SAHR was founded in 2008 with the vision of ensuring that marginalised women and communities have access to a justice that is truly transformative. The group’s mission is to improve how they can secure access to this type of justice for women by bringing together expertise in human rights, law, academia and various forms of activism.

SAHR’s approach to legal justice work is twofold: (1) women and community focussed, always placing the individual at the centre, and (2) multidisciplinary in nature, creating a community of change across spaces. The group does this by providing high quality legal assistance to individuals and communities; advancing how the law can be used to protect and enhance the rights of women; piloting creative strategies for applying international and feminist interpretations of human rights law to local contexts; strengthening the capacities of women’s rights advocates; holding safe spaces for self-advocacy; and advocating for systems change in human rights work.

The group believes that one of their key achievements has been the breadth and diversity of analyses they have created around gender, politics, religion, and public spaces, as well as the audiences these analyses have been able to reach from students to lawyers to NGO practitioners. This has taken various forms from webinars, written reports, training workshops, photo essays, academic articles and more. “We love that each of our members can express their activism in a way that makes sense to them.”  they say.