Trust Women: Putting the Rule of Law Behind Women’s Rights

Photo above: Monique Villa, CEO of the Thomson Reuters Foundation and Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Chairperson of the Global March Against Child Labor at the 2014 Trust Women Conference.

One of New Perimeter’s focus areas is women’s empowerment and gender equality. DLA Piper lawyers have implemented international projects that focus on human trafficking, women’s involvement in law and policy, financial inclusion for women, and combating domestic violence, in addition to providing counsel to organizations that work on  international women’s rights projects.

DLA Piper has also been an active participant in the Trust Women Conference for the past three years, since the founding of the conference. Trust Women’s focus is “putting the rule of law behind women’s rights” through concrete action. The annual conference is organized by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and brings together business leaders, government representatives, lawyers, non-governmental organizations, and media to discuss specific problems facing women worldwide and innovative solutions.

In November, I traveled to London to represent DLA Piper at the conference with Claire Donse, International Pro Bono Counsel for New Perimeter. This was my first time at the conference, and I was excited to spend two days with over 500 delegates from 55 countries who are passionate about women’s rights and taking action. The issue of women’s empowerment is important to me, in part from my experience working on children’s rights in Uganda and serving on the board of the women’s organization at my law school.

The first day of the conference centered on three issues: making mega-cities more women-friendly, increasing women’s access to land, and enabling women to be the economic accelerators of society. The second day of the conference concentrated on human trafficking, including psychological issues facing survivors, and survivors’ stories.

Each issue featured an impressive panel of experts with different perspectives and experiences, followed by action groups in which delegates and panelists identified specific problems and proposed actions to address them. The panelists and delegates collectively brainstormed 30 key actions that will be taken over the next year, which were presented and published at the end of the conference.

The conference featured a remarkable line-up of keynote speakers, including U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Cathy Russell; Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank; and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, Chairperson of the Global March Against Child Labour, to name just a few. The energy at the conference was palpable, stemming from the diverse and talented group gathered to discuss the issues; the emphasis on media involvement, from moving short videos crafted by Thomson Reuters to Twitter activity among the delegates; and the development of action items that were both innovative and practical.

As New Perimeter shares the vision to put the rule of law behind women’s rights and expands its women’s rights project portfolio, Trust Women continues to provide an excellent opportunity to network and gain inspiration from individuals and organizations from across the world that are leaders in the field. I am grateful that I was part of the 2014 Trust Women Conference and look forward to seeing what the delegates, panelists, and speakers achieve in the year ahead. 

Cathy Russell, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues and Trust Women Advisory Board member speaking at the 2014 Trust Women Conference. 

Trust Women Conference plenary session 'Women: economic accelerators of society'. 

Trust Women action group session 'Women and Finance'.