SEVENTEEN women from the Goroka and Daulo districts in Eastern Highlands are undergoing intensive training to become Village Court magistrates in Goroka.
Upon completion of their training, they will return to their districts to hear cases.
Provincial Village Courts coordinator Ben Sapu said there were 87 Village Courts in the eight districts and the national plan was to have one woman magistrate in each of them.
He said candidates would also be selected from the other districts for the same training.
Explaining the national plan, Mr Sapu said offenders and victims could also be female and women magistrates could be in a better position to handle the case.
“There has to be gender equality in the village level to dispense justice as enshrined in the Constitution even though men dominate the area,” he said.
The first week of the training dealt with basic requirements of Village Courts.
The second week dwelled on human rights issues.
The women were taught on the importance of natural justice in relation to dispensation of fair and justifiable decisions.
The training at Numutoka Lodge outside Goroka town ends today.