"Justice Base, with support from UN Women, led a participatory action research project over eight months in 2014 to examine women?s access to justice in the plural legal system of Myanmar. Situated in the constellation of various justice studies being conducted in the country, this report places fundamental importance on documenting women?s experiences with and perceptions of the formal and informal legal systems. Researchers sought to identify the formal and informal processes, decision-makers, and institutions that play a role in resolving disputes involving women in Myanmar. In communities with little access to government legal institutions or where the formal system is not used or not functioning, the project emphasised recording customary legal processes and how they impacted women?s justice claims. The intent was not to determine which system was ?better” or more favourable to women, but rather to illuminate the justice obstacles and enablers in each. This qualitative study was conducted in four geographic target areas that included urban and semi-rural areas of Chin State, Mon State, Kachin State and the city of Yangon. Local research teams used focus group discussions, key informant interviews and participatory mapping activities to collect information from over 400 community members, legal practitioners, local administrators and other key stakeholders. Consultations and data validation sessions were iteratively held with partner organisations to further ensure that women and peer groups could articulate their positions and preferred strategies for improving their access to justice. The project did not focus on specified thematic issues (for example, land rights or domestic violence), but rather provided a broad space for women and men from target communities to self-identify what they saw as women?s most pressing legal concerns. Research participants identified domestic violence, sexual assault and traditional inheritance practices as the most prevalent injustices women faced. Women also described these issues as the least likely to be submitted for adjudication by formal or informal legal mechanisms. The avoidance of justice systems in response to these events was explained in part by several women and men respondents who defined family matters ? those between a husband and wife or parents and children ? as situated outside the jurisdiction of law..."