The International Development Law Organization
The law is an essential tool for advancing women’s and girls’ rights and equality. A robust and effective legal system based on the rule of law is central to assisting women to become equal partners in decision-making and development. Over the last couple of decades, the international community has invested substantially in programs aimed at strengthening the rule of law in developing countries. Despite this investment, the rule of law continues to mean very little for the vast majority of women and girls.
IDLO’s study Accessing Justice: Models, Strategies and Best Practices on Women’s Empowerment explores some of the challenges and solutions for women’s access to justice in diverse legal systems. It shows that women face structural and cultural barriers to accessing justice – insufficient knowledge of rights and remedies, illiteracy or poor literacy, and lack of resources or time to participate in justice processes. This is all the more so as women usually have intensive family responsibilities. Even where women can access the formal justice sector, the outcomes of the process often fall far short of those envisaged by international standards, particularly with regard to property rights, inheritance, divorce and child custody, and spousal abuse.
Focusing on legal empowerment as a way to improve both access to justice and the quality of justice women receive, the study presents strategies and best practices in both formal and informal justice systems.
Read the full report Here