• To analyze the law—the institutions, laws, judicial rulings, scholarship, practices, and actors of the legal sphere—and public policy from a critical, gender-based perspective, and to examine the effects of law and public policy on the relationship between men and women in society.
• To propose institutional reforms to democratize the court system and promote the fulfillment of international human-rights obligations.
• To improve access to justice, especially for disadvantaged groups.
• To contribute in the design of public policies promoting women´s human rights, encouraging the inclusion of women’s issues in the local, national, and regional public agenda.

We assume the challenge of promoting actions to tackle persistent inequalities, respecting women´s diversity, in order to improve full respect for the exercise of their rights.
We carry out research and collaborate in the design, implementation, and impact evaluation of public policies intended to guarantee gender equality.
We build capacity among NGOs and grassroots women´s groups to make collective demands at local, national, and/or international levels.
An important part of ELA´s work is related with the use of our research and diagnosis for public advocacy, both at national and international levels.
 

Access to Justice: One of ELA’s main pillars of action and comprehensively integrated into our various areas of intervention. The discrimination that women face in their civil, political, economic and social rights, require activation of the legal enforcement mechanisms envisaged in the legal systems. The judicial system should be a tool that can provide a basis for a change in women´s situation. In order to achieve women´s empowerment, gender justice is a necessary prerequisite.
Actions:

• Through the Observatory of Court Decisions monitor the current status of judicial protection for women´s fundamental human rights in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, México and Peru.
• We provide legal services to improve access to justice for women in the poor neighbourhoods of the city of Buenos Aires.
• We conduct different research to identify unmet legal needs of marginalized sectors to identify strategies and best practices to overcome barriers to justice. 

Violence against women: Violence against women take many forms and can occur in different contexts. Argentina has passed sufficient legislation to establish protection mechanisms for women victims, but yet there is a clear lack of public policies to ensure full compliance with the law. Violence against women is clearly one example where legal protection is available but insufficient to guarantee access to justice.
Actions:

• Research about the different manifestations of violence against women, with special attention in domestic violence and press coverage of all forms of violence against women.
• Strengthening state interventions in domestic violence through information campaigns on existing legislation and judicial procedures.
• Work with the judiciary to improve understanding of problems in access to justice and promote better connection between the judiciary and public policies. 

Political participation and presence of women in key decision-making spaces: Full participation of women in social, political and economic spheres is not only a right widely recognized in laws and international human rights treaties but also a precondition for the development of a robust democracy which materializes the promise of equality for women and men.
Actions:

• Documenting the levels of female participation in political, economic and social areas.
• Qualitative exploratory research on women´s participation at sub-national level, including the legislative and executive branches of government.
• Identification and promotion of best practices fostering women´s participation in political life. 

Productive and reproductive work and care: We believe that women´s full participation in the economy is essential to achieve autonomy. This requires the universal right to care and public policies for care providers and services.
Actions:

• Research and policy recommendations on labour regulations and discriminating practices in female occupations such as domestic employment.
• Researching labour markets from a gender perspective, with particular attention to caregiving policies. 

Sexual and reproductive rights: There are several debts related to full compliance with sexual and reproductive rights in Argentina, including access to sexual education, contraception and access to safe abortion.
Actions:

• Research the violations of women´s rights in the access to sexual and reproductive health
• Support legal changes in the legislation on abortion
• Monitor court decisions on reproductive rights.