Each year, WCL hosts numerous distinguished visiting scholars and fellows from around the world, many of whom are accomplished practitioners of women's human rights. Current visitors with gender expertise include scholars and practitioners from Africa, the Near East, Russia and New Zealand.
Anna Borodina
Junior Faculty Development Program Fellow, Russia
Ms. Borodina is a Lecturer in the Center for Women's History and Gender Studies at Tver State University, Russia. She has also served as a pro bono consultant to NGOs on issues of women's rights. Some of Ms. Borodina's recent research projects include introducing gender issues to law school curriculum; women in legal professions; the impact of privatization in Russia on women; gender expertise of textbooks and readers on humanities and liberal arts; and reproductive rights and family planning in Russia. As a WCL Junior Faculty Development Program Fellow, she is developing courses on the legal history of women, gender and citizenship, and feminist jurisprudence with Professors Joan Williams and Mary Clark as her faculty hosts.
Hauwa Ibrahim
Humphrey Fellow, Nigeria
Ms. Ibrahim is a Senior Partner in the General Law Practice of the ARIES Law Firm located in Abuja, Nigeria, as well as the Legal Aid Counsel. She has been a defense Counsel to over 40 cases (Pro Bono). She also serves as a consultant to many human rights NGOs. Since 1999, Ms. Ibrahim has led a team of lawyers as defense counsel in addressing issues corresponding to the implementation of the Islamic Sharia Law. Specifically, she has been lead counsel in most cases of women who have been sentenced to death by stoning for allegedly having committed adultery, including Amina Lawal, who was acquitted of adultery by Nigeria's highest Shari'a court in September 2003.
Dalla Jatta
LL.M. Candidate, The Gambia
Ms. Jatta serves as Public Prosecutor at the Attorney General's Chambers/Ministry of Justice. Under the supervisor of the Director of Civil Litigation, she is assigned to the Magistrate courts dealing in cases pertaining to labor and contracts. She also participates in the Professional Women's Organization in The Gambia, which works for the empowerment of women in the rural communities through skills development and microenterprise loans. Ms. Jatta has also participated in NGO conferences such as BARFOW in The Gambia, which campaigns for the eradication of practices harmful to Gambian women and the girl-child. Her particular interest is in the protection of women in Africa.
Esther M. Kissakye
S.J.D Candidate, Uganda
Ms. Esther M. Kisaakye is based at the Human Rights Peace Center, and is a Lecturer of Law at Makerere University. She has served as Legal Advisor to H.E., the Vice President of Uganda and as a member of the executive boards of FIDA-Uganda and the Uganda Law Society. Her work, in the last 20 years, has focused on human rights, women's rights, family law, health law and HIV/AIDS and the law. She also serves as a consultant to UN Agencies and human rights NGOs. She is the Chairperson of the Uganda Network on Law, Ethics and HIV/AIDS and a Board Member of the Uganda AIDS Commission. Her SJD studies are focusing on Women's Rights and Sex- Based Employment Discrimination in the Public and Private Sector.
Justine Mbabazi Rukeba
LL.M. Candidate, Rwanda
Ms. Mbabazi's work focuses on the equal protection of women and children. She has worked in Canada, as well as in East and Central African countries, raising gender and human rights awareness. After the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, she served as Executive Director of a national legal network in Rwanda, where she played a critical role in the debate of the new constitution, bringing gender questions to the forefront of national politics. As a genocide survivor and victim, she devotes her time to public speaking engagements in Canada, The Netherlands, and South Africa. Speaking engagements include "The Role of the Judicial Branch to Prevent Genocide," and addressing the effects of genocide on women and children.
Dana Myrtenbaum
LL.M. Candidate, Israel
Ms. Myrtenbaum is an Israeli lawyer who represents marginalized populations and specializes in family law, labor law and social security law. She has had her own private practice in Haifa, worked for the Justice Ministry's Public Legal Aid Office, and served as legal counsel to the Project Against Trafficking of Women to the Sex Industry in Israel of Isha L'Isha (Woman to Woman)-Haifa Feminist Center. She has lectured on labor law and women's and senior citizens' rights, and has been active in the Yedid Community Rights Center (Legal aid and empowerment), Economic Empowerment for Women Organization (providing women with knowledge, skills and microcredit loans to start small businesses), Haifa Battered Women's Hotline, National Hotline for the Prevention of Violence and for Children at Risk, and Women Advocates for Social Justice.
Velephi Riba
Humphrey Fellow, Swaziland
Ms. Riba is a Project Officer heading the Policy and Advocacy Section of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Mbabane, Swaziland, where she provides national institutions with direction and technical guidance to strengthen policy making and legal reform processes in the protection of children's rights. As a Humphrey Fellow, Ms. Riba plans to gain academic and professional training on the design and preparation of tools for conducting a systematic audit of legal, policy and judicial structures so they are compatible with the protection of human rights.
Jung Ryu
LL.M. Candidate, New Zealand
Ms. Ryu is a solicitor and barrister of New Zealand, who specializes in Public International Law and Human Rights. Her particular interest is in the protection of human rights of women in Islamic countries. She has worked as a voluntary legal adviser and interpreter (English to Korean, Korean to English) at the Shakti Asian Women Center, a New Zealand based support group for victims of domestic violence and refugee women, especially for those from Asia.
Sawsan Zaher
Law Fellow of the New Israel Fund
Ms. Zaher has been practicing law in Israel for six years, specializing in civil, commercial and labor rights. She served on the board and provided legal consultation for Kayan, a feminist organization for Arab women in Israel. Kayan's main goal is to change the role of women in Arab society by facilitating empowerment through group discussions and workshops for women from diverse backgrounds. Ms. Zaher was a representative to the Coalition Against Racism in Israel and a committee member of the United Nations Resolution No. 1325 Steering Committee, which focuses on the effects of war and conflicts on women. Ms. Zaher also worked in the legal department for Women to Women, a feminist organization for Arab and Jewish women in Israel, on their project against trafficking in women.
Roseline Zigomo
Humphrey Fellow, Zimbabwe
Roseline Zigomo is a Partner in the law firm of Atherstone & Cook, located in Harare, Zimbabwe. There, she is involved in litigation including human rights advocacy in the area of Constitutional rights and freedoms. In this respect, she has defended commercial farmers, journalists working for the independent press and various individuals on issues of human rights. Ms. Zigomo has experience in litigation in the Magistrate's Court, High Court and Supreme Court. Her practice also involves labour cases, family law, insurance cases and negotiating and drafting agreements. She has also been involved in helping various NGOs gain local legal status through drafting their technical agreements and Memoranda of Understanding. Ms. Zigomo is a member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
These scholars all contribute to the promotion of international human rights and the law. They each work closely with the WCL Women & International Law Program (WILP) in its efforts to integrate fully women's human rights into legal education, practice and doctrine. For more information on WILP, contact April Fehling at (202) 274-4089 or afehling@wcl.american.edu.
