A new SWEDD+ thematic note, Strengthening Access to Justice for Women and Girls: Addressing Gender-Based Violence and Harmful Practices through SWEDD/SWEDD+ in West and Central Africa, brings together operational experience, legal analysis and evidence from across the region to examine a persistent development challenge: the gap between rights recognized in law and women’s and girls’ ability to exercise those rights in practice.

Drawing on lessons from more than a decade of SWEDD/SWEDD+ implementation, the note examines GBV, child marriage and female genital mutilation through an access-to-justice and implementation lens. It looks beyond the adoption of legislation to the full justice pathway including legal awareness, safe reporting, legal assistance, functioning justice institutions, survivor-centered referral systems, enforcement and effective remedies.

The analysis highlights the importance of combining legal reform with implementation capacity, legal aid, survivor-centered services, community engagement and multisectoral coordination. It also examines legal pluralism and the role of customary and religious systems, recognizing that formal legal reform alone may not translate into effective protection where women and girls encounter multiple formal and informal justice systems.

The note translates these lessons into recommendations for governments, regional institutions, development partners and civil society, including investment in justice-sector capacity and legal aid, stronger implementation plans and budgets, greater regional harmonization, and integrated approaches that connect legal protection with services and community-level interventions. It also positions the SWEDD+ Regional GBV Legal Scorecard as a practical tool for monitoring progress beyond the existence of laws and identifying where implementation is breaking down.

Read the note