The RINJ Foundation

Description

The RINJ Foundation is a Canadian incorporated non-profit made up of nurses, midwives, medics, doctors, lawyers and investigators working against rape and sexual violence.

It runs mobile sexual assault clinics that give free medical care, counselling and forensic evidence collection to survivors and their families, mostly women and children in conflict and refugee settings. Staff and volunteers gather evidence on parties to armed conflict suspected of using rape as a weapon of war or genocide, and pass information to investigators, courts and the International Criminal Court. The foundation also funds rape kits and testing, supports reconstructive surgery and medical evacuation, and trains police, military and social workers to recognize and respond to sexual abuse.

Beyond direct care, RINJ educates the public, officials and media about misogyny and rape culture, monitors global court proceedings on sexual assault, and campaigns against sexual slavery and child sex tourism. It has organized boycotts of advertisers and broadcasters it says promote sexual violence, and has raised cases such as the treatment of migrant domestic workers with the United Nations. It works internationally, including near war zones, and holds special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2017.

The organization traces its origin to 2010, grew out of earlier grassroots work known as The RINJ Campaign, and was incorporated in 2012.