Gender equality

The Helsinki Committee of Human Rights has long-term work experience in the area of advancing the women’s rights and combating sex-based and gender-based discrimination. The operation of the Helsinki Committee is implemented through interventions at several levels, particularly through:

• Representation;
• Direct legal support to victims;
• Cooperation with institutions (training courses, workshops and participation in working groups);
• Ensuring digital safe space for expression of feminist voices, theories and education.

Helsinki Committee places a special focus in its work on vulnerable categories of women victims of gender-based or domestic violence, by directly providing free legal aid, escort to the institutions and legal representation before the court (the representation is done only in specific strategic cases, where serious breach of women’s rights are noted).

Therefore, the Helsinki Committee has been directly cooperating with the institutions on education and sensitisation of specialist staff on the standards arising from international legal instruments that cover women’s rights, safeguard against discrimination, or refer to elimination of gender-based and/or domestic violence. In addition, the Committee has been conducting research in this area, aiming at placing the results and findings for use as ground for policymaking. As an organisation, we do representation and lobbying, through participation in working groups and formal and non-formal networks of organisations, awareness raising activities relating to the status of the women’s rights and the gender (in)equality in the country, seeking to advance the status of women in the society and attain gender equality.