarity from a prosecutor, dignity in a courtroom. It is about whether processes retraumatise or restore. Justice without care is hollow. Care without justice is incomplete. The two are not separate systems, they are intertwined expressions of how a society values human dignity.

This is where our work at Equimundo on caring masculinities has particular relevance.

Our latest State of UK Men 2025 report finds that 63 percent of men believe that “no one cares if men are okay these days.” At the same time, nearly three-quarters of men report that they try to solve their problems on their own rather than seeking help . That combination, perceived isolation and enforced self-reliance, reflects deep norms about masculinity, stoicism, and power.

Justice systems are human institutions. They are shaped by the norms the people inside them carry. When boys and men are socialised to equate strength with emotional detachment, those norms travel with them, into police stations, courtrooms, and parliaments.

And yet, there is hope in the data. Ninety-one percent of men and women in the UK say that being a good friend, showing up for others, is central to what it means to be a man. More than 80 percent of fathers describe being a dad as the most important job in the world. It is clear that in the UK, many men are searching for connection, purpose, and care.

In my counselling practice, I have learned that sometimes what brings fresh energy is not a new rule, but a new perspective. When someone begins to see themselves differently, not as broken, but as capable of growth, something shifts. Perhaps justice systems need a similar shift in perspective. What if courts, police services, and legal aid centres understood themselves not only as adjudicators of disputes, but as part of a nation’s care infrastructure?

That shift would change priorities. It would mean embedding social workers and counsellors in frontline justice services. It would mean trauma-informed, survivor-centred procedures as standard practice. It would mean ensuring that prosecutors have the time and preparation to handle cases with competence. It would mean that empathy is not seen as optional, but as professional responsibility.

This is why, in our contribution to the MenEngage Alliance written statement to CSW70, we called for strengthening and resourcing frontline justice services — community police stations, legal aid centres, and family courts — to integrate care-based approaches. Not as an optional charitable nicety but as an obligation.

Transforming masculinities is also preventative justice. Most violence against women is perpetrated by men. Engaging boys and men early, and showing care for me and boys by promoting emotional literacy, self-care, equitable caregiving, and nonviolent conflict resolution, reduces harm long before a case file is opened. Investing in better parental leave for dads and gender-transformative education is not separate from justice reform. It is upstream justice.

Equimundo’s State of UK Men also reveals significant distrust in institutions. When people feel unseen or uncared for, faith in democracy erodes. Building justice systems that are visibly humane, competent, and fair is therefore not only about gender equality. It is about renewing democratic trust.

Thandiswa’s father was tired. The system looked tired too. But tired systems can be renewed. Sometimes renewal begins with a shift in perspective.

CSW70 invites us to strengthen access to justice for women and girls. If we begin to see justice as an expression of care, as a lived commitment to human dignity, we may find new energy to close the gap between justice and care, to reshape our institutions accordingly, and to invite men more fully into cultures of care, responsibility and compassion.