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Our work

Our policy projects

At BIHR we amplify the voices of the people we support to positively influence policy that affects their human rights, whether that is individuals whose rights are at risk, the community groups that support them, or the staff in public bodies and services on the sharp end of implementing ill-considered changes.

We focus on combining our legal and practical expertise on human rights, with people’s real-life experiences, placing this at the heart of systems change that can secure protections for everyone. Our policy work has two strands:

Our approach to policy work

Our policy approach is holistic – a reinforcing circle that goes hand-in-hand with our programmes on human rights change in practice. We bring our practical expertise into policy work, and we bring our policy expertise into practical programmes.

We know from 20 years of work with people, community groups, and public services, that changing a policy does not automatically change practice by itself. We focus on everyday evidence from people and practitioners, alongside our expert human rights legal and practical analysis, to make change at the policy level. But more than this, once rights-respecting policy development is agreed, we are able to support the implementation of that change. People, communities, and practitioners consistently tell us this is vital.

Individual wanting to speak up for our Human Rights Act

"Thank you for everything you have made available to help in completing the consultation on the proposed Human Rights Act reforms. I couldn't have done it without the BIHR. These are frightening times but this gives me a bit of hope."

CEO of a women's charity

“We just had a violence against women and girls sector meeting, and I flagged BIHR’s win to secure an extension for disabled to respond to the bill of rights consultation, and everyone was delighted that you had achieved this … we realise how significant it is!"

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