Staff Writer on Jan 30, 2024
Wanda Sánchez Day, general counsel and senior policy counsel of OLA of Eastern Long Island, will be honored and presented an award at the New York City Bar Association’s 2024 International Law Conference on the Status of Women for her work on pursuing justice for crimes committed against women and girls and to advance the human rights of women and girls in the world. The conference will be held on International Women’s Day, March 8, at the New York City Bar Association.
Sánchez Day, who began working with OLA in April 2023, was selected for this award by the United Nations Committee of the New York City Bar Association, which issued a statement saying that her “justice advocacy is changing the lives of women and girls around the world.” The conference, in its fifth year, coincides with the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York City.
“I am honored and grateful for this recognition by my peers on the U.N. Committee of the City Bar. I stand with all brave women who face the global challenges to human and civil rights and who confront perpetrators and the institutions that deny those rights, sometimes at high professional and personal risks,” said Sánchez Day.
“Wanda truly deserves this honor. Her deep knowledge of human and civil rights is exceeded only by her passion for justice,” said OLA Executive Director Minerva Perez. “For us at OLA and for our local community, this means working to ensure that local governments do not get away with enacting policies that strip away the rights of immigrants. I applaud the Committee’s decision to select Wanda as one of this year’s honorees.”
The International Law Conference on the Status of Women focuses on the current status of women and highlights the role of judges, lawyers, human rights experts and policy advocates working to improve the status of women and girls by enforcing their legal rights through accountability and improving their economic opportunities to support themselves and their families. The conference also focuses on the United Nations’ initiatives to improve the status of women; address global human and reproductive rights concerns and abuses, particularly bodily autonomy limitations, physical torture, sexual violence, kidnapping and incarceration of women and girls; discuss innovative approaches to improving the lives of women through the rule of law and government policy; celebrate efforts to elevate women judges and lawyers in fostering greater diversity within the judiciary; and address the disparate, adverse impact of technology and climate change on women and girls. Finally, the conference celebrates the role of legal societies, such as bar associations and other legal professional organizations, and international NGOs in aiding women.