Making it happen this International Women's Day

This year, to recognise International Women’s Day, we are being urged to "make it happen". Julia O’Brien met with renowned women’s rights activist and lawyer, Hauwa Ibrahim, to get her perspective on what she hopes to make happen through her work at the WANA Institute.

Hauwa and I have been on the line for less than five minutes when she receives a call on a different phone. Excusing herself, she takes the other call. It’s a neighbour calling from Boston, where Hauwa normally lives, close to her employer Harvard University. They’ve had the worst snow falls in recent history and she is scared the roof won’t be able to take the weight from the layers of heavy powder.

She patiently explains to the neighbour what must be done before seamlessly returning to our call. I barely even realise she’s speaking to me again, until she starts to explain to me how it was that she came to be a celebrated human rights lawyer.

“Everything about my path to becoming a lawyer was accidental. I was educated accidentally. I studied law accidentally. I went to Harvard accidentally,” Hauwa explains.

Of course, she’s being modest. And, truth be told, a little dishonest. There was nothing accidental about her journey: every step was the result of deliberate persistence on her part – breaking down barriers and cultural norms as she went.

Hauwa was born and raised in north eastern Nigeria, in a small village in Gombe State. The child of poor parents and raised in a Muslim home, she was betrothed to be married at age ten, as was local custom.

“Being the ‘stubborn’ child in my family, I decided to run away from home to a boarding school for girls. I was determined to get an education.”

Eventually, Hauwa relocated to Bauchi State to be close to her older sister, taking up the task of being her “house girl”. Unlike other places Hauwa had lived, her sister’s home had a television. As Hauwa puts it, “this television changed my life.”

The first female Nigerian political minister was speaking. In her address she said her primary objective was to see all Nigerian girls go to school and university. Hauwa decided to pay the politician a visit.

“I visited her office more than thirty times. Each time I was turned away by the receptionist. But I was extremely persistent. I also had nothing to lose.”

That persistence ultimately paid off. Hauwa was eventually granted an appointment with the Minister, who put Hauwa in contact with the registrar at the local university. Her marks were not sufficient to gain a place; she hadn’t even taken an English exam, instead learning the language from conversations she overheard on the street. She was advised she would be better off to go to teacher’s college, the conventional path for young women.

“But I didn’t want to be a teacher just because that’s what I was meant to do.”

In the end, it was the very fact she was from a tiny village in Gombe State that actually helped her. A law was passed that put in place a catchment rule for universities, an affirmative action policy that aimed to get disadvantaged girls and boys from rural areas into university. The entrance mark was lowered and Hauwa took her place at the law school.

“I had never met a lawyer. I’d never read a law. I wasn’t really even sure what the law was. I had to read so much more than the others just to keep up. For me, life began and ended at the library.”

Today, Hauwa is an accomplished human rights lawyer and academic. She has held positions at Radcliffe and Harvard and has successfully defended women in Nigeria in several high profile cases. Her book, Practicing Shariah Law: Seven Strategies for Achieving Justice in Shariah Courts, was initially commissioned as a brief user manual for lawyers. She explains that’s not unusual for her; signing up for one thing and then turning it into something else all together.

“I was mean to be at Radcliffe for ten months. That turned into seven years.”

It’s therefore unsurprising that Hauwa now finds herself at the WANA Institute. Invited to present at a legal empowerment conference in June 2014, Hauwa was impressed by the organisation’s mandate and, in particular, by Chairman HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal.

“He gave the keynote address at the conference and I was completely blown away. I broke protocol when he finished and jumped out of my chair to give a standing ovation. I didn’t care, I thought he was fascinating,” she said.

“I thought to myself at the time, no matter what happens, I must come back to work with him again. I was willing to come back even if it was to shine his shoes.”

What Hauwa didn’t realise, was that the feeling was mutual.

“We were growing the organisation and decided to implement a visiting scholar programme in order to benefit from some talented minds who could mentor our more junior staff,” WANA Institute Executive Director Dr Erica Harper explained.

“I put the idea of inviting Hauwa Ibrahim to HRH Prince Hassan and he was immediately enthusiastic. He had been inspired by her speech at the conference and was very keen to work with her more.”

Hauwa arrived at the WANA Institute in January, with the plan of staying for three months. Her ambitious task is to train legal practitioners in Jordan on women’s legal empowerment strategies. In order to do so, she is undertaking a large piece of research on Jordanian legislation and how it relates to Sharia’h law.

“I am examining Sharia’h law from the perspective of justice and human rights. I’m attempting to extract possible sections of the law that can be used to protect and enhance women’s rights.”

The ultimate aim is to petition Jordanian law makers and government ministers on ways in which the law needs to be changed. Hauwa is particularly interested in custody and inheritance law, and violence against women – all of which are acknowledged issues in Jordan for women. 

“What we love most about Hauwa is how she inspires trust and encourages thinking in such subtle and unobtrusive ways. She has accomplished so much but is extremely humble and her emphasis is to continue to learn more – even though she already know more than most of us,” Dr Harper said.

“She has defended women sentenced to death by stoning and children sentenced to have limbs amputated. Despite the challenges faced in the Nigerian legal system she has managed to not only save lives but inspire change in the judicial culture. That is so inspiring for lawyers and civil society practitioners here in this country. We have so much to learn from her experiences.”

Asked what she hopes to achieve from her experience at the WANA Institute, Hauwa barely hesitates:

“I’m most excited to have the opportunity to learn. There is so much to learn, so much to do together, both as women and as people who simply believe in human dignity.”

Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day (IWD). A day to celebrate the achievements of women and to also acknowledge that so many women and girls continue to be denied their human rights, simply because of their gender.

For Hauwa, IWD provides the perfect platform to champion the importance of involving women in policy decisions.

“Women are the foundation of every society. Every society begins in the womb of the woman and how she then raises that child. As we look towards the next decade we must find action in the mothers, aunties, grandmothers and sisters.”

“Ammunition, drones, guns – these can only do so much for the protection and security of women. The power is in the woman. Policymakers must recognise this and bring them to the table.”

I ask Hauwa what her advice is for young women hoping to “make it happen” as is the theme of this year’s IWD.

“Education, education, education,” she says animatedly.

“Not just for girls, for boys too. Education is for the future. That’s how we can make it happen.”

And what better precedent is there than Hauwa? A living case study that education (and a generous dose of tenacity) really can make the difference for a young girl from rural Nigeria.