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Gender Justice and the Crimes Against Humanity Treaty
On November 22, states decided to move to negotiations for a Crimes Against Humanity Treaty. This panel, co-sponsored by the UK Government, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, Global Justice Center, Washington University School of Law, Physicians for Human Rights, Emergent Justice Collective, TRIAL, FIDH, Asia Justice Collective, and The Promise Institute at UCLA, brought together experts to discuss advancing gender justice within the treaty, including:
Incorporating gender apartheid, reproductive violence, forced marriage, and slave trade. Integrating provisions to ensure the treaty is survivor centric. The process to date and considerations for the way forward.Speakers:
Process & Forced Marriage: Leila Sadat, Washington University School of Law. Gender Apartheid: Akila Radhakrishnan, Atlantic Council, Strategic Litigation Project. Slave Trade: Alexandra Lily Kather, Emergent Justice Collective. Reproductive Violence and Gender Audit: Ashita Alag, Global Justice Center. A Victims-Centered Approach: Uliana Poltavets, Physicians for Human Rights. Reflections on the Way Ahead: Hannah Garry, The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLAModerated by Alix Vuillemin, Executive Director, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice.Opening remarks by Ms Hazel Cameron, Head of Human Rights Department – UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Moving Forward to Negotiations on a Global Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity: A Workshop for Civil Society
This workshop provided members of civil society attending the Assembly of States Parties with an overview of the Draft Articles and the ongoing process and a forum to strategize on ways forward for civil society engagement and coordination. The workshop aimed to broaden the community of civil society actors who are equipped to engage with treaty negotiations, with the ultimate aim of creating a broad constituency pushing for the adoption of a robust treaty to prevent and punish crimes against humanity.
This event was co-sponsored by the Atlantic Council Strategic Litigation Project; Crimes against Humanity Initiative, Harris Institute, Washington University Law School; Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, Leiden University; Emergent Justice Collective; Asia Justice Coalition; Human Rights Watch; Global Justice Center; Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice; International Commission of Jurists; International Union for Conservation of Nature, World Commission on Environmental Law; Promise Institute for Human Rights; Citizens for Global Solutions; and Amnesty International.
2025 Spring & Summer Legal Internship
Gender Justice: Avenues for Ensuring Accountability for Gender-Based Crimes in Afghanistan
Since August 2021, the de facto Taliban rulers of Afghanistan have introduced and
implemented over 100 edicts depriving women and girls of their fundamental human rights. Adherence to these laws is violently enforced against women, girls, and anyone who they perceive to transgress gender norms, including LGBTQI+ individuals, and constitutes crimes against humanity, including gender persecution and gender apartheid.
This panel will examine the current humanitarian and human rights crisis in Afghanistan resulting in systematic erasure of these groups from public life. It will consider strategies that the international community must take as a matter of urgency for ensuring accountability for these crimes.