Law students in W&L's International Human Rights Practicum recently traveled to Tanzania to investigate enforcement of the country's 1998 Sexual Offenses Act. The landmark legislation amended the country's penal code to include tougher penalties for sexual assault and outlawed human trafficking and the harmful cultural practice known as female genital mutilation.
During their ten-day stay in Tanzania, the students conducted approximately 60 interviews with various stakeholders including judges, lawyers, police officers, health care providers and a variety of non-governmental organizations that provide legal aid and counseling to victims of sexual violence.
The students are in the process of compiling their findings into a human rights report that partner organizations will use to convince the Tanzanian Parliament to further adjust the law and legal procedure to improve enforcement and to fulfill Tanzania's obligations under international human rights law.
The students participating in the course will present the results of their research on Thurs., Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. in Classroom A of the Law School.
Free and open to the public. Questions, contact Johanna Bond (bondj@wlu.edu)
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W&L School of Law is pleased to feature this program as one in a series of commemorative events celebrating the introduction of the School of Law's new third-year curriculum -- a reinvention of the final year of law school to better prepare students for the practice of law in order to meet the evolving needs of the public and the profession.
Through this new curriculum, which emphasizes the development of professional identity, ethical sensibilities, problem-solving and the exercise of judgment in action, W&L is transforming law school into a three-year progression from the purely academic study of law to the development of the lawyer's professional role as counselor and advocate in the highest ethical traditions of the profession. For more information, visit http://law.wlu.edu/thirdyear