|
|
Among her many other projects around the world, Ms. Jefferson has investigated pregnancy-based discrimination in Mexico, the use of sexual violence against women arrested for alleged political crimes in Peru, and the sexual and domestic violence against Burundi women in refugee camps in western Tanzania. Ms. Jefferson was a member of the HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH delegation to the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, as well as the NGO Parallel Conference held at the same time. She also worked with a coalition of women's rights activists to urge Congress to pass legislation to protect the rights of trafficking victims. The success of her efforts came in October of 2000 when then President Clinton signed into law the "Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000" (H.R. 3244) Born in Washington, D.C. Ms. Jefferson earned her B.A. from Connecticut College. After graduation she was named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow. As a Watson Fellow, Ms. Jefferson conducted research into the assimilation of Spanish Gypsies into Spanish society. Upon completion of the Watson Fellowship Ms. Jefferson attended the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies from which she received her M.A. Ms. Jefferson works out of the
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH offices in Washington, D.C. Given her
busy schedule, she has little time for recreational
activity, but when opportunities arise Ms. Jefferson
enjoys reading literary and political biographies, as
well as epistolary novels.
|
LaShawn R. Jefferson has been
working for HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (HRW) for the past eight
years. She is Director of
the Women's Rights Division of HRW. Ms. Jefferson's first
report for HRW, which was published in 1994, focused on
the use of rape as a weapon of terror in Haiti. Her most
recent report (Summer 2001) is the result of
investigating labor rights violations against female
maquiladora (export processing ) workers and live-in
domestics in Guatemala.