What Equality Now does

Equality Now is a London-headquartered international human rights nonprofit founded in 1992 that uses the law to protect and promote the rights of women and girls globally. The organization has played a pivotal role in reforming over 137 discriminatory laws across 72 countries since inception, contributing to 17 legal changes across 9 countries in 2025 alone — affecting an estimated 69 million women and girls. It operates through regional boards in the United States, Africa, and the United Kingdom, and serves as Secretariat for flagship coalitions including the Hurra Coalition (15 organizations across 9 MENA countries) and SOAWR (70+ organizations across 33+ African countries).

Equality Now's core offerings are advocacy outputs and capacity-building services rather than technology products. Its flagship deliverables include the Words & Deeds report series (published every five years since 1999), 82 legal submissions made to UN, regional, and national bodies in 2025, 16 active strategic litigation cases, an interactive Impact Map, podcasts, and a Changemakers professional network. The organization does not develop proprietary technology; its work is grounded in legal research, policy analysis, and direct engagement, with a recently launched digital-rights program through AUDRi and AUDRi Africa focused on integrating gender equality into AI and digital governance. Its "products" are distributed freely to governments, civil society, UN bodies, and the public through the website and coalition network, supplemented by merchandise sales via the Equality Culture Club.

Equality Now's business model is funded through donations from individuals and institutional donors, foundation grants, and merchandise sales, with approximately $5 million deployed as sub-grants and in-kind resourcing to women's rights partners worldwide in 2025. Its go-to-market motion is community-led and event-driven, combining sustained policy advocacy, coalition-building, international legal mechanisms, and public awareness campaigns delivered through 70+ speaking engagements annually, 248 partner meetings in 44 countries, and 51 workshops that trained 2,179 changemakers in 2025. The organization is governed by an independent Board of Directors and is registered as a charity (EIN 13-3660566), with no parent company, equity ownership, or institutional investor structure.

Name

Equality Now

Legal name

Equality Now

Website

https://equalitynow.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Equality Now is a London-headquartered international human rights nonprofit, founded in 1992, that uses legal advocacy, strategic litigation, and coalition-building to reform discriminatory laws affecting women and girls across 72 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Human Rights Advocacy

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights (BPADAGAF), Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (BPAGABAF), Safeguarding, Accountability & Compliance (ESG, Gender/GBV, Do No Harm) (BPADAEAM)

Keywords

• Women's rights advocacy
• Gender equality law
• International human rights
• Legal reform advocacy
• Civil society coalition

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and charitable contributions: Equality Now relies on donations from individuals, institutional donors, and foundations to fund its global advocacy and legal reform work.
2. Merchandise sales: The organization sells feminist-themed merchandise (Equality Culture Club, feminist gifts) through its website to generate supplementary revenue while also promoting its brand.
3. Sub-grants and in-kind resourcing to partners: In 2025, Equality Now invested approximately $5 million in sub-grants and in-kind resourcing in support of women's rights initiatives and organisations worldwide. This is an outflow model (grant-making) rather than a revenue stream.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Equality Now is a global human rights organization that uses legal advocacy, coalition-building, and strategic litigation to identify, challenge, and reform sex-discriminatory laws and harmful practices affecting women and girls. Its work spans four thematic areas — achieving legal equality, ending sexual violence, ending sexual exploitation, and ending harmful practices (child marriage, FGM) — delivered through expert legal research, policy submissions to governments and UN/regional bodies, capacity-building training for judicial officers and activists, and public awareness campaigns supported by an online resource center, merchandise sales, and donations.

Product overview

Equality Now is a global human rights organization, not a traditional technology product company. Its offering consists of advocacy resources, research publications, and community platforms focused on achieving legal equality for women and girls. The core products include the Policy & Practice Resources center (containing reports, briefs, toolkits, and legal manuals), the interactive Impact Map visualization, Podcasts series, and the Changemakers professional network. The flagship Words & Deeds report series tracks discriminatory laws globally. Through the AUDRi partnership, the organization also contributes to digital rights and AI governance discussions. All offerings are public good resources supporting legal reform advocacy rather than commercial software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Policy & Practice Resources Comprehensive online resource center offering reports, policy briefs, UN and regional body submissions, toolkits for journalists, legal manuals, and factsheets covering gender equality legal issues worldwide. Available for free download to governments, civil society, activists, and the general public.
• Impact Map Interactive global map visualization showing legal changes and reforms achieved across different regions, displaying impact on women and girls by geographic area.
• Podcasts Audio content series featuring discussions on women's rights, legal equality topics, and interviews with activists and experts in the field.
• Words & Deeds Report Series Landmark research publication series published every five years since 1999, analyzing sex-discriminatory laws globally and tracking government progress on Beijing Platform commitments. The 6th edition was published in 2025.
• Changemakers Network International professional network connecting government ministers, UN bodies, civil society leaders, and human rights lawyers to collaborate on gender equality advocacy. Individuals can join by providing their sector, country, and organization details.
• Equality Culture Club (Merchandise Shop) Online merchandise store selling feminist-themed gifts and branded products, including celebrity collaborations. Combines revenue generation with community engagement and brand promotion.

Quantifiable outcome

• 137+ discriminatory laws reformed globally since 1992; 17 legal changes across 9 countries in 2025 alone
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• New Board Members (US, Africa, and UK regional boards)coreOthers · 27 February 2026Equality Now announced the appointment of five new members to its Board of Directors across its US, Africa, and UK regional boards in February 2026. The new board members bring expertise in women's rights advocacy, philanthropy, law, finance, technology, and social impact, reinforcing the organization's international governance structure.
• Hurra Coalition (regional network of feminist and human rights organizations in MENA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 November 2025The Hurra Coalition is a regional network of feminist and human rights organizations across the Middle East and North Africa working to reform discriminatory family laws and ensure equality for women and girls. Established in 2019 as an initiative by Equality Now and six founding members, Equality Now serves as the coalition's Secretariat. Today it includes 15 national women's rights organisations from nine Arab countries. The coalition focuses on ending child marriage, strengthening women's financial rights, and improving child custody laws.
• SOAWR Coalition (Solidarity for African Women's Rights)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSOAWR is a coalition of more than 70 civil society organisations working in over 33 countries towards full ratification and implementation of the Maputo Protocol across Africa. Equality Now played a central role in establishing SOAWR in 2004 and currently serves as part of its Secretariat. Activities include training government officials, publishing monitoring reports, and providing tools to help countries implement the Maputo Protocol.
• Global Campaign for Equality in Family LawcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA global initiative convened by Equality Now to drive worldwide reform of discriminatory family laws, bringing together civil society, academics, and other actors to advance the movement for equality in family law across regions.
• Global Campaign for Equal Nationality RightscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquality Now is a founding steering committee member of this global campaign, which works to eliminate sex-discriminatory nationality laws. The campaign has contributed to reforms in multiple countries, with 19 countries achieving partial or full legal reforms since Equality Now began its nationality rights work.
• AUDRi (Alliance For Universal Digital Rights)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAUDRi is an alliance working to shape a digital future where gender equality is integrated into AI governance and digital policy. Equality Now collaborates with AUDRi on digital rights work. In 2025, Equality Now established AUDRi Africa to advance feminist-informed digital governance across the continent.
• ERA Coalition (Equal Rights Amendment)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquality Now is a partner in the ERA Coalition, which advocates for the Equal Rights Amendment to be fully recognized as the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution. Equality Now provides resources, factsheets, and advocacy support as part of this coalition.
• U.S. End FGM/C NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA coalition partner working on female genital mutilation advocacy and legal reform in the United States. Equality Now participates in joint submissions and advocacy as part of this network.
• Unchained At LastcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnchained At Last is a partner organization in joint US-focused advocacy to end child marriage. Together with Equality Now, they produced a report on legal loopholes permitting child marriage in 34 US states.
• NM CHISPA Coalition (New Mexico)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe NM CHISPA coalition represents LGBTQ+, reproductive justice, immigrant rights and democracy organizations in New Mexico advocating for data privacy protection legislation (SB 53). Equality Now participates through coalition collaboration on shared advocacy goals.
• ASUDA (Iraq)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerASUDA is an Iraqi civil society organization that worked with Equality Now and the Hurra Coalition on advocacy related to Iraq's Personal Status Law reforms, helping to retain the legal minimum age of marriage at 18 within the new Jaafari Personal Status Code framework.
• Abolish 153 (Kuwait)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAbolish 153 is a Kuwait-based advocacy organization that worked with Equality Now on the successful campaign to repeal Kuwait's Article 182 ('marry your rapist') provision in the Penal Code.
• Global Platform for Action to End FGM/CcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquality Now partners with the Global Platform for Action to End FGM/C to drive collective action on female genital mutilation, convening with grassroots activists, survivor-led movements, and international networks.
• National Coalition to End Child Marriage in the United StatescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquality Now partners with this national coalition to drive reforms eliminating exceptions to child marriage laws across US states, contributing to reductions in states with child marriage exemptions from 37 to 34 in 2025.
• People Serving Girls at Risk (PSGR) — MalawicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSGR is a Malawian partner organization with whom Equality Now presented arguments before the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, highlighting Malawi's failure to prevent trafficking and ensure effective remedies for survivors.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Amnesty International: Global human rights organization with broader mandate covering civil and political rights. Comparable in scale, international coalition structure, and advocacy-driven legal reform approach, though Equality Now is more narrowly focused on gender equality.
• UN Women: United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. Operates in similar policy, treaty-body engagement, and legal reform spaces as Equality Now but is intergovernmental rather than civil society.
• Human Rights Watch: International human rights organization conducting research and advocacy on a wide range of rights issues. Similar in operating model (research-driven, legal expertise, coalition advocacy), but with broader thematic scope and significantly larger budget.

Direct peers

• Center for Reproductive Rights: International legal advocacy organization using strategic litigation and international human rights law to advance reproductive rights. Most comparable peer in terms of legal-reform model, treaty-body engagement, and litigation strategy targeting women's rights.
• International Center for Research on Women (ICRW): Global research institution translating women's and girls' rights data into policy action. Comparable in evidence-based advocacy approach and global footprint, though more research-oriented than direct legal reform.
• MADRE: International women's rights organization partnering with grassroots groups to advance human rights. Similar in coalition-based model and partner support approach, though smaller scale and more regionally focused on Latin America and Middle East.
• Women Deliver: Global advocacy organization focused on gender equality and the health and rights of girls and women. Comparable as a global convener and advocacy voice on gender issues, though oriented more toward convening conferences and convening than legal reform.
• Global Fund for Women: International foundation funding women's rights organizations globally through grants and advocacy support. Comparable as a women's rights grantmaker and convener, but with a more philanthropy-focused model versus Equality Now's direct legal advocacy.

Emerging players

• CREA: International women's rights organization focused on sexuality, gender, and bodily autonomy in the Global South. Comparable feminist advocacy and capacity-building model, though smaller and more regionally focused than Equality Now.
• IWRAW Asia Pacific: International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, focused on CEDAW and women's rights in Asia. Strong overlap with Equality Now's international legal mechanisms engagement, though regionally specialized.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/equalitynowyt
• Facebookfacebook.com/equalitynoworg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/equality-now
• Instagraminstagram.com/equalitynoworg
• Xx.com/equalitynow

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Equality Now