Thursday, 27 July 2017

WHERE DO WOMEN GO TO SEEK JUSTICE?

The law is an essential tool for advancing women’s rights and gender equality. When a society is governed by the rule of law, with an accessible and just legal system, women can thrive, contribute to the system and improve it for future generations.The rule of law requires that laws are free from bias and discrimination“equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and consistent with international human rights norms and standards”. As such, 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. Just as a strong legal system can protect and open up opportunities for women, a justice system that is inaccessible or that contains discriminatory rules or practices can significantly impede the advancement of women’s rights. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has highlighted the danger of women being left vulnerable to becoming victims of criminal acts, such as fraud, theft, sexual or economic exploitation, violence, torture or murder, if they are not empowered to benefit from the full protection of the law. The global study conducted by the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (CLEP) also concluded that groups that experience discrimination and exclusion from the protection of the rule of law are more likely to fall victim to a range of socio, economic, political and criminal injustices. Over the last couple of decades, the international community has invested substantially in programs aimed at strengthening the rule of law in developing countries. Yet despite this investment, the rule of law continues to mean very little for the vast majority of women and girls. Many women are simply unable to access and navigate their way through formal legal institutions. This can be due to structural as well as cultural barriers, including women’s inadequate knowledge of rights and remedies, illiteracy or poor literacy, and lack of resources and time to participate in justice processes, especially given the heavy burden of labor that women bear for their families. These challenges are even greater for women who are subject to multiple forms of discrimination based on factors such as being part of indigenous or ethnic minority communities, religious minorities or sexual minorities, or for disabled women, migrant workers, and women living with HIV/AIDS.When women do manage to access the justice sector, they often receive outcomes that are not in line with international standards.13 For example, out of the 112 countries scored in the 2012 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Social Institutions and Gender Index, 86 were found to have discriminatory laws or practices in relation to property and inheritance.The study showed that on average, women hold only 15 percent of land titles in countries where data is available.In family law, women continue to have difficulty receiving fair treatment in the areas of marriage, divorce and child custody. In addition, many justice systems do not treat gender-based violence as a criminal offence, or they consider it to be a family matter for which a fine against the offender will suffice. Either by choice or through necessity, many women, and especially those living in rural environments,seek justice through informal systems. Such informal or ‘customary’ justice systems often exist alongside formal systems of law. While not gender specific, research suggests that in developing countries, up to 80% of the cases are resolved by informal justice systems, signifying that most women in the developing world access justice in a plural legal environment. Evidence indicates that in a globalized world, legal pluralism is not disappearing but, in fact, is becoming more entrenched and complex.In plural legal settings the formal justice system “is simply one possible avenuein the reality of multiple legal orders”.

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