“Gender-Based Violence in the Americas: Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) vs. U.S.”
October 8, 2021 from 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the virtual training “Gender-Based Violence in the Americas: Jessica Lenahan (Gonzalez) vs. U.S.” Jessica Lenahan (formerly Gonzalez) is the first domestic violence survivor to successfully bring a case against the United States to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). This case led to a landmark decision when the IACHR found that the United States had violated the human rights of Jessica and her deceased daughters by failing to protect them. During this training, Jessica will discuss her evolution from victim, to client, to survivor, and to activist. Caroline Bettinger-Lopez, Professor of Law, and Director/Founder of the Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Program at University of Miami School of Law, will discuss guidance from the Department of Justice on identifying and preventing gender bias in law enforcement response to domestic violence and sexual assault.
Presenters:
Jessica Lenahan
Women’s Rights Activist; Petitioner in Lenahan v. USA
Jessica Lenahan (formerly Gonzales) is a human rights and women’s rights advocate who has spoken around the world on issues of violence against women. In 1999, Jessica’s three young daughters were tragically killed when her estranged husband abducted them in violation of a domestic violence restraining order, and he was not arrested, despite her repeated calls to the police for help. She filed a lawsuit against the police for failing to enforce her restraining order, and in 2004, her lawsuit reached the U.S. Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, ruled that she had no Constitutional right to enforcement of her restraining order, and that police departments could not be sued for improper enforcement of such orders, Jessica and her legal team at the ACLU filed a case against the United States government in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. With this case, Jessica became the first individual domestic violence survivor to bring a case against the United States before an international human rights tribunal. In 2011, in a landmark decision, the Commission found the United States responsible for human rights violations against Jessica and her three deceased children. Jessica has received awards from the U.S. Human Rights Network, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and RFK Human Rights. She is the subject of a new documentary, Home Truth, which premiered at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival and aired on PBS in 2018. Her case was also featured in the Broadway hit, What the Constitution Means to Me. She currently lives in Ithaca, NY.
Caroline Bettinger-Lopez
Professor of Law, University of Miami School of Law
Caroline Bettinger-López is a Professor of Law and Director/Founder of the Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Program at University of Miami School of Law. While serving in the federal government, she is taking a leave of absence from her role as an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. From 2015-2017, she served in the Obama-Biden Administration as White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, senior advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, and member of the White House Council on Women and Girls. She practices in international legal fora, including the Inter-American, European, and United Nations human rights systems. Caroline has taught at University of Chicago School of Law and Columbia Law School; and was a Skadden Fellow at the ACLU Women’s Rights Project and federal law clerk. She is a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Gender-Based Violence. Recently, she received a Roddenberry Fellowship (COURAGE in Policing Project) and a TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund grant (Voces Unidas Project, to support low-wage immigrant women workers).
Participant Registration and Cost: This training webinar is free. Participants need to register in advance for the training. Please click on the button above to register.
