The Cost of Justice: Exploratory assessment on women’s access to justice in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Yemen

Abstract

Women in the Middle East and North Africa region face challenges in their attempts to seek and get justice. Despite some promising legal awareness initiatives, mostly led by civil society, women’s knowledge of their rights and family law is limited. They lack social capital and the financial means to claim their rights, and the systems in place to provide financial support are insufficient and often ineffective. Women’s pursuit of justice is further limited by entrenched patriarchal values at community and court levels. Though some laws in the countries covered by this research have been positively amended recently, women still face discrimination in the judicial system based on their sex, their religion, and their financial status. This report was commissioned by Oxfam and civil society organizations in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Yemen to explore the impact of the cost of legal services on women’s access to justice in personal status and family law proceedings in the four countries.