THE PHYSICIAN PHILANTHROPY IMPACT FUND
Equality Now
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To find out more about how our members have helped fund Equality Now's activities, and the incredible work that they do, read on below.
CAUSES SUPPORTED: Gender & Racial Equity, Human Rights
Mission
“Equality Now works for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls around the world. Working with grassroots women's and human rights organizations and individual activists since 1992, Equality Now documents violence and discrimination against women and mobilizes international action to support efforts to stop these abuses.”
Where they work
Work completed in 36 countries in 2021 within regions of Africa; Asia and the Pacific; Americas; Europe and Central Asia; and the Middle East and North Africa.
Theory of change
“Our Theory of Change works across four pathways, Legal, Advocacy, Collaboration, and Resourcing. Together these bring about a more just world for women and girls.”
• Legal: Facilitating legal, thus systemic, change that addresses violence and discrimination against all women and girls around the world.
• Advocacy: Advocating for the development and implementation of progressive laws and jurisprudence in alignment with international law and standards, and fostering environments that respect women and girls through feminist-, human rights-, and evidence-based advocacy.
• Collaboration: Working in partnership with a broad and diverse range of actors to increase our mutual understanding, reach and impact with respect to ensuring the rights of all women and girls, to promote strategic collaboration and the pooling of expertise, and to be held accountable for our interventions.
• Resourcing: Engaging the global community in galvanizing the resources necessary to stand up against the powerful systems that repress women and girls, and sustain the fight for legal and systematic equality.
What they do
“We tackle the most difficult issues, challenge ingrained cultural assumptions and call out inequality wherever we see it. Social change often begins with legal change and so we use the power of the law to create enduring equality for women and girls everywhere.”
Focus areas:
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Achieving legal equality: “We use a unique combination of legal advocacy, regional partnership-building, and community mobilization to encourage governments to adopt, improve and enforce laws that protect and promote the rights of women and girls around the world.”
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Ending sexual exploitation: Efforts include - Enshrining protection from trafficking in international law; Supporting an African response to sex trafficking and prostitution; and Engaging the CEDAW Committee.
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Ending sexual violence: Approach based on - “Good Laws, Effective Implementation, Intersectional Analysis”.
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Ending harmful practices: “We are working toward a world where women and girls are protected from harmful practices by the law and are surrounded by social attitudes and behaviors that enforce women’s equality. We push for states to be accountable in line with their international obligations, and ensure they enact and effectively implement laws that prohibit harmful practices.”
Evidence
Equality Now’s Theory of Change Legal Pathway is based on “trusted evidence for change,” which includes:
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Targeted legal analysis and thought leadership informed by legal research, analysis, and experiences of survivors and partners on legal approaches to violence and discrimination.
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Targeted statements, formal submissions, and letters delivered, with our partners, to national and international bodies to highlight cases or issues.
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Learning from our work and its impact contributes to the development of learning resources available to our partners and others, and the development of new international standards.
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Triangulated verification of research findings and analysis – legal knowledge, local lawyers, and survivor and victim experiences.
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Conducting qualitative, participatory, and legal research and facilitating intersectional gendered analysis.
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Collecting information from survivors, activists, and a diversity of partners and others to be as informed as possible when engaging with regional and international monitoring bodies and others.
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Ensuring that information is ethically sourced and provided in line with ‘do no harm’ principles.
Outcomes/Impact
Historical outcomes:
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Reforming discriminatory laws: “Almost 60% of the discriminatory laws we’ve highlighted since 1999 have been fully or partially reformed.”
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Ensuring the law frames sexual violence in line with human rights standards: “Since the release of our 2017 report, The World’s Shame: The Global Rape Epidemic, we’ve continued to analyze gaps in laws regionally and engaged in international and regional mechanisms to hold governments accountable.”
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Enshrining protection from trafficking in international law: “In 2001, we led a coalition for the passage of the Palermo Protocol, the leading international guide to combating trafficking. We continue to contribute to creating and sustaining gendered narratives on sex trafficking and sexual exploitation at the international level, and calling for the UN to ensure that its policies are in alignment with international law.”
2021 outcomes:
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1,861 women directly positively impacted
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1,537,000 women and girls benefitted from legal changes, protection, and better implementation
HELP US MAKE AN EVEN BIGGER DIFFERENCE
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The Physician Philanthropy Impact Fund is administered by SDG Impact Fund, (Tax ID# 46-2368538). SDG Impact Fund, Inc, headquartered at 475 E. Main Street #154 Cartersville, GA 30121 is a public charity as described in the Internal Revenue Code Sections 501(c)(3), 509(a)(1), and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi). All money and property transferred to SDG Impact Fund, Inc. shall be an irrevocable gift to the charity. Donor Advised Funds Are Not FDIC Insured – Are Not Bank Guaranteed – May Lose Value. Always consult with your independent attorney, tax advisor, and investment manager for recommendations and before changing or implementing any financial, tax, or estate planning strategy.