The aim of the research was to understand the access to justice for women and its direct or indirect relation (if any) on the restrictions imposed for political participation.

The objectives of the study were to assess the necessity, need and form of legal intervention through a consultative process in the community.

The research was conducted in 5 districts in the states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura which are either under Schedule 6 of the Constitution of India, or excluded under Article 371 A, B, and G, of the Constitution of India.

The findings of the study was shared with each selected State Governments to help create protocols to address women’s participation in governance and empower them to deal with gender-based violence.

A comparative analysis was drawn with the past and the present position of women and factors that contributed to the decline or improvement particularly emphasised to suggest reforms primarily in the discriminatory cultural practices of the tribal community.

The research also aimed to create a base to identify opportunities of convergence between the various stakeholders such as the community, local NGOs, tribal community leaders and participating state governments to boost women’s participation in governance and access to justice.

The methodology used a combination of various means to collect primary and secondary data and do the analyses. Primary data was collected through a schedule of open-ended closed-ended questionnaire and in-depth interviews in six focused groups and observations for qualitative data.

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The Research was Sponsored by: Department of Justice, under Ministry of Law and Justice, New Delhi, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).