My Name is Advocate Doreen Kalugira
I am an activist and an advocate of the High Court of Tanzania and its subordinate courts.
I grew up in a community where gender-based violence is normalized and no one dared to speak up. This is because of the prevalent norms and cultures which considered women as inferior and my great worry was how I could I help to reduce the violence, this pushed me to study law with a view that I would be in position to amplify voices of women and girls against gender-based violence.
Every time am on street, in the neighborhood and on court doors I come across women and children sad because their rights have been violated and they cannot afford legal fees. At one point I felt like I was failing them. Since my team comprises of advocates we decided put an arrangement where every advocate in our team defends two woman and two girls who need legal representation and advise free of charge in a year. But still the arrangement seems to be more expensive because courts of law are distant from the homes of these advocates therefore calls for a need to be facilitated with transport to attend to courts of law.
Also, the number of victims of violence is increasing every day. My team and I need to recruit more advocates who will represent these women and girls in courts of law. Donating your dollar will save this sad woman and girl to get social justice.
In addition to that, my team and I are in the process of creating a phone application that will be more of informative, about the laws that give rights to all group’s legal reforms and amendments. The application will include updates on the laws and court decisions in cases affecting women and girls, reporting mechanisms incase a right is violated, consultancy sites incase a victim of violence needs advice, include stories of the audience on their experience about the laws and the court system.
