Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling

The Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC)

is an independent Palestinian, not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation that seeks to develop a democratic Palestinian society based on the principles of gender equality and social justice. Established in Jerusalem in 1991, the organisation has special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). By forging a feminist vision based on equality and social justice, WCLAC plays a prominent role in addressing gender-based violence in Palestinian society in both the public and private spheres.

WCLAC aims to address the causes and consequences of gender-based violence within the Palestinian community as well as the gender-specific effects of increasing militarisation associated with the Israeli occupation. To this end, WCLAC acts not only to reverse historical negligence, negative cultural legacies and discriminatory social attitudes towards Palestinian women, but also, to address the needs of women victimised by Israel’s violent actions in the occupied Palestinian Territories (oPT). As a leading defender of women’s rights in Palestine, WCLAC is proud of its uncompromising commitment to provide legal aid, social counselling and protection services to women in an environment where human rights abuses are rampant and women’s issues are regularly overlooked.