'Can you sue President Barack Obama for me?' is the bold introductory line to Ewurabena's debut memoir.

A visionary, conceiver, creator, convener and an advocate, Ewurabena is the Founder and Director of an influential human rights and international justice organisation. She is a lawyer with practical and academic legal experience in Africa, Europe and North America.

She is the creator of the Hague Girls series, telling untold stories of gender-based violence and intersectional discrimination in a globalised world.

The stories are based on her experiences, observation of incidents, and recollection of events in her three decades of work as a human rights and international justice lawyer. The first in the series is her story, Hague Girls Part One: Fleeing.

Blurb

'Can you sue President Barack Obama for me?' After being targeted by a coordinated campaign of threats and media harassment, Ewurabena was forced to flee Ghana with her young family. But the last thing she expected was for President Obama to endorse the journalist behind it all.

In this captivating memoir, the first instalment of Hague Girls, Ewurabena sets out her side of the story. She charts the early course of her career as a human rights lawyer, from her student days in Minnesota to her role as the founder of a well-respected human rights organisation. With her characteristic insight and composure, she explains how the campaign against her unfolded, and in so doing explores the abuse of power and privilege in Ghana and beyond.

But she also finds warmth and humour amongst the heartache. Through it all, she shows how the unwavering support of friends and family, relaxing oxygen facials - plus a good, full-bodied red wine - make it possible to weather even the toughest of storms.

An intriguing and heart-breaking story of a strong woman forced out of her native Ghana by powerful forces. In a fluent and composed manner, Ewurabena gives us a unique insight into the culture and politics of a country where nothing is what it seems, and where the enemy is hard to distinguish from the friend. Hague Girls Part One: Fleeing will make you cry, smile, and think. 

Rianne Letschert

Rector Magnificus, Maastricht University