At the Martha Farrell Foundation, we believe that every individual, community, and institution has the will and the capacity to drive their own empowerment and growth. Established in 2016, the Foundation is dedicated to building a gender-just society by addressing and eliminating sexual and gender-based violence.
We envision a world where everyone can learn, work, and thrive free from discrimination, harassment, or fear. Our work is rooted in participatory and holistic approaches that center the voices and needs of those we serve. Through collaborative interventions with diverse stakeholders, across education, workplaces, and communities, we foster safe, inclusive, and empowering spaces that enable meaningful and lasting change.
At the heart of our work is the enduring legacy of Dr. Martha Farrell, a pioneering gender rights practitioner and civil society leader. The Foundation carries forward her spirit of participatory, inclusive, and transformative action for a gender-just world.
The Martha Farrell Foundation envisions a world where all formal and informal learning and working spaces are safe, inclusive, and gender equitable.
The Martha Farrell Foundation is committed to ensuring that all individuals feel safe, valued, and respected in their working and learning environments. We pursue these through:
In alignment with these, we employ context-sensitive, participatory strategies that drive meaningful and lasting change.
The Martha Farrell Foundation is guided by its unwavering commitment to gender equity and to fostering a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We believe that every individual- regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, or background, deserves to be valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives and talents.
In all that we do, and within our own institution, we strive to create safe, inclusive learning and working environments where all voices are heard, and every person can thrive.
At the Martha Farrell Foundation, our programmes are grounded in holistic and participatory approaches that empower individuals, communities, and institutions. Drawing on years of community-based participatory research, we acknowledge a fundamental truth: all women and girls are vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence. However, their experiences and access to justice are shaped by intersecting identities, socio-economic realities, access to opportunities, and generational trauma.
We also recognize that safety is deeply interconnected. When one person feels unsafe, it increases the risk for everyone. This understanding drives our cross-sectoral work to foster safer, more inclusive, and empowering spaces for all.
MFF adopts a holistic, gender-transformative approach to advancing gender equity and preventing gender-based violence. Our work is structured around three interconnected levels of impact:
Our strategies are dynamic and responsive- shaped by the lived experiences, needs, and insights of those we work with. This ensures that all our interventions are survivor-centred, trauma-informed, and rooted in real-world challenges.
Through its programmes and strategic interventions, the Martha Farrell Foundation has established a wide-reaching presence across more than 25 states in India and over 10 countries globally. The Foundation has capacitated nearly 4,000 adolescent leaders across the country, trained over 40,000 formal and informal workers on gender equity and prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace, and supported faculty and staff from nine universities across Commonwealth nations (apart from India) in developing strategies for safer, harassment-free campus spaces.
As a founding member of the Delhi for Domestic Workers Network– a coalition of unions, organisations, and civil society groups advocating for the rights and voices of domestic workers in the National Capital Region– the Foundation has an outreach of over 40,000 women domestic and informal workers.
