Empirical Study of Muslim Women’s Experience of Sharia Courts in Sokoto State: Access, Participation and Satisfaction

Muslim women's access to and participation in Sharia court proceedings in Sokoto State is shaped by both the formal procedural rules of Islamic adjudication and the informal social, cultural, and economic barriers that affect women's effective engagement with the justice system. Empirical documentation of women's actual experiences across different stages of Sharia proceedings is a research gap with direct implications for judicial reform. This study empirically investigates Muslim women's access, participation, and satisfaction with Sharia court proceedings in Sokoto State. A mixed empirical methodology is applied, combining a questionnaire survey of 200 Muslim women who had appeared before Sokoto Sharia courts in family, property, or commercial proceedings from 2018 to 2023 with in-depth interviews of thirty purposively selected women litigants. Survey variables assess case type, assistance received, procedural understanding, treatment by court officials, outcome satisfaction, and perceived fairness. Quantitative data are analysed with descriptive statistics and chi-square tests in SPSS, while qualitative interview data are thematically coded. Available access to justice literature from North West Nigeria identifies transportation costs, need for male escort, Arabic language proceedings without interpretation, and court waiting times as the primary access barriers for women in Sokoto Sharia courts. The Islamic principle of equality before the Qadi and constitutional fair trial provisions provide the normative benchmark. Findings are expected to document significant access and participation barriers alongside individual positive court experiences. Recommendations address women's access to justice infrastructure and female Sharia legal aid provision in Sokoto State. Keywords: women's access to justice, Sharia courts, Sokoto State, empirical study, North West Nigeria.