ASW Special Firside Chat: "African Women in Law - A Comparative Perspective"
Date and Time
Join us for a special African Studies Workshop with J. Jarpa Dawuni, Professor of Political Science at Howard University, presenting African Women in Law: A Comparative Perspective.
Drawing on extensive empirical research across the continent, Dawuni’s work examines the experiences and representation of African women across the legal profession, including the bar, bench, and legal academia. Based on 153 interviews across six countries, 249 survey responses from 21 countries, and secondary research spanning 15 countries, African Women in Law traces the historical development of women’s participation in the legal profession, examines contemporary realities, and introduces new frameworks for understanding African women’s experiences in law.
Chidi Odinkalu, Professor of International Human Rights Law at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, will serve as discussant.
About the Speaker
J. Jarpa Dawuni is a Full Professor of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She is a qualified Barrister-at-Law before the Ghana Superior Courts and holds a doctorate in Political Science from Georgia State University.
Her research and advocacy focus on law and development, judicial politics, women in the legal professions, gender and the law, international human rights, democratization, and women’s civil society organizing.
Her books include African Women in Law: A Comparative Perspective (Oxford University Press, 2026); The Oxford Handbook of Women and International Law (Oxford University Press, 2025), co-edited with Nienke Grossman, Jaya Ramji-Nogales, and Hélène Ruiz Fabri; African Women Judges: Storytelling as Judicial Freedom (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025); Intersectionality and Women’s Access to Justice in Africa (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022); Gender, Judging and the Courts in Africa: Selected Cases (Routledge, 2021); International Courts and the African Woman Judge: Unveiled Narratives (Routledge, 2018), co-edited with Judge Akua Kuenyehia; and Gender and the Judiciary in Africa: From Obscurity to Parity (Routledge, 2016), co-edited with Gretchen Bauer.
Please note: This is a special African Studies Workshop and will take place at a different day from the regular ASW schedule.
Advance registration is encouraged for all participants, both in person and on Zoom.
In-Person RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdERkxzbvtg7UIIQVkcib_tslycy6IuoZ80xajkR3deot2RhA/viewform?usp=dialog
Zoom Link: https://harvard.zoom.us/s/96844451224
