A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO INCREASING WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ELECTORAL JUSTICE institutions. While descriptive representation is not synonymous with gender equality, ensuring government institutions better reflect the population is essential to increase citizen trust and ensure diverse perspectives are represented among decision-makers. In Kenya, for example, three of seven justices of the high court are women, and women have achieved near parity as judges and magistrates. The high levels of representation of women in Kenya’s judicial bodies is the exception in a country where, despite a constitutional requirement that no more than two-thirds of any elected or appointed body should be persons of one sex,36 women remain underrepresented across leadership positions. In Indonesia, neither of the national EMBs meets the 30 percent quota requirement; there is only one woman out of seven commissioners in the national EMB and one of five at the national supervisory level. The fact that the EMBs themselves do not meet this quota is not a positive signal to those seeking enforcement of legal protections for women. While women’s lack of representation in political and government leadership positions is an issue beyond electoral justice, the judiciary and EMBs do have roles to play in encouraging gender equality in leadership positions. This can be achieved by promoting affirmative action measures “When women are involved in the justice sector, they bring a unique perspective and, through decisionmaking, they contribute to better inclusion for all society.” - Key informant interview participant like gender quotas and coupling them with enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with commitments to increasing women’s leadership in the justice sector and electoral institutions. A higher proportion of women in judicial and electoral roles alone will not solve gender inequality in the justice sector. Still, it is one way to increase the chances that women’s experiences and needs are taken into account when developing processes and procedures for adjudication of electoral complaints. In addition, given the mistreatment and stigma many women encounter when bringing claims related to electoral violence and other sensitive matters, all judicial and EDR personnel – regardless of gender – should receive training on gender-sensitive complaint management. In many countries, the legal framework can be strengthened to increase women’s ability to participate in the electoral process as voters, candidates, political party members, and election officials. An updated legal framework must include sanctions for non-compliance sufficient to result in deterrence as well as the development of an EDR system that properly investigates, prosecutes, and remedies violations of the law. Further, the legal system must be equally accessible to all litigants, which may require reducing barriers to filing cases, including court fees, and increasing the availability of pro bono counsel trained on election issues. For example, in Kenya, the electoral justice system has taken steps to reduce barriers to women accessing electoral justice. Court case filing fees have been reduced for women candidates, and, in the wake of COVID-19, more people have access to virtual proceedings. These changes should reduce the time and expense associated with traveling to litigate cases. However, because women are less likely to have access to the requisite technology, particularly in rural areas and villages where they are also more likely to be candidates, virtual proceedings may still place women at a disadvantage when seeking electoral justice. Finally, while changes to the legal framework and improving the gender balance of EDR and EMB leadership are key reforms, one of the major barriers that interviewees across contexts identified was the lack of fair and standardized systems to resolve intraparty disputes. As noted above, many women candidates encounter their first challenges Known colloquially as the as the “two-thirds gender rule,” Article 27 of the Republic of Kenya’s 2010 Constitution states that the “State shall take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members of electoral or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender.” 36 19