New Documentary Honors Alumna’s Fight for Justice
Brisa De Angulo Losada ’12 is an attorney and victim advocate who, after surviving harrowing sexual abuse as a child in Bolivia, relentlessly pursued justice within the country’s highest courts and, ultimately, the international legal system. A documentary film about her decades-long fight for justice, Brisa, is expected to premiere in early 2025 and has already been shortlisted for the 2024 International Documentary Association (IDA) Documentary Awards.
Between September 2001 and May 2002, when Losada was just 16 years old, she was repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped by her 26-year-old cousin. When she reported the crime, she became one of the first adolescents to take a rape case to court in Bolivia where, according to the documentary, between 70 and 80 percent of women suffer some kind of domestic violence. In the Bolivian justice system, Losada encountered a hostile environment where the prosecutor didn’t believe her and the court system failed to protect her. In retaliation for pressing charges, much of her community—and even her own extended family—stood by her abuser. Her house was set on fire twice, and there were public calls for her to be lynched for seeking justice.
Undeterred, Losada decided to use her case to push for legal reform in the country that had failed her. At Rutgers Law School in Camden, she told her story to Professor Beth Stephens. Working with lawyers in Bolivia, Professor Stephens and her students filed a complaint with the Inter-American human rights system. They embarked on a decades-long pursuit of justice that culminated in a binding decision from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. They conducted research, wrote drafts, and represented De Angulo at hearings. Over the years,
the legal team expanded to include the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, and Equality Now, an international women’s human rights organization.
Finally, in 2023, the court ruled that the Bolivian government was internationally responsible for violating Losada’s rights by failing to prevent, address, punish, and remedy the sexual and institutional violence she endured. The court determined that Bolivia had discriminated against Losada based on her gender and age and had further re-victimized her through its judicial proceedings.
“Brisa has been an inspiration to girls and women in Bolivia, in the Americas, and around the world,” Professor Stephens said. “This landmark decision not only set legal precedents across the Americas, but it may also improve access to justice, prevent discrimination, and stop the re-victimization for millions of child and adolescent survivors of sexual violence.”
Today, Losada is leveraging her law degree from Rutgers as the founder and CEO of A Breeze of Hope, a charity that supports sexually abused children in Bolivia.
“It’s deeply meaningful to see this film recognized by the IDA,” Losada said in a statement. “My fight for justice was not just for me, but for every child who has experienced sexual violence. The ruling we achieved is a step toward ensuring that no child has to go through the same failures of the legal system that I faced. I hope this film reaches the hearts of many and shows that change is possible.”