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{
    "id": 617803,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/617803/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 253,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker for giving me this opportunity. I take this opportunity to also wish every Hon. Member a Happy New Year. I want to support this Bill. I have worked in the area of access to justice for many years. I was in the taskforce that was established to come up with a legal aid scheme. We worked on a draft bill for many years. In many respects, this Bill has a bit that quite relates to what we discussed. I am really happy that this Bill has come to the Floor of the House when I am in Parliament. This is one of the areas that I am really passionate about - the issue of access to justice, especially for women and children. Having practised for many years representing indigent persons, you can never truly say that we have equality in law, if you have one side having representation against another side that does not. I want to give an example of a case I once dealt with. That was one of the reasons that prompted us to come up with the Sexual Offences Act. We were in court representing a six year old girl who had been gang-raped. The law allowed for cross-examination on the sexual history of the six year old girl who did not have legal representation. The other side had legal representation. They were all cross-examining the girl about her sexual history at six years. Of course, that spiraled to a lot of amendments in the other areas of law. This is one of the areas which is still remaining, and which is on access to justice. Therefore, I am really happy. I will be supporting this Bill, but with some proposed amendments. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}