Judge Jacqueline Henriques – KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court– Perseverance and Service

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, for our series on women in the judiciary, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Judge Jacqueline Henriques of the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court. Judge Henriques comes from a family of educators and initially wanted to follow in their footsteps but was dissuaded by her father. She registered for a BProc at university with the intention of switching over to degree in education, however soon found her passion for law. For aspiring law students, she recommends focusing on your goals and acquiring as much practical experience as possible. She shares some of the qualities of being a judicial officer, such as impartiality, independence, integrity, ethics, empathy and more… Judge Henriques highlights some of recent amendments to domestic violence legislation, such as stricter bails imposed on persons charged with domestic violence offences and harsher now prescribed for offences related to gender-based violence. The Act has expanded its definition of what constitutes domestic violence, encompassing physical abuse, spiritual abuse, economic abuse, controlling behaviour, harassment, intimidation, elder abuse, and related person abuse to name a few. The Act now also requires the community to play an active role in stopping the scourge of domestic violence it is mandatory for the public to report incidences or reasonable suspicions of domestic violence, and also criminalises the failure of a person to report such abuse. We discuss how policy can be used to drive change to support women, however, remark that implementation and monitoring of implementation is actually what drives change. Judge Henriques appeals to women to help each other, to support each other and advance each other, so that we all make a positive impact on the world. Tune in for more…