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29 Feminist L. Stud. 1 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/femlst29 and id is 1 raw text is: Feminist Legal Studies (2021) 29:1-21 https:Ildoi.org/10.1007/si0691-021-09449-3 Access to justice and institutional regendering: The case of the National Prosecution Bureau of Chile BArbara Barraza Uribel - Maria Isabel Salinas2 Accepted: 9 January 2021 / Published online: 23 February 2021 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. part of Springer Nature 2021 Abstract In 2017, the National Prosecution Bureau of Chile created the Special Unit for Human Rights, Gender-Based Violence, and Sex Crimes, becoming a milestone for criminal prosecution policies as the first time a state institution in Chile used the term 'gender-based violence' explicitly in its title. There was no law in the country that addressed and sanctioned this behaviour-recognising it as a social phenom- enon-at the time of the Unit's creation. What does the creation of this new Unit mean for access to justice from a gender perspective? To answer this question, we have critically analysed the creation of this Unit as a case study from a feminist insti- tutionalist standpoint. We found that this institutional change might bring a broaden- ing in access to justice for women, girls and LGBTQI+persons by implementing a gender perspective. Keywords Access to justice - Chile - Gender - Institutions - Justice - Regendering Introduction The lack of a gender perspective in access to justice is a persistent problem for the criminal prosecution of cases involving gender-based violence. It results in survi- vors feeling unprotected, thus limiting their participation in prosecution processes, and inhibiting their efficacy (Facio 1999; Prieto Bravo 2013; Coiiuecar Barria 2015). Gender-based violence is violence against people due to their sex, gender, or both, or because individuals do not act in conformity with these categories, which are dictated by the heteronormative patriarchal system (Rubin 1986; Segato 2003; E Barbara Barraza Uribe bbarrazau @ alumnos.uai.cl Maria Isabel Salinas misrpp@hotmail.com Doctorate in Political Processes and Institutions, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, Chile 2 Department of Psychology, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile I_) Springer