Legal Aid to Women Trust (LAW Trust)

LAW Trust strives to protect coastal ecology and promote the rights of indigenous communities to their traditional coastal habitats and resources in Tamil Nadu India.

As a direct result of large scale infrastructure projects, new industry and intensive offshore trawling, ecosystems are being destroyed and indigenous coastal communities are facing food insecurity as well as land rights and waterway access issues.

Law trust works at both the local grass roots level, with a particular focus on women and children, as well as engaging at a policy and legislative level, working with indigenous communities to advocate for their rights.  The vision is for economic, social and political empowerment with the people themselves acting as change agents supported by Law Trust and well networked with other organisations. 

Another example of engagement is that community leaders and youth have been trained and are now producing sophisticated digital resource mapping of their localities providing a valuable contribution for resource management and the eco restoration process.