Gay Johnson McDougall (born August 13, 1947, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American lawyer who has spent her career addressing international human rights and racial discrimination.
She was the first American to be elected to the body of 18 international experts who oversee compliance by governments worldwide with the obligations established under the treaty.
She also served as Special Rapporteur on the issue of systematic rape, sexual slavery, and slavery-like practices in armed conflict, in which capacity she presented a study to the United Nations Sub-Commission on Human Rights that called for international legal standards for prosecuting acts of systematic rape and sexual slavery committed during armed conflict.
As Special Rapporteur she also toured Sierra Leone with the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to assess the devastating impact the civil war had on civilian populations.
Prior to joining Global Rights, McDougall served as one of five international members of South Africa's 16-member Independent Electoral Commission which organized and administered that country's first non-racial elections.
McDougall was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1999 for her "innovative and highly effective" work on behalf of international human rights.