Founder and Former President, Global Justice Center
Janet Benshoof was an expert in international and constitutional law. She spearheaded the use of international law to prosecute rape by the Iraqi High Tribunal, established U.S. Supreme Court precedents on religious liberty and reproductive rights, and obtained the first U.S. approval of emergency contraception. Ms. Benshoof advised governments, leaders, judges, and the U.N. on international laws. She advised Burmese groups on issues of access to justice and had several projects to end systemic discrimination against women in how the Geneva and Genocide Conventions are implemented. In 2015, she launched a project to seek accountability for ISIS crimes of genocide, particularly against Yazidi women and girls. Ms. Benshoof, who founded the Center for Reproductive Rights, received a MacArthur fellowship, taught at Bard and Harvard Law School, and publishes extensively in law journals and popular media. She died on December 18, 2017.

“Power, not pity.”