Meet the Author: Morganne Barrett

Author of Defenders Aplenty: Access to Justice for Women Human Rights Defenders, Morganne Barrett

Meet the Author is an interview series in which we discuss a recently published note in the Fordham International Law Journal. In this installment, we spoke with ILJ Senior Articles Editor Morganne Barrett, whose work appeared in Volume XLIII, Issue 2.

Barrett’s note, Defenders Aplenty: Access to Justice for Women Human Rights Defenders, is about the obstacles and dangers that women human rights defenders encounter in Mexico and the United States. It explores the international and domestic legal environments in which they operate, and makes recommendations for reform. You can read her note here.

What prompted you to write this note?

It all started when I worked with asylum-seekers near the US-Mexico border from 2016-2017, during which I researched the factors that push people to migrate from Central America and other parts of the world. I knew that one of these factors derived from poor access to justice and a non-functioning system in which rule of law does not prevail. At that same time, I was reading Until We Are Free, a book by Shirin Ebadi about her work and challenges as a human rights defender in Iran. During law school, I worked as a research assistant and investigated abuses against human rights lawyers in China. A few months later, I came across the Model Law for the Recognition and Protection of Human Rights Defenders when drafting a model law for the protection of ethnic minorities in Iran. All of these experiences merged into what is now a comparative study on access to justice for women human rights defenders in Mexico and the United States.

Your note adopts a fairly broad definition of “women human rights defender.” Could you describe what you mean by the term?

As used in my note, "women human rights defenders" encompasses two groups: persons of any gender who advocate for and defend the rights of women, and individuals who identify as women who advocate for and defend all human rights and fundamental freedoms. 

You mention the need to consider the issue with a gender-specific lens. What unique dangers or obstacles distinguish women human rights defenders from their male counterparts?

Because of their gender and long-held gender stereotypes dictating women's societal roles and expectations, women human rights defenders experience prejudice and exclusion when they challenge cultural norms regarding gender, femininity, and sexuality. Moreover, in many places, women are generally expected to not challenge the status quo. So, when they stand up for human rights, especially when those rights intersect with patriarchy and misogyny, they risk increased discrimination.  

Your note focuses on the vulnerability of women human rights defenders in two contexts that might initially seem quite different – the United States and Mexico. Did you feel it was important to convey that the problem is not confined to one type of country?

I chose to focus on the United States and Mexico because I wanted to show that no country is immune to abuses against human rights defenders, regardless of their status on the global stage. I also hoped to point out that when states with expansive global influence abuse human rights, it sets a bad example for less influential states to also inflict such abuse.

For both Mexico and the United States, could you briefly describe some of the difficulties that women human rights defenders have encountered?

In Mexico, between 2013 and 2016, there was an average of one attack per day against women human rights defenders. They face threats, violence, defamation campaigns, and monitoring by government officials. The UN Human Rights Council has declared Mexico as the most violent country for women human rights defenders. In the United States, women human rights defenders experience discrimination, attacks, and silencing. When women human rights defenders experience such abuse, the harm induces abuse against women's rights generally. These include sexual and reproductive rights, criminal justice, international human rights, and immigrants' rights.

What obligations does international law impose on domestic legal systems to ensure the protection of women human rights defenders?

There are numerous international conventions, declarations, and recommendations that call on states to treat human rights defenders fairly. The two most prominent are the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). ICCPR obligates states to ensure that anyone whose rights are violated has access to an effective remedy and to ensure everyone's right to liberty, security, and equality before the judiciary, among other rights. CEDAW guarantees basic human rights for women, supporting the adoption of special measures for gender equality, and obligating states to ensure that women and girls have equal access to participation in political life, education, employment, health, and equality before the law. States can only be obligated to ensure the rights accorded under the ICCPR and CEDAW if they have signed and ratified the Conventions. 

Are the United States and Mexico honoring their obligations?

Mexico has signed and ratified both, but falls short on meeting its obligations. Specifically, Mexico must do more to combat impunity for violations against women human rights defenders by providing prompt and impartial investigations when abuse occurs. It must also operate domestic mechanisms in a gender-sensitive manner and increase consultation with women human rights defenders to maintain an awareness of the root causes of attacks against them. Mexico should also preserve public space for criticism and protect freedom of speech. The United States, on the other hand, has only signed and ratified the ICCPR. It remains in the company of Sudan and Iran for having failed to ratify CEDAW. With regard to the ICCPR, the United States must incorporate the rights accorded in the ICCPR into domestic federal, state, and local law to ensure that those whose rights are violated have a cause of action and access to justice.