Priyanka Motaparthy Takes on Injustice in Challenging Times

Priyanka Motaparthy always knew she wanted to amplify the perspective of those who are so often ignored. With an early interest in writing and literature, she set her sights on becoming a journalist — graduating from Brown University and landing an editorial assistant job at The New York Times.

“You would think that is the dream, right?” she said, noting that, for her, it led in a different direction. While following the work of international reporters and becoming familiar with the world’s stage and its varied actors, Motaparthy said she felt called to do more than document injustice as a journalist.

“I wanted to take on an advocacy role and work for change in situations of injustice,” she said. “That’s when I discovered the field of international human rights.”

Motaparthy, clinical professor of law, is the new director of the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. With an extensive background in human rights advocacy, gender-based violence in armed conflict and organizing in the U.S. and Middle East, Priyanka is ready to bring that passion to Northwestern and its students.

Northwestern Now spoke with Motaparthy about her advocacy, working through times of uncertainty and her goals for the clinic.

You’ve advocated for women and girls for most of your professional career. How has that informed your own life?

One thing I wrestled with during my career was being a woman and a woman of color doing this work. Throughout my career, my focus became working on human rights crises and armed conflicts — that was a very male-dominated field. There’s this thought that the type of person who ought to be doing that work is tough, unmovable, brave and has the ability to power through.

When I started doing this work, I realized two things. One, that stereotype doesn’t hold up. Anyone who goes into conflict zones is going to be impacted on a personal level. It’s very normal and human to react to atrocities and human rights abuses. Second, I realized my own power, position and ability to connect with communities in a different way. I found that I was welcomed into spaces, communities and people’s homes. It was easier for me to interview women and build connections based on who I was. We often hear the stories of men, but I wanted to highlight the abuses that happen to women and children.

What is the most pressing human rights issues right now?

There are many rights abuses that have existed for a long time that no one has been able to solve. We live in a world with many armed conflicts. Unfortunately, we have not achieved world peace.

As a society, we are faced with a growing awareness of the importance of the climate crisis. We need to make sure we protect human rights as it pertains to the climate crisis.

Also, speaking about growing inequality and poverty is extremely important and there is interesting and innovative human rights work being done in that space.

Lastly, there’s a growing need for application of human rights principles in the world of emerging technology. We need to examine how artificial intelligence impacts our rights, look at infringements on our privacy rights, look at a whole host of new technologies and uses of those technologies that — in many cases — exacerbates societal prejudices, systemic racism and/or human rights abuses that have already been occurring, but at a greater scale.

During these uncertain times, are you changing your approach to the work?

The U.S. State Department gave grants that allowed organizations to support international justice proceedings and collect evidence related to human rights atrocities. With the federal aid freeze, that work has been paused. That has a direct impact on our work. Huge sectors of the human rights field have lost their funding, so we’re trying to understand if any of that work can still be done with alternate sources of funding.

What can people do to support humans rights work?

We need to address the root cause of all these challenges we are facing. This is about a clear effort to dismantle the international world order that has been in place by agreement of states — a fact in which the U.S. played a leading role after the end of World War II.

On a personal level, I’ve decided to call my elected representatives. I’m going to make calls and send emails. It’s also a time when people need to come together across issues and stand up for broader fundamental principles of the rule of law. Human rights is not meant to be political. It’s meant to be a universal set of principles that states participate in, that individuals call upon, to protect their rights. But for those systems to exist, we need to have a fundamental trust in the rule of law. That’s something that’s very much in danger right now.

What would you say to those who are discouraged?

It’s important — particularly in moments like these — to sustain a practical hope, even if we don’t emotionally feel very hopeful. Resilience, longevity and maintaining hope are a fundamental part of any human rights or social justice work. What is happening right now feels very unprecedented or stark in the context of this country, but globally, we have a lot of human rights advocates to learn from. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself, seek out others, build community, build coalitions and do the best you can.

What are you excited to tackle in this new role as director?

I’m excited about exposing students to a range of different human rights problems and strategies. We’ll be doing work on labor rights, armed conflict, justice access for people who have been impacted by rights abuses and exploring technology and human rights.

I’ve begun some of this work, but the energy, excitement and passion that students bring to clinical work is exciting to me, and I’m looking forward to that.