Gender dynamics in access to justice in Afghanistan (original) (raw)

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 institut...