In regards to access to justice and accountability for gender-based crimes, while the legal framework provides for sufficient protection for violence against women, there are institutional, procedural, and social obstacles limiting women’s access to justice. In most instances, women do not use the formal justice system, for reasons including a lack of easy access to the justice system, the ineffective implementation of existing legislation, and the overreliance on the informal justice system. Shuras often deal with cases of violence against women despite legislative measures such as the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women and the existence of institutions with a legislative mandate to mediate such cases. 

The Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women is a major legal development in the prevention and elimination of violence against women. The Government has undertaken steps to implement and enforce the law, including through the establishment of specialized prosecution units for the elimination of violence against women in some provinces and the establishment of family response units within some police stations. However, the Law is not implemented to the same degree in the different provinces, with particularly low levels of implementation in rural areas. In numerous cases, mediation is conducted by jirgas and shuras, whose membership is limited to men, and solutions are made on the basis of cultural norms rather than using the legal framework, to ensure accountability and effective redress for the victim. Law enforcement agencies such as the Afghan National Police and family response units have a mandate to mediate cases; however, there are no criteria or regulations governing the conduct of mediation.