From Trinidad and Tobago to International Human Rights: A Female Lawyer's Powerful Story
“I became the first female of Trinidadian origins to be awarded the Schuette fellowship in Global Health and Human Rights.” Today’s woman dreamer, Nesha Abiraj, is an International Human Rights Lawyer, fighting for women, children, and refugees, working with global organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Unicef. A lifelong learner, she emphasized “the power of listening, allowing others to be heard and empowering them in the process.” Nesha shares how she built her career, adversities faced along the way, and the essential role of male allies. Enjoy her powerful story below!
I have been a lawyer for 11 years licensed to practice in Trinidad and Tobago. I am also a permanent resident of the United States of America. In 2016, following the media coverage of the Syrian humanitarian crisis, the more I read, the more I wanted to learn. Perhaps it was fate that I came across an article from the Huffington post which contained a link to Amnesty International’s course on the rights of refugees. Upon successful completion of that course, it changed my life. I knew I had to do more if I wanted to help those who were suffering as a result of atrocities they never asked for and not of their own making.
I still remember the images of a man wheeling his dead wife, crying out for anyone for help and the sounds of children saying goodbye to the world. I had no connection to any person affected, I was not looking for name or fame. I felt a sense of duty to do something to alleviate their suffering strictly from a place of empathy and duty from one human being to the other. I could not just continue to sit and watch the news coverage. In that moment I knew I needed to do better.
It took me 8 years to develop a solid and lucrative law practice, and here I was so moved, that I was ready to give it all up to pursue my post graduate studies in International Human Rights Law. During my LLM, I was fortunate to be chosen to participate in the Northwestern University’s Access to Justice Project. The project was focused on infectious disease law and policy. It involved investigating barriers faced by the most vulnerable communities in accessing healthcare, for tuberculosis treatment in India, which has the largest tuberculosis burden in the world.
My commitment to human rights was reinforced during this project. Following a focus group discussion, with women and children who were survivors of tuberculosis, I learned the depth of human compassion, courage, the power of listening, allowing others to be heard and empowering them in the process. While I do speak some Hindi and can understand it on a basic to moderate level, even through a translator, these women who had faced ostracism by their own family members and friends, connected with me in a way I could never have imagined. Following the discussion, I went to these women to thank them for their courage in sharing their painful accounts with us. In that moment just by the gesture of a handshake it literally erupted into hugs all around because for the first time, these women who had been stigmatized, discriminated against, said they felt heard, understood and accepted, for the first time in a long time.
Upon completion of the trip and returning to the US I became very ill, and had to be admitted to urgent care to be treated for food poisoning and dehydration. Despite the illness, I finished my assigned report truly motivated that justice and reform could come. Knowing that today, those very women and children are now empowering others to break the barriers of shame and stigma down, to enable others in their community to get accurate diagnostic testing and treatment, made it all worth it. I knew in my heart and head that every bit of this work is fulfilling and this was no longer just studies but a life commitment to help others get justice, in the best way I could.
Often we think we need to do some sort of massive global action to create positive change, but the reality is every action and voice that dares to speak out against injustice counts. We are all capable of bringing about positive change, and you do not need to be a lawyer, or an activist to do that, you can simply be you.
Upon completion of my masters, I became the first female of Trinidadian origins to be awarded the Schuette fellowship in Global Health and Human Rights. My placement for the fellowship was with Human Rights Watch (“HRW”), which had newly incorporated its health policy in the Women’s Rights Division which enabled me to gain an in depth understanding of the intersection between these two rights regimes.
My research was focused on ending early forced and child marriage in the US state of Massachusetts and combating its linkages to human trafficking, sexual assault, modern slavery, female genital mutilation/cutting and domestic violence.
Even after completing the fellowship I continued to work on this issue funding myself through savings, as only 2 US States had ended child marriage. I became a member of UNICEF Unite and advocated in my individual capacity and on behalf of UNICEF USA to end child marriage in other States which came to fruition in May 2020, when Pennsylvania and Minnesota became the 3rd and 4th US States to end child marriage amid a global pandemic. 46 States have yet to pass laws to end child marriage.
Personally I have had no difficulty working with men in these campaigns, my only thoughts on this is we need more male allies and survivors to speak out and join us. I also think human rights issues tend to be less polarizing and provides an inclusive platform for both men and women to work together, as well as people from different political backgrounds.
My role as a woman in the human rights space has been challenging, especially as a woman of color, who is originally from a small island. I have faced unequal treatment as well as stereotyping. I had this idealistic idea that once the fellowship was over, I would be able to access jobs to enable me to advance the rights of women and children.
With the onset of Covid all that changed, as the hiring freezes came, but I was not going to let that stop me. I have been doing pro bono work for over a year, and have still not managed to find a paying human rights job. It has been an incredibly challenging year, but being able to do what I love, brings so much fulfilment. The idealist in me felt like there would be more women who are in positions of seniority willing to help other women get a chance to use their knowledge and experience. In the absence of having that, I am consistently doing pro bono work to build my experience, expand partnerships and do what I love most.
In terms of next steps, my next big dream, it is twofold. My hope is to gain more experience and knowledge working with an international human rights NGO, and thereafter to one day create an NGO of my own to work both on human rights issues affecting the rights of women and children in the US and the Caribbean. How will that happen? I have always believed when the heart is pure and your intention is good, success is bound to follow. Even if it takes time and you’re running out of patience, never give up, because there is nothing more rewarding than living a life of service.