Globally, 1 in 3 women have experienced physical, sexual, psychological and other forms of violence.
In Asia and the Pacific region, the prevalence of violence against women and girls is disproportionately high, with some of the highest rates of violence.
Survivors face harsh realities when seeking protection under the formal justice system including harmful gender bias and stereotyping, lack of understanding of women and girls' legal rights and inadequate institutional mechanisms to deal effectively with these specialized cases.
Our Impact
ADB's Law and Policy Reform program recognizes that gender equality and women's empowerment are critical for achieving economic growth, reducing poverty, and supporting socially inclusive development. To help achieve these goals, we assist to enhance legal and policy frameworks and knowledge, skills, and institutional capacity of judiciaries, legal professionals, and survivor advocates in handling gender-based violence cases to deliver fair, predictable, and equal access to justice for women and girls. We do this by:
Tailored, Culturally Relevant Evidence-Based Trainings on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Cases
- Delivering customized capacity building programs for judges, magistrates, and prosecutors on gender sensitization and violence against women and girls' procedures, taking into account international good practices, stakeholders' consultations, social and cultural norms most relevant to GBV and focused group discussion to hear about challenges
- Bridging the gap between the formal and informal justice sectors by working with community and religious leaders
- Delivering trainings on harassment and bullying in the workplace
Specialized Mechanisms to Address GBV Cases
- Advising on design, establishment and operationalization of GBV courts or benches, as well as assisting with drafting related guidelines to be followed in GBV cases
- Assisting with drafting special court procedures to provide for more effective and faster adjudication of GBV cases
- Advising on improvements to court structural set-up including strategic placement of dividers between survivors and defendants and safe place waiting rooms for children
- Development of judicial certification programs to prepare groups of specialized judges to handle GBV cases
- Advising on establishing or updating gender policies for judiciaries and courts
Knowledge Transfer through a Country-Driven Approach
- Developing tailored knowledge tools such as bench books, handbooks, protocols and/or guidelines on handling VAWG cases
- Developing information videos and other materials on sensitively interviewing vulnerable and child witnesses
- Producing champion videos of justice actors to amplify good practices and inspirational stories
Knowledge Sharing and Dialogue on GBV Cases
- Positive media campaign to empower women, girls, and men and raise legal literacy on GBV cases
- Convened the first-of-its-kind Asia-Pacific Conference on the Promotion of Gender-Responsive Judicial Systems which brought together justice sector actors and other stakeholders to discuss approaches to strengthening the formal justice systems’ responses to violence against women and girls
"This particular program on Gender Responsive Judicial Systems is probably one of the most important avenues that the Asian Development Bank and partners have pursued in their work with judiciaries in their region."
Honorable Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin, National High Court of Brazil (STJ) and President of the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment
"I extend my respect to the entire team from ADB for providing support and technical assistance to the entire process…training in this area is extremely important...let us continue in the future with the support of our partners so we can better prepare ourselves as judges to work effectively and to provide better justice, especially to women and children."
Honorable Judge Deolindo dos Santos, President, Timor-Leste Court of Appeal
LPR In Action
Robyn Layton, Adjunct Professor, Justice & Society, University of South Australia and Judicial Education and Development Consultant for the ADB Law and Policy Reform Program, conducted a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) presentation to the Fiji Women Lawyers Association (FWLA) on Harassment and Bullying in the workplace.
ADB hosts high-level discussions with the Timor-Leste Prosecutor General after the conclusion of trainings for the entire Timor-Leste prosecution service on gender sensitization and gender-based violence (GBV) cases, from 14-21 August 2023.
Knowledge Resources
Handbook on Investigation of Gender-Based Violence Offenses for the Timor-Leste Public Prosecution Service
The handbook aims to strengthen the prosecution of gender-based violence (GBV) offenses by helping prosecutors, justice officials, law enforcement agents, and other stakeholders to investigate GBV and gather evidence, all while respecting the dignity of the victim and local cultural norms.
Gender-Inclusive Legislative Framework and Laws to Strengthen Women’s Resilience to Climate Change and Disasters
Globally, women are disproportionately impacted by climate change and disasters due to gender inequalities and limited opportunities to participate in decision-making processes. The report provides a conceptual framework and good practice guide to improve gender equality in this space based on international norms and examples of national laws.
Court Companion on Gender-Based Violence Cases
The Court Companion on Gender-Based Violence Cases navigates international law and Pakistan's domestic legal framework for an analysis of applicable legal norms to make justice more accessible to victims of gender-based violence.