International Women's Human Rights Clinic visits Uganda

Georgetown Law students Elizabeth Hira, 2L (left) and Katrina Homel, 2L (far right) spoke with Uganda WHO Country Representative Joaquim Saweka (center) during the trip. Also pictured are Emma Sslai, LAW-U attorney, and Teaching Fellow Aparna Polavarapu.

Georgetown Law students participating in the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic found during their spring break trip to Uganda that even Ugandan law students were closely following recent events at Georgetown.

“One law student we spoke with asked me if I personally knew Sandra Fluke,” said Elizabeth Hira, 2L.

Hira and six other students in the clinic conducted a fact-finding mission in Uganda over spring break researching women’s access to reproductive healthcare as well as Ugandan customary marriage practices, including polygamy, child marriage, and bride price, before the trip.

Students interviewed more than 80 individuals, including government ministers, judges, lawyers, doctors, officials at U.N. agencies, and nonprofit experts as well as men and women in polygamous marriages, about their experiences with family planning and marriage practices.

During their interviews, students were encouraged to use provisions included in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other international treaties to advance women’s rights related to their research topics.

“I was shocked to find that the issues women in Uganda are dealing with are the same as in the United States,” said Hira. “I was pleasantly surprised to see that arguments using international law effective in the U.S. are also actively used in Uganda.”

“As a member of the clinic who worked on access to reproductive rights, these issues resonate with the Georgetown community right now with the [lack of] ability of students to get access to contraceptives because of Georgetown’s policy,” said Avy Mallik, 3L. “The clinic allowed me to see problems that countries have which are less inclined to recognize the right to access reproductive healthcare.”

Indeed, Clinic Director Professor Susan Deller Ross founded the clinic in 1999 after hearing from the students in the Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA) program at Georgetown Law that women in African countries, much like women in U.S., struggle to overturn laws infringing upon their rights in areas such as family law and inheritance.

“While teaching International and Comparative Law on Women’s Human Rights, my African students started telling me about the laws on the books that were very oppressive to women,” said Ross. “I realized that they were similar to the oppressive laws that we fought in the U.S.”

“I began to get the idea of using human rights treaties as a new tool to get legal changes in African countries to address all of the inequities that women face.”

The clinic has collaborated with Law and Advocacy for Women in Uganda (LAW-U), an organization of alums of the LAWA program, on several projects. In 2004, the clinic spring project focused on eliminating discrimination against women in Uganda’s inheritance laws and on female genital mutilation. During the following semester, clinic students worked with LAW-U, including with a clinic alum to develop test-case litigation challenging the discrimination in both the inheritance and criminal adultery laws.

LAW-U subsequently filed the lawsuits in Uganda’s Constitutional Court, and won both cases in 2007. The Court ruled the existing inheritance laws discriminated against women and were unconstitutional.

Included among the provisions struck down were sections of the Succession Act that preferred a male heir to a female heir; gave the father, but not the mother, the right to appoint a guardian of his children through a will; and prevented female relatives from being appointed as statutory guardians, but giving the right to male relatives.

The clinic has also worked on projects in Kenya, Namibia, Ghana, Swaziland, and Poland.

In addition to LAW-U, the clinic is also partnered with the Center for Reproductive Rights.

“Legal change is slow, but in Uganda, we have had so many successes,” said Ross. “Our partner has won lawsuits against three of the laws that we targeted—divorce, criminal adultery, and inheritance.” She cited recently passed laws banning the practice of female genital mutilation as well as protecting women from domestic violence and employment discrimination, all of which have been the subjects of previous student projects, as examples of the clinics progress in women’s rights advocacy.

The clinic provides students who are interested in careers in international human rights law with hands on experience in the field.

“Along with the human rights fact-finding seminar, the clinic is one of only a few ways in which students can conduct a fact-finding investigation while still in law school,” said Lisa De Gray, 3L.

Kiera Bloore, 2L, agreed. “Over the course of the week, I learned how to obtain the information I needed while not asking leading questions,” she said. “These are important skills for a lawyer to have and ones my other classes do not cover.”

During the trip, Hira realized that her clinic research made her an expert in the area of reproductive healthcare law. “We put a ton of work in, and it was sometimes frustrating, but I was amazed that when we were sitting before people working in the law and I realized that they didn’t know the status of the law,” she said.

“A good lawyer is a unique asset in pushing for reform, whether legal or not,” said Hira.

Clinic participants will use interviews from their trip to support human rights reports and legislative proposals. Although still in the process of drafting their reports, they have observed general trends that emerged in their interviews.

“[One] thing that struck me was how much the children of polygamous parents resented the lack of attention from their father,” said Ross.

Mallik noted that he realized through the clinic’s work in Uganda that HIV/AIDS has a severe disproportionate impact on women.

“Women are more susceptible to HIV/AIDS; that is exhibited at higher rates in terms of the higher rate of infection among women, but also, HIV rates create a higher burden on women who may be keeping the family together,” said Mallik.

The trip helped students understand the cultural issues with which they have been grappling throughout the semester.

De Gray said, “I really enjoyed speaking with a wide range of people—government officials, members of civil society organizations, and everyday citizens—and gaining a greater understanding of Ugandan culture and the issues and laws we’re working on.”

researching women’s access to reproductive
healthcare as well as Ugandan
customary marriage practices, including
polygamy, child marriage, and
bride price, before the trip.
Students interviewed more than
80 individuals, including government
ministers, judges, lawyers, doctors,
officials at U.N. agencies, and nonprofit
experts as well as men and
women in polygamous marriages,
about their experiences with family
planning and marriage practices.
During their interviews, students
were encouraged to use provisions
included in the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women, the
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, and other international
treaties to advance women’s rights
related to their research topics.
“I was shocked to find that the
issues women in Uganda are dealing
with are the same as in the United
States,” said Hira. “I was pleasantly
surprised to see that arguments using
international law effective in the U.S.
are also actively used in Uganda.”
“As a member of the clinic who
worked on access to reproductive
rights, these issues resonate with the
Georgetown community right now
with the [lack of] ability of students to
get access to contraceptives because of
Georgetown’s policy,” said Avy
Mallik, 3L. “The clinic allowed me to
see problems that countries have
which are less inclined to recognize
the right to access reproductive
healthcare.”
Indeed, Clinic Director Professor
Susan Deller Ross founded the clinic
in 1999 after hearing from the students
in the Leadership and Advocacy for
Women in Africa (LAWA) program at
Georgetown Law that women in
African countries, much like women
in U.S., struggle to overturn laws
infringing upon their rights in areas
such as family law and inheritance.
“While teaching International and
Comparative Law on Women’s
Human Rights, my African students
started telling me about the laws on
the books that were very oppressive to
women,” said Ross. “I realized that
they were similar to the oppressive
laws that we fought in the U.S.”
“I began to get the idea of using
human rights treaties as a new tool to
get legal changes in African countries
to address all of the inequities that
women face.”
The clinic has collaborated with
Law and Advocacy for Women in
Uganda (LAW-U), an organization of
alums of the LAWA program, on several
projects. In 2004, the clinic spring
project focused on eliminating discrimination
against women in
Uganda’s inheritance laws and on
female genital mutilation. During the
following semester, clinic students
worked with LAW-U, including with
a clinic alum to develop test-case litigation
challenging the discrimination
in both the inheritance and criminal
adultery laws.
LAW-U subsequently filed the
lawsuits in Uganda’s Constitutional
Court, and won both cases in 2007.
The Court ruled the existing inheritance
laws discriminated against
women and were unconstitutional.
Included among the provisions
struck down were sections of the
Succession Act that preferred a male
heir to a female heir; gave the father,
but not the mother, the right to
appoint a guardian of his children
through a will; and prevented female
relatives from being appointed as
statutory guardians, but giving the
right to male relatives.
The clinic has also worked on
projects in Kenya, Namibia, Ghana,
Swaziland, and Poland.
In addition to LAW-U, the clinic is
also partnered with the Center for
Reproductive Rights.
“Legal change is slow, but in
Uganda, we have had so many successes,”
said Ross. “Our partner has
won lawsuits against three of the laws
that we targeted—divorce, criminal
adultery, and inheritance.” She cited
recently passed laws banning the
practice of female genital mutilation
as well as protecting women from
domestic violence and employment
discrimination, all of which have been
the subjects of previous student projects,
as examples of the clinics
progress in women’s rights advocacy.
The clinic provides students who
are interested in careers in international
human rights law with handson
experience in the field.
“Along with the human rights
fact-finding seminar, the clinic is one
of only a few ways in which students
can conduct a fact-finding investigation
while still in law school,” said
Lisa De Gray, 3L.
Kiera Bloore, 2L, agreed. “Over
the course of the week, I learned how
to obtain the information I needed
while not asking leading questions,”
she said. “These are important skills
for a lawyer to have and ones my
other classes do not cover.”
During the trip, Hira realized that
her clinic research made her an expert
in the area of reproductive healthcare
law. “We put a ton of work in, and it
was sometimes frustrating, but I was
amazed that when we were sitting
before people working in the law and
I realized that they didn’t know the
status of the law,” she said.
“A good lawyer is a unique asset
in pushing for reform, whether legal
or not,” said Hira.
Clinic participants will use interviews
from their trip to support
human rights reports and legislative
proposals. Although still in the
process of drafting their reports, they
have observed general trends that
emerged in their interviews.
“[One] thing that struck me was
how much the children of polygamous
parents resented the lack of
attention from their father,” said Ross.
Mallik noted that he realized
through the clinic’s work in Uganda
that HIV/AIDS has a severe disproportionate
impact on women.
“Women are more susceptible to
HIV/AIDS; that is exhibited at higher
rates in terms of the higher rate of
infection among women, but also,
HIV rates create a higher burden on
women who may be keeping the family
together,” said Mallik.
The trip helped students understand
the cultural issues with which
they have been grappling throughout
the semester.
De Gray said, “I really enjoyed
speaking with a wide range of people—
government officials, members
of civil society organizations, and
everyday citizens—and gaining a
greater understanding of Ugandan
culture and the issues and laws we’re
working on.”