fundsforNGOs

Grants and Resources for Sustainability

Home » SAHR Fellowship for Gender Justice Legal Defenders 2020–21

SAHR Fellowship for Gender Justice Legal Defenders 2020–21

Deadline: 15-Aug-20

Strategic Advocacy Human Rights (SAHR) has announced the Gender Justice Legal Defenders Fellowship 2020–21 offering aspiring female and gender-nonconforming human rights lawyers and activists a paid opportunity to take on a sexual-based violence or discrimination case with mentorship and support from an expert human rights lawyer.

Objectives

  • Fellows will identify a specific case of sexual-based violence or discrimination;
  • Fellows will execute a chosen intervention towards justice, reparations, and accountability.
  • The awarded fellows will learn critical legal skills including fact-finding, collecting and documenting evidence, building a case, and drafting claims and petitions.
  • The goal is to think and work like a lawyer to hold offending persons and institutions accountable while shedding light on the abuses.
  • Fellows will work on their case a minimum of  20 hours/week for a duration of six months.

Goals

Fellows are expected to meet the following:

  • Shed light on ongoing abuses and bring forth alternative narratives in relation to these abuses.
  • Re-shape narratives based on the lived experience of survivors.
  • Elevate the voices and experiences of survivor-advocates who face violence and discrimination.

Funding Information

  • Fellows (or group of Fellows if applying as such) will receive a total stipend of USD $3,000.00 to be disbursed in installments. The stipend can be used to cover personal and project-related expenses (including payment of a “salary”).

SAHR will work with the fellow to:

  • Develop the cause of action
  • Analyze the violations vis-à-vis national and international laws
  • Fact-find and collect evidence
  • Craft legal arguments rooted in gender-equitable interpretations of religious, national and international laws and draft letters of claims and petitions
  • Map out counter-arguments to anticipate backlash and rebuttals;
  • Execute the chosen intervention.

Fellows can expect to develop the following skills:

  • Command over the laws relating to gender violence and discrimination.
  • Knowledge of procedure for obtaining remedies.
  • Ability to use human rights jurisprudence to draft arguments and responses to challenging harmful gender and sexual stereotypes.
  • Capacity to lead a collective using survivor-centered approaches.

Eligibility Criteria

SAHR welcomes you to apply either as an individual or a group, so long as you:

  • identify as a woman, trans or gender non-conforming person;
  • Are you a human rights defender accompanying survivors of widespread or systematic Sexual and Gender-based violence on their quest for justice?
    • SAHR welcomes cases involving survivors from underrepresented and under-resourced communities who are rendered vulnerable by intersecting inequalities women and girls with disabilities, women, and girls of color, LGBTQIA2S community, afro-descendant, indigenous and immigrant girls and women, as well as those living in urban slum areas, rural areas, refugee camps, occupied territories and in conflict-affected settings.
  • Are leading an ongoing project on interpersonal and institutional prejudice (or have a clear idea for one);
  • Are in contact with or can readily access survivors of sexual and reproductive rights  discrimination/violence for the project;
  • Can connect the concerning violation to institutional action or negligence (either by the state or non-state actor);
  • Can demonstrate that a strong command of the law and ability to use legal or other accountability procedures are essential to your project;
  • Are based in or have significant ties to survivors in the Global South;
  • Are proficient in English and the local language or dialect which survivors speak;
  • Have experience in community organizing or activism

Additionally, you will be given preferential consideration if:

  • You are below the age of 40 at the time of applying
  • You can demonstrate how you will use what you learn through this Fellowship to advance gender justice in your future professional endeavors
  • You have been directly affected by gender discrimination and/or violence.
  • You have or are seeking a career in law or legal-based activism.

For more information, visit https://www.sa-hr.org/

Latest Grants