Look up the phrase ‘inclusive justice’ on the Internet and you’ll get several different responses.Definitions range from ensuring that poor and marginalised communities have access to free and fair trials to acknowledging the ‘interwovenness’ of various injustices i.e., racism, sexism etc. and the impact that they may play in the justice system.
But for Includovate’s Inclusive Justice node, the concept has a very specific meaning.“At Includovate, ‘inclusive justice’ is about the integration and inclusion of vulnerable population groups through the protection and dissemination of their rights,” said Dr. Nikoletta Pikramenou, Includovate’s Principal Researcher for Inclusive Justice. “These groups include migrants, children and adolescents, persons deprived of liberty, people belonging to ethnic minorities, women who are in situations of gender-based discrimination and violence, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQI+persons.”
‘Inclusive justice’ is an emerging area with little research and analysis conducted so far. And despite its stated purpose of ensuring that all populations are given equal consideration and access to justice and a growing number of practitioners around the globe, the field has a fairly conservative bent meaning that efforts to address intersectionality have often been met with resistance.
“Inclusive justice is relatively new and has often been viewed in narrow legal terms that disregard multidisciplinary human rights approaches,” said Adetokunbo Johnson, an Includovate Senior Researcher. “However, the intersectional lens that draws attention to unequal power relationships and the intersecting identities of marginalised groups is one key approach that has been used to ensure inclusive justice.”
Includovate is working to both raise awareness of inclusive justice and to ensure that the field itself lives up to the ‘inclusive’ part of its name. “Includovate’s work in the field revolves around high quality research and advocacy,” said Associate Researcher, Shaoni Mukherjee. “We are also trying to include more groups and build a discussion around them.”
“Includovate’s work on ensuring human rights and inclusive research approaches are at the core of our work,” said Johnson. “Ensuring the voices of marginalised researchers like women, women from the Global South, women with disabilities etc. are heard in the research space is a very important step in the right direction.”
The groups that the node is looking to encompass further include human rights practitioners and members of vulnerable groups such as gender neutral and non-binary people, religious minorities, migrant women and children, and those in conflict-affected areas. Node members are committed to ensuring that considerations involving intersectionality are extended to all spheres of society and regard the Inclusive Justice node as an excellent medium from which to do this.
“I believe that there even being an Inclusive Justice Node in and of itself contributes,” said Ethiopia Lemma Yemiru, an Includovate Research Analyst. “This gives us a platform to know more, understand better, and advocate for this new, emerging idea.”
For more information on Includovate’s Research work, please visit our Research page.