Brigid Anne Inder is a New Zealand gender justice advocate and mediator. In 2014, Inder was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for services to women’s rights and international justice, and was awarded the inaugural Bertha von Suttner Peace Prize.

Early life and education

Inder lived in Queenstown and moved to Dunedin when she was six years old. She was educated at Moreau College (now Trinity Catholic College), where she was head girl in 1983. Inder completed a

Bachelor of Physical Education A Bachelor of Physical Education (BPE or BPhEd) is a bachelor degree granted by some universities. In many Canadian universities it has been replaced by a Bachelor of Kinesiology. The degree can include topics such as sport science, coaching, and ...

at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

in 1987, and then worked for the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

as a youth worker.

Career

In 2004 Inder co-founded the Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ), an international

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

organisation that supports legal actions against

gender violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence (GBV) refers to any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification, culture may have a role to play, being lower in egalitarianism societies and higher, sexist ...

through the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

(ICC) and peace processes. She was Executive Director until 2017. In addition to her work at WIGJ, Inder was a Special Advisor on Gender to the

Prosecutor from 2012 to 2016, and co-wrote and developed their Policy on Sexual and Gender-based Crimes. This was the first policy of this kind developed by any international court or tribunal. In 2021 Inder joined Mediators Beyond Borders International.

Honours and awards

In the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

Inder was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to women’s rights and international justice. The same year she was awarded the inaugural

Bertha von Suttner Baroness Bertha Sophie Felicitas von Suttner (; ; 9 June 184321 June 1914) was an Bohemian nobility, Austro-Bohemian noblewoman, Pacifism, pacifist and novelist. In 1905, she became the second female Nobel laureate (after Marie Curie in 1903), th ...

Peace Prize. Inder was inducted into the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences Hall of Fame at Otago University in 2019, and awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws.

References

External links

Interview with Brigid Inder, Executive Director, explaining the work on Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice
17 July 2013, via YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Inder, Brigid University of Otago alumni Officers of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand women activists New Zealand activists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People educated at Trinity Catholic College, Dunedin