From May 22, 2019 1:00 until 2:00

At 10th Floor, Church Center of the United Nations, 777 United Nations Plaza

In December 2018, the international community marked the 70^th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. That same month, the Global Justice Center released its latest white paper, entitled Beyond Killing: Gender, Genocide, & Obligations Under International Law. It underscores how gender, and preconceived beliefs related to it, affect perpetrators’ planning and commission of coordinated acts of genocidal violence in order to maximize the destructive impact on vulnerable groups protected under international laws, such as the Genocide Convention.

Genocide and other atrocity crimes, by the perpetrators’ own design, affect women and men in distinct ways by reason of their gender. Women and girls are often directly targeted in non-killing acts of genocide and are disproportionately burdened by the economic and social consequences of genocidal violence, whilst men and boys are often targeted in mass killings in line with their perceived gender roles as leaders and fighters. However, there has been a continued failure by the international community to acknowledge such gender-specificity in legal frameworks for accountability for such crimes, undercutting our ability to mobilize the Genocide Convention’s legal obligations to prevent and punish genocide.

More than 70 years on, genocide and other atrocities are still committed in many parts of the world and much remains to be done to better prevent these crimes and to strengthen accountability frameworks to get justice for victims. This May, the Global Justice Center (GJC) and the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP) would like to invite you to join us for a panel event on the sidelines of the upcoming UN Security Council debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict to raise awareness around the need for the inclusion of a gendered analysis to illuminate the multi-dimensional nature of genocide and other atrocity-related crimes to better prevent their occurrence.

Speakers:

• Ms. Razia Sultana, Founder and Chairperson of Rohingya Women Welfare Society
• Mr. Grant Shubin, Deputy Legal Director at the Global Justice Center  
• Prof. Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Director of the Benjamin Ferencz Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention Clinic and the Faculty Director of the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights
• Ms. Juliette Lehner, Associate Political Affairs Officer, UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect
• Moderator: Dr. Abigail Ruane, Director of the PeaceWomen Programme of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)

As space will be limited, please register using this form or email Ms. Liz Olson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 5:00pm on Friday, May 17, 2019. A light lunch will be served.

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From May 02, 2019 6:00 pm until 8:30 pm 

At LSE Center for Women, Peace and Security, Wolfson Lecture Theatre

Overview:

The event marks the public launch of the Gendered Peace project which is funded by the European Research Council. In 2014 the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) launched its Policy Paper on Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes to strengthen “expertise and commitment to the prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes”.  Notwithstanding this ambition, five years on, the Court’s track record remains disappointing and it would appear that much more work must be done.  

This event is designed to open up a discussion on the multi-dimensional nature of the core categories of international offences through a gender perspective to evaluate progress, identify setbacks and explore future options.  What does a gender analysis add to our understanding of these offences?  How can international criminal law better deliver on gender justice?

Speakers:

• Patricia Viseur Sellers, International Criminal Lawyer 
• Akila Radhakrishnan, President of the Global Justice Center
• Christine Chinkin,  Professional Research Fellow 

 

From April 25, 2019 18:15 until 20:00

At United Nations Headquarters, New York City, CR11

Speakers:

• H.E. Ms. H. Elizabeth Thompson, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations
• Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict
• Karim Khan QC, Special Adviser and Head of UN Investigative Team to promote accountability for crimes committed by
• Susana SáCouto, Director, War Crimes Research Office, American University Washington College of Law
• Leslie Thomas, Director and Producer

Overview:

The Prosecutors is a documentary that tells the story of three dedicated lawyers who fight to ensure that sexual violence in conflict is not met with impunity. Filmed over five years on three continents, it takes viewers from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Bosnia and Herzegovina to Colombia on the long journey towards justice.

The Global Justice Center is proud to co-sponsor this event alongside the Permanent Missions of the United Kingdom, Colombia, Canada, Chile and Costa Rica to the UN and Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice. Join us for a 30-minute screening of The Prosecutors, followed by a panel about prosecuting sexual violence in conflict. 

From April 19, 2019 10:00 until 17:00

At Watson Center, Yale University

Overview:

The symposium, organized by the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University, intends to examine the challenges facing the Yazidi people in the wake of the attempted genocide against the Yazidi initiated by ISIL in August 2014. Presentations may explore novel conceptual and theoretical approaches as well as case studies with broader implications.  Nadia Murad, Recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, will deliver the keynote address.  

Speakers:

Prosecution Issues: Focusing on strategies to pursue the perpetrators of the genocide

• Kjell Anderson, Instructor in Peace & Conflict Studies, University of the Fraser Valley
• Naomi Kikoler, Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide
• Akila Radhakrishnan, President of the Global Justice Center
• Grant Shubin, Deputy Legal Director at the Global Justice Center

Protection At Home and Abroad: Focusing on the challenges facing asylum-seekers abroad, and risks to the community in Iraq

• Emily Feldman, Journalist and Editor
• James Freda, Human Rights Officer at the United Nations Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict
• Melinda Taylor, Counsel in International Criminal Law and Human Rights

Preservation of Culture and Society at Home and Abroad: Focusing on the need to preserve and promote Yazidi culture, and the strategies for doing so

• Tutku Ayhan, PhD Candidate in Security Studies at the University of Central Florida
• Matthew Barber, PhD Candidate in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, University of Chicago
• Güley Bor, Researcher at the Conflict Research Programme-Iraq
• Salema Mirza, Instructor and Advisor at the Yazidi Cultural Center and Volunteer at Yazda