Intersectionality and Women's Access to Justice, edited by J. Jarpa Dawuni, propounds layered intersectionality as a paradigm for examining how gendered factors affect women's access to justice, whether as judges or litigants. Through intersectional and decolonial frameworks, the contributors analyze the lived experiences of women and their access to justice by situating the courtroom as both a spatial and a temporal arena for seeking justice (as litigants) and for seeking access to the bench (as judges). This book examines patterns of mutually reinforcing discriminatory practices that women share based on common gender identities and depending on which identities are at play at a given point in time in both traditional and statutory courts. The book provides recommendations for various justice sector providers.
J. Jarpa Dawuni is associate professor of political science at Howard University.
Contents Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Layered Intersectionality and Framing Feminist Legal Discourse on Access to Justice for Women J. Jarpa Dawuni Part One: Women and Access to the Bench Chapter 2: Status of Women Judges in Algeria: Achievements and Pathways for the Future Samia Bourouba Chapter 3: Opening the Door for Women in the Cape Verdean Judiciary Justice Vera Duarte Chapter 4: Women Judges in Ethiopia Maame Efua Addadzi-Koom and Biruh Gemeda Gage Chapter 5: Battle for Women in the Egyptian Judiciary: Reality, Laws, and Aspirations or a Dream Come True? Omnia Taher Gadalla Chapter 6: Making Gains for Women's Rights: Using Gender Quotas to Achieve Gender Equality in the Composition of the Supreme Court of Kenya. Annerita Murungi and Agnes Meroka-Mutua Chapter 7: "Your Whole Life is an Interview to Get to the Bench:" Gender and Judicial Appointments in Malawi Rachel Ellett Chapter 8: Gender Transformation of the Judiciary in South Africa Justice Constance Baratang Mocumie Chapter 9: A Critical Assessment of the Status of Women Judicial Officers in Uganda Josephine Ndagire Part Two: Women and Access to the Courtroom Chapter 10: Women's property rights and discriminatory land tenure systems in Ghana: The adjudicative role of courts Michael Addaney Chapter 11: The making and unmaking of gender: Reflections on questions of gender and the judiciary in Namibia Kennedy Kariseb Chapter 12: Women and environmental justice issues in Nigeria: An evaluation Eghosa Ekhator and Pedi Obani Chapter 13: Contribution of the judiciary to the advancement and protection of women's matrimonial and inheritance rights in Rwanda Marie-Rose Turamwishimiye and Odette Uwineza Part Three: Women and Access to Traditional Justice Chapter 14: Gender and Customary justice among the Podoko of the Mandara mountains of the far north region of Cameroon Jeremie Diye Chapter 15: Juxtaposing the efficacy of testacy and intestacy to inheritance rights for Rukuba widows and children under Nigeria's Plural Legal System Rebecca Badejogbin andVickiLawal Chapter 16: Transforming traditional justice through gender diversification: Comparing two South African communities Sindiso Mnisi Weeks Conclusion and Recommendations Chapter 17: Intersectionality, access to justice and women's experiences: Policy recommendations J. Jarpa Dawuni and Stephen Muthoka Mutie Index About the Authors
