Some information is available about working with the formal justice sector on gender issues, though less explicitly on violence against women – much also remains to be evaluated and assessed. Less is known about the informal justice sector and ways that it can effectively be engaged to end violence against women and girls. However, the body of knowledge related to engagement with the informal sector is growing.
The research and evaluation literature is most developed in the area of how formal courts can address domestic violence and sexual assault. Much of this work has been done in the United States over the past 30 years, and in the U.K. and Australia more recently, but research from other regions continues to emerge.