SAHR

Gender Justice Accelerator

The SAHR Gender Justice Accelerator Program is a twelve-month funded program preparing human rights defenders (Fellows) with the skills and tools to meaningfully participate in SGBV law and policy-making and implementation.

How it Works

1

Fellows receive a grant of USD $3,000 to put their ideas into action and collaborate with subject matter experts and other leaders and changemakers through our community of practice.
2
The Accelerator Program provides Fellows with a safe space and the resources to
- Focus on local priorities and areas of concern related to SGBV, and
- Test new ideas and approaches for bringing about systemic legal and policy change on the relevant SGBV issues affecting their communities.
3

Fellows benefit from the Accelerator Program by:
• Engaging in specialized skills-building workshops to enhance their technical knowledge and understanding and
• Learning from, building relationships and growing their networks with other human rights and gender justice leaders and changemakers.
4

During the Accelerator Program, Fellows use their expertise to:
• Train local community leaders, law enforcement officers and/or legal professionals (paralegals, lawyers, judges etc.) and
• Respond to SGBV cases in an intersectional, trauma-informed and survivor-centered way.

Why it matters

Having a network of peers through the fellowship, who we can rely on for technical support, can be uplifting and rewarding.

It gives us confidence in our interventions, and, empowers us to dream big and seize opportunities in law and policy, to change things.

Impact so far:

2020-2021

Since the launch of the Accelerator in 2020/2021, SAHR received over 300 applications, from 30 countries in Latin America, Africa, South West Asia, Central and South Asia. Thirteen applicants were appointed as fellows.

2022

Through the 2022 fellowship cycle, we mentored 6 civil society leaders on multiple gender justice projects targeting widespread and systematic sexual violence committed in Argentina (the municipality of Buenos Aires), Pakistan (university), Nigeria (community affected by Boko Haram), Mexico (a prison) and Indonesia (disabled community in Banda Aceh).

2023-Present

Through the 2023/2024 fellowship cycle, we have been mentoring 6 human rights defenders from Kenya, Afghanistan and Argentina to:

Research and document incidences of SGBV in their communities
Draft local and policy responses to SGBV
Train a network of 30 paralegals and;
Advise on cases of sexual and gender-based violence

The Accelerator Program uses the following approaches to law and policy reform and SGBV case representation and advocacy:

Intersectional to take into account victims’ multiple vulnerabilities
Trauma-informed to take into account of victims’ trauma
Survivor-centered to put survivors’ well-being, security and choices at the heart of our response.