It is our pleasure to introduce Kristin Smith who will co-author a piece with IntLawGrrls contributor Akila Radhakrishnan on how U.S. abortion restrictions violate the ICCPR’s requirements for lawful restrictions on the freedom of speech and association.

Akila Radhakrishnan is the President (acting) of the Global Justice Center. She directs GJC’s strategies and efforts to establish legal precedents protecting human rights and ensuring gender equality. In 2010, she helped to conceptualize GJC’s August 12th Campaign to ensure access to abortion services for girls and women raped in war as a matter of right and has since led legal and advocacy efforts on the project. Akila also leads GJC’s Gender and Genocide project, including to ensure justice and accountability for the Yazidi genocide and is a key member of GJC’s Burma project team. In her role, Akila has authored numerous shadow reports, legal briefs and advocacy documents and provided legal expertise to domestic and international stakeholders and policymakers, including the International Criminal Court, the United Nations, the European Union and state governments. Akila has been published widely on issues of international law, gender equality and human rights, including in the New York Times, Time, The Atlantic, Women Under Siege, Ms. Magazine, and Rewire.

 Prior to the Global Justice Center, she has worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, DPK Consulting and Drinker, Biddle & Reath, LLP. Akila received her J.D. with a concentration in international law from the University of California, Hastings and holds a B.A. in Political Science and Art History from the University of California, Davis.

 

Kristin Smith is a Legal Fellow at the Global Justice Center, a New York based non-profit focused on enforcing international laws that protect human rights and promote gender equality. Before joining the Global Justice Center, Kristin was a Fellow at the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law where she contributed to human rights and international legal research through the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative and supervised student research on academic projects. She also worked as a criminal prosecutor in Oregon and as a legislative analyst for the Oregon Judicial Department, where she examined potential legal reforms on firearms, foster care, and other social programs.

Kristin holds a J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, where her research focused on the formation of national policy on international justice and atrocity prevention and the broader intersection of international and national law. During law school, Kristin worked at a legal aid organization in Accra, Ghana, the Portland Immigration Court, and the American Bar Association’s International Criminal Court Project. After graduation, she also interned at the State Department analyzing developing humanitarian crises. She holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in American Studies and Studio Art.

Heartfelt welcome!