Pramila Patten (; born 29 June 1958) is a Mauritian

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, women's rights activist, and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

official, who currently serves as the

Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict and

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under ...

; she was appointed in 2017. Her office was established by Security Council Resolution 1888, introduced by

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, and she succeeded Margot Wallström and Zainab Bangura. Patten served as a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women from 2003 to 2017, and was the committee's vice chairperson.

Early life and education

Patten obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, a Diploma in Criminology at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, a Master of Laws (LL.M.) at the University of London and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in England as a member of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

Career

Patten practised as a barrister in England from 1982 to 1986 before she returned to

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, where she served as a district court judge between 1987 and 1988, and from 1987 to 1992 as a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the

University of Mauritius The University of Mauritius (UoM) () is the national university of Mauritius. It is the oldest and largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and the curriculum offered. The public university's main campus is located at Réd ...

. Since 1995, she has been the director of the law firm Patten & Co Chambers. Patten was a member of the International Women's Rights Action Watch between 1993 and 2002, and from 2000 to 2004 she was a consultant to the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare of Mauritius. Patten was elected as a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in 2003. At times, she served as the committee's vice chairperson. In 2017, she resigned from the committee. In 2022, she was awarded an honorary degree from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

United Nations Special Representatives, 2017–present

On 12 April 2017, Patten was appointed by UN Secretary-General

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

as Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict with the rank of

. In November 2017, Patten visited Bangladesh to interview survivors of the 2016 Rohingya persecution in Myanmar. That same month, she welcomed the Elsie Initiative to help increase women's participation in peacekeeping operations in a joint statement with fellow UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patten, Pramila British barristers 21st-century British women lawyers 20th-century Mauritian judges Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women members Under-Secretaries-General of the United Nations 1958 births Living people Mauritian officials of the United Nations Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations 21st-century Mauritian lawyers Mauritian people of Indian descent 20th-century British women lawyers Mauritian women