Justice and Women (JAW) was started in Pietermaritzburg as a project run in partnership by 2 non-governmental organisations, Family and Marriage Society of South Africa (FAMSA) and Black Sash.

JAW was established to support women access justice, in particular maintenance and domestic violence orders, through the Pietermaritzburg Magistrates Court. In 2011, in response to funding constraints, JAW set up a project in Mthonjaneni/Melmoth in the King Cetshwayo District of KZN. The rural area around Melmoth is part of the Ingonyama Trust and King Zwelithini is the sole beneficiary. He entrusts the land to Traditional leaders, who manage communities according to customary values and practices. The JAW project sought to empower women in these areas to access their rights to equality, freedom from violence and bodily integrity.

The WVLSA project aims to refine, indigenise & implement in traditional communities in KZN, an evidence based model which embeds community awareness of the root causes and consequences of power imbalances between men and women. It does this through recruiting community members, known as CAs and equipping them with knowledge and skills to identify & reflect on their own gendered attitudes & abusive behaviors and work towards changing these. The process motivates them to reach out to others within their circle of influence and support them to undergo the same journey. The model builds capacity to address any imbalance of power which oppresses others.