Fatou Kiné Camara (born 29 December 1964) is a

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

ese lawyer and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

campaigner. The daughter of a magistrate and government minister, Camara has a doctorate in law and works as a lecturer and researcher. She has supported campaigns for reform in many areas of the law and is particularly involved in attempting to increase the availability of

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

s and free legal advice.

Life

Camara was born on 29 December 1964 in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

. Her father, Ousmane Camara, was a magistrate for the French colonial authorities. He was a minister in the government of Senegal's first president,

Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor ( , , ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese politician, cultural theorist and poet who served as the first president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980. Ideologically an African socialist, Senghor was one ...

. After Senghor's resignation in December 1980, her father became Senegal's ambassador to the United Kingdom and Camara joined him, completing her secondary education in London. She studied law at the Panthéon-Assas University (Sorbonne Law School) in Paris and attained a doctorate in the same subject from the

Cheikh Anta Diop University Cheikh Anta Diop University (), also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop and has an enrollment of over 60, ...

in 1988. Camara is president of the Senegalese Women Lawyers' Association. Camara became a lecturer and researcher, whilst also campaigning for improved rights for women and children in Senegal. She has participated in campaigns for reforms to the constitution, family law, electoral law, and laws on violence against women. Camara is a supporter of abortion rights and the decriminalisation of homosexuality. Senegal's abortion laws are amongst the most restrictive in Africa, with jail time of up to 10 years for women who undergo the procedure. For an abortion to be legal, three doctors must certify that the woman will die otherwise. As each certification costs 10,000

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...

, the poor are disadvantaged. Camara lobbies to change the law to accord with the

Maputo Protocol The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol, is an international human rights instrument established by the African Union that went into effect in 2005. ...

(African Charter on the Rights of Women), which Senegal signed in 2004. This would allow abortion in cases of rape, incest, or where the woman's health is at risk. Camara also supports a programme training "parajuristes" (community members with basic legal training) to act as the first contact in disputes. They provide free legal advice to those who cannot afford lawyers.

Awards

In 2010, she received a human rights prize for the 50 years jubilee of independence of African States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camara, Fatou Kine 1964 births Living people Senegalese women lawyers Senegalese women's rights activists Senegalese women activists People from Dakar Cheikh Anta Diop University alumni Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni 20th-century Senegalese lawyers 21st-century Senegalese lawyers 20th-century women lawyers 21st-century women lawyers