Underfunding means the justice needs of women and girls are going unmet and often unheard. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified chronically under-funded justice systems worldwide. The Elders consider services for women that meet their needs as key to preventing, as well as responding to, gender-based violence and intersecting discrimination faced by women and girls.

• The Elders call on governments, funders, and decision-makers to invest in legal empowerment and justice services for women - in particular those delivered by women’s groups.
• The Elders encourage all to learn from, and listen to, the lived experiences of women in all their diversity in funding the legal empowerment and justice services that best meet their needs. 

Learn more about The Elders' calls for leaders to:

1. Increase the number of women in leadership positions in the justice sector
2. Increase funding for legal empowerment and justice services that meet the needs of women
3. Address justice for survivors of gender-based violence with renewed vigour
4. Invest in quality data and analysis on women’s justice problems and experiences
5. Invest in gender-just climate solutions

Find out more about The Elders’ work on Access to Justice