Sarai Chisala Tempelhoff

Sarai Chisala-Tempelhoff (she/her) is a Malawian human rights lawyer and a legal researcher with over 20 years of experience in the intersections of VAWG/GBV and the law. Trained as a lawyer, Sarai has gone on to specialize in human rights and democratization in Africa as well as women’s and gender studies. Through GJU, Sarai provides free legal assistance and trauma support for victims of gender-based violence (GBV); the GJU has developed simplified and translated legal empowerment tools to bridge the gap between women and the justice they seek for GBV. Her research focus has always been on women and access to justice and the intersections between the letter of the law and women’s lived realities. She has blogged, published, conducted training, agitated about, written, and researched various aspects of women and the law. Sarai serves on the Boards of AFIDEP and the HIV Justice Network. She was named by Apolitical as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy in 2021 and was named one of the African Visionary Fellows in 2025 by the Segal Family Foundation. Sarai lives and works between Germany and Malawi.