Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice

Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice is an international women’s human rights organization advocating for gender-inclusive justice both at and through the International Criminal Court (ICC), the first ever permanent international court established to deal with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, the seat of the ICC, Women’s Initiatives advocates for inclusion of gender-based crimes in the investigations and prosecutions of the ICC, and to promote the rights of women victims/survivors of armed conflict throughout the justice process including through the Trust Fund for Victims. Women’s Initiatives advocates for the use of international treaties, specifically the Rome Statute of the ICC, to advance women’s rights and gender equality domestically.

Women’s Initiatives’ strategic program areas include political and legal advocacy for accountability and prosecution of gender-based crimes; documentation of gender-based crimes in armed conflicts; conflict resolution and integration of gender issues within the negotiations and implementation of peace agreements; and advocacy for reparations for women survivors of armed conflict. 

WITNESS works with Women’s Initiatives and their grassroots partners in the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Uganda in a campaign focused on ending gender-based violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations.