Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War
On July 2 at 7 pm, Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari will give a lecture on Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War in the library of the Academy for European Human Rights Protection (Kerpener Str. 30).
Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari is an expert on family law and international women's rights. She is the founding director of the Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women at the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, where she is a professor.
In December 2018, she completed three terms (twelve years) on the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), during which she also served twice as Vice-Chair of the Committee and as the first Chair of the Working Group on Investigations. In 2018, she was named by Apolitical as one of the 100 most influential people in gender politics worldwide. In June 2023, she was shortlisted for the OHCHR Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls.
Prof. Halperin-Kaddari is campaigning for justice and recognition for the victims of the sexual violence and gender-based atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7. Since October 8, she has worked tirelessly to achieve this single goal. Her reputation as a leading human rights defender and her experience with CEDAW have enabled her to make representations and gain access to international human rights bodies and Israeli authorities. She has met with leading decision-makers, particularly at the United Nations - including the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk. She was instrumental in enabling the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten, to conduct a fact-finding mission to Israel. She has also given countless interviews to international media, briefed ambassadors, given presentations at missions and hosted webinars with communities around the world. She does this work as part of the Dinah Project to obtain justice and recognition for the victims of the October 7 sexual violence and gender-based atrocities perpetrated by Hamas, which she co-founded under the auspices of the Rackman Center.
We look forward to your participation in the event. Please register at flavia.oliveira
uni-koeln.de. You can download the flyer to the event here.