Cheryl Thomas, J.D.

Cheryl Thomas is the founding Director of Global Rights for Women. Since 1993, Cheryl has worked with partners around the world to promote women’s human rights and achieve effective legal reform to end violence against women. She has participated in the drafting of new laws on violence against women and girls in over 25 countries and trained legal professionals to enforce such laws in dozens of countries. She has worked closely with the United Nations to develop model standards on legal reform on violence against women, leading a global consultation on the enforcement of laws in Spain in 2015.

In 2011, she was recognized by Newsweek magazine as one of 150 “Women Who Shake the World”. Former positions include Director of the Women's Rights Program at The Advocates for Human Rights, Executive Director at WATCH, partner and Shareholder at Briggs and Morgan, Special Assistant Attorney General and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Sub-specialities:
Coordinated Community Response (CCR) to domestic violence
The Duluth Model for communities addressing domestic violence
Femicide reviews
Trafficking and sexual and domestic violence
Orders for Protection of domestic violence victims
Training about gender based violence for law enforcement, advocates, police and judiciary