Legal pluralism and women's rights after conflict: the role of CEDAW

Protecting and promoting women’s rights is an immense challenge after conflict, especially when state court capacity is limited and non-state justice systems handle most disputes. However, legal pluralism’s implications for gender equality remain under-theorized as is CEDAW’s potential to improve women’s rights in these settings. The article offers a theoretical framework to help understand the varying relationships between state and non-state justice. It also proposes strategies for interacting with different types of legal pluralisms that will allow the CEDAW Committee to more effectively promote gender equality in legally pluralistic, post-conflict states as is illuminated in cases studies from Afghanistan and Timor-Leste