Survivor Leadership

Survivors lead our advocacy efforts.

Central to Equidem’s mission of creating a world free of exploitation and human rights abuse is supporting talented survivor activists to become leaders in their community and the wider movement. Through our Democracy at Work key pillar of work, we provide survivors a platform to tell their stories in their own words, ensuring their experiences are heard at national and international levels. This is crucial not only for raising awareness but for driving policy changes. Survivors’ testimonies are often the driving force behind our global advocacy efforts. 

We also offer support to survivors to develop leadership skills, empowering them to become advocates for themselves and others. This includes training on their rights, strategies for seeking justice, and how to engage with policymakers and the media. By connecting survivors with each other and with local and international support networks and organizations like the Solidarity Center, we aim to foster communities of solidarity. This helps survivors to not only heal but also to organize and push for systemic changes to end gender-based violence and access resources like healthcare and legal recourse. 

Equidem partners with international organizations, unions, and advocacy groups to push for reforms that place survivors at the centre of conversations: nothing about them, without them. Through extensive research, like ‘The Cost of Contagion’ and ‘“We work like robots”: Discrimination and Exploitation of Migrant Workers in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Hotels’, we document thousands of cases of gender-based violence in workplaces. Our research is influential in drawing attention to survivors’ testimonies for advocates for stronger legal frameworks and enforcement mechanisms to protect women from harassment and violence in the workplace and to hold perpetrators accountable. We also champion having tough conversations with corporations to push for compliance with their responsibilities for the well-being of women in their supply chains and operations. We push for transparency, corporate responsibility, and the creation of safe workplaces for women.