who seek child support cite "severe physical violence" by the father. Evaluators collected qualitative and quantitative data among 180 clients and 182 matched controls to examine whether or not the services increased the incomes of clients, reduced domestic violence, or improved the quality of children’s education. The evaluation found that 38% of clients obtained some child support; in half of those cases, child support made a substantial contribution to their standard of living (though none of the mothers felt that the amount was sufficient or fair). Levels of domestic violence were similar among clients and nonclients before seeking services, but lower among clients after receiving services. However, researchers acknowledged that women who feared future harm from their former partner may have been less likely to seek services at legal aid clinics in the first place, pointing to the difficulty in assessing evaluation outcomes when the clients accessing the services often represent a more empowered group of women than the control group. From a cost-effectiveness point of view, researchers suggested that the legal aid clinics had missed an opportunity to "capitalize on [a] spillover effect" by publicizing women’s rights and the effectiveness of clinics in representing women's interests. They argued that this type of campaign might make it easer for other women to achieve out-of-court settlements without having to go through the risks and difficulties of formal court proceedings.

# **Community mobilization**

# **_Reforming community-based non-formal systems of justice_**

In certain parts of the world, the formal justice system has a limited presence. For example, Human Rights Watch has written about the role of semi-official traditional councils, _mahallas,_ in Uzbekistan, which arbitrate local disputes and act as gatekeepers to the formal justice system. Unfortunately, they frequently protect perpetrators of gender-based violence, force women to live with ongoing abuse, and block women’s attempts to access the police and the courts, sometimes threatening to testify against women in court (Human Rights Watch, 2003a). Human Rights Watch argues that reforming these traditional councils in Central and South Asia is urgently needed to improve women’s access to justice and human rights.

Such an approach appears to have achieved some success in settings such as rural Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, India (International Center for Research on Women, 2002). In West Bengal, rural women's groups known as the Samity adapted the traditional village dispute resolution system-- _shalishi_ -- to address violence against women (Sadasivam, 2000; International Center for Research on Women, 2002; Shramajibee Mahila Samity, 2003). Cases include physical violence by husbands and in-laws, forced sex by husbands, dowry disputes, and other forms of violence against women. Facilitators of the _shalishis_ conduct an inquiry, hold a public hearing (depending on the sensitivity of the case), try to negotiate a resolution, and then call on the community to enforce the decision. Police are asked to intervene only if the _shalishi_ fails. By 2002, caseloads had grown to over 400 a year. Key informant interviews, focus groups and a survey of 151 women suggested that the _shalishi_ was vastly more accessible than the formal legal system. While the formal legal system focuses almost exclusively on punishing the perpetrator, the _shalishi_ aimed to restore women’s safety while keeping the family intact. Some criticize the emphasis on preserving the family, but researchers note that rural women often have no means of survival outside the family in this setting. The _shalishi_ appeared to be effective in stopping most cases of physical violence and most women were satisfied with the process.

# **_Community mobilization to influence and monitor policy reforms_**

An important role of community mobilization is to pressure policy-makers to change laws, implement reform, or monitor the performance of law enforcement institutions. For example, in 1999, after the South African Domestic Violence Act was passed, Soul City launched a campaign in partnership with the National Network on Violence against Women to motivate policy makers to speed up the date that the act would go into effect, to develop a strategy for implementing the law, to allocate resources for training police and the judiciary, and to develop plans for monitoring and evaluating enforcement (Usdin et al., 24