The EQUAL project supports marginalised communities and lawyers to pursue intersectional, community-driven strategic litigation under EU law, including under the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Strategic litigation can protect fundamental rights and drive systemic change when rooted in the lived experiences of marginalised communities.
Yet racialised communities, disabled people, and others at risk of exclusion continue to face major obstacles in accessing justice include:
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discrimination
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limited legal support
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lack of trust in institutions
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legal systems that treat issues in silos rather than through an intersectional lens.
As a result, strategic litigation efforts often fail to fully reflect the communities most affected by rights violations.
The EQUAL project strengthens the capacity of communities, human rights lawyers, and other stakeholders to advance intersectional and community-driven strategic litigation under EU law, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Our activities
Community empowerment
Build knowledge and skills within marginalised communities by providing tools, information and training to understand and defend their rights and engage with legal professionals and fundamental rights bodies.
Intersectional capacity building
Deliver training for legal professionals and fundamental rights bodies to strengthen intersectional approach.
Focus group research
Conduct focus groups with marginalised communities, legal professionals and fundamental rights bodies to identify key barriers to accessing justice and inform project actions.
Advocacy and legal actions
Use evidence from the project to inform advocacy efforts at national and EU level, promoting better understanding and uptake of intersectional and community-driven strategic litigation and policy-making.
Setting-up community paralegal teams and legal clinics
Create community-based paralegal teams and local legal clinics to bridge the gap between affected communities and legal experts, reduce barriers to justice and enable early legal support.
Where we work
The project will focus on selected localities in each country:
Czechia
Italy
Greece
Hungary
Duration
July 2025 - June 2027
Donor
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
(Grant agreement number 101215016, CERV-2024-CHAR-LITI)