By Mar Fernández Cuesta
Gender-Related Premediation ChecklistBefore beginning any mediation process, it is essential to assess minimum conditions of safety, fairness, and voluntariness. This checklist helps identify risks, inequalities, and control situations to make ethical and procedural decisions that protect all parties.
When there are signs of structural inequality, control or violenceMediation cannot proceed as if the playing field were level. Evaluating these conditions from the outset allows for ethical and procedural decisions that protect the people involved.
Stage 1: Initial screening and triage
The first step of the gender-sensitive premediation checklist It is screening or triage.
At this stage it is recommended:
- Carry out separate interviews to each part.
- Apply standardized instruments of risk detection and coercion.
- Identify history of gender violence or coercive control.
- Evaluate the child safety if there were any.
Only if it is confirmed that minimum safety conditions exist, can the mediation process continue.
Stage 2: Barrier detection and support activation
The gender perspective approach involves identifying possible structural or personal barriers that affect participation.
Key questions:
- Are there language difficulties that require an interpreter?
- There is digital or technological divide that limits access to the process?
- The caregiving responsibilities hinder participation?
If inequalities are detected, complementary supports should be activated:
Free legal advice, psychosocial support or mediation tailored to the circumstances of each party.
Stage 3: Adapt the procedural modality
Mediation with a gender perspective requires procedural flexibility.
Depending on the context, different modalities can be applied:
- Joint session (if there is balance between the parts).
- Indirect mediation (shuttle), where the mediator meets separately with each person.
- Remote or hybrid modality, when distance or safety require it.
- Suspension or diversion, if the context presents risk or lack of ethical conditions.
In all cases, the informed consent must be reinforced:
Explain the limits of confidentiality, available resources, and clauses that allow agreements to be reviewed in the event of significant changes.
Stage 4: Ethical Decision and Safety Plan
The checklist culminates with an ethical decision:
continue with mediation, suspend or refer.
When necessary, a personalized security plan that protects the parties, especially the most vulnerable.
This checklist is not an administrative procedure, but a professional tool for equity, ethics and protection.
Applying it involves recognizing inequalities, compensating them and guaranteeing a process safe, fair and voluntary for all people involved.
Conclusion: mediation with a gender perspective
Implement a gender-sensitive premediation checklist strengthens the professional and ethical quality of mediation processes.
It's not just a preliminary phase, but a practice that ensures that mediation is a real path to dialogue, justice, and social transformation.
The gender-sensitive premediation checklist It's a living practice that adapts to each case. It not only validates safety and voluntariness conditions; it also identifies support, defines the most appropriate modality (joint, shuttle, or remote), and establishes a reviewable safety plan. Incorporating robust informed consent, responsible referrals, and a record of ethical decisions elevates professional quality and the trust of the parties. If you work in family, workplace, or community mediation, adapt these steps to your context and document key milestones. Next step? Share the protocol with your team and begin implementing triage with confidence.
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