Truth, Reconciliation And Women's Human Rights After The Civil War

Liberia's 14-year civil war left hundreds of thousands of victims, many of them women. During the war, women were both targeted for unspeakable acts of brutality and sexual violence and caught in the cross-fire of warring factions. The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission is specifically charged with including the experiences of women and documenting the human rights abuses they endured. The TRC is documenting the experiences of women in Liberia and in the broad Liberian Diaspora. Robin Phillips will discuss the work of the TRC and speak generally about the human rights abuses experienced by women in Liberia and in their flight to safety. Doris Parker will discuss Liberian women in the Diaspora, focusing on the successes and challenges in protecting their human rights here in the United States.

Biographical Information

Robin Phillips is the Executive Director of The Advocates for Human Rights, having formerly served as the Director of the Women's Human Rights Program and the Deputy Director. Ms. Phillips is an attorney and has written on a variety of topics related to women's human rights, including trafficking in women, employment discrimination, sexual harassment and domestic violence. She has taught at both the University of Minnesota Law School and the University of St. Thomas Law School, and has led and conducted fact-finding missions to document human rights violations in Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, Poland, Armenia, Moldova, Nepal, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. In 2007, she led a delegation to Ghana to conduct statement-taking for the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She has organized international conferences and trainings on human rights and NGO development issues and helped lead The Advocates' delegation to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in September 1995. Prior to joining The Advocates, Ms. Phillips practiced law with the firm of Briggs and Morgan in St. Paul, Minnesota. She received her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Pepperdine University.

Doris Kaiyonnoh Parker is the co-founder and Executive Director of a leading Liberian women's organization in Minnesota, Liberian Women's Initiatives of Minnesota (LIWIM). She is a trained Registered Nurse and graduated from the College of St. Catherine-Minneapolis in 1998. For the past nine years, she has worked as a nurse in various capacities at institutions throughout the Twin Cities. Currently, she is the President/CEO of Core Health Services, Inc, a home health care company she founded to provide in-home healthcare, skilled nursing services, and Personal Care Attendant (PCA) services to Minnesota residents. Ms. Parker is actively engaged in both Liberian and broader communities, and serves as a member of the board of directors of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota (OLM). She was a founding member of the Bethel World Outreach Church in Robbinsdale, and has served on the board of trustees and as a deaconess of that church since 2006. Ms. Parker came to the U.S. in 1986, moved to Minnesota in 1993, and has resided in Coon Rapids for the past nine years.

This is one in a series of lunchtime speakers dedicated to improving awareness of women's human rights issues. Please join us the second Tuesday of alternating months for additional presentations. For more information, contact Mary Hunt at The Advocates for Human Rights,
mhunt@advrights.org or 612-341-3302, ext. 107, or see our website at www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org.