Strategic Advocacy for Human Rights

MISSION

To open pathways to transformative justice for and alongside survivors of gender violence.

WHO WE ARE

At SAHR, we are  a truly diverse women-led team of lawyers, activists, and scholars dedicated to advancing women's rights. [Our mission is to……] SAHR’s journey started a decade ago. Since 2013 we are registered in New York as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and we aim to inspire the next generation to continue the fight for the right of all women to live free from fear and violence and with dignity and equal opportunity.

‘SAHR’, our acronym, is a beautiful word that means ‘Magic’ in three of our work languages: Arabic, Farsi and Turkish. We believe that the pursuit and the victory of justice are only achieved through the magical domino effect sparked by the  efforts of visionary leaders, lawyers, activists, and scholars such as our SAHR team around the world.

Our programs in Afghanistan and India focus on defending the rights of survivors in court, securing the release of individuals who have been arbitrarily detained and wrongfully prosecuted, obtaining reparations and holding abusers accountable. In marginalized communities, we ensure that their voices be heard and we facilitate activities - such as strategic litigation, impact storytelling, legal reform training - to support their own advocacy because equalizing power is the only way to eliminate gender violence.

OUR STORY

In 2008, a group of human rights lawyers came together over a troubling realization: survivors of gender-based violence rarely have recourse to legal remedies that really makes a difference in their lives, because the balance of power is tilt in favor of men and the decision-making processes are informed by patriarchal and oppressive social norms.

So, we began working informally with other legal professionals to open paths to justice in places where it is scarcest. Ten years down the road, we support survivors’ efforts to secure their defense, physical safety, redress, compensations, and perpetrators’ accountability in Afghanistan and India.

In the US, currently, our SAHR team is working towards making our organization sustainable by bridging women leaders in law and finance as well as women entrepreneurs in start up businesses with our grass-root work in Afghanistan and India as it is through these connections where SAHR, the Magic of Women Justice, is made possible.