Born on 20 January 1968 in Gombe State of Nigeria, celebrated rights lawyer, Ibrahim Hauwa, is listed by history as the first female Muslim lawyer in Nigeria.
She is well-regarded for defending those condemned under the Islamic Sharia laws, for free, notably Amina Lawal, Safiya Hussaini and Hafsatu Abubakar. In 2005 she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for her philanthropy.
Hauwa has been a Visiting Professor at Saint Louis University School of Law and Stonehill College, a World Fellow at Yale University, a Radcliffe Fellow, and a Fellow at both the Human Rights Program and the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard University, where she is currently into teaching and research. She is also one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by Reporters Without Borders.
As a Radcliffe Fellow, Ibrahim reportedly delved into the theoretical foundations of Shariah law, how they have influenced legal practice and affected the human rights of women in West Africa.
In 2013, the research work led her to publishing “Practicing Shariah Law: Seven Strategies for Achieving Justice in Shariah Courts.”
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