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SELECTED SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
Launch of "No Shame in Justice" Report
As the House of Lords Sexual Violence in Conflict Committee considers the UK's policy and practice of preventing sexual violence in conflict, panel members will consider how ending impunity is affected by the stigma faced by survivors. At the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in June 2014, survivors repeatedly called for the same things: ending impunity and ending the stigma they face. While the UK Government's Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative has focused on holding perpetrators accountable for their crimes, for some survivors, stigma can be a barrier to coming forward, and can have a greater impact on their lives.
As profiled in ELLE magazine.
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
UNWomen #HeForShe Tour
UN Women (@UN_Women) brought the first-ever HeForShe #GetFree University Tour to universities across the United Kingdom and France. The HeForShe #GetFree Tour was about creating a world where we can all feel free to be ourselves; to be emotional, to be ambitious, to be vulnerable, to be real. The Tour brought a global conversation on gender to young people around the world, enabling them to express themselves and explore their own understanding of gender, empowering them to lead us towards equality.
HOUSES
OF
PARLIAMENT
Women in Foreign Policy
Several countries now have a female majority in their legislature, and notions such as the ‘Hilary Clinton Doctrine’ or the #HeForShe campaign, which Emma Watson put her name behind at the UN, show that gender issues are moving up the agenda. However, the world is still a long way from the prospect of a woman leading institutions such as the UN, the World Bank and the WTO, and many parts of the world still remain belligerently opposed to the idea of female participation in the political process. This special 2030 Series event discussed why women still represent a minority in leading foreign policy positions, which barriers and prejudices they face, and what can be done.
IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON
London International Development Conference
This talk examined how a human rights-based approach to development can empower citizens to demand for delivery of the rights and services which they are entitled to, while at the same time developing the capacity of states to fulfil the obligations to protect, respect and promote the rights of their citizens.
SOUTHBANK
CENTRE
Changing Britain Festival
Britain's support of the United States in the Iraq War in 2003 was a defining moment for New Labour and Tony Blair. This event examined how the actions in both Iraq and Afghanistan changed attitudes to national security, terrorism and civil liberty? The panel included Bidisha, author of Asylum and Exile: Hidden Voices of London, Lucie Goulet, Dr Brian Brivati and Lindsey Hilsum.
THE MUSLIM
DEBATE
Freedom of Expression and the Right to Insult
According to Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights (1948), ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression’. However, much has changed since 1948 and many ambiguities exist when it comes to right of free expression within borders of a specific state. Whether it be Russia or United States, North Korea or South Korea, Arab States, South Asia or the European Union, every nation has its own set of laws which establishes their own take on freedom of expression. This debate invited people around the world to participate through votes and comments in order to voice their opinion and decide whether freedom of expression gives one 'the right to insult'.
EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT
US Drone Strikes in Pakistan
On 8 May 2013, a high-level hearing was held at the European Parliament in Brussels to discuss U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan. Other speakers included Pakistan’s Ambassador to the EU, H.E. Munawar Bhatti; Liberal Democrat European Spokeswoman on Justice & Human Rights, Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP; and a researcher from Amnesty International, Mustafa Qadri.
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