UN Women Calls for Urgent Action to Close Justice Gaps for Women and Girls

Participants emphasized that women and girls often face major obstacles when seeking justice, both in formal legal systems and informal or customary justice mechanisms.

The United Nations has renewed calls for urgent reforms to ensure women and girls worldwide can access justice, highlighting persistent systemic barriers that continue to leave many without protection or legal remedies.

The issue was the focus of an interactive discussion titled “Bridging Systemic Gaps: Advancing Justice for All Women and Girls,” convened by UN Women on 10 March 2026 alongside the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70).

The event brought together policymakers, legal experts, civil society leaders, and survivor advocates to examine the structural challenges that prevent women and girls from obtaining justice in many countries.

Persistent Barriers in Justice Systems

Participants emphasized that women and girls often face major obstacles when seeking justice, both in formal legal systems and informal or customary justice mechanisms.

Common barriers include:

• Discriminatory laws and legal frameworks

• Entrenched social and cultural norms

• Limited access to legal services

• Economic and geographic barriers

• Risks of violence or retaliation when reporting abuse

Research and legal needs assessments consistently show that justice gaps frequently occur in areas such as:

• Family law and personal status matters

• Gender-based violence

• Employment and labour rights

• Administrative justice

These gaps can leave women vulnerable to continued discrimination, violence, and re-victimization.

Justice Systems Must Focus on Survivors

Speakers stressed that justice systems must be redesigned to better respond to survivors’ needs.

Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, called for comprehensive reforms that place justice for women at the centre of policy efforts.

“Let us commit to comprehensive reforms that eliminate discriminatory laws, strengthen and finance justice institutions, expand legal aid and quality services, harness data for people-centred justice, and support feminist movements that drive change,” Bahous said.

“Justice must move from the margins to the centre of our collective efforts.”

Participants proposed several practical measures to improve access to justice, including:

• Specialized police and court units dealing with gender-based violence

• One-stop centres providing integrated support services

• Mobile legal services to reach women in remote areas

• Expanded legal aid and victim support programmes

Overlooked Challenges for Vulnerable Groups

The discussion also highlighted specific challenges faced by marginalized groups of women.

Women with disabilities, for example, often face serious barriers when filing complaints, including lack of sign language interpreters and accessible legal services.

Women living in institutional settings, such as detention centres or shelters, were also identified as a group whose access to justice is often severely restricted.

Participants emphasized the importance of intersectional approaches that address the overlapping discrimination faced by women based on disability, race, socioeconomic status, or other factors.

Role of Civil Society and Women’s Movements

The event also underscored the critical role played by civil society organisations and feminist movements in advancing justice for women.

Advocates noted that philanthropic funding often helps bridge the gap between laws on paper and their real-world implementation.

However, they warned that relying on such funding alone is insufficient and that structural support from governments and institutions is needed.

From Commitments to Action

Swiss Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, head of Switzerland’s Federal Department of Home Affairs, emphasized that governments must move beyond commitments and deliver concrete results.

“When women and girls cannot access justice, inequality deepens, and impunity persists,” Baume-Schneider said.

“The challenge before us now is to move from recognition to action – to ensure that commitments made at the national and international levels result in tangible, lasting improvements in women’s and girls’ access to justice.”

Need for Political Will and Institutional Change

Participants concluded that closing the justice gap requires more than legislative reform.

Achieving meaningful progress will require:

• Strong political will

• Institutional reforms within justice systems

• Long-term funding for legal aid and support services

• Sustained backing for civil society organisations

Experts said these steps are essential to ensure that women’s rights are not only recognized in law but also fully realised in practice.