Event Summary: Women in International Law
Some places, physical and abstract, have always been forbidden to women. These restrictions have long been formal regulations against the presence of women but they are – formally speaking – not in place anymore. Indeed, certain types of informal exclusion remained in place when these rules lapsed. Therefore, being a woman and being able to access specific sectors is still an exception or a rarity. This is why talking about the representation of women in International Organizations and their academic/professional paths is a highly relevant issue nowadays.
Recognizing the issue's importance, Women Leaders of Tomorrow and the United Nations Society gave birth a series of meetings to discuss women in International Organisations. The first event was held on Monday 14th of November, at the Sumeet Valrani Theatre (CBG) and dealt with the topic with particular reference to women in international law. The panel brought to attention the different experiences of four women: Monica Feria Tinta, Michelle Hughes, Dr. Yusra Suedi, and Dr. Noemi Perez Vasquez.
The first panelist taking the word was Monica Feira Tinta, a distinguished practitioner of international law and its multiple faces. Indeed, she covered a wide range of sub-topics within public international law ranging from UN Law, Humanitarian Law, and Treaty Interpretation to Climate and Environmental law, for which she is recognized to be one of the most influential experts. In addition, she recalled her Barrister experiences when she served the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
She gave a piece of sincere, straightforward advice to all of us: learn more languages as you can; the capability of multi-language communication will make you more interesting from a recruiting point of view and will open many doors!
After her, Michelle Hughes, a Ph.D. student at LSE in the Department of Law start telling her story. One of the first things she pointed out is that her academic profile results from a non-linear path. Her experience in International Affairs begins with fieldwork where her palmares counts work experience in 14 conflict-affected nations and more than 20 foreign nations in general. Indeed, she has served US Army Intelligence, the Para-commando as a paratrooper, and she is also a combat veteran. This vast field experience led her to have a pragmatic and realistic approach to academic life which characterized her life only later. In answering the questions about career she stressed the importance of not comparing paths as different experiences can still lead to same places. Also, by mentioning few times her family and, in particular, her daughters, she proposed an advice she once gave to one of them who’s now serving in the Army too. Her idea is that one of the first things you have to learn is to 'accept' that often you are alone and you have to rely on yourself only.
Despite the complexity, two online panelists joined the conversation. Among these, Dr. Noemi Perez Vazquez, a current Teaching Fellow at the SOAS talked about her focus of study which regards the intersections between law and politics. Her presence was relevant, apart from her personal story, also in terms of knowledge of gender issues as she worked on the UNSC Women Peace and Security Agenda. After agreeing that languages are a crucial resource for accessing the IOs world, her tip was not to limit the search for jobs in IOs to the UN but to approach the research with an open mind about the opportunities offered by this field.
Last but not least, Dr. Yusra Suedi brought her more academic-focused path and development onto the stage (metaphorically, due to her video call presence). After being awarded a PhD cum laude from the University of Geneve, she landed more or less one year ago at the LSE as a Fellow at the Law School. During her academic career, she also held positions at the UN International Law Commission and the ILO Administrative Tribunal. Indeed, she sincerely advised to explore the world and engage as much as possible with the field because seeing things with our own eyes helps us understand what we want to change in the world and orients better the academic choices.
All in all, the event allowed participants to hear the stories of four amazing women in a a field that still suffers from female underrepresentation. Nonetheless, the panel was not only highly formative in terms of experts' advice and networking, but what was most appreciable was the transparent and sincere way of telling their stories. Indeed, this empathetic flow of communication not only held the attention of all participants but more made it possible to identify with the speakers' stories in a hopeful and enthusiast way. In the end, we can’t really wait to see who will be the speakers of the next event.
Martina Borrello