The 2016 thematic paper ‘Access to Justice for Women Victims of Violence: Analysis and Key Tenets of International Law and Practice in the Field’ was developed by lawyer Genoveva Tisheva, also working at the WAVE Member organisation in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF). The thematic paper ‘explores the notion of access to justice for women victims of violence, as well as barriers to such access, including gender stereotyping and additional vulnerabilities. It also addresses achievements in the access to justice before international human rights bodies. Further, the balance, instead of dichotomy, between ensuring the autonomy of women survivors of violence in initiating procedures for protection of their rights, on the one hand, and the obligation of the state to ensure public prosecution of aggressors in criminal law, on the other hand, is also discussed. The indispensable role of civil society organizations, in particular women’s NGOs, in facilitating access to justice for women victims of violence is one of the core arguments put forward in the present paper.’
