Strategic Advocacy for Human Rights (SAHR) is a global team of human rights lawyers, activists and academics who seek to improve access to justice for survivors of gender-based violence.

SAHR works to improve access to formal and community-based systems of justice. We believe that self-advocacy is essential to pushing for systemic change so we create spaces for local communities to develop and use their own voice and agency.

We work with women who deal with intersecting and systemic vulnerability on a daily basis. We bring together knowledge in human rights, law, anthropology, development, gender and various forms of social and creative activism. Our programmes include:

1. Pro bono Litigation – We provide legal assistance to individuals and communities to protect the rights of women across Afghanistan and India. Through litigating individual cases we are able to identify systemic issues and legal gaps within the justice system, which we can then pursue through public interest litigation, training and advocacy.

2. Research & Change – We develop research products focused on applying international and feminist interpretations of human rights law to local contexts and share our findings through reports, toolkits and other materials. We use these to advocate for a more nuanced understanding of human rights within governments, international organisations and the media.

3. Training – We conduct workshops based on our experience conducting litigation and research work to strengthen the capacities of women’s rights advocates.

4. Self-Advocacy – We facilitate dialogues where vulnerable women and communities can collaborate with and support one another in seeking justice. We shift the focus of human rights lawyering towards understanding and supporting individual and local notions of justice.