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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEmK9o9iCVk In this episode of Purposeful, Ashley Bernardi sits down with Elise Keppler, Executive Director of the Global Justice Center, for an important conversation about women’s rights, reproductive freedom, abortion access, gender equality, human rights law, and global justice. Elise shares her work as a human rights lawyer and explains how the Global Justice Center uses international law, legal advocacy, and policy reform to defend gender equality and advance accountability for sexual and gender-based crimes around the world. At a time when reproductive rights and human rights are being challenged in the United States and globally, this conversation helps explain why abortion access is a human rights issue, how authoritarianism often targets gender equality, and why advocacy still matters even when progress feels difficult.

Last week, GJC Senior Legal Advisor Jaime Gher gave a speech at a rally in Indianapolis for a case considering the religious liberty of people who support abortion rights. Hoosier Jews for Choice, a faith-based advocacy organization, sued the state of Indiana because the state’s abortion ban conflicts with their sincerely held religious beliefs that support access to abortion.

Hearings concluded in January 2026 in the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice. GJC Legal Fellow Marianne Vitug attended the hearings and took the chance to share her observations. Notably, she discusses legal arguments from The Gambia (who brought the case) showing how sexual and gender-based violence against Rohingya shows genocidal intent on the part of Myanmar's military.

At a UN General Assembly session on January 20, 2026, on the draft crimes against humanity treaty, GJC Executive Director Elise Keppler called on states to adopt a gender-competent and intersectional negotiation process and treaty. Read this declaration, signed by more than 225 civil society organizations and individuals: https://cahtreatynow.org/advancing-gender-justice-in-the-crimes-against-humanity-convention-a-declaration/ https://youtube.com/shorts/beZ66sFi5gU?si=OBb_H6WYnBkNqTgd

January 19, 2026, marked the official start of preparatory meetings on the draft crimes against humanity treaty. Over the next two weeks, UN member states will discuss the draft text of the treaty and prepare proposals for amendments. GJC Legal Advisor Tess Graham was at the UN for the meetings and explains here that this is a critical moment to press governments to commit to a gender-competent, intersectional treaty process and text. https://youtube.com/shorts/BBm5uTIyE9M?feature=share

The Global Justice Center discusses its organization's experience after traveling to the UN to draw international attention to the dramatically deteriorating state of reproductive autonomy in the U.S.