Interview with Joy Ngozi Ezeilo

Abstract

Dr. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo is professor of law and the dean of the Law School at the University of Nigeria (UNN). She has been the lead professor of the "Women, Children, and the Law" class at the UNN since 1997. A lawyer, activist, and feminist scholar, Dr. Ezeilo was appointed the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons between 2008 and 2014, during which time she travelled to several countries to determine the causes, mechanisms, and scope of human trafficking. She is an active member of the civil society movement in Nigeria, where she founded the Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), a not-for-profit that works to promote and protect the rights of women and young people. She is the founder and moderator of the West African Women’s Rights Coalition (WAWORC). Dr. Ezilo has served as a consultant and trainer in human rights, gender issues, and governance and conflict resolution to many international and national organizations including the Nigerian Judicial Institute (NJI), UNDP, UNIFEM, UNICEF, USAID, UNFPA, the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs (MDG Fund), OSIWA, CODESRIA, Partners for Justice (formerly International Human Rights Law Group), the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Abuja, Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), Center for Democracy and Development, West Africa (CDD), among others.