Founder of the DEIJB Lab
The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Belonging Laboratory (DEIJB Lab) was founded by Professor Puja Kapai in 2023, with a seed grant derived from the Global Pluralism Award from the Global Centre for Pluralism, which Professor Kapai received in recognition of her extensive work in advocating for inclusion and the advancement of the rights of minorities who were marginalised on the basis of gender, race, immigration status, religion, sexuality and other statuses. The DEIJB Lab’s work has been further supported by the University of Hong Kong’s Knowledge Exchange Strategic Impact Fund (2024-2025).
Professor Kapai is a multi-award-winning researcher, academic, and community justice advocate. She is an Associate Professor, Convenor of the Women’s Studies Research Centre, and Director of the Social Justice Summer Internship Programme at the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Her expertise lies in international human rights law, minority rights, and intersectional legal studies, focusing on the rights of marginalised communities.
Professor Kapai’s research reports, including
- The Status of Ethnic Minorities In Hong Kong 1997-2014 (2015)
- Understanding and Addressing Help-seeking Behaviours of Ethnic Minority and Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence (2015)
- Child Rights Impact Assessment: A Comparative Study (2018) and
- Doing Equality Consciously: Understanding Unconscious Bias and Its Role and Implications in the Achievement of Equality in Hong Kong and Asia (2019)
have been pathbreaking in terms of using data-driven approaches to putting issues impacting minority groups firmly on the government and civil society groups’ radars. Her recommendations for eradicating inequities have been adopted across policy-making and community service domains, spurring new support mechanisms, resources, and reforms. For more information on Professor Kapai’s work, please visit: https://law.hku.hk/academic_staff/pujakapai/.