Twenty-third International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

This paper highlights the practices and processes within the informal justice systems and how these affect the rights, health, and wellbeing of women and children, using Kenya as a case study. It mainly investigates the effectiveness of the emerging cornerstone policy in several countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, intended to bring customary and traditional means of dispute resolution from the periphery into the mainstream legal systems. This study critically and objectively assesses the potential for this merger to bring about positive change and to enhance the rights and equity of justice for women and children. This study does not unambiguously present the nature of informal justice systems as if it is always bad. Rather, it suggests that it is a two-edge sword; that is, informal justice systems can be flexible, progressive, fast, affordable, and potentially restorative. Conversely, they can be harsh, arbitrary, disempowering, and unjust. Related practices often undermine the rights of women and children, further plunging them into vulnerable positions. For example, while one in four women experiences sexual and gender-based violence in her lifetime, there are limited provisions within the informal justice systems to prevent such violence, hold the offender to account or provide sufficient redress to victims in many low-income countries. Given the high prevalence of informal justice systems globally and the fact that so many people access them for the justice needs, there is a critical need to broaden our understanding of how they work and their impact on vulnerable populations.