Staff

 Sandra Wisner, Director

Sandra is the Director of the IHRP and teaches a clinical course on international human rights advocacy at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. She is an international human rights lawyer with experience in nearly every region in the world. In South Africa, she appeared alongside counsel of the late Nelson Mandela at the Marikana Commission of Inquiry to secure reparations arising out of a devastating police massacre. She also worked for the UN in Cambodia prosecuting members of the Khmer Rouge regime for genocide. Most recently, she worked for five years in Haiti partnering with the country's leading human rights lawyer to secure remedies for survivors of the UN-introduced cholera epidemic and peacekeeper sexual abuse. She has been periodically called upon to observe trials around the globe to ensure compliance with international human rights law. 

Sandra received her Masters of Laws from Leiden University, and her J.D. and Honours BA in International Affairs from the Universities of Windsor and Toronto. Her thesis explored the accountability of multinational corporations operating and sourcing from volatile areas. She publishes regularly on non-state actor accountability and extraterritorial obligations and speaks at various venues around the world, including Cornell, Harvard, Sorbonne, and the UN Human Rights Council. Sandra has appeared in the Guardian, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Vice News, and TVO. Sandra articled with Gowling WLG. She speaks both official languages and is admitted to practice law in Ontario.

 Estefanía Rueda Torres, Program Coordinator 

Estefanía is the Program Coordinator of the IHRP, where she supports the administration of the program including events, outreach, and coordinating the work of Working Groups, Fellows, and the Rights Review. Estefanía has experience in the administration of academic programs at the University of Toronto, where she has worked to deliver meaningful global work-integrated learning experiences for students. Prior to joining the University, she also worked with Canadian international development organizations, including in program development and Monitoring and Evaluation. This includes work in Colombia, supporting the implementation of the gender equality strategy of a rural development project to promote gender equity and the prevention of gender-based violence in rural communities.

Estefanía received both her Master of Arts in Human Geography and her Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations, with a minor in Latin American studies, from the University of Toronto. Her master’s thesis explored the history of agrarian and land conflicts in Colombia from a feminist perspective. Specifically examining the role of peasant women in the peasant social movement and how gender has shaped the rural development policies of the Colombian state. Estefanía is fluent in English and Spanish. 

 Nabila Khan, Research Associate

Nabila is a Canadian lawyer with experience in research, advocacy, and litigation on a broad range of human rights issues. Prior to joining IHRP, she practiced law at a boutique employment and human rights law firm in Toronto litigating contentious human rights cases within the Canadian context. Outside of law practice, Nabila has collaborated with NGOs in Canada, the United States, and Bangladesh to enhance international supply chain transparency and address human rights issues within the global garment supply chain. Her research has explored gender-specific concerns identified by women workers in Bangladesh following the Rana Plaza incident and, more recently, examined corporate accountability for wage theft in global supply chains. Most recently, Nabila worked with the Business and Human Rights Unit at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.  

Nabila received her Master of Laws from Columbia Law School, her J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School, and her Honours BA in Political Science and Communication Studies from McMaster University. She is currently a part-time lecturer at Lincoln Alexander School of Law and volunteers with the Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR).