A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO INCREASING WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ELECTORAL JUSTICE retain counsel for complainants as well as the number and gender of complainants for which they decline to provide counsel. For the Legislature • Strengthen the legal framework to increase women’s representation in political institutions. Specific actions may include increasing quota thresholds, improving campaign finance laws to better support women candidates, criminalizing political violence against women, and increasing penalties for violations of electoral laws. For Political Parties • Develop intra- and inter-party codes of conduct, guidelines, and dispute resolution mechanisms to ensure women’s equal access to political processes. Once such mechanisms are established, decentralize and localize them to make it easier for women to access the process. • Ensure that women candidates have information on the intra- and inter-party dispute resolution processes and procedures and formal EDR processes, including timelines and evidence to preserve and how to file a complaint, claim, or case in the face of a suspected electoral violation. Include any party-supported legal resources available. • Establish a gender unit or department responsible for training and gender-mainstreaming programs, processes, and resources. • Make significant efforts – through sensitization and allies training for men candidates, staff, and leadership – to improve the environment for women candidates. For Law Enforcement and Security Personnel • Provide training for personnel on how to support women victims of violence, investigate electoral crimes, and preserve the chain of evidence. • Provide security forces stationed at polling places with information on the electoral law and training on how to help prevent electoral violence that targets women and how to respond to women who have been victims of electoral violence with respect and sensitivity. For Civil Society • Develop proposals and sample language to strengthen the legal framework; mount legislative advocacy campaigns to improve accountability for violations of women’s rights and to support gender equality in political processes. • Partner with the EMB to identify and train women as community voter education ambassadors to take voter information back to their communities and conduct door-to-door campaigns sharing voter information. • Offer training for all women candidates – across political parties – on relevant electoral justice processes and procedures, including information on legal aid services, psychological supports, and financial resources as available to cover the costs of filing a claim. • In the event that cases of harassment, intimidation, and violence against women candidates occur, advocate to the relevant authorities that the perpetrators be dealt with swiftly and in accordance with the law. What Does the Research Say About Women’s Access to Electoral Justice? The challenges women face in accessing electoral justice institutions have implications for how EMBs, parliaments, courts, and other electoral justice actors design and implement their EDR mechanisms and how they address electoral disputes. International organizations that provide support to those stakeholders and the donors that fund this work would benefit from a more nuanced understanding of how well the processes serve individuals in different ways, especially as they provide technical assistance and support to improve electoral justice. The desk review 10