WATCH Project Criminal Court Internship
Please note that internship applications must be submitted through the form on our website.
Location: In person
The WATCH project, led by The Advocates for Human Rights (AHR), draws on the practice of court monitoring to defend the human rights of survivors of gender-based violence, including domestic abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. We are seeking interns to join our team and engage with us in advocating for a legal response to gender-based violence that is trauma responsive, holistic, and focused on safety and healing.
Interns will provide essential research support to WATCH’s court observation programming. Research will explore the experiences of women and gender expansive defendants in the court system. Research will also focus specifically on issues that impact criminalized survivors; survivors of domestic abuse or sex trafficking who are being prosecuted for crimes that stem from the abuse they have experienced. Interns will conduct in-depth searches and review of court records, synthesize materials, and provide draft memorandum summarizing the materials. Interns will also assist with identifying trends, patterns, and system gaps to help inform AHR’s policy efforts.
This internship requires 10+ hours per week.
Primary duties and responsibilities:
- Conduct searches of public court records relating to court observation cases.
- Review and analyze court records to synthesize materials and highlight issues.
- Draft a memo summarizing record searches and analysis.
- Identify trends, patterns, and issue spotting across research.
- Attend regular debriefs with staff, interns, and volunteers to discuss recent cases, trends observed, policy goals, and any questions.
- Additional research as needed.
- Responsibilities may shift with the needs of the program.
Experience and qualifications:
- A dedication to advocating for survivors of gender-based violence, equity, and a trauma- responsive legal system.
- Organized, self-starter, detail-orientated and able to meet deadlines.
- Commitment to maintaining confidentiality.?
- Prior experience with research, legal systems, court databases, and gender-based violence advocacy preferred but not required.
Questions?
Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page. If your question is not answered in there, you can email internships@advrights.org. Please note that internship applications must be submitted using the form on our website.
