People

Robin Phillips

Robin Phillips is the executive director of The Advocates for Human Rights. She has written extensively about human rights, including trafficking in women, employment discrimination, sexual harassment and domestic violence. She has conducted fact-finding missions to document human rights violations throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Nepal, and Mexico. She has led delegations to Ghana and Liberia as part of The Advocates work with Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Phillips has organized international conferences and trainings on human rights and NGO development issues. In addition, she has taught courses on human rights at the University of Minnesota Law School and University of St. Thomas School of Law. 

Prior to becoming The Advocates' executive director, she served as the organization's deputy director and director of its Women's Human Rights Program. Before landing at The Advocates, Phillips practiced law with Briggs and Morgan (now Taft) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She received her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Pepperdine University.

Publications
Human Rights in Ethiopia: Through the Eyes of the Oromo Diaspora. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 2009. Written by Michele Garnett McKenzie, Rosalyn Park, Robin Phillips, Laura Provinzino, and Laura Young

A House with Two Rooms: Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia Diaspora Project. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press, 2009. Written by Robin Phillips et al.

Sex Trafficking Needs Assessment for the State of Minnesota. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, September 2008. Written by Angela Bortel, Mary Ellingen, Mary Ellison, Robin Phillips, and Cheryl Thomas

Implementation of the Bulgarian Law on Protection Against Domestic Violence: A Human Rights Report. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, March 2008. Written by Mary Ellingen, Rosalyn Park, Robin Phillips, Cheryl Thomas, and Genoveva Tisheva

The Government Response to Domestic Violence Against Refugee and Immigrant Women in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metropolitan Area: A Human Rights Report. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 2004. Written by Molly Beutz, Aviva Breen, Mary Ellingen, Robin Phillips, Christine Tefft, and Cheryl Thomas

Domestic Violence in Poland. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 2002. Written by Kristina Aberg, Johanna Bond, Anne Daughtery-Leiter, Jean Norton, Robin Phillips, and Rachel Taylor

Employment Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in Poland. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 2002.** Written by Robin Phillips et al

Domestic Violence in Moldova. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 2002. Written by Diane Kunst, Robin Phillips, and Malinda Schmiechen

Domestic Violence in Ukraine. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 2000. Written by Suzanna Banwell, Erin Barclay, Elisabeth Duban, and Robin Phillips

Trafficking in Women: Moldova and Ukraine. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 2000. Written by Suzanna Banwell, Robin Phillips, and Malinda Schmiechen

Domestic Violence in Armenia. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 2000. Written by Belinda Cooper, Elisabeth Duban, and Robin Phillips

Domestic Violence in Uzbekistan. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 2000. Written by Belinda Cooper, Elisabeth Duban, and Robin Phillips

"Violence Against Women as a Human Rights Abuse." Sourcebook on Violence Against Women. Sage Publications, 2000. Written by Johanna Bond and Robin Phillips

Sexual Harassment: Facts and Laws, Women and International Human Rights Law. Transnational Publishers, Inc., 1999. Written by Robin Phillips

Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in the Workplace in Bulgaria. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 1999. Written by Rachel Johnson and Robin Phillips

Domestic Violence in Macedonia. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 1998. Written by Karen Brooks, Robin Phillips, and Susannah Pollvogt

Domestic Violence in Albania. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 1996. Written by Elizabeth Bruch and Robin Phillips

Lifting the Last Curtain: A Report on Domestic Violence in Romania. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 1995. Written by Elizabeth Bruch, Robin Phillips, Anne Taylor, and Cheryl Thomas

* Dulce Foster, Dianne Heins, Mark Kalla, Michele Garnett McKenzie, James O'Neal, Rosalyn Park, Robin Phillips, Jennifer Prestholdt, Ahmed K. Sirleaf II, Laura A. Young. A House with Two Rooms: Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia Diaspora Project. St Paul, MN:DRI Press, 2009.

** Bond, Johanna, Mary Ellingen, Sameera Hafiz, Marlene Kayser, Robin Phillips, Meredith Rathbone, Malinda Schmiechen, Susan Strauss, and Anna Walkowska. Employment Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in Poland. Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights, 2002.

Publications

• Human Rights Tools for a Changing World - UN Advocacy
  January 29, 2024
• Strategies Of Civil Society To Counter The Far-Right Backlash Against Human Rights
  August 7, 2023
• Human Rights Tools for a Changing World - National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)
  November 4, 2022
• A Rollback for Human Rights: The Istanbul Convention Under Attack
  December 2, 2021
• Implementation of Montenegro's Domestic Violence Legislation
  July 3, 2017
• Discover Human Rights: A Human Rights Approach to Social Justice
  May 1, 2017
• Human Rights Tools for a Changing World: A step-by-step guide to human rights fact-finding, documentation, and advocacy
  January 1, 2015
• Paving Pathways for Justice & Accountability: Human Rights for Diaspora Communities
  January 1, 2014
• A Practitioner’s Guide to Human Rights Monitoring, Documentation and Advocacy
  January 3, 2011
• A House with Two Rooms: Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia Diaspora Project
  January 1, 2009
• Sex Trafficking Needs Assessment for the State of Minnesota
  October 1, 2008