Our theory of change

Discriminatory family laws persist not simply because the legal text is outdated, but because they are held in place by three reinforcing gaps: a lack of credible evidence and ready-to-adopt legal alternatives, the absence of sustained political pressure strong enough to outweigh conservative resistance, and the scarcity of advocacy efforts that speak for the full diversity of women affected. 

Closing any one of these gaps alone is not enough. A technically sound law proposal with no political backing stalls in parliament; political will with no legal alternatives has nothing to push toward; and reform led by a narrow set of voices produces laws that fail the women furthest from power. Hurra's theory of change is that sustainable reform requires closing all three gaps at once, and that doing so through a regional coalition, rather than through isolated national efforts, is what makes lasting change possible.

We implement our mission through three interconnected pillars of action: Representation,  Resilience, and Reform.

1. Representation: Ensuring every voice is heard

Intersectionality is key to understanding women's and girls' diverse and complex experiences, which are affected by multiple factors, such as race, social class, gender, disability, religious identity, and others. Through this concept, the Coalition aims to ensure that the experiences and rights of all women and girls are represented and heard in decision-making and policies.

• Training feminist leaders and activists on how to deal with the complexities of intersecting concepts and include them in their representative activities.
• Facilitating dialogue and discussions between women and girls from different backgrounds and decision-makers to better understand the multiple challenges and needs of women and girls.
• Promoting the participation of women in law and policy advocacy groups.
• Training women and girl leaders and activists to effectively represent feminist issues.
• Enhancing continuous communication mechanisms between stakeholders to ensure continuity of representation and influence.

2. Resilience: Empowering women and girls

Resilience is one of the core values of the Hurra Coalition. The Coalition seeks to empower women and enhance their abilities to deal with challenges, particularly amid growing resistance and backlash against women’s rights, where hard-won gains can come under threat. For Hurra, resilience means strengthening women, girls, and movements to withstand resistance, protect progress, and sustain the push for legal equality. Through support, solidarity and collective action, the Coalition works to ensure that women and girls can navigate difficult circumstances and continue to be positive change agents in their own communities.

• Conducting workshops to educate women and girls about their legal rights in general and family laws in particular: This includes providing specific information about family-related laws and women's rights in this context, including rights related to divorce, child custody, alimony, and other legal issues women may face.
• Providing legal assistance and support to women and girls facing legal disputes in the family, including legal advice and assistance in filing complaints or legal claims related to family issues and providing the necessary legal support during proceedings.
• Establishing support networks for women and girls to share their experiences and resilience strategies: By providing a safe and supportive environment, these networks allow women and girls to share experiences and advice and develop strategies to meet the challenges they may face in their daily lives, especially in relation to family issues.
• Building social resilience and awareness: Through community awareness and the active engagement of all community members in advocacy efforts.
• Investing in evidence-based research: Drawing on the ground-level experience of Hurra members and their extended national and regional networks, we conduct groundbreaking research on sensitive, taboo topics, triangulating and strengthening our findings with the lived realities captured by member organisations and the populations they serve. This research bridges the gap between what the law says on paper and how it is actually implemented in practice, feeding directly into the Coalition's evidence base for legal reform. 

3. Reform: Changing the legal landscape

Family laws are among the most important laws that affect the lives of women and girls, as they define their rights and duties in the family and society. However, many of these laws are outdated and are discriminatory toward women, resulting in gender inequality. The Hurra Coalition aims to catalyse legal changes that ensure gender equality in family laws.

• Calling for a review of discriminatory family laws: These activities include convincing concerned authorities of the need to review existing laws that discriminate against women and motivating them to make the necessary changes to achieve equality.
• Cooperating with legal experts to draft egalitarian family law proposals: This activity includes working closely with experts to draft new law proposals that ensure gender equality and achieve justice in family laws.
• Pressuring policymakers to adopt and implement legal reforms, including directing political and social pressure on the concerned authorities to adopt and apply the necessary legal reforms in family laws.
• Updating studies and research on the cost of domestic violence against women, as well as the cost of care work and its impact on women's participation in the labour market and building a professional future.

Youth engagement: Leading the next wave of reform 

Many young people across the Arab region are already speaking out, organising in their communities, and experimenting with new forms of activism, especially through digital media. Legal reform is a marathon, not a sprint.  

The Youth Coalition exists to ensure that family law reform is not only achieved, but sustained. It creates pathways for young feminists, lawyers, researchers, communicators and community organisers to shape public discourse, influence policy, and become the next generation of leaders driving legal equality across the region. Through this investment in youth leadership, the Hurra Coalition is helping to build the skills, network and collective power needed to carry the movement forward for decades to come.

The Youth Coalition is an intersectional space for young advocates under 30 who are reclaiming the conversation around gender equality and women's rights, including in the family law context, with particular attention to young women with disabilities, rural and economically marginalised youth, refugees and displaced young people, and youth affected by conflict. The Youth Coalition complements the work of Hurra by creating space for young advocates to contribute to family law reform through advocacy, evidence generation, movement building and public engagement. Its work includes:

• Digital Advocacy: Changing public narratives around discriminatory family laws through youth-led digital campaigns, storytelling, and public policy.
• Community Mobilisation: Building community understanding of family law and empowering young people to advocate for reform and generating evidence for advocacy.
• Network Building: Strengthening a regional ecosystem of young feminist advocates who collaborate across borders, build coalitions, and participate in national, regional and international advocacy.