Former Law student Beatriz da Silva recently completed an internship at Partners for Law in Development (PLD), a legal resource group founded by Warwick alumna Madhu Mehra who studied on our LLM programme back in 1992. 

PLD is a legal resource group committed to the realization of social justice and equality for all women. They believe that the attainment of women’s equality is integral to the pursuit of social justice; and rights are necessary means by which discrimination and marginalisation be challenged, and equality facilitated. Law is therefore a primary site of engagement for facilitating the realisation of women’s equality. PLD views the attainment of human rights and social transformation through the law possible, only when combined with mobilisation, rights education and empowerment at the community level, carried out in collaboration with other social justice actors.

Madhu is a founding member and Executive Director of PLD. She has contributed towards developing PLD as a legal resource group on women’s rights as well as its collaborative work methods. Her work as a trainer, technical advisor and researcher on the elimination of discrimination against women (CEDAW) and women’s human rights spans India, South Asia and the Asia Pacific. Her activism, work and writings cover issues relating to sexuality, cultural identity politics, conflict, violence against women, access to justice, and the CEDAW.

[Image: Beatriz (left) with Mrinalini Ravindranath, Research Associate (Law).]

Beatriz, who studied our Law LLB programme from 2015-2018 was made aware of the internship opportunity by Professor Ann Stewart, who taught both Beatriz and Madhu during their respective studies. Having found her experience working with Madhu and PLD invaluable, Beatriz was keen to share this potential opportunity with her fellow graduates and current Warwick Law students.

She told us, “My time at law school, especially through modules such as International Law and Gender and the Law, opened up my horizons to the use of law outside of the traditional law firms. Upon graduating I decided I wanted to do a year of short term internships in developing countries where I would be able to get hands on experience in the areas of law and development. With the support of Ann Stewart, I came into contact with Partners for Law in Development (PLD) in New Delhi India.

“Here I did a range of work, such as compiling five years’ worth of PLD’s documentation on sexual harassment in the workplace, to evaluate and produce a report on the effectiveness of the current law. I was also able to participate in some of the conferences PLD organises surrounding the topics of ‘sexuality and sexual harassment’ and ‘child marriage.’ It was an invaluable experience, allowing me to explore the cross over between law and development and work with a dynamic and welcoming team. Plus, outside of work I was able to travel and discover an incredible country.”

After returning from India, Beatriz worked as an intern in the area of environmental issues, at the Carbon Trust, allowing her to explore a completely different aspect of sustainable development.

Beatriz told us, “I would highly recommend this opportunity to anyone interested in sustainable development!”

If you are interested in getting involved with PLD please visit their website for further details. Or if you would like to study on one of our programmes and become part of the Warwick Law School family then please get in touch.