Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Gender Dynamics in Access to Justice in Afghanistan Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Social Development Unit South Asia World Bank Acknowledgements This report was prepared by a team led by Miki Terasawa, including George Joseph, Teresa Marchiori, Hitomi Komatsu, Rebecca Haines, and Paul Prettitore. The report was developed under the overall guidance of Maria Correia, Sector Manager, Social Development Department, South Asia (SASDS). Poonam Rohatgi and Wahida Obaidy provided administrative assistance. The extensive field research and data analysis at the heart of this report were contributed largely by Samuel Hall Consulting, with a team of consultants led by Camille Hennion and Hervé Nicolle, with the participation of Naeem Meer, Marion Guillaume, Ahmad Shah Momin, Fatma Wakil, and the field teams led by Ibrahim Ramazani and Basir Mohmand Naeem. Teresa Marchiori, Rebecca Haines, George Joseph, and Miki Terasawa developed Samuel Hall’s final report into the present document. The team wishes to thank the peer reviewers, Rea Chiongson and Maria Orlando, for helpful comments and guidance, and the counterparts in Afghanistan’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Supreme Court (SC), Attorney General’s Office (AGO), and the Justice Service Delivery Project (JSDP) team for their valuable assistance. The team also extends its thanks to the women and men, justice service providers, Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), aid agencies, non-governmental organizations, and donors in Kabul, Bamyan, Herat, Logar, and Nangarhar, who provided valuable inputs to the study through surveys, focus group discussions, or interviews. This study was made possible through assistance from Australian Aid, through their Strengthening Community-Level Service Delivery in Afghanistan, and South Asia Gender Initiative (SAGE). The team wishes to take this opportunity to express its appreciation for Australian Aid’s generous support. i CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (Exchange Rate Effective as of March 26, 2014) Currency unit = Afghani (Af) Af 57.5 = US$ 1 FISCAL YEAR January 1 – December 31 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AGO Attorney General’s Office AIHRC Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission AJSRP Afghanistan Justice Sector Reform Project ANP Afghan National Police CDC Community Development Council CSO Central Statistics Office DoJ Department of Justice DoWA Department of Women’s Affairs EVAW Elimination of Violence against Women FGD Focus group discussion FRU Family Response Unit JSDP Justice Service Delivery Project KII Key informant interview km Kilometer MoJ Ministry of Justice MoWA Ministry of Women’s Affairs NGO Non-governmental organization NRVA National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment PSU Primary Sampling Unit SC Supreme Court UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees USAID United States Agency for International Development USIP United States Institute of Peace Regional Vice President: Philippe Houerou Country Director: Robert Saum Sector Director: John Henry Stein Sector Manager: Maria Correia Task Team Leader: Miki Terasawa ii Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. I ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ........................................................................ II EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................ VI 1. STUDY CONTEXT AND METHODOLOGY ...................................................... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2 STUDY OBJECTIVES AND ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................ 2 1.3 LEGAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................................. 3 1.4 JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS ............................................................................................... 3 1.5 STUDY METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................. 7 1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THIS REPORT ............................................................................. 10 2. FINDINGS ............................................................................................................... 11 2.1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 11 2.2 PROFILE OF HOUSEHOLD SURVEY RESPONDENTS AND USERS ................................. 11 2.3 DISPUTES ................................................................................................................. 12 2.4 DISPUTE RESOLUTION .............................................................................................. 15 2.5 LEVEL OF SATISFACTION WITH PROCESS AND OUTCOMES ....................................... 24 2.6 BARRIERS TO ACCESSING JUSTICE SERVICES ............................................................ 27 2.7 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 40 3. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ............................................................ 43 3.1 EXPERIENCE IN NON-STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS .................................................. 43 3.2 ACCESS TO STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS ................................................................. 44 3.3 IMPROVING THE EXPERIENCE IN STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS ................................. 44 3.4 WORKING THROUGH OTHER SECTORS ...................................................................... 45 4. BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................... 46 ANNEX 1. METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 49 ANNEX 2. ADDITIONAL FIGURES AND TABLES ................................................ 58 ANNEX 3. GLOSSARY ................................................................................................. 61 ANNEX 4. SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES (SAMPLE) ............................................. 63 ANNEX 5. OVERVIEW OF LAWS AND NORMS REGULATING MATTERS AFFECTING WOMEN’S STATUS IN AFGHANISTAN ....................................... 103 TABLES TABLE 1.1 EXAMPLES OF THE APPLICATION OF STATE LAW, SHARI’A, AND CUSTOMARY RULES .................................................................................................................................. 4 TABLE 1.2 TOOLS USED IN THE STUDY ................................................................................. 8 TABLE 1.3 SURVEY PROVINCE PROFILE .............................................................................. 10 TABLE 2.1 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE HOUSEHOLD AND USER SURVEY RESPONDENTS (%) ........................................................................................................................................... 12 TABLE 2.2 PERCENTAGE OF USERS WHO HAD TO PAY BRIBES ............................................. 24 iii TABLE 2.3 NUMBER OF USERS WHO HAD OUTCOMES ON THEIR CASES ............................... 27 TABLE 2.4 AVERAGE DISTANCE OF JUSTICE INSTITUTION FROM THE SURVEYED VILLAGES (KM) ................................................................................................................................... 29 TABLE 2.5 AWARENESS OF THE ROLE OF STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS (HOUSEHOLD SURVEY) (%) ...................................................................................................................... 29 TABLE 2.6 AVAILABILITY OF STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS AT DISTRICT AND PROVINCIAL LEVELS ............................................................................................................................... 37 TABLE 2.7 WOMEN STAFF IN STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS................................................ 38 TABLE 2.8 NUMBER OF WOMEN LEGAL WORKERS IN SURVEYED PROVINCES ..................... 38 TABLE 2.9 NUMBER OF STATE INSTITUTION USERS BY TYPE OF DISPUTE ............................ 40 TABLE A2.1 OVERVIEW OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE TOOLS USED IN THE STUDY 49 TABLE A2.2 NUMBER OF PSUS BY DISTRICT AND PROVINCE ............................................. 51 TABLE A2.3 NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS OF HOUSEHOLD SURVEY BY PROVINCE AND GENDER .............................................................................................................................. 52 TABLE A2.4 PERCENTAGE OF RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN HOUSEHOLD SURVEY BY PROVINCE ........................................................................................................................................... 52 TABLE A2.5 NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS IN USER SURVEY BY PROVINCE AND GENDER ....... 53 TABLE A2.6 INSTITUTIONS WHERE THE USERS WERE FOUND (%)....................................... 53 TABLE A2.7 JUSTICE SERVICE PROVIDER SURVEYED BY PROVINCE .................................... 55 TABLE A2.8 FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS BY PROVINCE ..................................................... 56 TABLE A2.9 KEY INFORMANTS INTERVIEWED BY PROVINCE ............................................. 57 FIGURES FIGURE 1.1 STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN ................................................ 5 FIGURE 2.1 PREVALENT DISPUTES: WOMEN ....................................................................... 13 FIGURE 2.2 PREVALENT DISPUTES: MEN ............................................................................ 13 FIGURE 2.3 WOMEN’S