Lived Experiences of Justice-Seeking among Gender-Based Violence Survivors
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Abstract
Gender-based violence remains a significant human rights issue, yet limited research has examined how survivors themselves experience and interpret the process of seeking justice beyond formal legal outcomes. This study uses an interpretative phenomenological approach to explore how survivors of gender-based violence make sense of their experiences in accessing justice. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with survivors who had engaged with legal or advocacy systems and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings reveal that survivors experience justice through interconnected stages of vulnerability, institutional ambivalence, social stigma, and the gradual reconstruction of agency and selfhood. Justice is understood not merely as legal resolution but as a process of recognition, dignity, and restored agency. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of justice as a lived experience and highlight the need for more responsive, survivor-centered legal and advocacy practices in policy and future research.
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