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Access to Safe Water: A Human Rights and Civil Rights Perspective

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Monday, February 25, 2019
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Sharmila L. Murthy
Rights and the Humanities: The Duke Human Rights Center and Franklin Humanities Institute Annual Lecture

Join us on Monday, February 25 for the Duke Human Rights Center and Franklin Humanities Institute Annual Lecture: Access to Safe Water: A Human Rights and Civil Rights Perspective, presented by Sharmila L. Murthy.

Most Americans expect that clean and affordable water will be available from their taps at all times. However, an increasing number of people in the U.S. now realize that access to safe water cannot be taken for granted. This problem has been a long-standing challenge in developing countries, prompting consideration of water as a human right under international law. This lecture will chart the rise of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation under international law and explore how access to water has become a critical environmental and civil rights issue in the U.S. The talk will also discuss strategies that communities both here and abroad are using to advocate for access to safe and affordable water.

Sharmila L. Murthy is an Associate Professor at Suffolk University Law School, where she teaches and writes on issues of property law, environmental law, international environmental law, poverty, and human rights. Previously, Professor Murthy was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she served as the lead investigator for water for the Project on Innovation and Access to Technologies for Sustainable Development through the Sustainability Science Program.

Contact: Emily Stewart