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Working for human rights often requires an imagination. The job description
of “human rights defender� may not be as well defined as that of “lawyer�
or “writer,� but there are a myriad of opportunities to combine human rights
advocacy with a career. Valerie Downing Arnold, associate attorney at Thomas
Tuft Law Offices and teacher at the University of Minnesota, understands
this kind of combination. She has crafted a career that joins education with
family law, and human rights are often the common denominator between the
two focuses.
“I went into law school initially to work on women’s advocacy issues related
to domestic abuse. I found working with the Human Rights Center at the University
of Minnesota’s law school to be a really great experience. Whether you go into
corporate law, family law like me, or any other field, exposure to human rights
issues is really important part of any legal education,� said Arnold. Arnold’s
own association with the Human Rights Center began in 1995, when she received
a Fellowship to work at the Organisation Marocaine des Droits de l’Homme in
Rabat, Morocco. Working in Morocco was a chance to combine a lifelong interest
in French and francophone studies with law. Arnold spent the summer of 1995
in Morroco learning about human rights issues in the region and programs sponsored
by the OMDH. Arnold was particularly struck by Moroccan methods for deterring
domestic abuse, “I visited the first domestic abuse shelter in Morocco, which
had just opened in Casablanca. One thing that struck me was that they didn’t
necessarily teach women to get out of an abusive situation. In that society,
being a self-supporting woman is sometimes not an option, so they teach women
strategies to minimize the abuse or to handle it better. It was a harsh concept
to accept.�
Arnold also spent part of the summer traveling to Senegal with a grant from
the French government to study the culture of that nation. Her interest in
French and francophone culture (Francophone refers to French-speaking nations
other than France) has developed over a lifetime. Arnold’s mother is originally
from France, and although English was the primary language in their home, Arnold
also became proficient in French as a child and wanted to study the language
further. Arnold became a French major at the University of Minnesota and studied
abroad in Montpellier, France. After graduating in 1988, Arnold earned a French
Maitrise degree in linguistic from the University of Savoie, in Chambery, France.
Arnold then entered a masters’ program at the University of Minnesota in French
Literature where she earned an M.A. Arnold then became a doctoral candidate
in the University of Minnesota’s Second Languages and Cultures program, before
enrolling in the University’s Law School.
In law school, Arnold developed a desire to study the culture of French-speaking
nations she had not visited before, especially in light of her new law studies.
“I wanted to think about ways to combine my background in French with law.
I became interested in West Africa while experiencing so many different cultures
in France.� Arnold’s experiences as an intern in Morocco in 1995 would go on
to have a great impact on her career as a lawyer and a teacher: “My mentor
had come in contact with the human rights center through a trip to Minnesota
where he was very impressed with the Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis.
He himself had been unjustly imprisoned for almost twenty years because of
his beliefs, and he wanted to start a similar Center in Morocco. His courage
and optimism were truly inspiring. The Organisation had a great deal of publications
and resources and I brought a great deal of those publications back to use
in my courses here. They were really helpful not only in updating me on the situation
in Morocco, but in generally offering human rights education in the course
at taught at the University of Minnesota.�
Arnold had already been teaching French language courses at the University
of Minnesota for five years prior to her fellowship and continues to do so
today. Her decision to switch to a focus in law and her current work in that
profession has allowed her to bring her personal and professional experience
to the French studies courses she offers: “I funded my law school education
by teaching. As a master’s student and law student I was teaching mainly first
and second year French courses, which can get very repetitive. But I was able
to develop some courses using information I picked as a fellow in Senegal and
Morocco. I taught a 3000-level French class called Introduction to Human Rights
and taught a 5000 level course called ‘Senegal and Morocco: Teaching a Language
and Culture Curriculum’ for French teachers from across the state trying to
enrich their curriculum.� Arnold also taught a legal French course for the
University of Minnesota Law School and presently teaches American Law for Interpreters
as part of
the University’s interpreter training program.
As Arnold continues to integrate human rights issues into her French language
courses at the University of Minnesota, her work as an attorney at Thomas Tuft
Law Offices in St. Paul remains her professional focus: “I work in family law.
I deal with domestic abuse, interstate and international child custody, and
parental abduction cases.� She went on to explain the way an interest in human
rights has manifested itself in her career as a family lawyer: “My area of
interest is interstate or international cases where a child has been endangered
and someone needs to get that child back. Family law is a very stressful field,
but you feel good when a parent comes to your office crying because a child
has been abducted by the other parent, and you’re able to get that child back.
Sometimes you don’t have success, and that’s hard, but the work can also be
very satisfying.�
Since her fellowship in 1995, Arnold has succeeded in integrating her interest
in French-speaking cultures with the law work that led her to Morocco, while
constantly staying connected to the human rights issues that she studied during
law school and her time in Africa. As she reflected on how she has been able
to combine these two professions with human rights as the thread that ties
them together, she said, “Practicing law is hard work, but it is also very
rewarding. You have to practice in a field you’re interested in, in something
you’re passionate about. For me, that is family law. And it’s the same with
teaching. To be successful, you have to have your heart in it.�