Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in the Indo-Pacific: Reporting, Advocacy and Justice

Join a stellar panel of experts in this FREE WEBINAR presented by CEVAW

TOPIC: Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in the Indo-Pacific: Reporting, Advocacy and Justice

The United Nations General Assembly declared 19 June as the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. The day aims to raise awareness of the need to end conflict-related sexual violence, to honour victims and survivors, and pay tribute to those who dedicated their lives to and lost their lives in standing up for the elimination of these crimes.

CEVAW will host a 90-minute webinar with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region as a site of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence. The webinar will hear experiences from actors engaged in reporting, advocacy, and justice across five locations in the Indo-Pacific region: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines, and discuss priorities for realising a survivor-centred response across different contexts within the
region.

In this webinar, we will discuss:

• How roles and situations differ in advocating and/or responding to conflict-related sexual violence.
• Challenges that survivors experience in accessing survivor-centred services in this context.
• What more can and should be done to effectively implement survivor-centred approaches.
• How we (as researchers and practitioners) collectively create a community of practice dedicated to victims-survivors of sexual violence in conflicts.

EVENT DETAILS

DATE: Wednesday 19th June 2024

TIME:5:00pm (AEST) start, finishing at 6:30pm

DURATION:90 minutes (incl Q&A)

LOCATION: Online - a link will be emailed to you with the viewing details

OPENING REMARKS:  Professor Noeleen Heyzer, Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

PANELLISTS

Artemis Akbary, Afghan LGBTIQ+ Organisation (ALO)

Artemis Akbary (She/He/they) is an Afghan LGBTIQ rights activist and the founder and executive director of Afghan LGBTIQ+ Organisation (ALO), an international advocacy organization dedicated to promoting the human rights of Afghan LGBTIQ people and LGBTIQ asylum seekers. Artemis is a radio producer and presenter of Radio RanginKaman (Rainbow Radio), the first and only media outlet for Afghan and Iranian LGBTIQ people. Artemis studied international relations and European Politics and they have presented on LGBTQ+ rights issues in panels at the UN Security Council, the European Parliament, and other high-profile international platforms.

Eri Taniguchi, UNFPA Myanmar

Ms. Eri Taniguchi currently works with UNFPA Myanmar as Gender Equality/Gender-based Violence (GBV) Programme Specialist. She has more than 15 years of working experiences in the field of gender equality and GBV in both development and humanitarian settings. She joined UNFPA in 2011 and worked previously in Mongolia, Somalia and Iraq. In Myanmar, she has been working to ensure availability of and accessibility to quality GBV services during COVID-19 pandemic and the following political/humanitarian crisis and expanded partnership with CSOs and women-led organizations/women's rights organizations in the past 3 years. Since the end of 2022, she has also been serving as CRSV focal point and co-chairing Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Arrangements (MARA) Working Group in Myanmar.

Lilly Be’Soer, Voice for Change

Lilly Be’Soer is a passionate advocate for women’s rights and supporter of the political, economic, and social empowerment of women in Papua New Guinea. As the founder and Executive Director of Voice for Change, she leads and works tirelessly to advance gender equality and to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in Jiwaka Province, in the Highlands region. Lilly serves as the chairperson of the Highlands Regional Human Rights Defenders Movement Network. She is also a dedicated member of the Pacific Network of Women Working Against Violence Against Women and plays an active part in shaping policies as a Committee Member of the Jiwaka Provincial Health Advisory Board and the National Committee on Ending Violence Against Women in PNG. Lilly was honored with the Pacific Human Rights Defenders Award in 2010.

Bhavani Fonseka, Centre for Policy Alternatives

Bhavani Fonseka is a Senior Researcher and Attorney at Law with the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA). Her work has revolved around assisting victims and affected populations across Sri Lanka, legal and policy reforms and public interest litigation (PIL). She is the editor of the books Elusive Justice & Emblematic Cases in Sri Lanka (2023) & Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka: Moving Beyond Promises (2017) & co-editor of the book Salient Aspects of Public Interest Litigation Jurisprudence in Sri Lanka (2023). She is presently a member of the policy committee of Human Rights Watch and a board member of Women Leaders in International Justice and Accountability. She was an adviser to the Consultation Taskforce appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka in 2016 and a member of the drafting committee to formulate the National Human Rights Action Plan for Sri Lanka for the period 2017-2021.


Daphne Iris A. Macatimbol, Nonviolent Peaceforce

Daphne Iris A. Macatimbol is the Regional Gender Advisor/Manager at Nonviolent Peaceforce, leading the women, peace, and security program in the Philippines with a particular focus on the reintegration of Women Ex-Combatants.
With 15 years of experience in development and humanitarian work, her expertise lies in conflict prevention and management, Early Warning Early Response, Women Peace and Security, and emergency response, including case management of grave child rights violations and sexual violence in armed conflict. She is also a teacher by profession and holds a Bachelor of Education degree from Mindanao State University. She led the Nonviolent Peaceforce team in responding to the Marawi Siege, successfully reintegrating over 60 hostage survivors. She also supports the country program in Myanmar for developing Community-Driven Early Warning Early Response mechanisms to enhance the self-
protection and resilience of civilians during conflicts.

MODERATOR 

This event will be moderated by CEVAW Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Phyu Phyu Oo.  Her research interests include addressing pressing issues of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict and crisis settings. 

ABOUT CEVAW

The Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW) is the world's first Centre to address the full range of forms of violence against women in Australia and the Indo-Pacific region.

Headquartered at Monash University, the CEVAW network comprises 13 Chief Investigators from six Australian universities, and 45 Australian and international partner organisations.

With a $35M investment from the ARC (Australian Research Council), CEVAW is poised to make significant global impact by examining the structural drivers that cause and compound violence against women, and pioneering new, evidence-based approaches to radically improve policy and practice across Australia and the Indo-Pacific.

The Centre mobilises survivor-centric and Indigenous approaches, interdisciplinary collaborations, and Indo-Pacific partnerships to deliver scalable approaches to eliminate violence against women across the legal, security, economic, health, and political systems of Australia and the region.

This Centre is funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council.