Improving Access to Justice through Child-friendly Mobile Courts

Child marriage is undoubtedly a gross violation of child rights, being a form of sexual violence and exploitation. Over the years, inadequate law enforcement and weak justice systems in Malawi have fueled the occurrence of child marriages. In most cases, survivors of child marriage have very slim chances of accessing timely justice due to the existing justice systems that pose a hindrance. Most of these abuses happen in rural areas that are hard to reach and distant from essential district facilities. Despite the frequent occurrences of abuse, legal procedures can be very complex for rural people. Formal courts are only found in district headquarters very far away from most of the communities.

To address this gap, Save the Children through its Securing Children’s Rights through Education and Protection (SCREP) program, rolled out the Access to Justice through Mobile Courts project aimed at increasing access to justice for children by bringing justice systems closer to the community to enable prompt action on cases regarding child marriage and various forms of child abuse.

This learning brief introduces the Access to Justice through Mobile Courts project, highlighting its outcomes and successes for children in targeted districts in Malawi.