Access to Justice for Rural Women in South Africa: A Point in the Journey

Access to justice for rural women presents one of the biggest challenges in the South African legal system. While it has benefits, the combination of multiple strands of human rights from various normative sources within the same legal system sometimes creates tensions and encourages forum shopping in dispute resolution. In trying to access formal courts, rural litigants face high litigation costs, long travel distances, alien procedures and often a foreign language in court, making these forums inaccessible. Traditional tribunals, on the other hand, guarantee easier access to justice as their procedures are flexible, comprehensible, communal, culturally attuned and affordable.