Kasari Govender is a Canadian lawyer and government official based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She serves as British Columbia's Human Rights Commissioner, an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.[1][2] She has served on the board of directors for the University of Victoria, Pivot Legal Society, and the Society for Children and Youth of BC,[3] and co-chaired the Coalition for Public Legal Services (CPLS).[4] She has taught at the Peter A. Allard School of Law and Simon Fraser University (SFU).[3:1]
History
Govender was born and raised in Vancouver.[2:1] Her father was Indian, raised in apartheid Durban, South Africa.[5][6] His family was removed from their home when the Parliament of South Africa passed the Group Areas Act, segregating towns along racial lines.[6:1] Her mother is of European descent, raised in Vancouver.[2:2][6:2] Her parents met in the United Kingdom, where they lived for several years.[6:3] After moving back to Vancouver, Govender's mother worked as a policy analyst for the Government of British Columbia, and later a researcher of women's issues.[6:4]
Govender says she "grew up in a solid feminist household, with many conversations around inequalities and how they impact us."[2:3]
Education
Govender attended the University of Toronto for undergraduate studies.[2:4] She articled at a Toronto law firm where Mary Eberts and Beth Symes (future co-founders of West Coast LEAF) worked.[6:5]
She then received her law degree from the University of Victoria Faculty of Law and a Master's degree in international human rights law from the University of Oxford Faculty of Law.[3:2]
Career
Govender played "a pivotal role in establishing" the Rise Women's Legal Centre, serving as its founding president.[3:3][4:1]
From 2008-2019, Govender held various leadership positions at West Coast LEAF, and was appointed executive director in 2011.[3:4] She co-authored its 2012 report, "Blueprint for an Inquiry: Lessons from the Failures of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry", alongside future premier David Eby, Darcie Bennett and Katrina Pacey.[7] She also led West Coast LEAF's collaboration with the Define the Line research project at McGill University.[8]
In May 2019, Govender was announced as the new BC Human Rights Commissioner — the first since the British Columbia Human Rights Commission was abolished in 2002.[9] Her appointment was overseen by a bipartisan special committee that included Sheila Malcolmson, Stephanie Cadieux, Raj Chouhan and Greg Kyllo, all Members of Legislative Assembly.[9:1] She began her five-year term as Commissioner on September 3, 2019, with a dual mandate of "protecting human rights while building the organization from the ground up."[10][1:1][2:5]
COVID-19
On November 5, 2020, Govender published a guidance document titled "A human rights approach to mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic." This document was "updated over time to reflect changing circumstances," with revised versions published on November 23 and December 10, 2020, and April 23, July 22 and September 29, 2021.[11]
In December 2020, Govender penned an op-ed for The Province arguing that a generalized "collective, often subconscious racism upholds systemic racism and fuels social harms, whether or not we want to recognize it."[12]
Nearing the end of her term, Govender "indicated her interest to seek reappointment for an additional term." She was interviewed by a special committee of the Legislature of British Columbia on February 16, 2024.[13] On May 15, 2024, the committee published a report unanimously recommending Govender be appointed for a second five-year term, beginning September 2, 2024.[14]
Publications
- June 1, 2020: "Am I racist? Your initial answer might surprise you" published by The Province
External links
About the Office. BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. Retrieved October 24, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20231024030707/https://bchumanrights.ca/about-us/about-the-office/ ↩︎ ↩︎
Kasari Govender, B.C.'s Human Rights Commissioner - Advancing and Protecting Human Rights. (2022, June 6). Drishti Magazine. https://drishtimagazine.com/kasari-govender-b-c-s-human-rights-commissioner-advancing-and-protecting-human-rights/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Our team. BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. Retrieved January 29, 2026, from https://bchumanrights.ca/about-us/our-team/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Kasari Govender. (2017, April 18). Define the Line - McGill University. https://www.mcgill.ca/definetheline/kasari-govender ↩︎ ↩︎
Champions for Equality: Kasari Govender and Zoe Craig-Sparrow. (2020, March 13). Government House. https://ltgov.bc.ca/news/equality-and-inclusion/champions-for-equality-kasari-govender-and-zoe-craig-sparrow/ ↩︎
Pablo, C. (2020, March 5). B.C. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender seeks to build culture of empathy and compassion. The Georgia Straight. https://www.straight.com/news/1368096/bc-human-rights-commissioner-kasari-govender-seeks-build-culture-empathy-and-compassion# ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Bennett, D., Eby, D., Govender, K., & Pacey, K. (2012). Blueprint for an Inquiry: Lessons from the Failures of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, West Coast Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, and Pivot Legal Society. https://assets.nationbuilder.com/pivotlegal/pages/189/attachments/original/1353022676/Missing_Women_Inquiry_web_doc.pdf.pdf?1353022676 ↩︎
Community and Corporate Partners. Define the Line - McGill University. Retrieved January 29, 2026, from https://www.mcgill.ca/definetheline/about-us/community-and-corporate-partners ↩︎
B.C. names new human rights commissioner — the first in 17 years. (2019, May 31). CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kasari-govender-appointed-commissioner-1.5156744 ↩︎ ↩︎
Human Rights Commissioner. Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved November 5, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.11.05-223906/https://www.leg.bc.ca/dyl/Pages/Human-Rights-Commissioner.aspx ↩︎
A human rights approach to mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic. BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. Retrieved May 15, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.05.15-191203/https://bchumanrights.ca/publications/mask/ ↩︎
Govender, K. (2020, December 2). Am I racist? Your initial answer might surprise you. The Province. https://theprovince.com/opinion/kasari-govender-am-i-racist-your-initial-answer-might-surprise-you ↩︎
Phillip, J., & Letnick, N. (2024, May 15). Report of the Special Committee to Appoint a Human Rights Commissioner. Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. https://www.leg.bc.ca/committee-content/5217/SC-HRC_Report_42-5.pdf ↩︎
Special Committee to Appoint a Human Rights Commissioner. Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved January 29, 2026, from https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/committees/42ndParliament-5thSession-hrc ↩︎
