Christiane Taubira founded the left-wing Guianese party Walwari, and was elected four times to the National Assembly of France (representing French Guiana), where she was the driving force behind the 2001 law that recognizes the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity. In 2002, she was appointed Justice Minister of France. In that capacity, she oversaw fundamental penal reforms that promote rehabilitation and lowered recidivism rates, and introduced a law that both legalized same-sex marriage in France, and allows same-sex couples to adopt children.
Ms. Taubira is strongly committed to civil rights, women’s rights, and the rights of disadvantaged youth. In the wake of the terrorist attacks France suffered in 2015, she published a book, Murmures à la Jeunesse, in which she argues that the French Republic has at its disposal all the tools and resources it needs to combat terrorism successfully.