Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: A Threat to Women's Rights and Gender Equality



Sexual and gender-based violence against women is rooted in systematic and systemic discrimination of women’s human rights. It is a direct consequence of gross violations of women’s rights and these violations are further exacerbated during times of armed conflict. This erosion, violation of women’s rights and, gender inequality are a clear precursor of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence as mass atrocity crimes: genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. While key landmark normative benchmarks have been accomplished over the decades to equip international law to promote women’s rights and gender justice, the prevalence of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence calls for a recalibration of gender-power dynamics and an elimination of the impunity gap for these heinous crimes. It is time to join forces and advocate for leadership that has the will to move from commitments and declarations to real action towards gender justice. A gender justice framework rooted in a feminist and human-rights-based prevention approach.

The Center for International Human Rights in partnership with the Department of Law at the Free University of Berlin is pleased to present the fifth event in our Transatlantic Forum series, featuring…

Speaker: Jelena Pia-Comella, Adjunct Lecturer, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Discussant: Akila Radhakrishnan, President of the Global Justice Center

Organized by the Center for International Human Rights at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Department of Comparative Criminal Law, Criminal Procedural Law and Corporate Criminal Law at the Free University of Berlin

Co-sponsored by the Doctoral Program in Criminal Justice and the Master of Arts in International Crime and Justice at John Jay College

*Unfortunately due to technical difficulties, the video/audio cuts out for a few minutes during this recording

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