Fiona Sampson, C.M.
Toronto, Ontario
Member of the Order of Canada
For her commitment to human rights, particularly those of women and girls in Africa.
Fiona Sampson has devoted her professional life to defending the rights of vulnerable people. A lawyer and human rights scholar, she applied Canadian expertise in Charter litigation to international human rights issues by founding the Equality Effect,
an interdisciplinary and collaborative social justice group devoted to making the rights of women and girls real. Its achievements include the 160 Girls case, which made legal history in Kenya and has concretely improved the lives of millions of girls, setting the high-water mark for access to justice for sexual assault victims.