Chronicle 2018

By Alex Bittner Howard 2002

W hen asked how she manages raising her two kids, practising law and volunteering for the equality effect, Jessica’s answer is concise: “We have a responsibility as women to support other women.” She has been doing just that for as long as I have had the pleasure of knowing her! While doing her undergrad at Queen’s University, Jess volunteered at the sexual assault centre in Kingston as a front- line crisis intervention worker; at law school, she volunteered with Pro Bono Students Canada and spent a semester working at the Dalhousie Legal Aid Service. Now, in addition to working full time, she is putting her law degree to use in volunteering with the equality effect. The equality effect, or ‘e²’, is a Canadian charity that works to improve the lives of women and girls in Africa through the enforcement of human rights laws. How did Jess come to be involved? In the early spring of 2013, she read about e² and its co-ordination of the landmark “160 Girls Decision.” In the decision,

Kenya’s High Court found that the government’s failure to enforce existing rape laws and the police’s failure to protect girls from rape were violations of domestic, regional and human rights laws. “I was struck by the significance of the decision and the Canadian connection and, with my background experience with sexual assault work, I wanted to be a part it,” Jess says. She immediately reached out to the organization’s CEO, Fiona Sampson. Her timing was perfect; e² needed assistance managing their legal volunteers and Jess was put to work. Jess’ role has evolved from co-chair managing the legal research volunteers to co-chair co-ordinating all of e²’s volunteers. E² is now focused on a constitutional challenge in Malawi and continuing its work in Kenya to implement the 160 Girls Decision through public legal education and law enforcement training. For such a lean organization – it has only three full-time employees – it is making an incredible impact. In June of 2017, the United Nations recognized the work of e² and the 160 Girls Project as “a best practice relating to advancing women’s rights and women’s empowerment.” Jess would like to make the Havergal community aware of this incredible organization, but she also has a more general message: volunteering does not have to be a huge commitment. “My contribution to e² is small, but each volunteer’s contribution moves the organization toward its goals. We all live such full lives and the amount of strife in the world can be overwhelming, but all contributions have an impact.”

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PHOTOS: ZURRY DONEVAN (LEFT) COURTESY OF JESSICA BOLLA (RIGHT)