Gender Justice in the Legal System: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Women’s Access to Justice in Indonesia

Abstract

This article examines gender justice in Indonesia’s legal system through a socio-legal analysis of women’s access to justice, highlighting how formal legal guarantees often fail to translate into equitable outcomes. Although Indonesia has adopted a comprehensive legal framework that upholds gender equality such as constitutional protections, the Domestic Violence Law, and judicial regulations women continue to encounter significant barriers at structural, procedural, and socio-cultural levels. Using a literature-based research method that synthesizes statutory analysis, judicial reports, national statistics, and interdisciplinary scholarship, this study identifies three major domains of inequality: institutional and procedural constraints within the justice sector, socio-cultural norms that perpetuate patriarchal interpretations of legal rights, and weaknesses in state-supported justice services for women. The findings reveal persistent gaps between legal norms and implementation, resulting in limited legal literacy, uneven access to legal aid, and discriminatory judicial practices. This article argues that advancing gender justice requires not only reforming legal institutions but also transforming socio-cultural attitudes through integrated policies, gender-responsive training, and community-based legal empowerment. The study contributes a fresh analytical perspective by bridging gender theory and socio-legal inquiry, offering policy-relevant insights for strengthening women’s substantive access to justice in Indonesia.