The Second Decade - Looking Back, Looking Forward: Women’s Access to the Religious Courts of Indonesia

Abstract

Reflecting on over a decade of collaboration that has contributed to more than a million more women accessing the Indonesian family courts for Muslims known as the Religious Courts, this paper considers the elements that contributed to the results and what is important for programmes that prioritise women’s access to justice and, in particular, access to the formal justice system. The authors also look forward and address changes needed in the coming decade to further accelerate improvements in women’s access to the courts and address the quality of service they receive. Six concluding reflections are offered, summing up some of the striking lessons. These: include: the importance of inclusive (and sometimes unlikely) networks or coalitions that support reform; the need for research and knowledge publications that lay an evidence base to present to national agencies that control budget resources; the value of adequate time to trial approaches, building trust to show results; and the importance of paralegals supporting women and girls to access the formal justice system. An earlier version of this paper was presented by the authors at the World Congress on Family Law and Children’s Rights in Dublin in June 2017.