Law Alumna an International Champion Fighting Childhood Sexual Violence
Brisa De Angulo, whose life story is featured in an award-winning documentary, won a decades-long battle for legal reform in Bolivia that has had far-reaching influence on bringing sexual predators to justice worldwide. She will give the Rutgers Law School in Camden Commencement keynote address on May 22.
When Brisa De Angulo graduated from Rutgers School of Law in Camden in 2012, she left with much more than a juris doctorate. The law school, she says, provided her with armor and helped her find her voice to take on one of the world’s most troubling crimes: sexual violence against children.
De Angulo, who grew up in Bolivia, was repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped by a 26-year-old cousin there when she was 16. Her quest for justice as a teen more than 20 years ago was an excruciating challenge. Bolivian prosecutors were dismissive, and threats abounded, even from her family, and her home was set on fire twice.
Changing the criminal justice system in Bolivia became her life’s mission.
After earning psychology degrees from Eastern University near Philadelphia and Towson State University in Maryland, she and her husband, Parker Palmer CLAW’12, whom she met at Eastern, enrolled at Rutgers Law School in Camden together with a definitive mission.
“We both had a very clear mindset about why we were there and what we wanted to do there,” she says. “We wanted to take my case into the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.”
De Angulo is the founder and CEO of A Breeze of Hope, a charity that supports sexually abused children. In her commencement remarks, she plans to address the adversity she has faced and urge graduates to use their own challenges as inspiration.
“There were moments in my life when the weight of that reality felt unbearable,” she says. “When I felt invisible, silenced, and broken. But in the depths of that darkness, I made a decision: I would not let my story end there. I chose to fight. Not just for myself, but for every child who has ever been told to stay silent. That choice led me to Rutgers, where I earned my law degree.”
De Angulo credits several mentors at Rutgers, including Professor Sarah E. Ricks and Professor Beth Stephens, for helping her claim her painful story and present it publicly. During law school, she had to present her case before a mock judge and, overcome with doubt, De Angulo reached out to Ricks for guidance.
“She didn't let me give up,” De Angulo says. “I remember going. I was crying and shaking, but the level of satisfaction and power that I felt once I did it, I found my strength. It was a very difficult but very needed growth experience.”
De Angulo collaborated with Stephens, fellow Rutgers Law students, and Bolivian lawyers to submit a complaint to the Inter-American human rights system. The case, Caso De Angulo v. Bolivia, initiated a lengthy quest for justice that eventually resulted in a decisive ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In 2023, the court ruled the Bolivian government accountable for violating De Angulo’s rights by not addressing the sexual violence.
De Angulo’s years-long fight with the courts was chronicled in the recently released documentary Brisa, which was recognized by the International Documentary Association Awards on its best feature documentary shortlist.
“Brisa has been an inspiration to girls and women in Bolivia, in the Americas, and around the world,” Stephens said when the documentary was announced.
The victory in the Inter-American Court helped create new standards for 23 countries, De Angulo says, and her nonprofit is working in 17 more countries to help implement these new laws and practices. Her group has also helped train thousands of judges, government officials, prosecutors, and forensic doctors.
“I work on the ground with activist survivors, too, along with those government officials,” she says. “I met with Pope Francis, who just passed away, and I met with the priest who became Pope Leo. I’ve been working with the First Lady of Colombia, and we're planning an event with the first ladies of the different countries.”
There is still an element of danger to De Angulo’s life, she says. She moves around often with Palmer and their four children and keeps her daily schedule mostly under wraps.
“I’m not a very well-liked person in some circles,” she says. “I've put about 860 child sexual aggressors behind bars. There are jails filled with people I’ve helped put there, but we’ve also rescued thousands of children and that’s what I’m most proud of.”
Being chosen for the commencement, De Angulo says, was a “huge honor” and a “complete surprise.” She will be scanning the crowd for familiar faces.
“I really hope to see a lot of my professors there because there’s this deep connection to Rutgers and my formative years. They were there when I needed to grow, and I’d like to thank them again,” she says. “That’s one of the things I want to share with the students. Life isn’t about awards and achievements, but rather the relationships you’ve made along the way.”
Visit the Rutgers Law School 2025 Commencement page for more on the ceremonies.
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