Our Work
The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) protects the fundamental human rights of women, children, LGBTQ individuals, and others who flee persecution, combining sophisticated legal strategies with policy advocacy and human rights interventions to advance protections for refugees. We envision a world where no refugee is denied her right to protection.
We undertake strategic litigation to achieve and defend hard-won legal protections and advance sound asylum laws that keep pathways to protection open for refugees.
Through our technical assistance (TA) and training program, we enhance the capacity of advocates to successfully litigate individual asylum cases by providing free webinars, trainings, consultations, and online resources to attorneys and organizations.
We engage with policymakers to prevent bad law and promote just asylum policies that realign the U.S. with our legal and moral obligations to protect refugees.
We advance laws and policies that ensure protections for survivors of gender-based violence and the recognition of gender-based persecution.
We advocate for expanding legal avenues to protection for people forcibly displaced due to climate change or environmental disasters.
Our work would not be possible without our dedicated supporters, staff, interns, and volunteers.