On Tuesday 9 December 2025, by special invitation, Leila Ghahhary attended a parliamentary session in the UK House of Lords, held to mark the UN Day dedicated to honouring the victims of sexual and reproductive related violence in genocide and advancing efforts to prevent such crimes.
Survivors and advocates provided testimonies from Sudan, Ukraine and beyond on deeply distressing accounts of sexual and reproductive violence. Their words were a stark reminder that such violence remains a pervasive tactic of war and repression.
During this impactful session attendees heard from:
Alisa Kovalenko, a Ukrainian documentary filmmaker and former soldier in the Ukrainian Voluntary Army. Her films have focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both during the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. She is also a survivor of CRSV in Ukraine.
Rahima Mahmu, a Uyghur singer, human rights activist, translator and interpreter, spearheading the campaign in the UK to end the ongoing Uyghur genocide.
Ambassador Melanne Verveer, the Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. Ambassador Verveer previously served as the first US Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, a position to which she was nominated by President Obama in 2009.
Christina Lamb OBE, a British journalist and author. She is the chief foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times and has won several major awards.
Those present also heard from Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws LT KC, Brendan O’Hara MP, Lord Alton of Liverpool and Dr Ewelina U. Ochab on the work of the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.
About Leila Ghahhary
Leila is called to the bars of England and Wales and Ontario Canada, and practices in both jurisdictions. Leila is recognised as a leading barrister by the major legal directories and is one of few barristers to be ranked by Chambers and Partners in both the UK and Canada. Leila has an extensive public inquiries practice; she recently acted as Counsel to Canada’s Foreign Interference Public Inquiry which was established to examine interference by China, Russia and other foreign states and non-state actors in democratic processes. Leila currently acts as Counsel to the Cabinet Office, Number 10 Downing Street and His Majesty’s Treasury in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Counsel to the Home Office in the UK Nottingham Inquiry, and as Counsel to the Cabinet Office in the UK Manston Inquiry. Leila previously acted as Counsel in the Manchester Arena Inquiry, the Gosport Inquiry, in relation to the Northern Ireland Renewable Heat Incentive Inquiry, and in the Hillsborough Inquests.
Leila’s international practice encompasses European law, public international law and international human rights. Her work has involved matters concerning complex domestic and international law, policy, and international relations including, state sovereignty, extraterritorial jurisdiction, sanctions, immunities, state responsibility, intelligence, foreign policy, diplomatic law, transnational repression, ICJ proceedings, universal jurisdiction, and atrocity crimes. She also acts as the Senior Legal Advisor to an international NGO.
In 2023, Leila completed her second Master of Laws at Columbia University in New York City with honours, and having been awarded the Parker School Certificate of Achievement in International and Comparative Law. Leila’s scholarship was focused on Public International Law, Global Governance, and International Human Rights. At Columbia Leila served as an editor for the Columbia Human Rights Law Review and Board Member for the Columbia Society of International Law. Leila was also selected to undertake a leadership in law programme and an Externship with UN Women during which she spent time working at UN Headquarters New York on peace and security matters relating to UN Women’s role on the Security Council.
Leila has a growing public international law practice and was recently appointed to the UK Attorney General’s Public International Law Panel of Counsel.
