Lecturer appointed to Amnesty International board

Dr Senthorun Raj, a lecturer in Keele’s School of Law, has been elected to the Amnesty International UK board of governance.

Amnesty International is the world's largest grassroots human rights organisation to protect women, men, and children wherever justice, freedom, truth, and dignity are denied.

Dr Raj’s research focuses on emotion, gender, sexuality, and justice across various sub-disciplines of law. He has previously served on the board of Amnesty International Australia, and has also been involved with Amnesty International USA. He will join the board of Amnesty International UK as an elected director in June and will serve for three years.

Dr Raj said: “I first got involved with Amnesty International when I studied at the University of Sydney which helped steer me towards what I do now, and over the years I found myself taking part in a number of Amnesty’s human rights campaigns. I developed a strong affiliation and relationship with the organisation, so when I spent a year in New York for a fellowship at New York University I was welcomed into Amnesty USA where I could continue some of my Amnesty work.

“When I came to the UK, it was more of a permanent move so I got involved with Amnesty UK’s LGBTI network, as much of my academic work is about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) rights. I decided I wanted to contribute to the governance as well as the activism side of Amnesty UK, so when I nominated as a candidate for the board, I was fortunate to be elected.

“I’m interested in focusing on diversity, and I am very passionate about movements that are inclusive and accessible. I believe the strength of any human rights movement is the people who form that movement, so it needs to be intersectional and bring communities together across various differences like geography, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and disability. I would like to see this develop over the next few years.”