Dr. Salome Mbugua:

I thank the Senator for his input and his question. I mentioned some of these themes in my presentation. This is a major issue, especially for the women who are vulnerable when they end up in court or are with a lawyer. Sometimes they do not even disclose exactly what happened to them, especially in situations of gender-specific harm, such as rape. It may relate to something that happened while they were here. Some of them still fear speaking out or saying what happened to them. There are also problems with the language barrier. As I said, some of the women feel misunderstood even when they express themselves because of the way they speak, so most of them prefer to keep quiet.

I totally believe it is very important to have training. At the moment, my organisation is delivering what we call culture competence training. It is about people understanding working across different cultures and how people behave and react to different things, but also to address the unconscious bias that might exist and the assumptions people may have in respect of people from a different background. It would be very important for the committee to help us in that aspect of ensuring lawyers and others working in the courts are trained to understand working across cultures. Such training is very important so that they can provide the kind of effective support that is needed for the people who present themselves. I thank the Senator.