November 13, 2018: STF leaders and teachers gathered with HRW supporters to celebrate 40 years of HRW during the 2018 Voices for Justice Dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Prior to the start of the dinner, Mike Bochenek, HRW Children’s Rights Division senior counsel, and Emma Daly, HRW Communications Director, discussed with STFers the importance of speaking up for human rights. Mr. Bochenek shared his experiences working with migrant children in detention centers along the U.S.-Mexico border while Ms. Daly discussed the need to stand up against “fake news.”
During the STF reception, participants were invited to learn how to utlize Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and the STF website for advocacy purposes. They also learned about upcoming HRW digital advocacy campaigns and lent their voices for the United Nations’ #StandUp4HumanRights campaign.
Later, HRW dinner guests honored Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’s Mariska Hargitay for her years of work advocating for survivors of sexual assault & domestic violence. While accepting The Promise Award, she reflected on the importance of HRW, saying, “In this world where a sense of calm and security seems to be increasingly hard to come by, I hear the name Human Rights Watch, and I think, ‘Oh thank God, someone is paying attention, someone is standing guard, someone is keeping watch. So thank you so much for your work…”
