Faculty of Law alumna and international human rights lawyer, Leilani Farha, MSW/LLB 1995, is the first recipient of the newly launched Spirit of Barbra Schlifer Award, sponsored by Torys LLP.
Farha is the executive director of the non-profit charitable organization Canada Without Poverty, and is a leading advocate for women’s social and economic rights as a road to creating a world free from violence against women.
The award, announced April 11, Barbra Schlifer Day in Toronto, will be presented at the 19th annual Barbra Schlifer Tribute on June 13, a legal community fundraiser sponsored by Blakes LLP. Farha, known for her “compassionate, strong and passionate voice” will keynote the event.
Farha is known as the first international human rights lawyer to highlight the connections “between women and the international right to adequate housing.” And she has pioneered research which prompted the United Nations to adopt new legal standards on women’s rights to adequate housing.
Barbra Schlifer was a young lawyer just called to the bar when she was brutally sexually assaulted and killed in the basement stairwell of her apartment building in 1980. The Barbra Schlifer Clinic, a specialized clinic for women experiencing violence, was established in her memory.
