This document discusses strategies for effective advocacy to implement women-friendly laws. It defines advocacy as a set of democratic actions seeking social change and empowering marginalized groups. Advocacy can occur at local, state, national, and international levels and can include people-centered, policy, legislative, and media advocacy. Effective advocacy requires organizing actions like rallies and campaigns, building coalitions, conducting research, and advocating for rights-based rather than just need-based policies and laws. Success requires developing evidence, briefing advocacy partners, and using a combination of advocacy techniques and building synergies between different approaches.

1. S T R A T E G I S I N G A D V O C A C Y F O R E F F E C T I V E
I M P L E M E N T A T I O N O F W O M E N F R I E N D L Y L A W S
5 - 7 T H A U G U S T
A A S H A R A M E S H
G E N D E R & D E V E L O P M E N T C O N S U L T A N T
B A N G A L O R E
Advocacy at different levels

2. Definition of Advocacy
Advocacy is a set of democratic social
actions that seeks to bring about
change.
It is ‘a set of organized actions to
change public policies in a way that will
empower the marginalized.’

3. What is Advocacy ?
Advocacy is:
 A value driven political process
 To effectively influence public policies
and get them implemented
 To advance Social Justice and Human
Rights
 To make the governance accountable and
transparent
( NCAS)

4. Advocacy at different levels
 Local or grassroots level advocacy
 State level advocacy
 National Level advocacy
 International or Global level advocacy

5. The different types of Advocacy
 People-centered advocacy
 Policy advocacy
 Legislative advocacy
 Media advocacy
 Issue-based advocacy

6. Advocacy Strategies
 Organised action-rallies, protests, sit in
etc
 Campaigning using different tools-
signature campaign, pamphlet
 Building alliances and coalitions and
collectively submitting petitions
 Conducting evidence based research

7. Need based Rights Based
 Non-justiciable (cannot
be claimed legally)
 Gives more immediate
help/support to
immediately felt needs
 Justiciable (can be
claimed legally)
 Requires ‘staying power’
as the benefits take time
to be realised
Advocating for what

8. Need Based Rights Based
 Eventually non-
sustainable
 Fulfilled based on the
goodness of various
outsiders’ (e.g. state,
society to ensure NGOs
philanthropic groups
etc.)
 Eventually sustainable
 Responsibility of state
and civil

9. Need Based Right Based
 Allows the ‘outsider’ to
select the beneficiaries
 The beneficiaries
remain dependent on
the outsiders
 Non-discriminatory,
except positive
discrimination
 The marginalised are
empowered to claim
their own rights

10. Need Based Rights Based
 Attacks the outward
effects, and is a
symptomatic approach
 Can more easily get
funding for such
activities from donors
 Attacks the root causes
 Getting funds is more
difficult, as the donor may
get into trouble with
licensing/state authorities

11. Needs Based Rights Based
 State is willing to look
more kindly at such
efforts as it is a
supplement to what the
state ought to be taking
responsibility for
 Less risk for the
implementers, and
generally non-
confrontational
 State is unlikely to
support such efforts as it
could create ‘problems’
(law and order issues,
upheavals in society)
 Extremely risky, and often
could (though not always)
lead to confrontation and
violence

12. Advocacy with whom?
 Those in power who can be influenced to
bring about change in the following;
1. Better implementation of existing
schemes/programmes/laws
2. Bring in policy change
3. Make legal amendments and new laws
4. Introduce proactive mechanisms

13. Your Constituency to Advocate with?
 Building alliances with like minded civil
society organisations /individuals
 Identify and make allies in the executive,
judiciary and legislative
 Make allies in the media
 Engage with UN and International agencies
for support and cooperation

14. The key to success in advocacy
 Developing a body of evidence on the issue for
which advocacy is being done
 Preparing briefs with authentic information for
dissemination among the different advocacy
partners
 Adopting a combination of advocating techniques
such as people-led advocacy, media advocacy,
policy advocacy and legislative advocacy and
building synergies between them to achieve the
needed advocacy response.

15. ADVOCACY
 Advocacy involves movement from different stages
 PERSONAL
 PUBLIC
 POLITICAL

16. THANK YOU