Profile: Attorney Kazuko Ito
Kazuko Ito
Attorney at Law, Secretary General, Human Rights Now, Doctorial Researcher in Waseda University
Kazuko Ito has been practicing law since 1994.
As a human rights lawyer, she works on various issues, such as women's rights, children's rights, criminal justice and the death penalty, and public interest litigation in Japan, as well as critical human rights issues around the world.
Area of Practice
Family Law(Divorce, Violence, will and inheritance), Entertainment Law, Property Law
Corporate Law(Risk Management, Corporate social responsibility, Business and Human Rights), Intellectual Property, Gender Based Violence, Human Rights Law
■ Admission
1994( Tokyo)
■ Education
Waseda University Doctorial Researcher(2020-)
NYU School of Law Visiting scholar (2004,2005)
Supreme Court’s Legal Training Center(1993)
Waseda Universty(1989)
■ Membership
Gender Law Society(Board Member) International Human Rights Law Society(Board member)
Gender Equality Committee, Japan federation of Bar Associations
Human Rights Now(Secretary General)
~Short Biography~
1989 Graduated from Waseda University
1991 Passed the Japanese Bar Examination
1994-Present Practicing as Lawyer
2004-2005 Houser Research Scholar of New York University School of Law
2005 Working for a New York Based human rights NGO, Center for Constitutional Rights 2006-Present Serving as the Secretary General of Human Rights Now
2007-2011 Partner, Olive Tree Law Offic
2007-2008 Chief of the Gender Equality Committee of Tokyo Bar Association
2011-present Chief of the Gender Equality Committee of JFBA
April 2012~ Partner, Mimosa Forest Law Office
As a Hauser research fellow at the New York University School of Law, Ms. Ito researched international human rights law and conducted a comparative study of criminal justice systems. In 2005, she worked for several human rights organizations, including the New York City-based Center for Constitutional Rights.
In 2006, Ms. Ito joined Human Rights Now (HRN), a Japan-based international human rights NGO and now serves as its Secretary General. HRN is the first Japan-based international human rights NGO to work for the promotion and protection of human rights for people around the world, with a special focus in Asia.
The organization works on human rights issues using a variety of techniques including investigation, grass-roots empowerment for human rights defenders, solidarity action, and advocacy.
Articles
Book
・Challenge of Saibanin System toward the end of wrongful conviction
(Gendai Jinbun Sya, 2006),
・“The Problem of False Confession in the Post-DNA World”
( Translation, Author Steven Drizin, Richard Leo, Nihon Hyoron Sha)
・“World Report of International Human Rights Law”
( Law Seminar 2006-2008, Nihon Hyoron Sha).
・" Protecting human rights beyond the border( 2013, Iwanami Shoten)
・ “Why is "Fast Fashin" cheap?” (2016, Commons)
・“Why was it "Not Guilty?"- Criminal Justice underestimating sexual violence"
(2019, Discover 21)
・The Global #MeToo Movement (2020,Full Court Press)
Media
Lecture, Activity