Informal justice structures are used by many women for dealing with domestic violence. Their services more closely meet the needs of women than the criminal justice system, in terms of the immediacy with which they resolve problems, their focus on mediation and resolution rather than arrest and punishment, and their affordability. For resolving domestic conflicts, alternative justice mechanisms seem to have much more legitimacy for those involved than the formal justice process.
Kelley Moult (Wed,) studied this question.