Position Available:
Advisor on Sharia
Women's Rights Division

Human Rights Watch is seeking highly qualified applicants for its newly created position (full-time, part-time or consultancy) of Advisor on Sharia.

Key Current Benefits Include Medical, dental, and vision care for you, your dependents and domestic partner (same or opposite sex) as of first day of employment 20 vacation days as of your first year of employment "bankable" sick days Generous life insurance Outstanding pension plan Comprehensive in-house training programs Tuition reimbursement up to $1,000 per year Parental leave 3-month paid sabbaticals each 7 years And you work with these people

Description: The Advisor on Sharia is a newly created position intended to complement existing staff expertise and ongoing HRW work on the intersection between human rights and religious and customary laws. The Advisor will provide Human Rights Watch with advice on the application of sharia as a legal system, the variations in its employment by states and other agents in different regions of the world, and how it is used to advance or restrict women’s human rights, in areas including civil and political rights, family law, and sexuality. The Advisor will offer guidance on how Human Rights Watch can engage with and support efforts of groups working within Muslim communities on human rights issues, especially the human rights of women. The Advisor may also assist in addressing debates concerning religious rights and freedom of expression within secular law systems. He or she will advise HRW staff members whose work relates to sharia and women’s human rights, in terms of legal advocacy, textual understanding, and the integration of human rights principles within laws and policies. He or she will monitor how states codify or incorporate sharia into laws and policies, the political dynamics relating to such codification or incorporation, and how states and other agents promote understandings of sharia in ways that both promote and harm women’s human rights. The Advisor will travel internationally to build relationships and consult with leading organizations, activists, experts, and scholars working in this area, and solicit their input on HRW’s work. The Advisor may also undertake fact-finding investigations, write reports and other materials, undertake advocacy, and engage with the media. If required by the right candidate, an Advisor working part-time may retain affiliations with academic or other institutions in addition to working with HRW.  
 
Qualifications: The ideal candidate will have (1) deep expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and history, including the diverse doctrines and history in the major sharia schools of thought, and (2) a history of involvement with women’s organizations and human rights organizations in Muslim communities. She or he should have no less than five years of directly related post-graduate experience. An advanced (graduate) degree in international relations, religious studies, theology, journalism, law, or social sciences is required. Knowledge of international human rights law and experience with field research, report writing, advocacy, and media work will be beneficial. Fluency in English is required, as well as ability to read advanced Arabic. Fluency in one or more of the languages of countries in Asia, Africa, or the Middle East with substantial Muslim populations will be beneficial. She or he must be able to travel internationally. The Advisor may be based in one of HRW's global offices or in another location, but at the outset must be prepared to spend a brief familiarization period in HRW's New York headquarters.  
 
Salary and Benefits for Employment-Based Positions: Human Rights Watch seeks exceptional candidates and offers competitive compensation and generous prorated employer-paid benefits. HRW will pay reasonable relocation expenses and will assist employees in obtaining the required work authorization for the location where he or she will be based,if necessary. (Consultants will be paid on a fee-for-service basis.)  
 
PLEASE APPLY IMMEDIATELY by emailing in a single submission: a letter of interest describing your experience, your resume, names or letters of reference, and a brief writing sample (unedited by others) to wrd@hrw.org. Please use "Application for WRD Advisor on Sharia" as the subject of your email. Only complete applications will be reviewed. It is preferred that all materials be submitted via email. If emailing is not possible, send materials (please do not split a submission between email and regular post) to:  
 
Human Rights Watch  
Attn: Search Committee (WRD Advisor on Sharia)  
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor  
New York, NY 10118-3299 USA  
 
Human Rights Watch is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate in its hiring practices and, in order to build the strongest possible workforce, actively seeks a diverse applicant pool.  
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Human Rights Watch ("HRW") is an international human rights monitoring and advocacy organization known for its in-depth investigations, its incisive and timely reporting, its innovative and high-profile advocacy campaigns, and its success in changing the human rights-related policies and practices of influential governments and international institutions.  
 
The Women's Rights Division ("WRD") of Human Rights Watch was established in 1990 to monitor state-sponsored or state-tolerated violence and sex discrimination against women in all regions of the world. Much of its work consists of gathering detailed information on abuses against women and publishing reports that are as reliable, comprehensive and timely as possible, so as to effect change in repressive practices and improve respect for women's rights throughout the world. The work of the WRD seeks to expand the scope of human rights work to address abuses against women that traditionally have been overlooked or misunderstood, as well as achieve greater accountability for violations of women's human rights.
 

 

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