Equality Now

Equality Now is a worldwide human rights organisation founded in 1992 in New York City by three human rights lawyers - Jessica Neuwirth, Navanetham "Navi" Pillay, and the late Feryal Gharahi. Its stated purpose is to secure the legal and systemic change needed to end violence and discrimination against women and girls, working through legal advocacy, policy and legislative reform, coalition-building and movement strengthening alongside local, national and regional partners.

The organisation runs four core programmes: Achieving Legal Equality, which targets discriminatory laws and has contributed to reforming more than 135 of them worldwide; Ending Sexual Violence; Ending Harmful Practices; and Ending Sexual Exploitation. A cross-cutting focus on adolescent girls runs through all of these areas.

Equality Now's reach is broad and largely partnership-based. It champions women's rights in 85 countries of programming, strengthened leaderful movements in 72 countries in 2025, and worked with 173 partners and 25 coalitions that year. Team members are based across 23 nations, with offices in Kenya, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The organisation has operated for more than 30 years. Its working model is collaborative and coalition-driven, building alliances to demand, shape and steer change, with an emphasis on strengthening local movements rather than acting alone.