Hazel is a lawyer and the Executive Director of SALIGAN. SALIGAN is a legal resource development NGO operating in the Philippines. Founded in 1987, SALIGAN seeks to effect societal change by working with the basic and marginalized sectors for their empowerment through the creative use of law and legal resources. Hazel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences (University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines), J.D. (University of Nueva Caceres, Naga City, Philippines), a Diploma in Governance, Democratization and Public Policy, and a Master of Arts in Development Studies: Social Justice Perspectives Major in Human Rights (both from the International Institute of Social Studies of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, The Hague, The Netherlands). She has been with SALIGAN since 2006. For more information, please check www.saligan.org.


Hazel Lavitoria will participate in the World Justice Forum working session Gender Justice on the Frontlines: Grassroots and Institutional Responses to GBV