A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO INCREASING WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ELECTORAL JUSTICE Table of Contents Introduction............................................................................................................................................................ 7 Summary of Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 9 What Does the Research Say About Women’s Access to Electoral Justice? ......................................................... 10 Finding 1: There is a lack of research on women’s access to electoral justice and a dearth of gender-disaggregated data related to electoral dispute resolution. ....................................................................................................... 11 Finding 2: Many countries have national legal frameworks that prohibit gender discrimination and guarantee women’s political participation, but enforcement of these laws remains a challenge. .......................................... 11 Finding 3: Women often lack the resources required to pursue electoral complaints. ......................................... 12 Finding 4: Electoral justice institutions may not appropriately address women’s cases and complaints. ............. 12 Finding 5: Political parties often act as barriers for women accessing electoral justice. ...................................... 13 Finding 6: Women do not have equal access to information about how to pursue electoral complaints and about what is needed to bring forward a successful case. ........................................................................................... 14 Finding 7: Societal stigma and harmful cultural attitudes keep women from reporting certain electoral justice violations. ......................................................................................................................................................... 14 Finding 8: ADR processes could be opportunities for women’s electoral justice complaints to be heard, but they may also be vulnerable to the same institutional and cultural biases as formal electoral judicial processes. ....... 15 Findings from the field .......................................................................................................................................... 15 What are the practical challenges women face in accessing electoral justice? ................................................... 16 What legal or institutional reforms are needed to increase women’s equal access to not just EDR mechanisms but to true electoral justice? .................................................................................................................................... 18 What can electoral management bodies and EDR bodies do to promote women’s access to electoral justice and the effective adjudication of women’s disputes? ................................................................................................ 20 What role can civil society play in promoting women’s access to electoral justice? ............................................ 21 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................................... 24 Strengthen and Enforce the Legal Framework .................................................................................................. 25 Regulations, Codes of Conduct, and Guidelines ............................................................................................... 25 Voter and Candidate Education ........................................................................................................................ 26 Training, Staffing and Personnel ....................................................................................................................... 27 5