OUR VISION:
A society in which all state institutions work effectively to eradicate male violence against women and girls.
OUR MISSION:
To hold the state to account and challenge discrimination in the justice system around male violence against women and girls.
We do this by:
Holding the state accountable for failures in the prevention of violence against women and girls
Supporting individuals and groups who challenge institutions and laws that perpetuate such violence
Undertaking strategic litigation and facilitating legal assistance
Bringing together victims, women’s groups, lawyers, academics and other experts in the field of violence against women
Raising awareness of specific cases and issues arising from our work
Monitoring and challenging trends in policy, practice and the law which impacts on violence against women and girls
OBJECTIVES:
1. To undertake strategic litigation and facilitate legal assistance in cases concerning male violence against women and girls*:
by intervening in cases of legal significance and identifying systemic malpractice in respect of violence against women
by seeking legal redress for women who have been harmed as a result of the unlawful acts and omissions of the state
by defending and/or providing legal support to women who are criminalised by the state or victimised by men when responding to male violence
by assisting women who have suffered injustice at the hands of the state through complaints procedures, inquests and public inquiries and by legally challenging those procedures when they are inadequate or otherwise unlawful
by bringing judicial review challenges of policies and practices in relation to violence against women and girls
2. To provide a network and cross referral/link up service for women’s groups, lawyers, academics and other experts, journalists and politicians:
to connect women’s groups with lawyers; lawyers with women’s groups and feminist academics; individuals who need legal advice and advocacy with lawyers and support groups; lawyers with experts on violence against women and its impact
to provide a resource of information and research to assist legal challenges
to monitor and connect with sister organisations in other countries and to monitor developments internationally in this area
to connect with organisations that advance similar aims in relation to separate but related issues such as race, child abuse, disability etc
*Please note that due to limited funding we currently only provide our legal advice services through frontline women's organisations and only in some limited cases directly to women.
3. To raise awareness on issues arising from and associated with the case work of the organisation and to be a focal point for the media on such issues:
by consulting on and proposing legislation and policy reform
by advocating on behalf of women’s organisations and the legal sector
by providing comment to the media on casework and related issues
4. To monitor and challenge trends in policy, practice and men’s use of the law as it impacts on violence against women and girls
by monitoring the use and introduction of legislation and policy that seeks to protect women subjected to violence and to ascertain the extent to which it achieves that purpose
by challenging the misuse of laws by the state and by men to punish women who have complained about and resisted male violence