Feminist Litigation Network: Disability Rights Lawyer

 I. BACKGROUND

The Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) was founded in 2014 as a non-profit organization. ISLA is a Pan-African and feminist initiative that engages with the rule of law in African domestic and regional courts to advance sexual and women’s human rights.

 We are Pan-African because we resist imperialism and fundamentalism, including religious and traditionalist ideologies, by building a positive cultural context that affirms and asserts African traditional values aligned with human rights. We emphasize cross-learning from various countries on the continent and highlight positive developments.

Our core values include:

– Feminism: Our work is designed to challenge patriarchy, class, and power relations by centering women’s voices and agency.

– Women’s Leadership: We aim to highlight women’s leadership and contributions to the African Human Rights System by amplifying women’s voices and experiences.

ISLA’s goals are to:

1. Develop jurisprudence that holds state and non-state actors accountable for violations of gender and sexual rights.
2. Create an enabling environment for strategic litigation by strengthening lawyers, social movements, and institutions.
3. Strengthen civil society’s ability to respond to threats and attacks on civic space and human rights.

ISLA is excited to announce that recruitment for partner organizations for Phase Three of the Feminist Litigation Network (2024 – 2026) is now open. Joining the network provides organizations and feminist lawyers with opportunities to:

– Strengthen capacity for strategic litigation in Africa.

– Contribute to the development of feminist jurisprudence in domestic courts and international human rights forums.

– Build sustainable partnerships between movements, communities, and institutions.

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 THE FEMINIST LITIGATION NETWORK (FLN)

The Feminist Litigation Network (FLN) addresses the lack of women’s rights cases in domestic and regional human rights systems. ISLA has identified the following challenges:

– Many organizations funded to do strategic litigation are legal-aid service providers.

– Strategic litigation requires specialized training and resources.

– Capacity-strengthening programs often lack long-term follow-up.

– Lawyers often come from institutions that are not equipped to litigate strategically.

– Strategic litigation is often viewed as lawyer-centric and detached from the communities it seeks to serve.

In response, ISLA designed the FLN to create an ecosystem that supports feminist litigation on women’s human rights. The FLN’s four pillars are:

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 1. Institutional Strengthening

This pillar aims to create an enabling environment for strategic litigation by building effective feminist strategic litigation units within partner organizations. ISLA works with partners to co-create a model for an enabling environment that contributes to feminist jurisprudence.

– Partnership Models: ISLA uses a hub model to foster partnerships, including Core Network Partnerships, where a full-time lawyer is recruited to focus exclusively on strategic litigation. ISLA funds 50% of the lawyer’s salary.

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 2. Capacity Strengthening

This pillar supports lawyers in using feminist approaches to strategic litigation and case development for women’s human rights.

– Litigation Institutes: These two-week intensive training sessions are held twice a year for three years, focusing on comparative law, human rights methods, feminist legal theory, and strategic litigation on women’s rights.

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 3. Network Development

This pillar builds a coalition of feminist litigators and communities affected by the issues being litigated. It aims to create a space for learning, exchange, and debriefing, as well as to strengthen connections between feminist litigators and marginalized communities.

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 4. Relationship Management

This pillar sustains relationships with past, present, and potential partners to strengthen their capabilities through various tools and activities. It ensures smooth collaboration between ISLA, partner organizations, and network lawyers.

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 FLN+

The expanded Feminist Litigation Network (FLN+) aims to enhance legal frameworks protecting women who experience intersectional discrimination. The FLN+ objectives include:

– Increasing the capacity of marginalized communities for strategic litigation.

– Strengthening women lawyers and CSOs to litigate cases of intersectional discrimination.

– Enhancing the FLN’s capacity to address emerging challenges affecting women from marginalized communities.

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 SELECTION CRITERIA

ISLA seeks to work with a lawyer who has an interest in disability rights and identifies as a woman living with a disability. The lawyer may work within ISLA or a partner organization that aligns with ISLA’s feminist vision. Key qualifications include:

– Qualified to litigate (with the right of appearance in the relevant jurisdiction).

– Identifies as a woman living with a disability.

– Uses or is interested in using litigation as a significant part of their practice.

– Has an understanding of women’s human rights, feminism, and disability rights.

– Willing to participate in ISLA’s capacity-strengthening activities, including attending Litigation Institutes for two weeks, twice a year, for three years.

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 APPLICATION PROCESS

Lawyers or organizations meeting the selection criteria are invited to apply via the FLN Phase 3: Application Submission link. The deadline for submission of expressions of interest is Wednesday, 13th November 2024. This will be followed by a partner assessment process, including on-site visits where necessary.

For questions or technical difficulties, kindly email nerima@the-isla.org.

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