Status Report on Community-based Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms and Practices pertaining Violence Against Women and Girls

This report analyzes the role that informal justice plays in cases of violence against women and girls and underlines the role of community-based alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. It finds that the majority of violence-related issues faced by women and girls are dealt within the informal justice system level. This is due to several reasons such as the shame and fear of scandal, the exposure and disfigurement of the family, the notion of stigma on the women and girls who disclose what it is considered largely as private family issues. Furthermore, women and girls, who turn on official judiciary system, fear family rejection and community isolation. Finally, the length of litigation in the formal judiciary system and higher financial costs, push more women to resort to customary systems. Beside an extensive literature review, this report gathered data stemming from interviews conducted with relevant official and non-official stakeholders and focus group discussions held with women and girls who themselves had their cases dealt by informal justice actors. Given the role that civil society organizations have in gander-violence cases, this report highlights the importance to work on supporting those organizations, by specializing their services and their staff and establishing monitoring and follow-up mechanisms.