INDIA BANGLADESH LEGAL AID AND SERVICES TRUST Sampada Sudheesh Venkatesh, Corpus Christi College, BA Jurisprudence, Second Year Undergraduate, Remote working Work Projects BLAST is a legal aid organisation that aims to improve access to justice for marginalised communities, through legal reform and aid. My main interests in their work, from the application stage itself, were workers’ rights and trans law reform. Over the course of my 6 weeks at the organisation, I contributed to 3 broad areas of work: Research: I compiled short, factual research notes, as well as longer, analytical pieces. Some of the factual notes included investigating an unfortunate factory fire incident - who were the owners of the factory, and what was the nature of victims of the fire. My long-term work included analysing the legal backing (if any) behind arbitrary arrests during Bangladesh’s strict Covid-19 lockdowns. I also drafted a concept note for a conference on inheritance laws as they apply to the transgender community in South Asia. Editing: BLAST encourages students from public universities in Bangladesh to increase their knowledge and capacity on sexual and reproductive health and empower them to advocate for change in their community through research fellowships. On this front, I edited two
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