U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Equality Before the Law: Women's Access to the Legal System, Interim Report No. 67

NCJ Number
149530
Date Published
1994
Length
106 pages
Annotation
This analysis of women's access to justice in Australia concludes that a National Women's Justice Program should be established as the basis for creating equal access to justice for women.
Abstract
Although any person can experience difficulties in using the justice system, special factors affect women as a group. These include domestic assault, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and employment discrimination. Women of all social classes and cultural backgrounds are affected. Women as a group also still have the major responsibility for raising children and housework. To pursue their rights, they have to enter an arena where men have historically had control and have made the rules. In addition, most women have less money than men. Therefore, Australia needs a national, coordinated response that focuses on health, legal representation, legal advice and referral, community legal education, law reform, and research. Figures, footnotes, table of cases, appended list of persons submitting information to the Law Reform Commission, and 85 references