Gender justice

Around the world, women and girls continue to face discriminatory laws and practices, unequal access to justice, and institutions that do not always protect their rights or respond to their needs. In times of crisis and conflict, these inequalities often deepen: women face greater risks of violence and exclusion, while remaining underrepresented in the institutions that shape their safety, rights and well-being.

Closing this gender justice gap matters far beyond the justice sector. When women and girls can claim their rights, participate in decisions that affect their lives, and rely on institutions that protect them, societies become more inclusive, resilient and better able to prevent and recover from crisis.

Gender Justice - Rule of Law and Human Rights ROLHR

A group of women listen to court proceedings while attending a session at the Garowe courts in Puntland, Somalia, on 27 August 2020.

UNDP / Tobin Jones

Achieving gender justice therefore requires more than improving women’s access to justice. It also means addressing the laws, institutions, practices and power imbalances that determine whose rights are protected, whose voices are heard and how justice is delivered.

Through its Justice Futures CoLab, UNDP supports governments, institutions, local actors and civil society to make justice systems work better for women and girls. It offers technical, financial, policy and advocacy support to strengthen legal protection, improve gender-sensitive justice and security institutions, expand access to legal aid, support victim-centred transitional justice, and increase women’s participation and leadership in the judiciary. 

Gender Justice Platform

The Gender Justice Platform is a unique partnership between UNDP and UN Women to accelerate progress on gender justice. It brings together UN Women’s global expertise on gender equality with UNDP’s extensive rule of law programming and country presence, connecting action on the ground with global policy, advocacy, innovation and learning.

Working with governments, justice institutions, women networks, advocacy groups and civil society organizations, the Platform supports reforms to amend discriminatory laws, strengthens gender-responsive justice institutions, expands access to justice and advances women’s leadership and participation across the justice sector.

Since its launch in 2022, the Platform has supported work in 59 countries, helped 1.13 million people, including more than 640,000 women and girls, access justice, and strengthened 158 justice institutions to deliver more gender-responsive services.

Over this time, the Platform has grown into a global network for gender justice, helping translate country-level experience into wider policy change and mobilizing partnerships and expertise to build justice systems that work for all women and girls.

Latest publications

Focal Point

Lorraine Reuter
Justice Specialist 
lorraine.reuter@undp.org