Project Duration: Two years (24 months)
Project Location: Managed from IDLO Headquarters (Rome) with activities in India, Bangladesh, Kenya and Liberia
Project Description: In order to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that support or inhibit the enhanced legal protection of girls, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) has implemented a two-year research project in India, Bangladesh, Liberia and Kenya. In these countries, IDLO compiled comprehensive, accurate and strategic information regarding the level of protection afforded to girls in the areas of birth registration, access to education, access to property, child labor, child trafficking, commercial child sexual exploitation and child marriage. The resulting comparative analysis provided a basis for the pilot project on combating child trafficking in India.
Research Hypothesis: Because women can have difficulty accessing legal services (e.g., information, counseling and representation), integrating those services within other existing community services could be an effective means of enhancing the legal protection of their daughters.
Central Research Questions:
- Is the legal and supporting administrative framework adequate in each of the seven thematic areas?
- Is the legal framework implemented effectively? Are adequate legal services provided?
- Are mothers able to access legal protection for their daughters?
- What social services do mothers utilize?
- What are the best strategies, therefore, for improving legal protection?
Research Methodology: IDLO has engaged with local partners in each of the four target countries to undertake research on the legal protection of girl children with a particular focus on poor communities. The objective has been to yield a comprehensive analysis of the key protection issues involved; allow greater insight into local realities, concerns and approaches; and to facilitate the identification of culturally appropriate, sustainable and effective entry points and action plans. The starting point for all analysis has been desk research. However, in depth assessments of qualitative questions (such as the adequacy of legislation and the effectiveness of legal service delivery) have drawn upon input from a wide range of stakeholders.
Partners in the four countries administered a survey designed primarily to explore issues associated with access to, and interaction with, the justice system for girls. The research has surveyed a sample of 350 mothers classified as ‘poor’, living in rural or peri-urban communities, with at least one daughter aged less than 10 years of age. Following administration of the survey, local partners have conducted follow up interviews, as well as focus group discussions, with survey participants and other relevant stakeholders. Partners have also organized workshops to present the draft findings of the research and generate ideas on possible project entry points.
Project Contacts Ilaria Bottigliero