Who is the WLC (Women's Legal Centre) who are the primary applicants for the recognition and regulation of muslim marriages?

WHO WE ARE (quoted verbatim from WLC website)

The Women’s Legal Centre
Our dedicated team of attorneys, candidate attorneys, paralegals and legal advisors specialise in feminist litigation. We are based in Cape Town but work nationally, with a weekly Help Desk at the Cape Town Family Court and in Khayelitsha.

The Women’s Legal Centre is an African feminist legal centre that advances womxn’s rights and equality using tools such as litigation, advocacy, education, advice, research and training
We develop law, policy, and feminist jurisprudence based on an intersectional approach with substantive equality as its foundation.
We drive a feminist agenda which acknowledges the impact that discrimination has on womxn within their differences in class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.
We provide tools for womxn to empower themselves across sectors to demand access to their rights.
We support the development of a cadre of black feminist lawyers within the legal profession

The Centre has a vision of womxn in South Africa being free from violence, empowered to ensure their own reproductive and health rights, free to own their own share of property, having a safe place to stay and empowered to work in a safe and equitable environment.
How We Work
Providing education and training to womxn on their basic labour rights and working conditions.

We offer free legal advice
We offer in-person and telephonic legal advice to womxn and identify systemic challenges that womxn face in accessing their rights.

We coordinate free legal advice clinics in Khayelitsha and at the Cape Town Family Court, not only to assist womxn with legal advice but also as a means to identify widespread problems womxn face that we can take up in litigation or advocacy. Through direct legal services, we are able to identify gaps in laws, systemic failures and challenges with implementation which informs our strategic litigation. The bulk of the queries we receive involve the dissolution of relationships either through death, divorce or separation, violence against womxn, and maintenance.

We litigate
The WLC has won several precedent-setting cases that have improved womxn’s access to justice in South Africa.

Using strategic litigation (litigation that goes beyond a single case to advance a broader agenda) has proven to be a key strategy in developing feminist jurisprudence through precedent-setting cases. We litigate in our own name, in the public interest (such as on behalf of civil society organisations), on behalf of clients, or as a friend of the court (amicus curiae). Strategic litigation is often the best tool to advance a specific right or to challenge a discriminatory law or policy.

We educate
The WLC is committed to training the next generation of black womxn lawyers.

In the spirit of transformation and the development of skills for womxn who are interested in working in the feminist legal space we have a strong candidate attorney programme. We also utilize local and international interns in order to contribute to the pool of feminist litigators and policy developers. We facilitate legal workshops and create feminist spaces where womxn can educate themselves on the law and how they can use it as a tool to empower themselves and their communities.

We advocate
Our work in this area includes written and oral submissions to the South African Parliament, regional and international human rights treaty bodies, and other relevant organisations.

We also participate in conferences, workshops, and discussions to advance our work on the rights of womxn. In addition, our media advocacy has proven a valuable tool in spreading our message and amplifying our reach through social and mainstream media.

We collaborate
We support womxn’s rights organisations and the broader feminist movement with the aim of strengthening womxn’s voices and advancing womxn’s rights.

By providing legal advice to the social justice sector, womxn’s organisations and civil society networks, nationally, regionally and internationally, we play a role in ensuring that the state and the private sector uphold their responsibilities in terms of the law and womxn’s rights.

Our Core Objectives
1
Develop law, policy, and feminist jurisprudence based on an intersectitional approach with substantitive equality as its foundation.

2
Drive a feminist agenda which acknowledges the impact that discriminatition has on womxn within their differences in class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.

3
Empower womxn across sectors to demand access to their rights.

4
Establish and develop a cadre of black feminist lawyers within the legal profession.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Our Mission
The Womxn’s Legal Centre (WLC) is an African feminist legal centre that advances womxn’s rights and equality. The WLC has a vision of womxn in South Africa who enjoy equal and substantive access to their rights. The WLC seeks to achieve this vision through action in support of womxn’s rights using tools such as litigation, advocacy, education, advice, and training.