SHERA Research Group, University of Manchester & Partners Health Justice

SHERA Research Group, University of Manchester and Partners Health and Justice (Family Court) Global Conference 7th October 2025 (online)

Global challenges in family law: safer systems, protective policies and humane health

"Law is both a social determinant of health and a remedy for addressing health inequalities.” Professor Dame Hazel Genn

“The seeds of success in every nation on earth are best planted in women and children.” Former President of Malawi, Joyce Banda.

Violence against women and children (VAWC) is a global challenge. The health impacts of VAWC are far-reaching. Violence against women – especially domestic violence, intimate ‘partner’/perpetrator violence and sexual violence – is a major public health problem and a violation of human rights. Estimates published by the World Health Organization indicate that globally about 1 in 3 (30%) of women worldwide have been subjected to either physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime (WHO, 2021). Up to 1 billion children aged 2–17 years, have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence or neglect each year (WHO, 2022).

In 2023, the report of the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem, noted a growing concern regarding the use of pseudo-concepts within family law and: ‘The tendency to dismiss the history of domestic violence and abuse in custody cases extends to cases where mothers and/or children themselves have brought forward credible allegations of physical or sexual abuse. In several countries, family courts have tended to judge such allegations as deliberate efforts by mothers to manipulate their children and to separate them from their fathers. This supposed effort by a parent alleging abuse is often termed “parental alienation”. The report examines ways in which family courts in different regions refer to “parental alienation” or similar pseudo-concepts in custody cases, ignoring histories of domestic violence, which may lead to the double victimization of victims of such violence’.

Additionally, world-wide reports continue to reveal systemic failings to support these women and children. Issues range from human rights violations including gender, disability, age and racial discrimination as well as inadequate regulatory systems, accountability and transparency. Such failures lead to a loss of trust in our legal systems, which can have catastrophic impacts for broader society, unintended consequences in linked systems such as the health sector and directly impact the health and well-being of individuals.

This conference brings together global expertise and insights into experiences and research from multiple family law systems globally and will seek to develop solutions for safer systems, protective policies and humane health. We will hear from speakers from the University of Manchester, The World Health Organization and SVRI - Sexual Violence Research Initiative, Association of Clinical Psychologists UK, Right to Equality, University of Hiroshima, Brunel University, University of Ottawa, Equality Now, The National Family Violence Law Center, and many more, to report on the current situations in Colombia, Brazil, Japan, Sri Lanka, Africa, Spain, the UK, the USA, Canada and beyond.

World health systems actively utilise anti-corruption, transparency, and accountability (ACTA) measures and yet family justice systems globally still do not make full use of such measures. The WHO regards ACTA measures as central components of health systems strengthening. As such, we will utilise the event as a call to action to develop ACTA measures with a view to family justice systems strengthening (FJSS) globally.

Agenda/Line-up

SHERA Research Group, University of Manchester, Association of Clinical Psychologists & Partners Health and Justice Global Conference

Global Challenges in Family Law: Safer Systems, Protective Policies, and Humane Health
Location: online

Tuesday, 7 October 2025

9:00 AM – 4:30 PM UK Time (BST)

Morning Session – UK Speakers

UK Time (BST)

Session

9:00 – 9:02 AM: Chair’s Welcome UK session

9:02 – 9:22 AM: Speaker 1 – University of Manchester and SHERA Research Group, Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno

9:22 – 9:42 AM: Speaker 2 – Association of Clinical Psychologists UK, Jamie Craig

9:42 – 10:02 AM: Speaker 3 – Brunel University, Dr Adrienne Barnett

10:02 – 10:22 AM: Speaker 4 – Right to Equality, Dr Charlotte Proudman

10:22 – 10:37 AM: Break (15 minutes)

10:37 – 10:57 AM: Speaker 5 – Rights of Women, Olive Craig

10:57 – 11:17 AM: Speaker 6 – Eight Street LLP / Survivor Family Network, Natalie Page

11:17 – 11:37 AM: Speaker 7 - Kaleidoscope Post Separation Abuse, Vickie Robertson

11:37 – 11:57 AM: Speaker 8 – University of Manchester, Nic Robson

Midday Session – Global Speakers Pt 1

UK Time (BST)

Session

11:57 – 11:59 AM: Chair’s Intro – Global Speakers Pt 1

11:59 – 12:19 PM: Speaker 9 – Dr Tamara Amoroso Gonsalves, Brazil

12:19 – 12:39 PM: Speaker 10 - Japan - Hiroshima University, All Japan Women’s Shelter Network and Rape Crisis Center in Hiroshima, Associate Professor Chisato Kitanaka

12:39 – 12:59 PM: Speaker 11 – Activists and collaborators of the Coordinadora Estatal para la erradicación de la violencia vicaria y la violencia de género institucional (CEVVVI) (‘State Coordinator for the Eradication of Vicarious Violence and Institutional Gender Violence’ - Spain), Blanca Tulleuda, Nerea Mendikute and María Belén Villalobos.

12:59 – 13:19 PM: Speaker 12 – Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law (GCEFL) and Equality Now: Sri Lanka, Africa and global insights – Dr Hyshyama Hamin

13:19 – 13:59 PM Lunch Break (40 minutes)

Afternoon Session – Global Speakers Pt 2

UK Time (BST)

Session

1:59 – 2:01 PM: Chair’s Intro – Global Speakers Pt 2

2:01 – 2:21 PM: Speaker 13 – University of Ottawa, Professor Simon Lapierre

2:21 – 2:41 PM: Speaker 14 – World Health Organization and SVRI - Sexual Violence Research Initiative, Dr Avni Amin

2:41 – 3:01 PM: Speaker 15– National Family Violence Law Center (USA) Danielle Pollack

3:01 – 3:21 PM: Speaker 16 - Defender of women and children Colombia, journalist Alexandra Correa

3:21 – 3:35 PM Break (15 minutes)

Closing Session

UK Time (BST)

Session

3:35 – 3:37 PM: Chair’s intro

3:37 – 4:07 PM: Co-Creating a Unified Advocacy Campaign for 2026

4:07 – 4:10 PM: Closing remarks

Dr Jaime Craig

Organization Website: https://acpuk.org.uk/

Email: j.craig@acpuk.org.uk

Social media tags:

LinkedIn: @Association of Clinical Psychologists UK

Instagram: @acp_uk

Bluesky: ‪@acp-uk.bsky.social‬‬

Facebook: @Association of Clinical Psychologists UK

Presenter Bio:

Dr Jaime Craig is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Chair of the Association of Clinical Psychologists. He has over 24 years’ experience as an Expert Witness within the Family Courts (children and adults) and has for many years worked to improve the standards of how psychologist evidence is used in the family courts, training psychologist expert witnesses and the judiciary/legal professionals on the effective and safe use of psychological evidence. He is lead author of the guidance for Psychologist Expert witnesses in the family courts (2023) and passionate about the contribution of quality psychological evidence to improving the outcomes of children and families caught up in the family courts and in challenging the harmful misuse of poor quality and unregulated psychology ‘evidence’. This advocacy has involved collaboration and liaison with various bodies / commissioners representing victims of domestic and child abuse, professional bodies, regulators, parliamentarians and policy makers. He co-authored of the Family Justice Council’s recent guidance on responding to allegations of alienating behaviour and led ACP-UK’s high court intervention in relation to unregulated psychologist experts which has led directly to planned rule changes around the use of unregulated experts in the family courts (England and Wales)

Presentation Title : Protecting children and adults who report domestic violence and abuse from the misuse of psychologist expert witness evidence and pseudo-science in the family justice system: The development of guidance for how allegations of ‘parental alienation’ are responded to.

Presentation Description:

For many years, psychological evidence has been pivotal in some of the most life changing decisions made about children in family courts worldwide. Nowhere has this been more evident, and the evidence more polarised and contentious than in cases which include allegations of ‘parental alienation’ / alienating behaviours. This paper will consider how in these cases evidence from psychologist experts has been utilised to either promote or silence the voices of child and adult victims of domestic abuse. Loopholes in the regulation of psychologists in the UK persist and have allowed for the evidence from unqualified/unregulated ‘psychologists’ to be admitted in these cases and with it unsound pseudo-science.

Successive efforts to improve the rigour of psychologist expert evidence and its use in the family courts led to the development of joint Family Justice Council & British Psychological Society guidance for psychologist expert witnesses (2023) and in December 2024 new Family Justic Council guidance for how allegations of ‘parental alienation’/alienating behaviours are responded to. This presentation will chart the development of the guidelines, highlight the dangers of admitting unregulated psychological evidence and make a case for greater rigour in the use of psychological expert evidence in making decisions about children.

Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno

Websites:
Still Not Safe: Dr Dalgarno on Post-Separation Abuse © | Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno | Substack

SHERA Research Group - Leading Innovative Research into the Health Impacts of Domestic Abuse on Women and Children

Elizabeth Dalgarno - Research Explorer The University of Manchester

Email: elizabeth.dalgarno@manchester.ac.uk

Social media tags (monitored by multiple members of SHERA):

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sherafamily_/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sheraresearch.bsky.social

X/Twitter: https://x.com/SheraFamily

Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno is the Director and Founder of SHERA Research Group. She has worked in public and private health and social care for over 20 years and specialises in challenging inequalities and systemic challenges in health and social care. Her work centres always around vulnerable and/or marginalised groups. She is a staunch advocate of co-designed, developed and conducted research, where research is undertaken by and with the people it concerns, rather than 'on' them. She teaches Global Women's Health and Global Health System Challenges on the Master's in Public Health at The University of Manchester and has special interests in adult social care, the health impacts of family court proceedings on women and children, gender-based violence and domestic abuse. She has worked on several National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) projects. She has led projects for the NHS to develop best practice in learning from adverse events / incidents and advises domestic abuse organisations, global sexual health organisations, NHS organisations and pilot studies such as IRISi ADViSE regarding gender-based violence and domestic abuse/violence. She is leading several projects currently including exploring the health impact of family court proceedings on mothers exposed to perpetrator abusive behaviours / domestic abuse/violence globally.

This presentation compares two projects examining the health outcomes of women victims of domestic abuse within the family court systems in England and Brazil. Both projects emphasise access to justice and coordination with public health services as critical to supporting victims. Despite differing legal and social contexts, each study reported systemic failings, including inadequate protection, lack of institutional support, and barriers to effective legal redress. The comparison highlights the urgent need for integrated, victim-centered reforms that address both legal shortcomings and their impact on women's health.

Blanca Tulleuda, Nerea Mendikute, María Belén Villalobos

Organization Website: https://labirabola.com/ https://coordinadoravvvi.org/

Email: btulleuda@gmail.com (Blanca), mendikutenere@gmail.com (Nerea) , plataformaporjuana@gmail.com (María Belén)

Social media tags: @labirabola @amakineibar @escuchenadaniel @encuentrovvvi

Blanca Tulleuda (Barcelona): Graduate in Economics (Barcelona Univertisy), Graduate in Computer Science Engineering (UIC University), Postgraduate in Business Administration (IESE). Visual thinker and graphic recorder @dibu2pia. Currently teaching at public high schools in Spain. Activist @labirabola

Nerea Mendikute (Eibar): Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Architecture and Graduate Diploma with Commendation in Architecture (De Montfort University), Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Practice of Architecture (Kingston University) and Master in Urban Planning (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya). Currently works at the construction industry. Activist @amakineibar

María Belén Villalobos (Málaga): Higher Technician in Gender Equality Promotion. Social networks manager @encuentrovvvi. Activist and spokesperson for the Support Platform for Juana Rivas @escuchenadaniel

We are protective mothers who have suffered and witnessed institutional violence (by action and inaction) inflicted by the administration (judiciary, police, educational, health service, social services). Three of us collaborate with the CEVVVI.

The CEVVVI: is an entity made up of a network of Spanish organisations, whose objective is the eradication of vicarious violence and institutional gender violence, as well as providing support to victim- survivors. The CVVVI national meetings (Encuentros) were conceived to raise awareness about vicarious and institutional gender-based violence, to combine efforts and strategies among institutions and specialised organisations for its eradication and, above all, to give an effective voice to the victims: mothers and their children.

Presentation Title:

Spanish institutional violence and court betrayal to protective mothers and their children.

Presentation Description:

- Summary of Spanish legislation related to gender-based violence and child protection. These laws are pioneering worldwide.

- Why and how these laws are not enforced. What is the situation in the judicial sector, number of judges and public prosecutors and numbers of specialised courts in gender-based violence. How judges and public prosecutors access these positions. Power lobbies.

- Division of courts in Spain into civil and criminal courts.

- Description and mapping of the actors involved in the cases: judges, prosecutors, police officers, teachers, court psychologists, social services, social educators, Family Meeting Points (“Punto de Encuentro Familiar” - PEF), and the new figure of ‘parenting coordinators’ at the limits of legality.

- Summary of the case of Juana Rivas and other public cases such as those of Ángela González, Ruth Ortiz and Itziar Prats.

- List of associations of protective mothers

- Statistics and reliable sources of numbers of murders.

At the Ministry of Equality´s website there is a live counter of murders.

• 1,321 women have been murdered by gender-based violence at the hands of their partners or former partners since 1st of January 2003.

• 65 minors have been murdered in cases of gender-based violence against their mothers since 1st of January 2013.

To have a context to which compare this barbarity, we would like to point out that ETA was responsible for the deaths of 858 people (27 of those were minors) between 1968 and 2010.

Gender based-violence is deadlier.

Alexandra Correa Solarte

Organization Website:

Email: tata_correa@hotmail.com

Social media tags: Twitter: @CorreAlexandra

Alexandra Correa Solarte, Journalist - defender of the rights of women and children

Presentation title: Institutions tailored for child abusers in colombia

Presentation Description:

I compiled studies by Argentine psychologist Sonia Vaccaro, as well as other investigative contributions, to look for the same patterns in Colombia. After receiving reports of unjustified loss of custody, I found that dozens of minors have been put into the custody of their alleged physical, psychological, and sexual abusers. Of these children, several have lost contact with their protective mothers, and many others are in foster care within the family system.

The pattern found within these reports is that some police commissioners, family advocates, psychologists, family justice system officials, lawyers, prosecutors, social workers, and judges are using the pseudo-scientific theory of "Parental Alienation" against the reporting mothers, despite the fact that we successfully had the Constitutional Court outlaw Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) in 2023. This struggle has brought me judicial persecution and harassment, but is bearing fruit for children's rights.

Using this theory, sometimes disguised under new names, they have sought to get around the ban by the court. Employing terms such as ``malicious mother'' and ``obstructing the parent-child relationship'', officials conclude that the child has not been a victim of abuse, but has been manipulated, usually by their mother, into claiming to have suffered abuse and thus obstructing their relationship with their father (the parent-child bond).

With this modus operandi based on a justice system riddled with stereotypes against women and informed by unscientific theories, not only are children's rights being violated with these unproven concepts, but several officials are acting contrary to the law. There is a lack of evidence of a gender perspective and insufficient knowledge of children's rights. As a journalist, I have witnessed dozens of children forced to live with their alleged sexual abusers, without the justice system protecting them.

Dr Charlotte Proudman

Organization Website: righttoequality.org

Email: info@righttoequality.org

Social media tags: #righttoequality #right2equality

Presenter Bio:

Dr Charlotte Proudman is an award-winning family law barrister specialising in violence against women and children and the founder of Right to Equality, a non-profit promoting equality under the law. She represents survivors of rape, domestic abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour in court whilst also challenging misconceptions across the sector. She uses her knowledge and experience of the justice system to advocate for legal change to ensure protection and support for victims and survivors. Combining the law and academia, Charlotte is a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, where she researches and teaches about gender inequality under the law. She has assisted in criminalizing public sexual harassment, hymenoplasty, virginity testing, forced marriage, and child marriage. She was vital in the introduction of FGMPOs and raising the age of marriage from sixteen to eighteen. Alongside her other campaign work on decrimnalising abortion, ending sex for rent, introducing affirmative consent into UK law, and making spiking a criminal offence, she is currently co-directing a campaign to end the presumption of child contact with abusive parents and has recently assisted in drafting amendments to this end for the Victim’s Bill. She remains outspoken on the issue, using public platforms to push for a cultural change alongside legal change.

Presentation Title: Domestic Abuse and Parental Alienation

Presentation Description: Domestic abuse allegations are often met with claims of ‘parental alienation’ by the mother against the father (the alleged abuser). This presentation will outline the harm this poses to survivors of abuse and children, drawing on first-hand experience within the family courts and relevant research. In the wider issue of violence against women and children, victim-blaming, and judicial biases, counter-allegations of ‘parental alienation’ serve as a tool of continuing abuse through proceedings, using costs and ‘experts’ as tools of abuse, and re-traumatising and discrediting the victims (all while excusing domestic abuse). There have been a number of landmark cases in the family court addressing these issues which will be integrated throughout this presentation.

Victoria Robertson

Organization Website: www.kaleidoscopic.uk

Email: kaleidoscopicuk@gmail.com

Social media tags:

Kaleidoscopic UK | Wokingham | Facebook

Kaleidoscopic UK (@kaleidoscopic_uk) • Instagram photos and videos

Presenter Bio:

Victoria Robertson BEM. Vickie has endured a life of domestic violence, being removed as a child and then full circle into her adult experiences.

Vickie’s story was published as part of the #braveme campaign, reported as heart wrenching yet empowering. Her experiences have been enacted throughout Poland as part of a campaign to raise awareness by highlight her experiences to help others.

After escaping her adult perpetrator of nearly 13 years, in 2018 Vickie was the first to petition for mandatory training of the UK family court system having experienced both the family and criminal courts and the gaps between them.

Founding multi award winning Kaleidoscopic UK in 2019, a peer support charity which provides open ended survivor support groups, recovery programmes, holistic health and empowerment throughout the survivor journey. As CEO Vickie continues to expand the service and was awarded the British empire medal in the King’s first birthday honours for her work with survivors and refugees. Kaleidoscopic remain threshold free for children and adults affected by domestic abuse.

Operating across England and Wales they strive to educate all by delivering training and awareness campaigns, delivering prevention programmes and challenging myths. Their international post separation abuse awareness week is in its 4th year, and Vickie is campaigning for PSA to become a specific offence.

Presentation: The Reality of Family Court & Systemic Failures Enabling Post-Separation Abuse

Vickie’s work is forged from the personal and painful realities of surviving abuse and experiencing firsthand how systems often fail those most in need of protection.

As an IDVA providing advocacy throughout the survivor journey and supporting hundreds in navigating the court systems, providing educational initiatives, gaining research and founding of Kaleidoscopic UK create a powerful blueprint for reform, especially in spotlighting the often-ignored post-separation abuse and pushing for systemic change at all levels.

Chisato Kitanaka

Organization Website: https://nwsnet.or.jp/ (in Japanese)

Email: kitanaka@hiroshima-u.ac.jp

Presenter Bio:

Chisato Kitanaka, Co-Chair of All Japan Women’s Shelter Network, Associate Professor at Hiroshima University, Director of Rape crisis center in Hiroshima. A nationwide network of DV shelter NPO in Japan. A sociologist who also serves as a campus social worker addressing university harassment/ academic bullying.

Presentation Title: The campaign by domestic violence perpetrators for reform of Japan's family law:Exploiting Misunderstandings of the System

Presentation Description:

In Japan, awareness of domestic violence issues has grown, leading more victims to choose divorce. In response, perpetrators have advocated for legal reforms that would strengthen the separate parent's legal control over children. These reforms were enacted last year and are due to be implemented in 2026. This outcome was achieved through the effective dissemination of misinformation, drawing upon narratives from overseas fathers’ rights movements. This has led to a widespread misconception among politicians, journalists and international media that this family law amendment would benefit gender equality and children's welfare. This has increased support for the amendment. We, as organisations supporting victims of domestic violence, are deeply concerned that this will threaten the safety of victims and their children. Furthermore, the dysfunction of Japan's family courts, measures to support victims of domestic violence, and support for single-parent families remain fundamentally inadequate and must be addressed.

Dr Adrienne Barnett

Organization Website: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/law

Email: Adrienne.barnett@brunel.ac.uk

Social media tags: https://x.com/BarnettAdrienne www.linkedin.com/in/adrienne-barnett-38467133

Presenter Bio:

Dr Adrienne Barnett is a Reader in Law at Brunel University of London. Dr Barnett practised as a barrister for over 30 years, for 25 of which she specialised in Family Law, before moving into full time academia in January 2014. She is a door tenant at One Pump Court chambers. Her specialist area of research for the past 28 years has been domestic abuse and family court proceedings, including Hague Convention abduction proceedings, and, more recently, parental alienation and domestic abuse. She is a member of the Advisory Group of Rights of Women, the UK lead on the International Strategy Group of Hague Mothers and a Co-director of Right to Equality. Her wide range of publications include a literature review for the Ministry of Justice to support the ‘Harm Panel’ inquiry, published in June 2020. She is currently undertaking a study of domestic abuse and parental alienation in family court proceedings funded by the BA/Leverhulme Small Projects Scheme, and an analytical study of recent England and Wales Hague Convention judgments funded by Brunel’s Institute of Communities and Society.

Presentation Title: ‘My crime is being a victim of domestic violence in a foreign country’: how can adult and child victim/survivors get justice and protection under the 1980 Hague Abduction Convention?

This presentation considers the key issues faced by victim/survivors of domestic abuse who face applications for the return of their children to the country of their abuser. It looks in particular at how domestic abuse is understood by judges and professionals, how the courts in England and Wales apply the limited defences available to victim/survivors and at the issue of equality of arms. It goes on to explore what needs to change for mothers and children to safely and legally escape domestic abuse across international borders, including the prioritisation of their human rights over the privileging of perpetrators.

Professor Tamara Amoroso Gonsalves

Organization Website: www.cladem.org / www.tamaragonsalves.com

Email: info@tamaragonsalves.com

Social media tags: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-amoroso-gonsalves-941527229/

@tamaramoroso

Presenter Bio:

Professor Tamara Amoroso Gonsalves holds a PhD in Law from the Law and Society Program at the University of Victoria (Canada) and a postdoctoral degree from the Université de Montréal. She earned her Master’s in Human Rights from the University of São Paulo (USP) and her Law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). She also holds a Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education from the University of Victoria and is currently an Associate Researcher at the University of British Columbia.

As a researcher and professor, Tamara has built a solid trajectory in the fields of human rights and gender studies, with both national and international publications. She was a member of CLADEM/Brazil for 21 years and a researcher at the Gender Studies Center (NEMGE/USP). She has also collaborated with the Simone de Beauvoir Institute (Concordia University, Montreal). Her research focuses on discriminatory advertising, reproductive rights, gender-based violence, and women’s rights within the Inter-American System, combining critical analysis with a comparative perspective between Latin American and Canadian contexts.

Presentation Title: 15 years of the parental alienation law in Brazil: the establishment of gender-based violence as institutional violence

Presentation Description:

Brazil was the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean to formalize the Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) into law in 2010. Since then, the experience of CLADEM, through its regional work supporting women, has revealed that PAS has been invoked in custody disputes not only in countries with legal provisions, but also where it lacks formal recognition. Evidence shows that its use has had harmful effects on women and children across the region.

In 2022, CLADEM convened a regional meeting to address this emerging issue. Discussions confirmed that PAS is applied with striking similarity in several national contexts, functioning as a new form of violence against women and children. The meeting identified the need to organize a new international seminar and an executive session with specialists to foster deeper debate and to design a strategic plan for regional action. In 2023, in partnership with Equality Now and the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law, CLADEM organized a regional seminar in Brazil, which lead to the consolidation of this work on a book exploring similarities of the applications of PAS related arguments in the region. This presentation will focus on the situation of Brazil, but expand on the findings of this new publication.

Further speakers (details to follow):

National Family Violence Law Center (USA) Danielle Pollack

World Health Organization and SVRI - Sexual Violence Research Initiative, Dr Avni Amin

University of Ottawa, Prof Simon Lapierre

Eight Street LLP / Survivor Family Network, Natalie Page

University of Manchester, Nic Robson

Rights of Women, Olive Craig

Hyshyama Hamin, Campaign Manager, Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law (GCEFL)

Organization Website: www.equalfamilylaws.org

Email: hyshyama@equalfamilylaws.org

Social media tags: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hyshyama-hamin-7653339a/

Presenter Bio:

Hyshyama Hamin is a researcher and activist with over 15 years of experience working on women’s rights, primarily in the Global South, with expertise in family laws and practices. She is currently the Campaign Manager of the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law where manages all aspects of the Global Campaign, supporting the building of a broader coalition of engaged stakeholders comprised of UN agencies, international NGOs, regional bodies, and networks local civil society groups and policymakers, especially in the target countries to advocate for family law reform.

In her home-country Sri Lanka, she co-founded the Muslim Personal Law Reforms Action Group (MPLRAG), at the forefront of pushing for reform of the discriminatory Muslim family law and family court system in the country.

Presentation Title: From Discrimination to Justice: Reforming Family Laws to Achieve Gender Equality

Presentation Description:

The presentation will be on the impact of discriminatory family laws on the lives of women and girls globally and how family law reform and movement-building are key strategies to counter pushback and transnational mobilization by anti-rights groups. The presentation will also highlight why reforming family laws and practices must be prioritised by States and amplified and resourced by all actors working towards gender equality.