8 In Their Capacity as Human Rights Defenders: Women Chapter 2 Litigants and Litigators: Women HRDs Part A: Litigants 2.1 Introduction Women lawyers have used their professional skills to encourage communities to use litigation as a non-violent means to reduce injustice. This they have done by representing victims of human rights violations in court. In some cases, women lawyers have become litigants themselves in order to pro-actively protect not only their rights, but also the rights of others. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has assisted women HRDs to litigate to enforce the rights of their communities, their own rights, and the rights of their families. In this manner, litigation has become one strong avenue that women lawyers use daily as a tool to advance human rights. Through the provision of free legal support services, women HRDs whose rights have been violated have thus been encouraged to use courts of law to resolve their conflicts or, in some cases, to fight injustice. ZLHR has actively offered support as it seeks to foster a culture of human rights in Zimbabwe through litigation. Other organisations that have championed the cause of women’s rights in Zimbabwe using law-based techniques include the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Musasa Project, and the Legal Resources Foundation. In this chapter, particular attention is paid to the cases that ZLHR has undertaken and some groundbreaking cases that have been initiated by women HRDs. The “litigant woman HRD” takes action through the courts of law to seek redress for violations and to advance a wide array of rights. In this way, she challenges executive excesses, holds errant state actors accountable, and has sought to assert her right to equal protection of the law as a full citizen. Various cases have been filed in the courts of law to enforce the right to culture, the right to access water, freedom from arbitrary eviction, and the right to shelter. Fundamental rights to education, health, and the right to marry and found a family have also been asserted. Civil and political rights that the woman HRD has sought to protect include participation in the government of the country, the right to dignity, freedom from torture and the right to administrative justice. Others have pursued cases to protect freedom of expression and equality before the law, the right to identity and citizenship, to protection of the law and the right to liberty. As a litigator the woman lawyer represents HRDs who advance their human rights and those of others. She also has a story to tell. The cases outlined below provide a snapshot of cases that ZLHR and its strategic partners have supported. They are by no means a complete list.