This paper studies legal disparities between men and women in a patriarchal framework. Throughout history, women have confronted discrimination in matters of inheritance, property ownership, and various other legal rights. We examine the consequences of legal discrimination for women's differential engagement and success within legal conflicts, using data from Ottoman courts in the early nineteenth century. The results show that women were parties to approximately 30 per cent of cases, with a modest gender gap of around eight to ten percentage points in terms of plaintiff win rates. The gap varied across courts and types of cases, consistent with gender disparities in legal knowledge and trial stakes in patriarchal societies. Notably, when litigating against male defendants, the disparity was more pronounced in provincial courts (Konya and Kütahya), as opposed to courts in the capital city (Galata and Üsküdar). Similarly, while the gender gap was greater in property and probate cases than those involving personal crimes and commercial exchange, the gap was reversed in family matters. The analysis suggests that a significant portion of the gender gap in litigation success can be attributed to disparities in evidence presentation (witness testimonies, written documents and legal opinions).

中文翻译：

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性别与正义：奥斯曼法庭中妇女的地位

本文研究了父权制框架下男女之间的法律差异。纵观历史，妇女在继承、财产所有权和各种其他合法权利方面一直面临歧视。我们利用十九世纪初奥斯曼法院的数据，研究了法律歧视对妇女在法律冲突中的不同参与和成功的影响。结果显示，大约 30% 的案件中女性是当事人，原告胜诉率方面的性别差距约为 8 至 10 个百分点。这种差距因法院和案件类型而异，与父权社会中法律知识和审判利害关系方面的性别差异一致。值得注意的是，在针对男性被告提起诉讼时，这种差异在省法院（科尼亚和屈塔希亚）比首都法院（加拉塔和于斯屈达尔）更为明显。同样，虽然财产和遗嘱认证案件中的性别差距比涉及个人犯罪和商业交易的案件更大，但家庭事务中的性别差距却相反。分析表明，诉讼成功的性别差距很大一部分可归因于证据呈现（证人证词、书面文件和法律意见）的差异。