A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO INCREASING WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ELECTORAL JUSTICE Annex A: Desk Review Introduction Though there has been significant progress in the past decade, women’s equal and meaningful participation in political life still lags behind their male counterparts. As of January 2022, women represented just 26.1 percent of representatives in national parliaments45 and 34 percent of local elected representatives.46 The gender gap in elected representation reflects a number of individual, institutional, and cultural barriers that women face when running for office and serving in these roles. In addition to affecting women candidates and elected officials, many of these barriers also impact women seeking to participate more generally in civic or public life in other formal and informal roles – for example as election officials, political party members, voters, electoral judges, observers, civil society activists, and community advocates. One barrier that limits women’s participation in political and electoral processes is unequal access to electoral justice mechanisms.47 As with other parts of the electoral process, women face challenges that may limit their access to and participation in electoral dispute resolution (EDR) and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes. Although the barriers exist, there is little research on how EDR and ADR processes can be more gender-sensitive and inclusive for women. However, a recent guide to judging electoral matters through a gender lens is an important contribution to the literature.48 Democracy is only possible when it is inclusive and representative, so neglecting to take gender considerations into account in the electoral justice process – an essential piece of the democracy puzzle – is to risk perpetuating a process that, at its core, is not democratic. If countries aim to be true democracies, it is essential to consider the impact of gender on elections and on electoral justice processes more specifically. Developing a better understanding of women’s challenges in accessing electoral justice institutions (whether formal or informal) has implications for how electoral management bodies, parliaments, judicial bodies, and other electoral justice actors design and implement their EDR mechanisms and how they address electoral disputes – including how electoral justice actors are trained and what procedural requirements are put in place to access these processes. International organizations that provide support to these stakeholders, and donors that fund this work, would also benefit from having a more nuanced understanding of how well these processes serve individuals in different ways, especially as they provide technical assistance and support to improve EDR and ADR processes. This desk review – organized by key finding – examines literature on women’s access to justice, country-specific assessments of EDR and ADR processes, election observers’ reports, and publications that review existing electoral justice mechanisms. The findings of this review, together with key informant interviews from different regions, and case studies from Kenya and Nepal, will inform a guidebook with recommendations on how different electoral institutions and international development assistance providers can make electoral justice more gender-sensitive and thus more responsive to women’s needs and experiences. 45 Interparliamentary Union (2022). Women in Parliament in 2021. UN Women and Women in Local Government. (2022). Elected Seats Held by Women in Deliberative Bodies of Local Government, 1 January 2022. 47 For the purposes of this paper, electoral justice refers to ensuring every step of the election process is in line with the law and protects fundamental electoral rights (to vote, to be elected, to assemble, to form and join political parties). 48 Ravel, A., et al. Guide to Judge with A Gender Lens in electoral matters. (2022, October.) Gender Equality Observatory. 46 30