Equality Now
At Equality Now, we use a unique combination of legal expertise, advocacy, collaboration, and resourcing to realize our vision of a more just and equal world for women and girls.
We are coalition builders, system disruptors, and unapologetic feminists who know that the only way to achieve substantial equality is through structural change and addressing the root causes of oppression.
Our global network of lawyers, activists, and supporters holds governments responsible for their international obligation to prohibit all forms of violence and discrimination against women. And we are stronger with you by our side.
The law is a powerful tool that can either perpetuate inequality or combat it. At Equality Now, we work around the clock to ensure that it does the latter.
In cooperation with local, national, regional, and international partners we use the power of the law to:
* Establish Legal Equality – A lack of legal equality promotes violence and discrimination, yet almost every country in the world has laws that treat people differently on the basis of sex and/or gender.
* End Sexual Violence – Sexual violence is a human rights violation that predominantly affects women and girls as a consequence of systemic and structural inequality.
* End Sexual Exploitation – Sexual exploitation, a form of sexual abuse, is when someone abuses or attempts to abuse another person’s vulnerability or their own position of power or trust for sexual purposes.
* End Harmful Practices – The term ‘harmful practices’ covers forms of violence or ritual discrimination, primarily committed against girls and women, that have become culturally normalized.
At Equality Now we know that the law has historically been used to marginalize, disenfranchise, and oppress and that women and girls have been especially impacted by discriminatory laws that treat them as second-class citizens. But we envision a world where the law is used to promote equality rather than codify misogyny, where constitutions respect human rights rather than embed discrimination, and where the criminal justice system arbitrates with integrity rather than perpetuates harmful gender and racial stereotypes.
WHAT WE DO
We campaign for legal and systemic change to address violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world.
Equality Now is a feminist organization using the law to protect and promote the human rights of all women and girls. We create, reform, challenge, and apply the law to establish enduring equality for women and girls everywhere.
Since 1992, our international network of lawyers, activists, and supporters has held governments responsible for ending: legal inequality, sexual exploitation, sexual violence, and harmful practices.
ACHIEVING LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal equality is the first step towards gender equality, yet almost every country in the world still has laws that discriminate on the basis of sex and/or gender, with the typical economy granting women just 75% of the rights that are enjoyed by men.
ENDING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
Sexual exploitation is when someone abuses another person’s vulnerability or their own position of power or trust for sexual purposes. It can occur within intimate and/or established relationships, as well as in commercial and/or transactional contexts, and can also involve other crimes such as illegal trafficking and/or child abuse.
ENDING SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Sexual violence is a form of gender-based violence that can only be eliminated by tackling the root causes of sexism. Sexual violence is an everyday reality that impacts millions of people around the world. This violence can take many forms, including but not limited to rape; sexual abuse; and molestation, including when committed in the context of domestic violence. At Equality Now, we support justice actors from around the world to understand how a comprehensive, gender-sensitive investigation and prosecution, properly conducted, would lead to improved justice for survivors of sexual violence. Because all acts of sexual violence are about power, control, and entitlement and not sexual desire, there are universal pillars that can be applied to prevent and end the practice.
ENDING HARMFUL PRACTICES
Harmful practices involve forms of gendered violence or ritual discrimination that have become culturally normalized, such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage. These practices are usually deeply rooted in culture, religion, or tradition, affording them a prevalence that affects women and girls in every part of the world.
Our commitment to Anti-Racism
Equality Now aspires to be a truly anti-racist, intersectional, and feminist organization that actively challenges racism and all forms of discrimination in our own organizational culture and through our work.
Equality Now’s Anti-Racism Task Force (ART Force) was established to facilitate reflection and analysis of Equality Now’s policies, practices, and culture and make recommendations to ensure the aspiration is realized.
We believe that discrimination against women based on sex and gender is inextricably linked with other factors that affect women, such as race, ethnicity, religion or belief, health status, age, class, caste, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Discrimination on the basis of sex or gender may affect women belonging to such groups to a different degree or in different ways to men. The ART Force recognizes and recommends measures to address intersecting forms of discrimination, with a specific focus on race.
Our commitment to all women & girls: Sex and Inclusivity
Equality Now is committed to being inclusive in our human-rights focused legal analysis and actions to fulfill our mission of achieving legal and systemic change that addresses violence and discrimination against women and girls in all their diversity.
Inclusiveness is one of Equality Now’s core organizational values. Equality Now opposes discrimination and exclusion in any form – including on the basis of sex, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, race, ethnicity, caste, disability, age, health, religion, class or any other socio-economic status – and fosters inclusion, collaboration, trust and respectfulness through our actions.
Thus, we ensure that our ways of advocating and working to fulfill our mission genuinely take into account women and girls in all their diversity; No one should be subjected to patriarchal power, violence and discrimination because of their sex and / or gender identity; We believe everyone should enjoy their full human rights.
The UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (UN SOGI) has noted that, “the work to address and ultimately eradicate violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is not in opposition to the human rights of women; on the contrary, these areas of concern are largely overlapping and conceptually, socioeconomically, politically and legally reinforce each other.”
Equality Now believes it is the duty of the State to undertake all relevant intersectional analyses in the formulation of law and policy and supports the UN SOGI’s recommendation that, “States provide access to legal recognition of gender identity in a manner consistent with the rights to freedom from discrimination, equal protection of the law, privacy, identity and freedom of expression.…”
As Equality Now stated in 2020, we will “build solidarity with a diversity of other actors as we each seek to end sexual exploitation and sexual violence against girls, women and other marginalized genders” and will continue to do so as we stand up for the rights of all women and girls in all their diversity.
OUR IMPACT
Since 1992, our international network of lawyers, activists, and supporters has held governments responsible for ending legal inequality, sex trafficking, sexual violence & harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation (FGM) & child marriage.
Women’s rights have come a long way in the last thirty years, and we’re proud of our part in that. With your support, we will continue to use the power of the law to challenge governments to end systematic discrimination, creating enduring equality for women and girls everywhere.
What you can do
Changing the world begins when people like you speak out against injustice. Find out more about how you can get involved with our work today.
GET INVOLVED
None of us can afford to sit back and wait for equality to arrive – we need to act now. Only by working together will we achieve the legal and systemic change needed to address violence and discrimination against women and girls.
Support Us
At Equality Now, we use the power of your support to protect and advance hard-won rights so every woman and girl can enjoy the safety, choice, and respect she deserves. There are so many ways that you can support our work.
Make a Gift
From one-off and regular donations to donating stocks or planned giving, it’s gifts of all sizes from people like you that drive our work.
Partner with us
We partner with individuals, companies, trusts, and foundations to build a world where every woman and girl can live safe, fearless, and free.
Fundraise
Whether you’re planning on fundraising at home, work, at your school, or in your community, there are so many fun and engaging ways to make a difference.
There are many ways to support the work to Make Equality Reality
Supporting our work isn’t limited to traditional giving. Check out these alternative ways of supporting our work to make equality reality.
LEARN MORE: https://equalitynow.org/get-involved/
CONTACT EQUALITY NOW:
For donations, fundraising, and events inquiries contact: supporters@equalitynow.org
For media inquiries contact: press@equalitynow.org
If you have a question relating to a particular region, contact the relevant Equality Now office:
AMERICAS OFFICE NEW YORK | USA
PO Box 7160
New York, 10008-7160
USA
Phone: +1-212-586-0906
Fax: +1-212-586-1611
Email: info@equalitynow.org
EUROPE OFFICE LONDON | UK
Equality Now
PO Box 560
DARTFORD, DA1 9WP
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0)7445 699 371
Email: ukinfo@equalitynow.org
UK Registered Charity Number 1107613, Company Number 4926476
AFRICA OFFICE NAIROBI | KENYA
Bishops Garden Towers, 1st Floor
Bishops Road, Nairobi, KENYA
Phone: +254-20-271-9913/9832
Fax: +254-20-271-9868
Email: equalitynownairobi@equalitynow.org
MENA OFFICE BEIRUT | LEBANON
Qubic Square Business Center
Sin el Fil, Daoud Ammoun Street Office 5 E
Beirut
LEBANON
Phone: +961-81-405 346
Email: menainfo@equalitynow.org
