CFAs: East Asia Sub-Regional Feminist Legal Theory and Practice Training

Feminist Legal Theory and Practice, or FLTP, is an APWLD training programme which promotes the application of feminist analysis, deeper grounding in human rights and the use of the law or legal strategies to uphold women’s human rights. Participatory methodologies and approaches to learning are carefully integrated to the programme and effectively challenge systemic and structural barriers to women’s human rights. As such the FLTP draws on the experiences and perspectives of women from rural, indigenous, migrant, urban poor women groups and WHRDs in the APWLD network and those they work within the Asia-Pacific region, to make it rich and dynamic.

APWLD is going to organise the East Asia sub-regional FLTP training in Seoul, South Korea in October 2024 targeting young lawyers, attorneys, activists, human rights advocates and Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) across the East Asia sub-region.

This training will create a pool of regional FLTP graduates (FLTP Grads) who will use the FLTP framework as part of the movement to support substantive legal change that upholds women’s human rights.

Objectives

• The main objectives for having the East Asia Sub-Regional FLTP are as follows:
  • To develop a greater understanding of gender, gender-based discrimination, feminist theories, intersectionality, equity and equality, law and international human rights mechanisms;
  • To enable participants to share their experiences of feminist legal advocacy and feminist legal strategies;
  • To identify and address the limitations and challenges encountered by women’s rights advocates in their use of legal strategies to address women’s rights issues;
  • To enhance the capability of participants to effectively challenge discriminatory laws and practices in their countries by feminist, rights-based legal practice and by applying international conventions and precedents for advancement of women’s human rights;
  • To ignite campaigns to advance women’s human rights in the East Asia sub-region;
  • To bring WHRDs and women rights activists to the regional level feminist movements and build a network of feminist legal practitioners and activists.

Themes

• The training will be for 5 days focusing on the following themes: analysis of women’s lives and realities; feminism and women’s movement; structural and systemic forces of oppression (globalisation, fundamentalism, militarisation and patriarchy); feminist development justice, feminist analysis of the Law, women human rights and developments in international law and feminist legal strategies and approaches for supporting women human rights defenders.

Costs Covered

• APWLD will cover costs of board and lodging for the 6-day training (inclusive of a 1-day solidarity activity). In addition, APWLD will also cover costs of discounted economy airfare to and from the training destination, visa fee, airport tax, travel insurance (if applicable), PCR test (if needed for travel purposes).
• All additional travel related expenses must be informed by the participant to APWLD beforehand for approval or the participant will not be reimbursed for those expenses.

Eligibility Criteria

• Training is open to women in all their diversities.
• APWLD members as well as non-members from the East Asia sub-region may apply.
• Judges, lawyers, young feminists and activists, prosecutors, case workers, academics, media persons, women human rights defenders, writers, poets, who engage with law or use law for women’s human rights and social justice and support feminist values.
• Activists and development workers engaged with national, international and sub-regional bodies on issues of marginalised groups, for example: land, food, climate, migration, labour, information and digital rights, political participation, LGBTQI+ movements etc.
• Participants will be selected based on the following considerations:
  • Balance in representations of East Asian countries;
  • Balance in sectoral areas of work;
  • Combination of judges, lawyers, young feminists and activists, paralegals, case workers, para-legal volunteers, prosecutors and academics engaging with the law for women’s human rights and social justice;
  • Preference would be given to Women Human Rights Defenders in all diversities, specially young WHRDs below the age of 35;
  • Preference given to individuals with institutional/organisational affiliations and/or recommendations from APWLD networks;
  • The participant group size will be limited to 20;
  • The main language of communications and instructions during the training will be English; therefore level of proficiency in English is required.

For more information, visit APWLD.