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For legal professionals.

If you are willing to give your time to this case without charge, register here. Please read what the Foundation is working towards first. It takes two minutes.

What we are working towards

Indigo Girl Foundation is a registered non-profit organisation in South Africa. It is examining the systemic failure of the State in how it responds to gender-based violence, with a view to litigation against the institutions responsible. The case is about the system: how the police, the prosecution and the departments meant to protect women actually perform, and what the State's own records concede.

The police stopped counting. SAPS withdrew its statistics on crimes against women and children and has not published them since. Its own notice cites figures that "could not be reconciled" and a "duplication of crime counts". Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police found the SAPS claim that the breakdown appeared in the full report to be "factually incorrect". Source: SAPS notice; Portfolio Committee on Police media statement, 11 June 2025.
402 police stations were assessed for Domestic Violence Act compliance during 2025. Not one was fully compliant. Over six months, the Civilian Secretariat's own reporting mechanism recorded 59 non-compliance cases nationally. The gap between those two numbers is the failure, on the Parliamentary record. Source: Civilian Secretariat for Police, reported to the NCOP Select Committee on Security and Justice, 27 May 2026 (PMG); Parliament media statement on Domestic Violence Act non-compliance.

What we are asking of you

  • Your time, pro bono. There is no fee and no funding for fees.
  • Strategy, research and drafting on the case against the State.
  • Above all, an instructing attorney. A referral advocate cannot be briefed directly by a lay client, so the attorney is the role the case cannot proceed without.
  • Counsel, researchers and academics, once the instructing attorney is in place.

What this is not

  • It is not an individual legal service. We do not take individual cases, and registering here does not refer any client to you.
  • No survivor's evidence, docket or personal account is shared through this page or at this stage.
  • Registering does not create a mandate, a retainer or any obligation to act.

What happens next

We contact you by email, and practitioners are invited to the lawyers' WhatsApp community where the work is coordinated.

Before you start, please read this

Who is asking. Indigo Girl Foundation, a registered non-profit organisation in South Africa. Our Information Officer is Indigo Haddington, at indigo@indigogirlfoundation.com.

Why. To know who is offering to help, to check for conflicts of interest, and to coordinate pro bono work on the Foundation's case. Nothing else.

It is voluntary. Fields marked required are the ones we need to place you on the team. Only our own team sees this. We do not sell your details or give them to donors or the media.

Your rights, and how to complain
  • You may ask what we hold about you, free of charge, and ask us to correct or delete it.
  • You may object to our processing and withdraw consent at any time.
  • You may complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa, JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001.
  • Write to indigo@indigogirlfoundation.com to exercise any of these.

About you

Your Legal Practice Council number. If you are a law graduate or student and do not have one yet, leave this blank.

A referral advocate cannot be briefed by a lay client directly, so we ask.

Type of law you specialise in Required

Choose all that apply.

Needed to act as the instructing attorney. Advocates and academics can choose "Not applicable".

How you can help

What you could take on

Choose any that apply.

Conflicts

The case is aimed at state institutions, so we check this before sharing anything.

The project

Registering does not create a mandate or retainer and does not refer any client to you.