News Story

Andrea Jung, Avon Chair and CEO; Sital Kalantry, Faculty Director; Barbara Holden-Smith, Vice Dean; Reese Witherspoon, Avon Global Ambassador; Dean Schwab; Jocelyn Getgen '08, Women and Justice Fellow, Cornell Law School

The Avon Foundation for Women awarded a $1.5 million grant to establish the Avon Global Center for Women and Justice at Cornell Law School. The new center is focused on working with judges, legal professionals, and governmental and non-governmental organizations to improve access to justice, in an effort to eliminate violence against women and girls.

Stewart J. Schwab, the Allan R. Tessler Dean and Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, and Andrea Jung, CEO, Avon Products Inc., made the announcement during the Global Forum for Women and Justice a two-day meeting held in Washington DC, hosted by the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ). IAWJ engages judges and legal practitioners from around the world to address obstacles and solutions to the issue of violence against women.

"We are grateful to the Avon Foundation for Women for this generous grant," said Dean Schwab. "Cornell Law School has a long and rich tradition of educating lawyers in the best sense who are committed to global justice. The Avon Global Center for Women and Justice at Cornell Law School is in keeping with that tradition. We are proud to establish this center, with the Avon Foundation for Women, to assist judges throughout the world and to help provide access to justice for survivors of gender-based violence."

The new Avon Global Center for Women and Justice at Cornell Law School will undertake four major initiatives in an effort to improve access to justice and eliminate violence against women, including:

• engaging in intensive legal clinical projects;
• providing legal research for judges;
• hosting conferences and events;
• maintaining an extensive, online library of relevant laws, articles, and reports.

"In spite of the national and international laws meant to guard women against violence, gender- based violence continues to be a global epidemic. In too many cases, and too many places, the justice system is not effectively enforcing these laws," said Sital Kilantry, faculty director of the Avon Global Center for Women and Justice at Cornell Law School. "The Avon Center will work with judges, and governmental and non-governmental organizations toward effective enforcement and implementation of these laws."

See the AVON Foundation's Multimedia News Release