Casework & Legal Support Programme

State Jharkhand Uttar Pradesh

Since 1999, AALI has been intervening in cases of right to choice in relationships and violence against women. In line with the organization’s holistic approach toward addressing issues of particular concern to women, AALI has pursued its casework efforts through a human rights framework. Cases brought to AALI’s Casework & Legal Support team are strategically approached on an individual basis. In addition, the organization supports women who are unable to bear the financial cost of bringing their cases to court. By designating its legal focus as encompassing the right to choice in relationship decision-making and violence against women, AALI’s Casework & Legal Support team handles a broad range of cases, including inter-caste and inter-religious marriages, honor-related crimes (including cases of acid attack), domestic violence from marital or natal family, forced marriages, child sexual abuse, custodial violence, and rape, among others. In adhering to the organization’s interpretation of the right to choice in relationships, in the past AALI has taken up a same-sex relationship case. Survivors are not turned away as a result of inability to bear any financial cost. Fact-finding and legal support are critical components of AALI’s casework efforts, as they facilitate the social mediation process and provide key data for lobbying relevant stakeholders. Particularly with respect to honor-related crimes, child sexual abuse, and identity-based violence, fact-finding evidence collected by the Casework & Legal Support team helps to raise the profiles of these issues among media and governmental actors, especially when gauging the level of state response. Much of the data collected by the Casework & Legal Support team for advocacy purposes comes from case analysis and family court data. AALI’s Casework & Legal Support team engages in outreach to enhance general legal awareness, in particular as pertains to the rights of women against violence and the right to choice in sexual relationships. In addition, it supports AALI’s advocacy efforts through the distribution of literature, as well as by holding public meetings, building rapport with human rights defenders and like minded organizations, and forming linkages with relevant governmental actors. Key interventions by AALI’s Casework & Legal Support programme include: • Case in-take and Legal advice • Fact-findings and Evidence collection • Direct legal interventions • Regular case follow-up • Family mediation and counselling services • Facilitate access to emergency shelter, social and medico-legal aid, counselling and other rehabilitative services • Legal counselling for organizations working on the right to choice and Violence Against Women • Technical support to AALI’s advocacy and research initiatives The legal thrust of the Casework and Legal Support program is on cases of Violence against Women (VAW) and cases where women are exercising their Freedom of Choice and Right to Decision-making in Intimate Relationships (RTC). Key interventions include case intake and follow-up, fact finding, direct legal intervention, legal aid, social mediation, access to support services like safe spaces and medical aid, counseling and other rehabilitative services for women and children. Technical and advisory support is also provided to organizations working on VAW and RTC. Matter dealt with range from crimes in the name of so called ‘honour’, resisting/exiting forced marriages (including child marriage), marriages of choice (including inter-caste and inter-religious marriages), domestic violence from marital or natal family or live-in partner, sexual violence (including rape, gang rape, other forms of sexual assault, child sexual abuse, sexual harassment of women at workplace) , acid attacks, witch hunting practices, safe mobility and working environment for women, social security entitlements for women children and those from other marginalized groups, custodial violence, and illegal detention among others.

Women Leadership Development : Community Initiative Programme

State Uttar Pradesh District Azamgarh Faizabad Varanasi

In line with AALI’s commitment toward the promotion and protection of women’s human rights, the organization elected to concentrate the efforts of the Women’s Leadership Development: Community Initiative, on empowering women from marginalized communities to exercise the civil liberties to which they are entitled as well as assert their economic socio-cultural rights. As many rural women from marginalized communities in Azamgarh and Varanasi live in poverty and segregation, they are particularly vulnerable to abuse and violence at the hands of the society and institutions and also excluded from social security entitlements and opportunities of development presented by state. They are unaware of, lack mobility and access to opportunities and knowledge and therefore unable to assert, their rights. In considering the historical socio-political hurdles that men and women from marginalized communities in these districts face, the very women whose mobility has been restricted by local social norms are now looking to emerge as the defenders and leaders of their families and communities. In most cases, however, they are ill informed regarding their own rights and are inadequately equipped to speak for their own interests, let alone those of their husbands, brothers, children, or neighbors. The underlying principle behind the programme is that women need not be the direct targets of oppression to face violence or impact. Because women form an integral part of their communities, they become increasingly vulnerable to violations as their communities face external oppression. Key activities undertaken by the programme are: • Capacity building workshops on the law and its usage • Preparing, publishing, and distributing materials to support capacity building efforts • Coordination with legal and human rights institutions • Backup support and coordination with defense counsels • Legal research and support • Documentation of violations, disappearances and state action in identified areas • Providing support for the organization of collective processes in identified areas

Capacity Building and Advocacy Programme

State Jharkhand Uttar Pradesh

Upon AALI’s founding in 1998, the creation of a resource department was identified as a critical need in terms of building the organization’s capacity, and AALI began addressing women’s rights in the private sphere by conducting preliminary research on the subject. As such, from its very outset AALI’s Resource Center has played a central role in defining and consolidating the organization’s efforts to promote women’s human rights. AALI’s commitment to evidence-based research has enabled the organization to engage effectively with key stakeholders, including governmental actors, on the issues of right to choice and violence against women, as well as to generate greater understanding among the media and general public as to women’s human rights. AALI’s Resource Center operates in close collaboration with the organization’s other programmatic units and actively manages AALI’s interactions with outside audiences. The Resource Center collects information and prepares accessible tools on the fulfillment of state obligations toward women’s human rights, disseminating materials in both English and Hindi on violence against women, right to choice, and other issues of key concern to women. In addition, the Resource Center engages in capacity building, publication, and research and documentation, and maintains both AALI’s library and website. Major activities undertaken by the Resource Center include: Capacity building Capacity building is one of AALI’s key initiatives, especially as pertains to the understanding and usage of laws related to human rights. One of the Resource Center’s main objectives is to build an understanding of women’s human rights as both accessible and exercisable within the public and private spheres. AALI’s Resource Center currently provides two types of capacity building trainings to grassroots and organizational leaders: (1) conceptual; and (2) technical. The Resource Center’s conceptual trainings include a variety of thematic workshops on key human rights issues, including violence against women, gender, sexuality and law, and are designed to enable participants to view women’s issues through a human rights framework and to provide conceptual clarity. Technical trainings are provided to arm participants with detailed legal knowledge, particularly on those laws related to women’s human rights, as well as to discuss gaps in implementation and challenges at the ground level. Individual and group activists as well as youth are targeted as direct beneficiaries of AALI’s capacity building efforts. In addition, AALI forms lawyers’ groups with the aim of sensitizing them toward women’s rights issues, and engages with the media to provide resource materials and raise queries concerning their publications (in particular, with regard to the language used when reporting on women’s human rights). AALI additionally strives to build the capacities of government service providers appointed under the Protection of Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), as well as inform police authorities on the rights of women under domestic and international law. Research and documentation The Resource Center conducts research on the human rights concerns of women, especially in relation to the legal context and relevant court judgments. In addition, it translates court judgments into Hindi, as well as publishes posters, pamphlets, brochures and reports in both Hindi and English. As required, the Resource Center shares critical information pertaining to the implementation of women’s human rights, as well as abuses of those rights, with the media, judges, lawyers and the police. Find the notable publications that the Resource Center has either authored or contributed here. In addition to research and publication, another key function of the Resource Center is the compilation of data for evidence building. The Center works in close collaboration with AALI’s Casework & Legal Support programme to provide data on the PWDVA, Dalit atrocities, marriage registration, and abduction, among other critical topics. The Resource Center also provides background material for its trainings and workshops. AALI’s Advocacy & Networking programme engages with key stakeholders, including civil society organizations, the media and government authorities, to further awareness and understanding of the law and press for state accountability for the realization of women’s human rights. AALI’s advocacy efforts include the development of a broad range of linkages, strategic alliances, and responses at several levels. Moreover, the Advocacy & Networking programme has played a critical role in clarifying the link between violence and women’s rights and raising the visibility of the right to choice issue among the state and media. AALI’s Advocacy & Networking team engages with individuals and organizations at the grassroots while simultaneously seeking to build partnerships and influence actors operating within state, national, and international forums. In this way, in its advocacy and networking efforts AALI acts as a go-between for local organizations and individuals, which often lack the capacity to influence policy and decision-making at the governmental level. In addition, the Advocacy & Networking team organizes and supports media campaigns and negotiates with stakeholders for greater implementation of women’s human rights. At the international level, AALI has carried out lobbying efforts for the effective development and implementation of human rights instruments in protecting women’s rights. To this end, AALI has formed part of the advocacy team for International Women’s Rights Action Watch – Asia Pacific, and in the past aided IWRAW-AP in drafting the Optional Protocols to CEDAW and ICESCR. AALI additionally completed a research report on the rights of women in relation to marriage for the years 1998 to 2003, carried out in conjunction with IWRAW-AP. Statewide and locally, AALI has focused on advocacy with human rights institutions, the judiciary, and the police, often drafting likeminded organizations, the media, educational institutions, and professional lawyers to raise visibility for issues important to women. Such interventions occur on a continuing basis and form an integral part of AALI’s professional vision. The efforts of the Advocacy & Networking team have enabled AALI to collectively challenge the state and present the organization’s demands within an evidence-based rights framework. Primary activities undertaken by the Advocacy & Networking programme include: • Fact-findings and campaigns • Working with the media and state • Legislative and legal advocacy • Forging partnerships at various levels, including internationally, to raise the profile of women’s human rights issues and enable local access to gains made

Renu Mishra

Executive Director

renu@aalilegal.org

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Telephone 91-522-2782060
Mobile 91-9415037634	Hide -

Sonali Mishra

Consultant - Finance & Funder Management

fin.coordinator@aalilegal.org

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Telephone 91-522-2782060
Mobile 91-8303891981	Hide -