91视频

Bilingual attorney Laura Mahr鈥檚 early work helping immigrants seek asylum in the United States laid the foundation for her career in law.

鈥淎s an undergrad, I worked with immigrants seeking asylum from Central America,鈥� Mahr said. 鈥淚 knew I wanted to be a lawyer someday, but not yet. That laid the foundation. I always focused my efforts on creating a bridge between immigrants living in the U.S. and those who are employing immigrants.鈥�

After graduating from Northeastern University School of Law, Mahr spent a year working for a law firm in North Carolina before moving to Oregon to work at the Oregon Law Center. It was at the law center that she launched the first project in the country for indigenous farm workers who had been sexually harassed in the workplace. As an attorney and project coordinator, she educated farmworkers and service providers locally and nationally regarding sexual harassment and assault in agricultural labor, and also provided holistic representation to workers in employment discrimination sexual harassment cases.

Today, Mahr is an attorney at the Victim Rights Law Center, providing training and technical assistance regarding civil legal remedies for victims of sexual violence to Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) programs around the country. She also partners with the Farmworker Sexual Violence Technical Assistance Project to provide training and technical assistance to OVW grantees regarding sexual violence in farmworker communities.

Mahr also leads the Victim Rights Law Center鈥檚 partnership with Transition Projects Inc. to educate TPI staff and the women they serve about sexual assault, homelessness and victims鈥� rights and remedies. She is currently working on a 鈥渒now-your-rights鈥� documentary film on sexual violence and homelessness.

If you hadn鈥檛 become an attorney, what career would you have pursued?

I would be an anthropologist, traveling to remote parts of the world studying indigenous music and spirituality鈥攅ndlessly fascinating to me.

What is the first concert you attended?

Billy Idol鈥擱ebel Yell!!!

What is your favorite word?

鈥淩amification,鈥� 鈥済ratitude鈥� and 鈥済luten-free dessert鈥�

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

The ability to stop the rain from falling and bring the sunshine out; I am a year-round bike commuter; hence this would be a really valuable super-power during winter months in Portland. I鈥檇 also love to have the power to end discrimination on interpersonal, institutional, governmental and international levels.

What do you spend your non-lawyer time doing?

Anti-sexual violence lawyering can be really heavy work; I spend my time doing a lot of self-care including yoga, acupuncture, meditation, biking, hiking, farmers marketing, cooking, dog-parking, traveling, learning to play the guitar, and staying connected to family and friends.

What was your favorite course in law school?

I loved Constitutional Law and also Gender, Sexuality and the Law鈥攖hose courses opened my mind to the complexity of law and how social status and personal politics play a role in how we define fairness, equality and justice.

The coast or the gorge?

Definitely BOTH!

What person do you most admire?

I admire the millions of sexual assault survivors in the world–whether they have been victimized by people they know and thought they could trust, strangers or during war, migration or while living on the streets鈥攅ach survivor is strong and courageous in her efforts to put her life back together post-assault, often with little or no help from community or the civil or criminal justice systems.

What is the best part of being an attorney:

Having the opportunity to meet remarkable people, engage in meaningful work, do what I love and help marginalized populations find access to justice.

The worst?

Encountering bias and/or prejudice in the criminal and civil justice systems, especially for victims of sexual assault who come from marginalized populations such as immigrants, homeless, elders, LGBTQ, people of color, etc鈥�unfortunately, the list is endless.

The coast or the gorge?

Definitely BOTH!

What is your most treasured possession?

My family, friends, dog and my well-being.

If you could have a drink with any person, dead or alive, who would it be?

I would go to a party with LGBTQ individuals from different countries and cultures from past generations. I would love to learn about their lives and our collective history.