The HRGJ Clinic focuses on international criminal law and human rights law, conflict and war, sexual and gender-based violence, anti-trafficking work, reproductive rights, LGBTIQ rights, economic and social rights, and children’s rights.

Human Rights and Gender Justice (HRGJ) Clinic students engage in cutting edge human rights work under close clinical supervision. The Clinic maintains a diverse docket of projects, providing students broad experience in human rights practice. Through the clinical seminar and project work, HRGJ students develop a sound understanding of international human rights and sharpen lawyering skills necessary for effective law reform-oriented advocacy work applicable in both U.S. and international contexts.

Widely recognized for its expertise and contributions to gender jurisprudence and human rights practice, the HRGJ clinic advocates before international and regional human rights bodies and national and local courts and legal institutions. Our projects combat gender discrimination and sexual violence, advance reproductive and sexual rights and economic and social rights, and promote women’s participation and empowerment. By addressing problems through the lens of human rights, HRGJ students use international human rights law and institutions to challenge and expand rights protections in both domestic and international fora.

Faculty

  • Cindy Soohoo
    Co-Director, Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic and Professor of Law
    Cynthia Soohoo a Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic. Her work focuses on reproductive health and justice, gender justice, and human rights advocacy in the U.S. She has authored submissions to the U.S. Supreme Court, appellate courts and international forums on access to abortion, forced sterilization, criminalization of reproductive choices and pregnancy outcomes, remedies for trafficking survivors, and youth in the adult criminal justice system. Prof. Soohoo served as Director of the U.S. Legal Program at the Center for Reproductive Rights from 2008-2011. From 2001-2007, Prof. Soohoo was Director of the U.S. Human Rights Program at the Human Rights Institute, Columbia Law School and a supervising attorney for the law school's Human Rights Clinic. Read Cindy Soohoo's full bio.
  • Kirby Anwar
    Senior Fellow, Human Rights & Gender Justice Clinic
    Kirby Anwar is a human rights lawyer who provides technical support for women and LGBTIQ+ advocates seeking meaningful participation and justice in the context of peacebuilding and peace negotiations. She has worked with grassroots women's organizations living in contexts of armed conflict on multiple continents to facilitate their long term social change goals through legal advocacy at international, regional and local levels. She writes and reports on women human rights defenders' protection needs, gender violence in situations of conflict and disaster, and gender justice under international criminal and human rights law. She has also provided technical expertise to Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace regarding crimes committed on the basis of gender and ethnicity, and co-authored reports on gender persecution in Afghanistan for advocates and judicial actors.
  • Lisa Davis
    Co-Director, Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic; Professor of Law; and Faculty Chair, The Institute for Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace
    Lisa Davis is a Professor of Law; Special Adviser on Gender Persecution to the International Criminal Court; Co-Director, Human Rights & Gender Justice Clinic (formerly named International Women’s Human Rights Clinic), and; Faculty Chair of the Institute on Gender, Law and Transformative Peace. Professor Davis has written and reported extensively on gender-based crimes and human rights issues in conflict and other crisis settings, including on women’s rights and LGBTQI+ rights. Davis has testified before U.S. Congress, European Parliament, U.K. Parliament, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and several international human rights treaty bodies. Serving as the first Special Adviser on Gender Persecution to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Davis drafted the first-ever policy on the crime of gender persecution. Read Professor Davis’s full bio.
  • Sarah Bruchmann
    Special Projects Director
    Sarah Bruchmann (she/her) is the Special Projects Director in the Human Rights & Gender Justice Clinic. She is a seasoned project manager with over 15 years of experience in various industries including non-profit, fashion and academia. She has had the opportunity to work both nationally and internationally, bringing a wealth of knowledge, creative problem-solving and expertise to every project she works on. She is a strong communicator, collaborator and leader who has successfully managed projects. Sarah's passion for project management is rooted in her belief that a well-managed project can make a significant impact on the world.
x