Journey to Oxford: MSc in International Human Rights Law
By: Magistrate Bianca Gyamera Beeko
My admission to the University of Oxford to study the MSc International Human Rights Law course as a Commonwealth Scholar makes me feel privileged, proud, and validated. As a first-generation lawyer and judge, this is one more first that I hope will inspire other girls with backgrounds similar to mine to not just dare to dream but pursue those dreams relentlessly.
I became passionate about human rights before I even really understood what it was. While in primary school, I joined the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) junior club of my school. The issues we discussed at FAWE enlightened me on the complex ways in which one’s gender could impact their quality of life. I learned, for instance, that some girls were denied education because of the belief that it was pointless investing in the education of girls as they would eventually marry and become housewives.
The exposure to these issues at such a young age made me extremely conscious of the gender disparities and discriminations all around me as I grew up. I consequently developed an interest in gender and women’s rights and decided to become a lawyer so that I could use the law as a tool to challenge beliefs and cultural practices that negatively affect the well-being of women.
As a lawyer, I volunteered with FIDA Ghana and this role, represented many indigent women and children pro bono. I also mediated several cases pertaining to the rights of women and children. I eventually joined the judiciary because while being a lawyer empowered me to advocate for the rights of others, being a judge gives me the power to ultimately decide whether those rights will be enforced or not. Studying the MSc International Human Rights Law program at the University of Oxford will equip me to better exercise this power.
The MSc International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford is designed to ensure that students not only understand the theories but are able to apply them. I am therefore looking forward to acquiring both theoretical and practical knowledge of this area of law. In addition, I expect to hone my research, analysis, and writing skills. I am also wildly excited about the opportunity to network with some of the world’s leading experts in human rights law.
I have a few more big dreams I am working towards. One of these is to become a leading academic in the area of human rights law. I also aspire to be a member of the faculty of the Judicial Training Institute of Ghana, and a judge of an international court or tribunal one day. I have no doubts that this degree will serve as an indication of my ability to deliver in these capacities when the time comes.
But for now, however, I will be working towards the realisation of the IAWJ’s objectives of making justice accessible to women in the Global South in my own small way. I will apply the knowledge I acquire from the MSc International Human Rights Law program in my work as a magistrate so that the people in my district, women and children especially, receive appropriate legal remedies when they seek redress from the court.