Founded in 2000, CREA is a feminist human rights organisation based in New Delhi, India. It is one of the few international women's rights organisations based in the global South, led by Southern feminists, which works at the grassroots, national, regional, and international levels. Together with partners from a diverse range of human rights movements and networks, CREA works to advance the rights of women and girls, and the sexual and reproductive freedoms of all people. CREA advocates for positive social change through national and international fora, and provides training and learning opportunities to global activists and leaders through its Institutes.
Activities
Capacity Building
CREA conducts world-class Institutes (short-term courses) and trainings to strengthen feminist leadership, strategies, and collective power for social transformation. These Institutes and trainings are conducted at national and global levels, in India and in East Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. They bring together some of the best minds in the world to talk about issues related to sexuality, gender, rights, feminist leadership, movement building, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), using creative teaching and learning methodologies.
Advocacy
CREA helps activists, organisational representatives, policymakers, and others working on issues related to sexuality, gender, and SRHR bring greater understanding and commitment to their work to advance the rights of women and expand sexual and reproductive freedoms of all people. CREA aims to influence global and national advocacy to change laws, policies, and practices that violate the rights of women, young girls, and other marginalised communities.
CREA, as part of the Sexual Rights Initiative, also works to advance sexual rights as a particular set of rights and as a cross-cutting issue within international law, specifically in the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). CREA also monitors the implementation of Acts, such as the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act 2005, and work with various coalitions to fight for the rights for sexual rights for all.
Knowledge Resources
CREA develops publications and knowledge resources, in English and Hindi, in the fields of sexuality, reproductive health, gender, and human rights, which fill this gap and foreground global South perspectives. By publishing material in Hindi, CREA reduces the paucity of resources for Hindi-speaking activists and organisations. For instance, Reproductive Health Matters—Hindi is the only peer-reviewed Hindi journal on sexual and reproductive health and rights and human rights. All these resources and materials are made available on CREA’s website, mailed out to the organisations and activists that CREA works with, and disseminated through various other channels.
Public Events
CREA organises public discussions, debates, events, and online and offline campaigns to challenge public attitudes and discourses on issues of women’s human rights and sexual rights. These events and campaigns use new forms of media and technology to reach out to more and more people across the world. The aim is to catalyse change by helping people understand the root causes of stigma, discrimination, and violence in society. CREA works to expand discourses and encourage debates and discussions that contribute to knowledge and scholarship in the fields of sexuality, gender, and rights. Along with creating a broader public understanding about these issues, CREA’s events provide feminist platforms to enable activists, leaders of community-based organisations, and policymakers to learn from each other and build professional networks.
Current Initiatives
CREA builds the leadership capacities and knowledge of individuals, organisations, and movements working to advance women’s human and sexual rights. It also creates opportunities for women and girls to question and challenge existing norms and power structures that affect their lives. CREA delivers its programmes through four strategic initiatives:
> Strengthen Feminist Leadership
> Advance Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
> Prevent Violence Against Women and Enhance Women’s Security
> Increase Voice and Visibility of Marginalised Women