Professor wins International Bar Association Award

Last Friday, April 13, Eloísa Machado de Almeida, a professor from FGV’s Sao Paulo Law School (Direito SP), won the Outstanding International Woman Lawyer Award granted by the International Bar Association – an organization that brings together lawyers, law firms, and lawyer associations from all over the world. Almeida was awarded for her career as a Human Rights lawyer and her contribution to the promotion of women’s rights in Brazil.

She is a professor of Constitutional Law and Human Rights, as well as coordinator of the Supremo em Pauta [Supreme Court in Evidence] research center, at Direito SP. As a lawyer, Almeida represented the interests of women who lost children to violence, specifically those killed in clashes with the police or in prisons. She was also involved in major constitutional cases at the Federal Supreme Court, such as quotas for black people in universities, same-sex union, environmental protection, and prison conditions.

More recently, Eloísa has been dedicated to pro bono law practice in Human Rights, through the Human Rights Advocacy Collective, which she helped create. It was under this initiative that the first collective habeas corpus was recognized by the Supreme Court, determining the release of more than 4,000 pregnant women or mothers who had been awaiting trial in prison and 2,000 children who waited in prison with their mothers.

The award ceremony was part of the 8th World Women Lawyers Conference, held in London.