Human Rights Law Program

Rows of international flags symbolize global engagement and human rights advocacy in legal education. International flags lining a walkway to the United Nations, reflecting Miami Law’s Human Rights Law Program.

An integral part of Miami Law’s Global and International Law Program, the Human Rights Program (HRP) provides a preeminent training ground for the study and practice of human rights law. HRP serves as the hub for a vibrant human rights community across the university, connecting faculty, students, alumni, advocates, and community members, and facilitating multidisciplinary collaboration. Please find additional information on Background and Opportunities to engage with HRP.

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Core focus areas include:

News

The University of Miami School of Law has been frequently featured in local, national, and international news for its work in the area of human rights.

See all past coverage of Human Rights Program activities, including by Miami Law's Human Rights Clinic.

Events

Distinguished Lectures, Symposia, Conferences, Film Screenings

HRP hosts regular events on critical human rights issues. This includes the annual Henkin Lecture Series on Human Rights, which has brought a leading human rights scholar to campus to share insights and reflections.

HRP further hosts symposia and conferences, examining pressing human rights issues and connecting global, national, and local perspectives. Partnership with a Miami Law journal captures lessons and deepens scholarship. Please find materials and videos from past symposia that have focused on the following:

HRP additionally collaborates with the Human Rights Society and hosts various speaker events and film screenings in response to student and faculty interest.

See all past events in the area of human rights.

Initiatives 

HRP faculty are leading voices in human rights scholarship and advocacy. HRP initiatives focus on holistic responses to gender violence, and the rights to food, health, and housing.

COURAGE Initiative

The Community Oriented and United Responses to Address Gender Violence and Equality Initiative is founded and directed by Professor Caroline Bettinger-López, who co-leads COURAGE projects with Professor Tamar Ezer and Professor Denisse Córdova Montes. It involves the following projects: the COURAGE in Policing Project, the COURAGE in COVID-19 Project, and the COURAGE in the Workplace Project.

Learn More

Food Rights Initiative

This initiative, founded and directed by Professor Denisse Córdova Montes, focuses on the realization of the rights to food and food sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples, small-scale food producers, and rural women, and on supporting U.S.-based efforts to enshrine the human right to food in state constitutions and local laws.

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Health Rights Initiative

This initiative, founded and directed by Professor Tamar Ezer, focuses on realization of the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the intersection of health rights and drug policy, including addressing discrimination and violence against women who use drugs, and Indigenous health rights, including the right to a healthy environment.

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Housing Rights Initiative

This initiative, founded and directed by Professor Tamar Ezer, focuses on challenging the criminalization of poverty and marginalization, realizing the right to housing, and advancing women’s economic empowerment.

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Art and Human Rights Initiative

The Art and Human Rights Initiative addresses the intersection of art and human rights, focusing on the rights to food, health, and housing. It further provides a platform for student pieces reflecting on human rights and social justice work.

Learn More

Human Rights Program Partners

Miami Law's Human Rights Program, including through the Human Rights Clinic, collaborates on scholarship and advocacy initiatives with various global, national, state, and local partners, as well as academic centers.

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  • Global Partners

    • Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW)
    • Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA)
    • Comité Latinoamericano y del Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de las Mujeres (CLADEM)
    • Consejo Internacional del Tratado Indígena (CITI)
    • Coordinadora Nacional de Mujeres Indígenas (CONAMI)
    • Enlace Continental de Mujeres Indigenas de las Americas (ECMIA)
    • Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA)
    • European Human Rights Advocacy Center (EHRAC)
    • FIAN International
    • Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR)
    • Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI)
    • HIV Legal Network 
    • Human Rights Watch
    • Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa
    • International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ)
    • International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW AP)
    • La Via Campesina
    • Lancet Commission on Gender-Based Violence and Child Maltreatment
    • LUNEST (Estonian Association of People Who Use Psychotropic Substances)
    • MADRE
    • Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC)
    • Open Society Foundations
    • Pan Africa Lawyers Union (PALU)
    • Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
    • Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC)
    • Third Generation Project (TGP)
    • URGENCI
    • World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP)

  • National Partners

    • American Bar Association Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence
    • Fines and Fees Justice Center
    • International Association of Chiefs of Police
    • National Domestic Workers Alliance
    • National Homelessness Law Center
    • The ACLU Women's Rights Project
    • WhyHunger
    • National Indigenous Women's Resource Center
    • National Women’s Shelter Network

  • State Partners

    • American Civil Liberties Union-Florida
    • Coalition of Immokalee Workers
    • Florida Council Against Sexual Violence
    • Florida Health Justice Project
    • Rural Women's Health Project

  • Local (South Florida) Partners

    • Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Council of Miami-Dade County
    • Miami Homes for All
    • Miami Street Law Program
    • Miami Workers Center
    • MUJER
    • Survivors Pathway
    • The Women's Fund Miami-Dade
    • We Count! 
    • Lotus House
    • Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity

  • Academic Centers

    • Advanced Study of the Americas (MIA), University of Miami
    • Benjamin B. Ferencz Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention Clinic, Cardozo Law School
    • The Bringing Human Rights Home Lawyers’ Network
    • Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights (CLIHHR)
    • Center for Resilient Communities, West Virginia University
    • Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI)
    • Environmental Law Program, University of Miami School of Law
    • Food Justice Lab, West Virginia University
    • Gender & Sexuality Studies, University of Miami
    • Global and International Law Program, University of Miami School of Law
    • Matters at Play, DePaul University
    • Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center Clinic, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
    • Program for Native American and Global Indigenous Studies (NAGIS), University of Miami
    • University of Oviedo Clinic
    • World Food Policy Center, Duke University
    • Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy, Northeastern University School of Law

Human Rights Program: Partners

Career Opportunities

HRP fosters student opportunities and works to develop the next generation of human rights leaders.

Students can contribute to HRP projects and activities by participating in the Human Rights Clinic, joining the student-led Human Rights Society, and pursuing various research and volunteer opportunities. HRP further supports student career development, advising students, hosting career panels, and connecting students with alumni.

Additionally, in collaboration with the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center, HRP hopes to establish an annual dedicated one-year post-graduate fellowship in human rights for Miami Law alumni. Please read about our first post-graduate fellow, Gita Howard, who worked at Human Rights First.

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  • See Sampling of Past Human Rights Placements

    • American Civil Liberties Union
    • Anti-Defamation League 
    • Center for Children’s Law and Policy, (Washington, DC)
    • Center for Reproductive Rights (New York, NY)
    • Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales - CELS (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
    • Council for Children’s Rights (Charlotte, NC)
    • EarthRights International
    • Environmental Law Institute
    • Equal Rights Advocates (San Francisco, CA)
    • Florida Department of Health
    • Florida Justice Institute
    • Human Rights First
    • Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Washington, DC)
    • International Criminal Court (The Hague, Netherlands)
    • Institute for Human Rights (Berlin, Germany)
    • Lambda Legal (New York, NY)
    • Legal Aid MLK Summer Internship Program (Raleigh, NC)
    • Miami-Dade School Board
    • Public Defender's Office
    • Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
    • The Arc’s National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability (Washington, DC)
    • United Nations (New York, NY)
    • United States Commission on International Religious Freedom-USCIRF (Washington, DC)

Support the Program

Please make a donation to help shape the future of human rights education and programming at Miami Law!

Consider joining as:

  • An HRP Philanthropist- donations $25,000 or more
  • An HRP Benefactor- donations of $10,000 to $24,999
  • An HRP Partner- donations of $5000 to $9,999
  • An HRP Friend- donations of $2,500 to $4,999
  • An HRP Associate- donations of $1000 to $2,499
  • An HRP Supporter- any donation

To give or for more information:

Please contact us at HRP@law.miami.edu or 305-284-1678.

Make a gift here or send your check payable to the University of Miami at:

Human Rights ProgramUniversity of Miami
Division of Development and Alumni Relations
C/O: School of Law
Post Office Box 025388

Many thanks to our current supporters!

HRP Benefactors

Francis & Renee Citera
University of Miami Ethics Program

For Additional Information

 

Please reach out to HRP@law.miami.edu to receive our newsletter and periodic updates.

For additional information, please check out our Facebook page and contact HRP@law.miami.edu.

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