Victim and survivor movements

For decades, survivors and survivor-led coalitions have worked tirelessly to advance justice and healing for atrocities. Around the world, survivor groups have initiated legal actions to hold perpetrators accountable; worked to restore the lives and livelihoods in affected communities; fostered healing and reconciliation; advocated for reparations, memorialization, and truth; support legal reforms; and empower and protect survivors.

As a consortium, we have been deeply inspired by this work. These groups often conduct this work with minimal support, inadequate resources, and little formal training or experience in navigating complex legal, political, and advocacy processes. We aim to walk alongside survivor groups in this journey.

  • Mothers of Srebrenica.

    The Mothers of Srebrenica Association formed eight years after the 1995 Srebrenica genocide to pursue justice through support to survivors, searching for mass graves, and seeking formal accountability. For example, through sustained advocacy and strategic litigation, they pressed the Dutch state to recognize their responsibilities toward victims and survivors. They have also highlighted the psychological impact of genocide on survivors.

    Photo: Munira Subašić, a survivor of the Srebrenica genocide and president of the Mothers of Srebrenica Association in 2022. CC-BY-4.0: © European Union 2022– Source: EP.

  • Association of Victims of Crimes of the Regime of Hissène Habré

    After the fall of Hissène Habré’s brutal dictatorship in Chad, Souleymane Guengueng, Clément Abaifouta, and other survivors of detention and other crimes formed a nation-wide survivor coalition to pursue justice for atrocity crimes. Their years long struggle led to Habré’s conviction in a specially created court in Senegal, where victims were represented by Chadian lawyer Jacqueline Moudeina. Survivors await full compensation as ordered by the court.

    Photo: Justice Palace of Chad. Andre Kodmajingar. Note: This is note the site of Habré’s prosecution.

  • Abuelas of Sepur Zarco

    In 1982 during the Guatemalan genocide, the military forcibly disappeared, tortured and killed indigenous men, and raped and enslaved women from the Q’eqchi community near Sepur Zarco. Thirty years later, in the context of a broader reckoning with the genocide, a group of survivors from this community—the abuelas of Sepur Zarco—united to seek justice and reparations for their community. The took their case to the country’s highest court, which led to a wide-reaching sentence to improve health and educational infrastructure and to open files on land claims.

    Photo: Free mobile health clinic established as a reparation measure following the conviction the 15 abuelas helped secure. UN Women/Ryan Brown.

  • National Network of the Families of the Disappeared, and Missing Nepal

    Founded and led by families of individuals who were disappeared during Nepal’s conflict, the Network of the Families of the Disappeared, and Missing Nepal (NEFAD) is a nationwide, survivor-rooted network that channels families' own priorities into advocacy, support, and Nepal's broader transitional justice struggle. Ram Bhandari, who founded NEFAD and is a co-founder of ARC, has gone on to build an entire ecosystem of victim-led networks in Nepal and internationally, while also producing scholarly work on transitional justice.

    Photo: Ram Bhandari at a demonstration against missing persons.