Sherizaan Minwalla is a human rights lawyer and founder of Taboo LLC, a consulting practice focused on ethical engagement with survivors of gender-based violence, access to justice and the rule of law. She has more than two decades of experience in human rights, transitional justice, and immigration law in the US and Iraq.

She has collaborated with international and local organisations to advance survivor-centred justice, including the International Organization for Migration, SEED Foundation, Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights, and Yazda Organization. Her work has included the development of practitioner guides and training on the Yazidi Survivors’ Law, protocols for working with survivors who are asked to share their stories and testimonies, and technical assistance to NGOs, survivor networks, and government institutions in Iraq. She also contributed to ethical guidelines including the Murad Code, a global code of conduct on the documentation of sexual violence in conflict, the EU Dart Center’s Guidelines for Reporting on Sexual Violence and others.

Previously, Sherizaan served as Country Director for Heartland Alliance International in Iraq, Chief of Party for Management Systems International on a USAID-funded program addressing gender-based violence in minority communities targeted by ISIS, and Deputy Country Director for Mercy Corps. In the United States, she was a Practitioner-in-Residence at the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University’s Washington College of Law, Legal Director at the Tahirih Justice Center, and Supervising Attorney at the National Immigrant Justice Center.

She has published widely on ethical reporting, gender-based violence, and survivors’ rights, including in Feminist Media Studies, Women’s Studies International Forum, and the UC Davis Journal of International Law & Policy. She holds a JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law, an MA in Applied Sociology from Loyola University Chicago, and a BA in International Relations from the University of Cincinnati.

Key Expertise:

GBV, sexual violence, reparations, transitional justice, asylum, informed consent

Expertise Details:

• Survivor-centred approaches to justice and reparations

• Ethical media engagement and documentation of sexual violence in conflict

• Legal representation of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrant survivors of gender-based violence

• Program leadership in humanitarian and development contexts across Iraq and Syria

• Practitioner training, clinical legal education, and capacity building for NGOs and survivor networks