Publication: Gender Dynamics in Access to Justice in Afghanistan
Date
2014
ISSN
Published
2014
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Afghanistan has a multitude of
complementary, competing, and at times conflicting spaces
for rule-setting and dispute resolution; state laws,
Shari'a, and customary practices and norms are applied
and enforced in varying situations, by state as well as
non-state justice institutions. State justice institutions
are those which represent the central government and the
formal legal system. Non-state justice institutions include
a range of both traditional and new community organizations,
such as shuras (local councils), among others. Even
significant individual positions in communities can
represent non-state justice institutions, as can be the case
for mullahs. This study looks at the gender dynamics of
access to justice services in Afghanistan. It examines the
intersecting spaces of state and non-state institutions and
their respective bodies of law and norms to gain a better
understanding of how they affect the choices that women make
in resolving disputes through those institutions. By
investigating barriers hindering women's access to
justice services, identifying the most common disputes or
cases that women and men bring before justice institutions,
examining justice-seeking behaviors of women and men, and
documenting levels of satisfaction with the process and its
outcomes, the study aims to provide Afghan and international
policy makers and program designers with quantitative
evidence to devise approaches that address gender-based
inequities in women's access to justice and justice
outcomes. Another contribution of this study is to inform
the World Bank-financed Justice Service Delivery Project
(JSDP), which is aimed at improving access to justice by
supporting both state and non-state justice institutions.
Citation
“World Bank. 2014. Gender Dynamics in Access to Justice in Afghanistan. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/30967 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”