Evidence-based need assessment on Sharia Courts' judicial administration of Violence Against Women's & Girls' cases in Palestine

This paper contributes towards enhancing the impact of the Project “Gender Justice to End Violence Against Women and Girls”. This project aims to develop a solid responsive gender justice to address violence against women and girls in Palestine. In particular, it works to reinforce the justice process collaborating with key justice stakeholders relevant to cases of violence against women and girls. Given the role of Sharia judiciary system, this project foresees a set of activities the involve Sharia courts and judicial actors. Therefore, in order to develop better practices and fairly understand the role played by sharia courts judicial system, this report highlights several recommendations that should be taken into account. These recommendations are the result of extensive legal and desk literature review, legal analysis of cases of violence against women and girls adjudicated by the Sharia Judiciary, in-depth interviews with Sharia judges and court personnel in different areas of the West Bank, direct observation of the services provided to women and girls survivors of violence that are accessing the Sharia Judiciary system.