PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

Access to justice as a procedure and practice-based concept is defined as the capacity of people to access judicial organisations and institutions. While having the problem of access to justice is ordinary among different groups of people, women may be affected more frequently for accessing these institutions and organisations, as they have to overcome many socio-political, economic, and structural barriers that reinforce this inaccessibility. This article emphasizes on women's access to family justice in Iran. It explores the perspective of women who have experienced Iran's judiciary system in terms of divorce, custody, dowry, and alimony in the family court. The data were collected through the women referring to the family courts, and data analysis was conducted based on thematic framework. The participants acknowledged low levels of legal awareness, feminisation of poverty, and low self-esteem because of the masculine hegemonic structure as the major barriers in their access to family justice.