Areas of Advocacy Family and Community The law should protect the most basic human agreement between a man and a woman, and provide for the best interaction between peoples. Family and Community Justice for the Poor No one should be denied justice. Unfortunately, in many areas of the world the entrance costs to the judicial system prevent the poor from legally protecting themselves, their property, and their rights. Without the guarantee of equal access to the protections of the law, there can be no rule of law, no equal rights, no justice. That's why Advocates International stands with the poor, and oppressed working to vindicate their human rights by ensuring equal access to a working judicial system. Justice for the Poor Peace and Reconciliation One of the principle works of justice is mending broken relationships. Peace and Reconciliation Religious Freedom The law is not a tool to be used to compel or prevent the expression of faith. Religious Freedom Rule of Law In order for the law to bring about justice, it must be applied equally. No one can be exempt from the application of the law from the highest halls of power to the humblest outposts of poverty. Without the assurance of equal application, the law ceases to be an instrument of justice and becomes a tool of oppression. The law can be a powerful and just instrument for a peacemaker, but only when the law written in the books reflects the law written on the hearts. The law loses its ability to resolve matters peacefully when it does not reflect the basic sense of fairness which every person shares. Without the force of this shared sense of fairness, the law is only upheld by the force of its adjudicators, and is too easily twisted from an instrument of justice to an instrument of personal gain. Rule of Law Sanctity of Human Life Advocates International believes that the law must protect every stage of human life because the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights - for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture, to liberty - is false and illusory if the inviolable right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination. Sanctity of Human Life