The use of low-cost legal technology to enhance access to justice for women in Tanzania

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This research is motivated by a need to address the 'justice gap' that is evident globally. It isestimated that 1.5 billion people worldwide (one in 5 people) have justice problems that theycannot solve . In Tanzania this problem is amplified. Tanzania is ranked 76/128 globally onmeasures of affordable, accessible and effective justice solutions for ordinary people (WorldJustice Project, 2020 ), with women being disproportionately affected (Dancer, 2015).Practical solutions directed at addressing this access to justice crisis are often costly andcumbersome. In Tanzania, paralegals, community justice providers and informal methods ofdispute resolution play a critical role in justice service delivery and dispute resolution butthere are still many citizens left without a pathway to address their justice needs.Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) such as mobile phones, internet andcomputer networks, have been utilised globally to improve social and economicdevelopment, and are emerging as tools for international development (ICT4D). In Tanzania,mobile phone penetration (households with mobile phone ownership) is estimated at 86%countrywide with 93% of Tanzanians having access to a mobile phone (Lotto,2018). Recentinternational development programmes in Tanzania have leveraged mobile phones for microfinance, education, nutrition, and agriculture activities. The provision of legal services usingICT, particularly mobile phones, presents an opportunity to transform this sector, creatingopportunities for increased citizen engagement across all levels of justice service delivery,particularly for women. As the most populous city in Tanzania, and an economic hub, Dar esSalaam (Dar) has one of the highest levels of mobile phone penetration in Tanzania and willbe the focus of this study (GSMA,2019).A significant limitation of the current use of ICT4D is that many of the interventions are builtby engineers thousands of miles away from the site of use, interlinked with postcolonialinstitutional relationships, diverting control and capital towards external actors, using toolsthat need ongoing maintenance and funding to achieve long-term sustainable change orbenefits at scale (Linus, 2020).This research is a response to these opportunities and limitations. Using a participatorydesign process to build a digital justice service tool in collaboration with Tanzanian legalservice providers, this study will critically examine the co-generation of an effective andsustainable digital justice solution for women in Dar.This research will make a novel contribution to this field by developing a low-cost, scalabledigital justice tool to bridge the justice gap and support women's legal empowerment; whilegenerating learning relating to participatory approaches for developing ICT for sustainabledevelopment.