Join the 10th Round of the Women’s Human Rights Training Institute (WHRTI-10)

Enhancing Women’s Rights and Agency in Times of Global Crises

The Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF), in partnership with Equality Now, is proud to announce the call for applications for the 10th Round of the Women’s Human Rights Training Institute (WHRTI-10). This special round is organised as part of Equality Now’s Equal Justice Academy, continuing WHRTI’s 20-year legacy of empowering legal professionals to champion gender equality.

About the Institute

The WHRTI is a unique educational and training programme founded in 2004 aimed at building and developing the capacity of young lawyers from Europe, with a non-exclusive focus on Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States (CEE/NIS), for litigation on women’s rights and for campaigning for women’s empowerment. 

Key Focus Areas include:

• gender-based violence against women
• technology-facilitated GBV
• sexual and reproductive health and rights 
• social and economic rights and employment discrimination
• women’s participation in decision-making and politics, and violence against them
• gender stereotyping 
• multiple/intersectional discrimination
• countering backlash against women’s rights
• understanding and navigating dis/misinformation.

Societal inequality generally, the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic, the anti-gender backlash, wars and conflicts, and multiple other crises have all impacted women in a disproportionate and more severe manner. Women experience multiple and compounded forms of discrimination as they constitute the greater part of vulnerable groups, including elderly women, women living in rural areas, women with disabilities, women from ethnic or racial minorities, migrant and refugee women, sole parents and heads of households, and women living with other vulnerabilities, including poverty. The Women’s Human Rights Training Institute will also consider the issues related to the impact of these crises on women’s rights.

Training Overview

The WHRTI-10 programme will utilise a hybrid learning model for its 2026 programme:

• Online Courses: Scheduled for July and September 2026, focusing on technology-facilitated GBV.
• In-Person Session: A 6-day intensive session in Bulgaria in November 2026, covering legal feminist theories and human rights mechanisms.

Eligibility

We are seeking up to 20 practising lawyers and legal experts from Europe (with a focus on CEE/NIS) and a limited number of participants from other regions.

• Requirements: A demonstrated commitment to women’s rights, at least one year of affiliation with a legal advocacy institution, and fluency in English.
• Financial Support: Selected participants will receive coverage for tuition, travel costs to Bulgaria, and full-board accommodation.

Application procedure 

Deadline to Apply: 16 June 2026

The completed WHRTI application form and all supporting documents (see the application form for details) must be sent to the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF) by 16 June 2026, to the following e-mail addresses: office@bgrf.org and tishevagenoveva@abv.bg.

Applicants shortlisted for an interview will be contacted by 25 June 2026.

Interviews with the pre-selected applicants will be held online by representatives of the WHRTI. 

Participants will be informed promptly about whether they have been selected for the course.

Join the WHRTI and Equality Now community of lawyers – a network of excellence, aimed at leadership, empowerment, and change.