On 10 March 2026, UN Women convened "Bridging Systemic Gaps: Advancing Justice for All Women and Girls," an interactive discussion held in line with the priority theme of CSW70, bringing together policymakers, legal experts, civil society and survivor advocates to confront the structural barriers that keep justice out of reach for women and girls worldwide.
Across both formal and informal justice systems, the gaps are stark - and women and girls bear the cost. Discriminatory laws, entrenched social norms, and practical obstacles continue to increase risks of violence and revictimization. Legal-needs surveys, qualitative studies, and community-based justice work consistently point to the same pressure points: family law and personal status, gender-based violence, employment and labour rights, and administrative justice.
The panellists shared promising practices in improving women's and girls' access to justice across a range of contexts, including in post-conflict and crisis settings, emerging digital justice mechanisms, as well as traditional or customary justice systems, which which in many communities remain the primary - and sometimes only - avenue through which women and girls seek remedies.
Survivor-centred, intersectional, and fully financed justice systems
"Let us commit to comprehensive reforms that eliminate discriminatory laws, strengthen and finance justice institutions, expand legal aid and quality services, harness data for people-centred justice, and support feminist movements that drive change," said Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women. "Justice must move from the margins to the centre of our collective efforts."
Participants called for justice systems redesigned around survivors' needs: specialized units in police stations and courts, one-stop centres for gender-based violence response, and mobile services to reach women in rural areas.
The discussion also spotlighted often-overlooked barriers. Women with disabilities face acute obstacles when making complaints, including the absence of sign language interpreters and other accessibility gaps. Women in institutional settings were highlighted as another group whose access to justice remains severely limited.
Intersectionality was a recurring theme, as was the financing of women's movements. As one participant noted, philanthropy is often what stands between law on the books and law on the ground - a fragile bridge in urgent need of structural support.
Political will that leads to action
"When women and girls cannot access justice, inequality deepens, and impunity persists," said Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, Head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs of Switzerland. "The challenge before us now is to move from recognition to action - to ensure that commitments made at the national and international levels result in tangible, lasting improvements in women's and girls' access to justice."
Closing the justice gap, participants agreed, requires more than legal reform alone. It demands political will, institutional change, and sustained support for the autonomous feminist movements and civil society organizations working every day to make rights real.
