This year, the Human Rights Clinic's Gender Justice team of Ashton Greusel, Cassandra Hacker, Brianna Sanchez, and Lakshmi Sanmuganathan, under the supervision of the clinic's acting director Tamar Ezer, had the unique opportunity to contribute to the curriculum of a Litigation Institute focused on advancing women’s rights and economic justice on the African continent. The clinic partnered with the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa, the host of the Institute and a feminist, pan-African organization, which uses strategic litigation and capacity strengthening to address violations based on gender and sexuality.
Across the globe, an increasing number of women are voicing their experiences of sexual harassment and violence in the workplace and challenging systems of power that have historically silenced them. According to a global survey by the International Labour Organization, young women are twice as likely as young men to experience workplace sexual violence and harassment. The ramifications of this development are particularly severe for women in the informal economy, who are disproportionately overrepresented in the field. Globally, 58 percent of women's employment is in the informal economy. However, this figure rises significantly in developing countries, reaching 92 percent of women's employment.
To address these rising concerns, the Gender Justice team teamed up with ISLA to develop the curriculum and supplemental resources for two of the Litigation Institute's learning modules. The first module examines sexual harassment and economic justice, and the second module explores women's rights in low-paying work and the informal economy, specifically focusing on the agricultural and domestic sectors.
"ISLA fulfills a crucial role at the forefront of advocacy for gender justice and women's rights," said Ezer. "It is a privilege for our clinic to support ISLA's pioneering work, using litigation to give teeth to human rights protections and make them meaningful at the national level."
ISLA's Litigation Institute on Women and Economic Justice took place in Mombasa, Kenya, from November 21 – December 1, 2023. It marked the sixth and final learning component for ISLA's three-year educational program, designed to empower lawyers across Africa by strengthening their feminist, strategic litigation skills.
For the modules, the Gender Justice team prepared a comparative human rights analysis that examined the United Nations, African, European, and Inter-American human systems and their respective standards and responses to sexual harassment and economic justice and women's rights in the informal economy.
"Assessing the strengths, gaps, and challenges across the diverse human rights systems has been a deeply enlightening experience, helping us understand how different human rights standards and interpretations can be strengthened to more holistically address sexual harassment and ensure women's rights in the informal economy," said Sanmuganathan. "We hope our analysis can facilitate cross-regional dialogue that will expand comprehensive human rights strategies to advance women's rights."
In conjunction with the modules, the Gender Justice team crafted a facilitation guide and an interactive exercise to enable participants to grapple with the material and explore advocacy strategies.
"The facilitation guide, shared with our feminist lawyers, remains a handy guide for them as they prepare briefs in their domestic jurisdictions,” said Emmah Wabuke, ISLA's producing knowledge for social change and strengthening capacity to litigate strategically manager. "The hypothetical exercise the Gender Justice team crafted proved not only practical but also engaging, offering a stimulating group activity for the lawyers. Through this exercise, participants could apply the theoretical knowledge gained from the modules to tangible case scenarios, enriching their learning experience."
After the Litigation Institute, the Gender Justice team incorporated feedback into the modules and prepared a report on Sexual Harassment and Women's Rights in the Informal Economy: A Human Rights Analysis. This report is now available as a resource to litigators addressing these global human rights concerns.
"As a member of the Gender Justice team, contributing to pioneering litigation in Kenya, Malawi, and Sierra Leone has been an incredibly fulfilling experience,” said Sanchez. “It's not just about the legal aspects; it's about amplifying voices, challenging systemic injustices, and ultimately, making a tangible difference striving for economic justice and gender equality."
Read more about Miami Law’s clinics.
