Equality Now is a worldwide human rights organisation dedicated to securing the legal and systemic change needed to end discrimination against all women and girls, everywhere in the world. Since our inception in 1992, we have played a role in reforming 135 discriminatory laws globally, positively impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of women and girls, their communities and nations, both now and for generations to come.
We are a global organisation, with a team of experts located around the world and registered offices in Kenya, the UK, and the US. We are proud to be working alongside more than 3000 individuals and organisations, with 267 partners across 52 nations, and as part of 38 national, regional, and global coalitions.
Our UK office was founded in 2003, building relationships with civil society, funders and decision-makers across the UK, Europe and South Asia.
Over the next five years, we will take bold new steps in our mission to achieve legal and systemic gender equality, securing rights in laws that will help to transform the lives of hundreds of millions of women and girls – to the benefit of everyone, now and for generations to come.
Our work is shaped by five strategic priorities, reflective of the unique challenges and opportunities of the day, as well as a commitment to continue building on the resilience and effectiveness of our organisation, namely:
Equality Now works with partners across Eastern Europe, Central and South Asia, and with and through global actors to improve access to justice for sexual violence survivors, address harmful practices such as child marriage, early and forced marriage, and address legal inequality.
We work with governments, legal professionals, policymakers, and civil society to craft better laws and guide more effective implementation in every part of the world.
For example, in February 2025, Kyrgyzstan adopted a National Action Plan to implement the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s concluding observations, introducing such key commitments as a consent-based definition of rape, training for law enforcement on handling sexual violence against children, and reforms to combat child marriage. This policy is expected to strengthen protection for the estimated 183,000 girls and adolescents in Kyrgyzstan who will experience sexual violence, as well as male adolescents at risk across the country.
We work at national, regional, and global levels to build coalitions, facilitate and strengthen movements, and support partners, promoting dialogue and leaderful action.
For example, Equality Now coordinates the Eurasia Network to End Sexual Violence. This network brings together legal professionals, civil society organisations, and survivor advocates to address the persistent legal and social failures surrounding sexual violence across the Eurasia region. The coalition is focused on legal harmonisation, consent-based reform, and closing impunity gaps. With strategic litigation efforts and shadow reports to UN treaty bodies, the coalition plays a key role in advancing international legal standards within national systems that often fall short.
We have also helped found and now coordinate SAMAJ (South Asian Movement for Accessing Justice), providing technical support, legal analysis, and international advocacy expertise. SAMAJ is a regional coalition uniting legal practitioners, grassroots movements, and survivor networks across South Asia to address sexual violence and access to justice. With members from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, the coalition seeks to close the justice gap for survivors by pushing for stronger consent-based laws and systemic reform.
We engage policymakers and hold power to account through targeted advocacy, campaigns, and litigation, while platforming and amplifying the voices of those most affected and marginalised.
For example, in October 2025, the Latvian parliament voted to withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the Istanbul Convention.
Our response was to immediately engage with local partners, UN Human Rights Mechanisms and local and international media to advocate for a reversal. Subsequently, following sustained local public protests, petitions, statements from international legal bodies, appeals, and mobilisation by human rights organisations, President Edgars Rinkēvičs refused to sign the withdrawal bill. His noted concerns over Latvia’s international credibility, the shared rule-of-law architecture that protects people’s rights across Europe, and inadequate legal groundwork creating potential gaps in protection for women and girls, speak to the value of such a concerted and coordinated response from civil society organisations including Equality Now.
Equality Now is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. We are regulated by the Charity Commission and comply with all statutory reporting requirements to ensure our supporters’ contributions make the greatest possible impact.