The announcement follows the development of a partnership between the charity and the Law School’s Human Rights Implementation Centre (HRIC) that aims to further the development of the charity’s vanguard work.

Dr Sofia Galani established the Human Rights at Sea partnership with the aim of supporting both the development of the charity’s advocacy and research activities – and its educational materials and publications for the maritime and fishing industries.

The partnership reflects the HRIC’s continuous work on human rights and its commitment to offer students hands-on experience on human rights projects. The partnership has already seen a team of postgraduate students working on a project with the charity.

Dr. Galani commented;

“I feel privileged to support the work of Human Rights at Sea, which for the first time, takes a close look at human rights violations at sea and seeks to make the voices of the victims of these abuses heard. I believe that my expertise will contribute to the charity’s mission – and that the partnership between Human Rights at Sea and the Human Rights Implementation Centre and its Human Rights Law Clinic will raise greater awareness about human rights at sea.”

Human Rights at Sea is an independent maritime human rights charity established for the benefit of the international community for matters concerning explicit engagement with human rights issues in the maritime environment. Its mission is to explicitly raise awareness, implementation and accountability of human rights provisions within this environment, especially where they are currently absent, ignored or being abused.

David Hammond, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Human Rights at Sea, said:

“The Trustees and I are delighted that Sofia has accepted our invitation to add her professional expertise to our ongoing charitable work. Our new research project with the University of Bristol will, in due course, further support the education of seafarers and fishermen globally.”