Hauwa Ibrahim, J.D., S.J.D., M.L., is an internationally known human rights lawyer, currently serving as President of The Peace Institute, who was awarded the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for freedom of thoughts in 2005. She has defended over 150 cases involving women sentenced to death by stoning and children sentenced to amputation of limbs under Shariah law. Brought up in a small village in northern Nigeria, Hauwa was born into a culture that did not encourage schooling for girls beyond elementary school. Through sheer persistence and the gracious support of others, she attended teachers’ high school for women, the local university in Jos, Nigeria and continued to law school.
Prior to launching her legal practice in 1996, she was a prosecutor in the Ministry of Justice in Bauchi State. Hauwa has taught at Harvard University, University of Rome, and over a dozen universities around the world. She is the founder of the project, “Mothers Without Borders” which focuses on diverting youth from extremism.