Convincing the Policy Makers that Mediation is Often an Inappropriate Dispute Resolution Process for Women: A Case of Being Seen But Not Heard

The disadvantages that exist for women participants in mediation have now been acknowledged for some time. Hilary Astor’s 1991 position paper for the National Committee on Violence Against Women was thorough and clear. Power imbalances make mediation a potentially unjust dispute resolution process for women, and one of the most crucial indicators of a serious power imbalance is a history of violence. Yet in the year 2000 mediation is still touted as a more humane and appropriate dispute resolution process than litigation, particularly for family disputes. This paper considers the implications for women of policy imperatives to encourage the use of mediation in family matters. It reiterates the reasons why women, and particularly women survivors of violence, should never be forced to participate in the process and queries how we can better encourage policy makers to act on the knowledge that for women informal justice is often no justice at all.