ADVOCATING FOR THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN Mukisa Kakembo’s internship experience taught her about more than the law BY STEPHANIE HURLEY
The Schulich School of Law Internship Program started in 2009 with a small number of internships funded by The Schulich Foundation. Thanks to their generosity, many other donors were inspired to contribute to the program. Just over a decade later, it has grown to be the largest paid summer internship program for law students in the country. Since its inception, 240 students have completed summer internships in over 80 organizations in Canada and around the world with more than $1.2 million in funds awarded. An internship not only provides a meaningful work experience for students but can also help shape their career path. Mukisa Kakembo was awarded the Pink Larkin Internship in 2019, a summer internship in law for a first-year diversity student. She spent her summer working at the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia, a local non-profit organization that engages with vulnerable women to foster personal empowerment and address the root causes of criminalization. Her goal going into her internship was to learn to advocate for human rights. “As a student in the Indigenous Blacks and Mik’maq Initiative, I want to use my future legal career to work on issues of equality and equity, to meaningfully support my community.” Kakembo achieved her goal and more. “My internship gave me the opportunity to provide legal support for women in Nova Scotia and advocate for the rights of diverse cis and LGBTQ+ women. I gained experience in the field of prison law, criminal law, civil law and family law. It was a unique opportunity to work with clients and support them through some of the most difficult circumstances of their life. It was an emotional, yet very empowering journey.”
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Her main role was to provide legal research, analysis, and assistance to clients, the staff lawyer, and the executive director. Her duties included conducting research to improve women’s access to justice, meeting with clients, assisting women in finding legal representation, helping women in completing record suspension applications, filing FOIPOP applications, and finding housing for women transitioning out of prison. Kakembo’s internship also gave her the opportunity to learn about and work on access to justice issues. She felt fortunate to be able to attend the Imagining Black Justice event organized by El Jones, which was an educational one-day workshop addressing issues of justice affecting Black Canadians. However, her role was about more than legal work. She was able to support women on a personal level. “The relationships I built with both the staff and clients gave me a much wider understanding of the impact of criminalization, and which community supports are needed to build women’s resilience so that they can be successful in the future. I gained invaluable skills that have made me even more passionate about working towards social justice in the field of law.” In fact, the highlight of Kakembo’s internship was helping to get women out of prison and connecting them to the resources they needed to support their reintegration into society. This experience impacted her both personally and professionally, helping her face her own learned bias about people who have been criminalized.
