Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-Publications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG

140 PRACTITIONERS GUIDE No. 12
Alternative dispute resolution as a method of dealing
with harmful practices against girls
In their joint General Comment, the CEDAW Committee and
the Committee on the Rights of the Child have expressed
concerns about harmful practices and girls’ access to justice in
States parties with plural legal systems, which may include
customary, traditional and religious laws that support harmful
practices even if other laws explicitly prohibit these same
harmful practices. 366 The Committees expressed particular
concern over the capabilities of those presiding over alternative
dispute resolution mechanisms and the potential prejudices
that may exist within these mechanisms to disadvantage girls
wanting to realize justice. That these mechanisms may be
ineligible for State or judicial scrutiny or review potentially
denies or limits the justice that may be available to girls
through these traditional systems. 367
Alternative dispute resolution as a method of dealing
with family law disputes and other civil matters
Alternative dispute resolution and family law hearings, which
are less formal than ordinary courts, have been used frequently
as a method of addressing general civil matters: for example,
negotiating the terms and conditions of divorce of spouses and
separation of partners, division of marital property as well as
child custody, contact and maintenance. The CEDAW
Committee has expressed concern that such processes may
lead to discrimination against women, as women often lack
choice over the forum in which their case is brought, and
against a former or current spouse or partner as recognised by
internal law, by a member of the family, a person cohabiting with the
victim or a person having abused her or his authority…”.
366
“Joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women / general comment No.
18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices”,
UN Doc CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18 (2014), paragraph 42.
367
Ibid, para. 43.