S. African lawyer becomes new UN rights expert

UNITED NATIONS: A South African lawyer who has also worked as an academic in the human rights field and a campaigner against domestic violence has taken over as the new United Nations independent expert to tackle violence against women, UN officials said here on Thursday.

Rashida Manjoo succeeds Yakin Erturk as the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and has been initially appointed by the UN Human Rights Council until June 2012, the officials said.

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Manjoo has both taught and conducted research at several universities, including Webster University and Harvard Law School, both in the United States, as well as the University of Cape Town.

In her native South Africa, Manjoo was also a former parliamentary commissioner of the Commission on Gender Equality, conducted training programmes for judges and lawyers on law, race and gender issues, and set up a domestic violence assistance programme at the Durban Magistrates Court, the first such project in a court in her country.

Like other rapporteurs who report to the Human Rights Council, Manjoo will serve in an unpaid and independent capacity, the officials added.