Historique

Reporting on global commitments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Millennium Development Goals and the Universal Periodic Review, has spurred the collection, analysis and reporting of sex disaggregated data. Despite progress made in data collection in a number of sectors, access to justice is by far one of the weakest links in global development and human rights statistics. This is likely due to its cross-cutting nature and the complexity of the chain through which justice is delivered.

The justice chain refers to the series of steps that an individual undertakes in order to obtain remedies for rights violations. This chain differs for civil and criminal settings as well as by whether the forum in question is formal or informal. The criminal dimensions of justice, particularly in formal settings, are more complex as they entail a multiplicity of steps and different rules of evidence: contact with the police (reporting), medical and social services, legal aid, investigations, forensic examinations, arrests and detention, interim orders, prosecution, adjudication and judicial decisions, as well as their enforcement. Intrinsic to the justice system is the involvement of multiple agencies and structures including the police, prosecutions, immigration, prisons, lawyers and social services. The multifaceted nature of process and responsibilities underpinning the justice system require a comprehensive system of data collection across the lifespan of a legal process.

The ability of women to access justice systems is also dependent upon a number of other demand and supply factors. Demand concerns the extent to which women are aware of their rights, of the institutions created to protect and enforce them, have trust in the system, and the attrition rates which are fundamental to setting any judicial process in motion. Supply factors include the availability of easily accessible court facilities, legal aid and victims’ assistance, filing fee waivers, linguistic access, gender responsive policing and judicial interpretation and the availability of friendly spaces and related social services. All these are equally important in ensuring that women not only access legal remedies, particularly through the justice system, but that they also do so effectively.

The rule of law and capable institutions, grounded on human rights, are serious considerations for the soon to be agreed Sustainable Development Goals and related targets. Given the critical role and place of justice in a country’s system of accountability, it is important that indicators that affect both its supply and demand are proactively identified and generated both in preparation for effective monitoring and reporting on women’s access to justice, as well for general development programming and advocacy purposes. UN Women’s Progress Report In Pursuit of Justice (2012) reveals the critical importance of data collection, analysis and reporting for evidence generation and monitoring of the extent to which gender equality is being achieved in both access and delivery of justice. The Progress Report notes that systematic and comprehensive data collection will contribute to a gender-responsive and inclusive system of justice.  To help fill this current gap, UN Women, UNDP, and the Council of Europe have agreed to map out existing direct and proxy indicators which contribute to a determination of the extent to which women are accessing justice globally. With a view to determining the current state of indicators as well as specific gaps and potential areas for improvement, the proposed exercise will ascertain new indicators to be developed and how old and new indicators could be harnessed and consolidated for increased efficiency and effectiveness in reporting and monitoring on women’s access to justice on a regular basis.

Justification and context

There is a growing demand for the generation and collection of data on women’s access to justice.  Recognizing and building on evolving and ongoing data collection efforts by and among organizations that work in the field of access to justice will be critical to this exercise:

In response to the recommendations of its 2012 Progress Report, UN Women is implementing an inclusive justice programme for women at country level. The initiative is based on the understanding that women cannot be denied justice on any grounds including economic, social or health status, political background, geographic location, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity. Inclusive justice also implies that measures such as legal aid, paralegal services, fee waivers and interpretation services must be available to all women and that opportunities must be sought to make rights based informal justice systems available to women where relevant. In line with the General Comments of the Committee on Economic and Social Rights, UN Women considers that gaps in physical, financial, linguistic accessibility and quality within the justice sector must be addressed. Concerns of limited cohesion, coordination and capacity within the justice sector also require attention.  Moreover, data collection tends to be concentrated in the field of criminal law and less on the civil dimensions which are equally important for assessing women’s legal empowerment and for addressing many forms of discrimination.

UNDP supports rule of law and women’s access to justice and security in over 100 developing countries under a new Strategic Plan (2014-2017) which includes a commitment to measuring rule of law and access to justice concerns. At global level, one initiative in data collection is currently UNDP’s cooperation with UNODC and others, in the conduct of a Global Study on Legal Aid which is aimed at gathering data on the current status of legal aid worldwide. Using desk research, in-depth case studies and a worldwide survey of UN Member States and Experts, the research is addressing questions of existing provisions/framework for legal aid delivery, statistics on the accessibility/demand for legal aid, strengths and weaknesses of the existing systems, opportunities and lessons on legal aid reform and the role of legal aid in engaging with informal justice systems. The study’s scope also includes a component on tracking progress in legal aid delivery and legal empowerment, through sex disaggregated administrative data.

The Council of Europe’s Gender Equality Strategy (2014-2017) includes a specific objective on guaranteeing equal access of women to justice and establishes that action in this area will seek to:

• (a) analyze national and international frameworks to gather data and identify the obstacles women encounter in gaining access to national courts and to international justice;
• (b) identify, collect and disseminate existing remedies and good practices to facilitate women's access to justice; and
• (c) make recommendations to improve the situation.

The Council’s hearing on "Access to Justice for Women Victims of Violence" in December 2013 called for data collection and research in this field, including gathering information on sex, age and relationship of women's victims of violence and the perpetrators. The need to disaggregate data on all offences against a person, integrate these data and make them public was also highlighted. With the coming into force of the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence this year, the Council of Europe has set legally-binding standards requiring the collection of data in the area of violence against women, while protecting personal data. The obligation on Parties to improve and step up their efforts to collect administrative and population-based data on all forms of violence against women follows up on previous work of the Council of Europe in this field. A Council of Europe seminar on “Tackling the gaps in research and the lack of data disaggregated by sex concerning women’s equal access to justice”, held  in June 2014, encouraged close co-operation and co-ordination amongst the different regional and international organizations working in this field.

Among other initiatives, the UNODC supports the collection and analysis of crime  statistics on issues including homicide, assault, sexual violence, robbery, kidnapping, theft, motor vehicle theft, burglary and drug-related crimes and is currently working with the UN Statistical Commission to formulate international standards on crime statistics. The World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index includes indicators on judicial corruption, awareness of rights, due process, delays in civil justice, accessible, impartial and effective Alternate Dispute Mechanisms and informal justice.  The World Bank’s biannual publication on Women, Business and the Law, captures fields of women’s economic empowerment, in particular property regimes, employment restrictions and decision-making. While a number of country standard living surveys are capturing data on distance to courts, these tend to be isolated.

Devoirs et responsabilités

UN Women, UNDP and the Council of Europe are desirous of working with other partners and agencies in agreeing on a core package of indicators for measuring women’s access to justice based on a combination of potential sources such as Household Surveys and administrative data.  This would require a mapping out of existing indicators that directly or indirectly bear on women’s access to justice and a determination of what other additional indicators would be essential for this purpose. The exercise aims to identify the existence or absence of indicators on (1) the supply dimensions of justice e.g. financial, geographical accessibility; (2) the demand dimensions of justice e.g. rights awareness and the (3) organizational dimensions of justice e.g. record keeping and monitoring of attrition rates in court systems.  Building on already existing indicators and proposing additional indicators based on identified gaps, will enhance the ability of the partners and other agencies to engage in informed women’s access to justice and related technical cooperation interventions.

The exercise will provide a basis for influencing global policy and practice in the field of gender statistics through the effective engagement with the UN Statistical Commission and other related bodies at regional and national levels, and with a view to ensuring that the proposed core package of indicators are integrated into relevant data collection processes.

Ongoing discussions on the outcome of the exercise will dovetail into important land marks such as the finalization of the CEDAW Committee’s General Recommendation on Women’s Access to Justice, the Beijing +20 review and the post-2015 development framework, all of which require more effective ways of assessing accountability to women’s rights.

Methodology and scope

The consultant will search, review and analyze indicators, tools, administrative data and databases of governments, the UN and Civil Society Organizations, in order to identify current data collection opportunities and gaps related to women’s access to justice.  In doing so, the consultant will liaise with the UN Statistical Commission to identify current data collected from Member States related to women’s access to justice and possible entry points for including additional indicators on women’s access to justice in national systems of data collection.

Based on this mapping and assessment, the consultant will recommend additional indicators or improvements to existing indicators as required, in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders and also aid the partners in identifying the most appropriate sources for integrating any proposed new or refined indicators in current data collection tools e.g. DHS modules, Living Standards Surveys etc. and administrative data. Finally, the consultant will present the findings at a forum to be identified by the partners.

Time frame and deliverables

The assignment will be undertaken from the 1st- November -15 December 2014 through the following outputs:

• Inception report outlining methodology, sources and work plan: 4th November;
• First draft report highlighting existing measures and sources that relate to women’s access to justice and options for additional; indicators on demand, supply and organizational dimensions of women’s access to justice: 17th November;
• Final report on (2) based on comments received by partners: 15th December.

Compétences

 Functional Competencies:

• Substantive knowledge of and experience in women rights research and qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis and reporting; knowledge of gender equality in access to justice and relevant global and regional human rights frameworks including CEDAW.

Core Competencies:

• Professionalism - sound knowledge of global gender equality issues, including gender equality in access to justice and constitutional reform; feminist legal theory and gender mainstreaming in research and advocacy.
• Experience in inter-agency or inter organization collaboration an advantage.

Integrity: 

• Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: 

• Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
• Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Communication: 

• Excellent communications skills; strong interpersonal skills;
• Ability to prepare succinct, evidence-based analytical reports.

Teamwork: 

• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations, both within the UN system and externally;
• Ability to work in a multicultural and multi-ethnic environment with respect for diversity.

Ethics and Values: 

• Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness: 

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence: 

• Creating synergies through self-control.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

• Minimum of Master's degree or equivalent in Statistics, Population and Development in combination with Gender Studies

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in programme work and policy research, focusing on qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis at a national or international level;
• Experience with UN and interagency work highly desirable.

Language:

• Fluency in English is required;
• As this assignment will require the identification of sources in other languages, proficiency in another UN working language will be an asset.