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What would be the impact of the UK withdrawing from the ECHR?
Written by Sam Freeman What would be the impact of the UK withdrawing from the ECHR? Who’s talking about it? Following the thwarting of...
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Founded in 2021, the Oxford Human Rights Student Society's (OHRSS) mission is to help students attain careers in human rights law.
Through careers events with human rights law firms, organisations and personalities, we aim to highlight the human rights opportunities available to graduates and illuminate the process of applying to these positions. We also hope to connect students with a keen interest in human rights law to inspirational figures from a wide range of specialties in the field of human rights law, with intent to create a valuable and supportive network with industry experts.
Since our founding in 2021, we have been privileged to host events with some of the biggest names in human rights law: notable QCs, the former President of the UN War Crimes Tribunals, the Director of the Howard League, the Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Section Chiefs of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and more. We aim to tailor offer a wide range of events to suit our members' varied human rights interests.
Access to our events is free for all current members of the University of Oxford. Sign-up to OHRSS membership below!
Pro Bono & Access to Justice Panel, November 2024,
Fighting impunity in Syria w/ Mazen Darwish, Feb 2024
Events
OHRSS membership is free and open to all members of the University of Oxford. Our events are primarily aimed at undergraduate students, although may also appeal to postgraduate members!
Register for membership by clicking the link above!
We are Oxford University's largest student society dedicated towards human rights, attracting members who are particularly passionate and dedicated to a career in human rights across both undergraduate and postgraduate populations. This means that if you are a human rights affiliated organisation, our members are interested in areas of work directly aligning with your organisation's.
This is also an exciting time to sponsor and get involved with OHRSS!
Since our launch in September 2021, we have hugely increased our membership, and amassed an online following of more than 1150. As we enter our fourth year of running, we are proud to have hosted events with fantastic speakers such as:
- Noted barristers Helen Mountfeld QC and Amanda Weston QC
- NGOs such as the Howard League for Penal Reform and REDRESS
- Senior representatives from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and
- The former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
Given the preoccupation with corporate law careers that dominate other law societies in Oxford, we are in the unique position of specifically accessing and catering towards to an audience that cares about human rights. Therefore, please do support our society's activities -- we would love to continue fostering Oxford students' interests in human rights, and inspire more to undertake human rights careers in the future!
Our Team
Our Team
Kathleen Lai
President
Hi everyone! I'm Kathleen, the president of OHRSS this term, and I am most looking forward to continue growing the society, and fostering greater interest in human rights issues & careers!
I am particularly interested in human rights in global conflicts, as well as women’s rights in a medical context.
I hope to continue arranging events with inspiring speakers in these areas. Thank you so much for your continued passion and engagement with human rights, and I hope to see you at some of our events this term!
Kalina Hagen
Vice President
Hi everyone, I’m your Vice President for MT24. I started last Hilary as an Events Officer, and then became Events Director before moving into the VP role.
My main job is to work directly with Kathleen, our lovely President, to make sure everything is on track across different departments, as well as financially. I’m really excited to continue to grow OHRSS. My main human rights interests lie in environmental justice and indigenous empowerment. Outside of OHRSS I love anything outdoorsy, and creative writing!
Joshua Hess
Events Director
Hello! My name is Josh and I am the Events Director for this term! That means that I am responsible for this term’s events, alongside my team of Events Officers. We have got an incredible team of Events lined up, with opportunities to engage directly with local and global crises, meet incredible people (ranging from International Lawyers to Genocide survivors) and ultimately make a difference!
In my spare time, I play local Oxford band Losing Ben (come see us!) and sometimes work on my degree. Please feel free to contact me with any questions on the society, our events or how you can make a difference!
Sofia Lafontaine
Marketing Director
I have loved being part of OHRSS and can’t wait to watch the society keep growing! I’m interested in international legal frameworks used as mechanisms to protect human rights; from CEDAW to the EU’s recent AI Act, I am keen to discuss it all! Outside of HR I love any form of sports outdoors.
Come along to all our events to hear from some incredible speakers and organisations.
Ben Sheridan
Blog Director
Ben is a third year law student at Wadham. Inspired by the activism of Ida B. Wells, Ben has a particular passion for workers' rights and education, and is excited to meet like-minded people who share his interest in human rights and will hopefully expose him to new ideas and perspectives this term.
Gubat Abdullaev
Events Officer
I am Gubat (he/him), studying at Franklin and Marshall College in PA, USA. This year, I am enrolled in the visiting student program at Mansfield College. I double major in Government and Sociology with a minor in French Studies.
My main research interests are youth and children’s rights, CSAM, human trafficking, and social science methods. I have also worked on LGBTQ+ rights, migration, and asylum-seeking, often exploring the intersections of these issues. I am on the Events Committee this term! In my free time, I enjoy hiking, traveling, modern dance, and photography. I am also a huge fan of mindfulness practice.
Grace Hillier
Events Director
I’m Grace and I’m part of the Events Team. I’m really forward to attending all of the amazing events and having the opportunity to listen to an array of interesting speakers.
The human rights area I am most interested in is access to justice and and ensuring that we can exercise the human rights we are afforded.
Outside of my studies, I love dancing and have trained from the age of 6!
Iona Spence
Events Officer
I am most looking forward to putting together engaging events, connecting inspirational speakers to as many people as possible, and to be part of a strong community pushing for change.
I am passionate about using the past and, in particular, my knowledge about the Holocaust and the Rwandan and Cambodian Genocides to prevent further genoicde and raise awareness. I am also enthusiastic about raising awareness to ensure the human rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.
Outside of the society, I love debating, travelling and exploring nature.
Sai Thota
Events Officer
My role on committee is Events Officer and I’m most looking forward to organising events that connect human rights and law.
Will McCaffrey
Marketing Officer
Hey everyone, I look forward to working on the social media and marketing for human rights society this term to help inform people on Human rights issues and careers. I am particualry interested in reproductive, LGBTQ and religious rights and protections internationally. Look forward to working with yall this year.
Maria Beltechi
Marketing Officer
Hi! I’m Maria and I can’t wait to get started on expanding our social media pages and helping make human rights (itself and its careers) more accessible, espcially as it affects us all.
I’m most passionate particularly about transformative criminal justice, abortion rights, and migrant justice - especially its intersection with politics and voting rights.
Tanvi Kothari
Blog Officer
My role on the OHRSS committee is of Blog Officer! I'm looking most forward to attending the speaker events this term and getting to share the experience with all of our blog readers, as well as exploring some of the human rights issues around the world I'm most passionate about. I'm most interested in the various and diverse human rights causes across the ASEAN states, and particularly the role of international law in protecting the rights of asylum seeking communities. Beyond writing about human rights issues, I love painting, swimming, and walking along the Uni Parks next to LMH!
Nanditha Dileep
Blog Officer
I'm a blog writer for OHRSS. I'm looking forward working with the team to broaden the reach of OHRSS to cover a wider range of international affairs. I'm passionate about criminal justice and access to legal aid with a focus on rights of death row prisoners and the abolition of the death penalty.
Sam Freeman
Blog Officer
Hi, I'm Sam and I'll be one of the blog officers for OHRSS this Michaelmas. Really looking forward to listening to some great talks from experts on all areas of human rights and working with the blog director to get out some posts and hopefully start some important conversations. Human rights affect nearly all areas of the law and society so gaining greater awareness of the issues involved should hopefully be of interest to everyone!
Angelina Hong
Blog Officer
Hi! I’m Angelina, a third year classicist and a new blog officer for OHRSS. I’m excited to join the team and contribute to spreading awareness to current human rights issues.
Jake Pronger
Blog Officer
I’m one of this year’s new blog officers. I am looking forward to shining a spotlight on topical human rights issues and cases in an understandable manner. In particular, I am interested in the concept of ‘One Rights’ and the intersection between human and nature’s rights.
Copyright © 2022 Oxford Human Rights Student Society.
OHRSS is does not necessarily affiliate itself with the views of its partner organisations.
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