Shana Tabak

Shana Tabak is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and an Affiliated Scholar with the Institute for the Study of International Migration. She is a prominent human rights lawyer and scholar with deep expertise in global migration, refugee law, gender justice, and climate justice.

Her academic and professional affiliations include:

• Adjunct Professor of Human Rights, Georgetown University Law Center
• Affiliated Scholar, Institute for the Study of International Migration
• Former clinical law professor at American University and George Washington University
• Lecturer at Emory Law, Georgia State Law, University of Georgia School of Law, Universidad de Antioquia, and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Shana Tabak's research and advocacy focus on the intersection of human rights, migration, and gender-based violence. Her work integrates legal scholarship with on-the-ground litigation and policy advocacy, particularly in the areas of asylum, detention reform, and climate-induced displacement. She has led international human rights litigation before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, United Nations mechanisms, and U.S. courts, with a strong emphasis on protecting vulnerable populations, especially immigrant survivors of gender-based violence.

Her professional commentary and scholarship have been widely recognized and featured in major media outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, Reuters, CNN, HBO, NPR, and El País. This public engagement amplifies her impact in shaping discourse on human rights and migration policy.

Notable honors and distinctions include:

• Fulbright Scholar in Bolivia studying migration and international development
• Clerkship at the International Court of Justice in The Hague

Tabak has played a significant role in advising and mentoring law students through her clinical teaching roles at American University and George Washington University, where she led students in real-world human rights litigation on LGBTI+ rights, climate justice, and refugee protection. Her leadership extends to institutional engagement, having co-chaired the Atlanta Mayor’s Council on Immigration and served as a legal monitor in children's detention centers on the U.S./Mexico border. She founded and led the Tahirih Justice Center Atlanta, establishing it as a leading voice in immigrant rights and asylum litigation.

She is actively involved in research and advocacy through her affiliation with the Institute for the Study of International Migration and continues to contribute to interdisciplinary scholarship on humanitarian emergencies and forced migration.