Treasa Minihane

Legal Intern- Winter/Spring 2011

Treasa graduated with a first class honours Bachelor in Economics and Sociology from the University of Limerick. As an undergraduate she spent a semester abroad in Canada where she first became interested in law and had the opportunity to complete electives in criminal law, criminology and gender equality.

Upon graduating she then went on to complete a two year graduate degree in Law and graduated top of the class. Her thesis focused on victim’s rights, suggesting ways in which to highlight victim’s rights to give them a more active role as well as exploring the need for support and aftercare services for victims and their families. Researching this area sparked her interest in victimology and victim’s rights in general. This led her to apply for the legal internship with SISHA.

Before coming to Cambodia, Treasa had been working in a law firm specialising in family law while also volunteering in the Citizen’s Information Centre family law clinic offering legal advice in all family related matters. She is currently completing entrance exams for law school and on graduating would then like to go on to complete a master’s in international law and ultimately work in the area of human rights.

Mohamed Stevens

Legal Intern- Fall 2010

Mohamed has benefited from a wide variety of legal experience. Prior to his completion of Law School, Mohammed worked as a Paralegal in a Niche Commercial Law firm based in the West End of London. He worked mainly in Commercial Property, Litigation and Employment law.

Mohamed is a British national of Sierra Leonean heritage. He spent his first 11 years in Sierra Leone, before traveling to England fleeing persecution from a military coup. Following a visit to Sierra Leone after over 15 years in England and seeing firsthand the level of destruction caused by Human rights violations, Mohamed became very interested in International Human rights law.

Mohamed has since graduated from law school, choosing electives more focused on civil liberty protection. He has also worked at his local Citizens Advice Bureau and as a Legal Researcher for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). During his work experience at the ICTR, Mohamed was assigned to the Office of the Prosecutor. He played an integral part in the team preparing for the pretrial stage of Prosecutor v Ildephone Nizeyimana case.

Rachel Whitson

Legal Intern Summer 2010

Rachel was admitted as a legal practitioner to the Supreme Court of Queensland in November 2009 upon completion of her legal studies at the Queensland University of Technology ('QUT') Brisbane and the Queensland branch of the College of Law. Prior to studying law, Rachel graduated with a Bachelor of Business from QUT majoring in management and marketing. Rachel's next goal is to undertake a Masters of Law, majoring in Human Rights.

Rachel volunteered with SISHA due to her on-going awareness of the profound injustices many women and children experience globally.

Prior to volunteering with SISHA, the majority of Rachel's legal experience was in commercial, property and criminal law. In the immediate future she would like to work within either criminal or family law. Rachel's long term goal is to work as a children’s lawyer / child representative.

Jessica Lewis

Legal Intern- Summer 2010

Jessica Lewis is a law student at Harvard Law School in the United States. During her first year at school she was able to take electives in International Human Rights Law and Public International Law. In addition, Jessica worked representing indigent defendants in criminal show-cause hearings as a student attorney with the Harvard Defenders. Jessica also had the opportunity to represent prison inmates in disciplinary hearings as a member of the Prison Legal Assistance Project. These experiences inspired Jessica to work in international human rights law this summer, where she was fortunately accepted into SISHA’s international legal internship program.

Jessica completed her undergraduate studies at Hamilton College in New York State, obtaining dual bachelor degrees in Hispanic Studies and Public Policy. As an undergraduate, Jessica traveled to Mexico to work at a women’s NGO and studied abroad in Spain. After graduation, Jessica worked with the United States Department of Justice in Antitrust and then took a job with the Chilean government with the Fiscalia Nacional Economica in Santiago, Chile before heading to law school.

Jessica will return to Harvard in the fall and next summer will work closer to home in Boston, Massachusetts, but hopes to continue working with SISHA as it continues to expand.

Ms. Alex Ivett

Legal Intern February/March 2010

Ms. Solina Sam

Legal Intern 2009-2010

Solina is an Australian student currently studying for a Bachelor of Commerce/Law at Monash University in Australia. Solina is of Cambodian heritage and grew up in Australia. This background is what inspired Solina’s interest in the current political situation in Cambodia and Cambodia’s human rights record.

Solina has a history of volunteerism and back home in Melbourne Australia Solina volunteered at the Cambodian Association of Victoria where she worked closely with newly arrived Cambodian immigrants. Through this role she was able to assist Cambodian immigrants who lacked English language skills and to provide them with assistance in setting up their new lives in Australia.

Solina has also been an active member of World Vision, where she helped conduct various fund raising activities to increase the call for an end to poverty. Solina is also the 2010 Marketing Coordinator for the United Nations Youth Association of Victoria where she will work to arrange and coordinate awareness programs and fundraising activities to strengthen the fight for Human Rights.

Solina says she enjoyed her 3 months working at SISHA and that she had a valuable and timeless experience with SISHA. Her work here heightening her awareness of the profound problem of human trafficking and exploitation of men, women and children and she plans to continue to promote SISHA’s mandate back in Victoria and stay involved in SISHA’s work in raising awareness of the current reality of slavery.

Ms. Eliza Golden

Legal Intern 2009

Eliza is currently a student at Harvard Law School where she is focusing on international human rights and humanitarian law. Prior to law school, Eliza’s academic and professional work addressed issues of health, development and humanitarian protection in Africa.

After graduating from Princeton University with a degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Eliza worked for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Guinea for one year. As an implementing partner of UNHCR, the IRC works in refugee camps around the world to provide protection, education and empowerment services to refugees. While in Guinea, Eliza worked specifically to implement protection services for unaccompanied refugee children, and assisted in the design and implementation of health education programming in the refugee camps.

Following her time in Guinea, Eliza spent two years working for the Touch Foundation, a non-profit organisation focused on health system strengthening and the training of health workers in Tanzania.

During her first year at law school, Eliza became interested in the profound problem of human trafficking and exploitation while studying legal issues related to forced migration. She is interning with SISHA from June through August, 2009.

Eliza serves on the Boards of the Harvard Human Rights Journal and Harvard Advocates for Human Rights. She plans to pursue a career in international human rights law.

Ms. Angela Harper

Legal Intern 2009

Angela first became interested in human trafficking while studying in Southeast Asia in 2005. Meeting with several NGOs who dealt with the issue, for the first time she was exposed to the great magnitude and inhumanity of the problem.

Upon return to the United States, Angela led a human trafficking awareness group at her undergraduate institution, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The summer following her junior year, Angela travelled to Ghana, West Africa to conduct field research for her undergraduate honours thesis. Angela researched under an NGO, the Association of People for Practical Life Education (APPLE). APPLE is a small grassroots organisation that rescues children who have been trafficked into Lake Volta’s fishing industry. APPLE then provides support to the rescued children to prevent re-trafficking and to ensure their wellbeing. Following her research with APPLE, Angela produced a written thesis entitled, Obstacles to the Implementation of Child Rights Regimes: Child Trafficking in the Volta Region as a Case-Study. Angela graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2008 with B.A.s in Sociology and International Studies.

Angela is currently studying at Duke University School of Law pursuing a JD and LLM in International and Comparative Law, and will graduate in 2011. Angela will be interning at SISHA in May and June of 2009. In the future, Angela hopes to pursue a career in human rights law.

Ms. Liz Batch

Aftercare Intern

Liz will graduate with a B.A in Community Welfare (International Social Development) at the University of Western Sydney in April 2010. She then plans to continue to undertake a Masters in Disability and a Masters in Social Development. Liz has been interested in pursuing research and work in the area of Human Trafficking for as long as she can remember.

Prior to coming to work with SISHA Liz completed an internship with the Anti Slavery Project in Sydney where she assisted the Anti Slavery Project in writing Guidelines for NGOs- Working with trafficked people in accordance with the identified needs of the Working Group of the National Roundtable on People Trafficking in Australia. Liz has a continued involvement with the Anti Slavery Project in Sydney and is committed to raising awareness of the national and worldwide issue of human trafficking.

Liz has worked for the NSW Department of Aging, Disability and Home Care since 2005, where she is dedicated to ensuring the rights of people with a disability are upheld through effective communication strategies and working with respect of the rights of each individual.

In the near future Liz plans to continue work with people with a disability and has a long-term view to conduct further research into the issue of human trafficking and labour exploitation of people with a disability around the world.