Legal Women UK publicación especializada en inspirar iniciativas para promover la paridad, la innovación en el liderazgo y buenas prácticas en el sector legal y empresarial. La reputada periodista Maroulla Paul con motivo del Día Internacional de la Mujer realizó entrevistas a «mujeres inspiradoras en el sector legal de todo el mundo». Comparto su publicación de nuestra conversación que define de la siguiente manera:
THE LEGACY OF WAR; THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM
A conversation about the importance of freedom with Human Rights lawyer, professor, advisor and expert, Erika Torregrossa Acuna.
Antonio Torregrossa was a Spanish lawyer who left Spain in the Civil War to go to live and work in Colombia. After a trial where he defended a trade unionist, he was assassinated.
Fortunately, their legacies live on today.
And Torregrossa’s legacy lives on through his granddaughter, Erika Torregrossa Acuna, whose name is synonymous with human rights. To list her roles, past and present, would take up more words than the entire count for this article but suffice to say she is an eminent lawyer, a professor, an adviser to the Government and a CEO of a company that educates businesses on human rights. She juggles so many balls so successfully it is almost impossible to believe, yet she does it all with grace, with compassion, with humour – and with a genetic DNA that has always fought for others.
Erika was born in Colombia in 1973 but has lived in Spain most of her life. From a young age, Erika knew that, like her grandfather she also wanted to become a lawyer to “defend people who don’t have resources and who are in difficult situations”.
“For the past five years, I have worked for the Spanish Government as an adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifically in the sector covering international corporation development. I travelled around the world, looking at the plights of women and refugees and it opened my eyes to the connection between companies and human rights. Legislation has been passed that companies need to ensure the protection of human rights so I decided to set up a company to advise companies on how specifically to implement human rights.”
Hence DIPLOCORP was born.
Erika has two daughters, 26 and 22 years old. She became pregnant while studying which made life even tougher for her; having to be a mother while trying to pass exams was not an easy road; but taking the easy option is not in Erika’s blood. And the hard work paid off, not just with her career but due to the fact that both of her daughters are extraordinarily proud of their mother and constantly tell her. Interestingly, when asking her what her biggest achievement so far is, she looks forward to what she can still do in the future. Watch this space!
Erika’s friends and family describe her as a ‘dreamer’ and indeed she is. She has big dreams. But what makes her so special is that she is more than capable of making dreams come true.