CSW70: Pathways to People-Centered Justice: Women’s Trajectories and Inequalities in Ibero-America

This event on the sidelines of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women presented the Ibero-American Alliance on Access to Justice’s new thematic report “Women’s Access to Justice in Ibero-America—Structural Gaps, Institutional Pathways, and People-Centered Responses.” The report provides a concise, evidence-based overview of the main barriers women face in accessing justice. It analyzes structural inequalities, due diligence gaps, violence, stereotypes, and barriers linked to care responsibilities, migration, ethnicity, and disability, connecting this diagnosis to international standards and prevailing institutional practices in the region.

The event promoted substantive dialogue on the role of data in understanding real access-to-justice pathways and informing decision-making. Panels addressed the importance of high-quality, comparable, and disaggregated data, including regional evidence and country experience, to guide more effective public policies; and the exchange of good practices in the Ibero-American region, such as specialized protocols addressing violence against women and institutional mechanisms to mainstream a gender perspective in justice systems.

Finally, the open discussion and conclusions provided space to reflect on how to deepen future research, strengthen information systems, and consolidate institutional commitments, identifying next steps towards a comprehensive, evidence-based understanding of women’s access to justice in Ibero-America.

This event was organized by the Ibero-American Alliance for Access to Justice and co-sponsored by the Ibero-American Association of Public Prosecutors (AIAMP), the Inter-American Association of Public Defender Offices (AIDEF), the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL), the United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD), Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies (NYU CIC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Justice Project (WJP).