Countering Gender Apartheid with International Law

Open to everyone

The gender apartheid framework is about developing a more effective response to what the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called, “the biggest violation of women’s rights on Earth,” which is the situation of Afghan women and girls under draconian Taliban rule, as well as other situations of de jure subjugation of women, such as in Iran.

Registration is required for virtual attendance. To register, visit: https://tinyurl.com/bdze45ae.

Event Schedule:

9:00-10:15am – Welcome & Session I – The Global Fight to End Gender Apartheid An essential human rights struggle – Hybrid

Greeting:

• Neel Sukhatme, David A. Breach Dean of Law & Professor of Law (3-5 minutes)
• Karima Bennoune, Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law (speaking chair)

Opening Speeches:

• Azadah Raz Mohammad, End Gender Apartheid Campaign, Melbourne Law School (TBC) (remote)
• Sima Samar, Former Minister for Women’s Affairs (Afghanistan), and Former Chair of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission
• Richard Bennett – UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan
• Professor Valerie Oosterveld, University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law; Western Research Chair in International Criminal Justice (2024-2028); Special Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Crimes against Humanity

10:15-10:30am – Coffee Break

10:30-11:45am  – Session II – A Vital Alliance – International Lawyers and Frontline Women Human Rights Defenders together in the fight against gender apartheid

• Chair: Metra Mehran, End Gender Apartheid Campaign
• Professor Penny Andrews, John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law and Director, Racial Justice Project, New York University Law School
• Yalda Royan, Freedom Now, Afghanistan Program Officer
• Mariam Safi, Executive Director of the Organization for Policy Research and Development Studies (DROPS)
• Rangita de Silva de Alwis, Member, UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

11:45am-12pm – Break

12-1pm – Session III – International Legal Strategies for Countering Gender Apartheid in a Fraught Global Moment 

• Speaking Chair: Professor Hannah Garry, University of Southern California Gould School of Law;  Director, International Human Rights Clinic; Faculty Director, Justice and Accountability Initiative
• Sareta Ashraph, International Criminal Lawyer
• Baroness Helena Kennedy, Director, International Bar Association Human Rights Institute
• Professor Haroon Mutasem, Research Fellow at Humboldt University of Berlin
• Melissa Upreti, Former Member, UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls