It’s unusual to hear a lawyer say that “the law itself is not enough.” But that’s the conclusion 2016 Research Award recipient Gloria Song came to in her research on how Guyana implements its Domestic Violence Act. “You also need all the social support systems in place to deal with the issue as a whole,” she says. “That’s super uncomfortable for lawyers.”

Song selected Guyana for her research because “I’m really interested in looking at jurisdictions that are very sparsely populated,” she says. “I felt like Guyana had a lot more similarities to Nunavut, where I was practising before.”

Following a Master’s in Law degree, Song wanted “to see if I can transition into becoming a more research-based sort of practitioner. I can say I now have experience doing field research, doing qualitative research, setting up a major research project.”

At IDRC, Song also helped organize major conferences on access to justice and on family law, areas she’s “really interested in. I feel honoured that I was able to work on such important issues,” says Song. “I hope that I was as useful to IDRC as IDRC has been useful to me.”