Interaction on Access to Justice for Girls and Women with Disabilities

Access Planet Organization, with the support of the Legal Empowerment Fund (LEF), organized a one-day Interaction on Access to Justice for Girls and Women with Disabilities on 3^rd September 2026 at Barahatal Rural Municipality, Surkhet.

The interaction provided a platform for girls and women with disabilities, local government representatives, service providers, police personnel, mediators, health representatives, and other stakeholders to discuss legal rights, disability-inclusive justice, barriers to accessing justice, and possible solutions at the local level. A total of 33 participants participated in the interaction.

Objectives

The overall objective was to strengthen understanding of legal rights and improve access to justice for girls and women with disabilities at the local level.

The specific objectives were to:

• Increase awareness of the legal rights and justice mechanisms available to girls and women with disabilities.
• Identify and discuss legal, social, institutional, and accessibility barriers to accessing justice.
• Strengthen disability-inclusive practices and respectful communication among local stakeholders.
• Enhance coordination among local government, police, health institutions, judicial committees, disability coordination committees, mediators, and communities.

Key Outcomes 

The interaction resulted in the following key outcomes:

1. Improved understanding of disability rights and inclusive justice among participants and local stakeholders.
2. Identified key barriers related to legal identity, accessibility, discrimination, and access to local justice mechanisms.
3. Strengthened stakeholder coordination among local government, police, health workers, mediators, disability representatives, and community members.
4. Provided legal clarification and identified capacity-building needs for mediators, service providers, and other stakeholders on disability-inclusive justice

Key Learnings

The following key learnings emerged from the program:

• Legal awareness is essential for enabling girls and women with disabilities to claim their rights and seek justice.
• Access to justice requires more than legal provisions; services must also be physically, communicationally, and procedurally accessible.
• Local government structures have an important role in creating an enabling environment for persons with disabilities.
• Disability coordination mechanisms need to be strengthened to increase community trust and effectiveness.
• Mediators, police, health workers, local government staff, and other service providers require regular capacity-building on disability inclusion.
• Girls and women with disabilities should be meaningfully involved in decisions affecting their lives.
• Individual needs should be considered when providing reasonable accommodation, as a single solution may not work for everyone.
• Community-level awareness can help resolve issues at the appropriate level and improve referral to specialized services when necessary.
• Justice initiatives should consider the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination that girls and women with disabilities may experience.

Conclusion

The Interaction on Access to Justice for Girls and Women with Disabilities provided an important platform for dialogue among rights-holders, local government representatives, legal professionals, police, health representatives, mediators, and other community stakeholders.

The interaction demonstrated that improving access to justice for girls and women with disabilities requires coordinated action at multiple levels. Legal awareness must be accompanied by accessible services, reasonable accommodation, inclusive communication, responsive local mechanisms, and effective referral and protection systems.

The practical cases and questions raised by participants showed that girls and women with disabilities continue to face complex challenges in accessing legal identity, protection, education, local services, and justice. At the same time, the participation and commitment of local stakeholders demonstrated opportunities for strengthening community-level responses.

Access Planet Organization will continue to promote the rights, dignity, participation, and empowerment of girls and women with disabilities and work with local stakeholders to strengthen inclusive and accessible justice mechanisms.