On the Job - Center for Reproductive Rights

The Center for Reproductive Rights is seeking a Regional Manager for Europe for their international law program.

The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) is a global human rights organization that uses constitutional and international law to secure women’s reproductive freedom. Founded in 1992 and located in New York City, CRR is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to promoting women's equality worldwide by guaranteeing reproductive rights as human rights.

The Center is seeking a talented, creative and strategic Regional Manager for Europe to oversee and develop the work of the Regional Program in all areas of program work. The Regional Manager for Europe reports directly to the Director of the International Legal Program and will be required to travel extensively internationally. This position will be based in New York for a minimum of a year and may possibly move to the region after that year.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Developing and implementing short and long-range advocacy and litigation strategy for the Center's work in Europe and maintaining and assessing its effectiveness.
• Identifying potential strategic litigation cases in collaboration with partner organizations. Developing the factual record and pleadings, researching and writing legal memoranda, amicus curiae and case briefs on transnational and international and regional human rights law and claims for use in national and/or international and regional fora, including the European Court of Human Rights.
• Providing technical assistance to NGOs, government and parliamentary officials, and other stakeholders on law reform processes at the national level and produce relevant legal and advocacy materials.
• Participating in and draft reproductive-rights related submissions to UN and regional human rights bodies.
• Researching and drafting Center publications for stakeholders in Europe and UN bodies.
• Cultivating partnerships with law firms and law schools to leverage our work. In particular cultivate relationships with firms and law schools based in Europe.
• Developing and maintaining effective relationships with national and regional partners with a view to collaboration on national, regional and international advocacy and litigation.
• Developing and supporting capacity building activities on legal and human rights strategies to advance reproductive rights in the Europe region.
• Representing the Center externally through public speaking and interaction with the media; and assisting in fundraising strategies.
• Recruiting, managing and mentoring junior staff.

Candidate Requirements: The ideal candidate will be a creative and strategic thinker and have good judgment and excellent analytical capabilities; strong writing skills; the ability to work quickly and effectively under pressure; the capacity to take initiative, prioritize, and pay close attention to detail while juggling multiple tasks; strong coordination skills; and the ability to work effectively as part of a team and in partnership with other organizations.

Applicants must have: A law degree and at least seven years of experience working on legal or human rights strategies. Substantial knowledge of the United Nations and the European human rights systems; familiarity with international and regional human rights law; effective public speaking skills, and excellent writing skills in English, are required; fluency in another UN language is desirable.

To Apply: Send cover letter and resume to: resumes@reprorights.org

The deadline for submitting applications will be March 1st.

'Nuff said

(Taking context-optional note of thought-provoking quotes)

Last night, I had the honor of meeting Linn Duvall Harwell, the co-founder of the Clara Bell Duvall Reproductive Freedom Project of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, at an event celebrating the 30th anniversary of that organization. Linn told us stories of marching for women's rights with the National Organization for Women in Pittsburgh and being told that she and fellow marchers "should all be taken out and shot." She also reminded us of an era in which, alongside maternity wards, hospitals had separate wards dedicated to women dying from unsafe abortions. Linn founded the project because her mother, Clara Bell Duvall, died from a botched abortion, leaving behind five young children. Her words (from a speech at the 2004 March for Women's Lives) are so moving that I reprint them here as a reminder, for those of us who've never seen or imagined it, of what a world without safe abortion looked like:

As [my mother] lay dying, she said to my 10-year-old sister, "You will be the mother now." And to my grandmother, "Take care of my precious." This was my 18-month-old sister. Mother died March 27, 1929, in Mercy Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA. The archives say death was from "miscarriage." This was a lie. She died from a self-induced knitting needle abortion. She was 34 years old. As we children gathered around the polished casket that held her body for the three-day Irish wake, our father said, "We must stick together now." This was not to be. We were taken to Baltimore, divided among relatives. In a few days, we lost our mother, our father, and each other. I do not remember crying tears, yet I have wept inside all my life.