Women's Rights Panel

Deakin Human Rights and Refugees Society proudly presents our 2021 

Women's Rights Panel

We have some amazing panellists this year and we're so grateful to have them on board. Each panellist is an expert in their own field, and we are going to be asking them each a series of questions about their take on women's rights. Any and all revenues from this event will go directly to Victoria Women's Trust, a gender equality agency advocating for the rights of women, girls and gender diverse people.

Introducing...

Sheena Watt

As a Yorta Yorta woman (she/her) and a Labor member for the Northern Metropolitan Region, Ms Watt is the first Indigenous woman to represent Labor in the Parliament of Victoria. This comes roughly four decades after the first Indigenous man became an MP for Labor in the Victorian Parliament, and only three years after the first Indigenous woman was elected to the Victorian Parliament in 2017.

Maria Thattil

Ms Thattil (she/her) is Miss Universe Australia and a South-Asian Australian media personality, writer, speaker, founder of the Mind With Me series, model and digital creator. She was the third woman of colour to represent Australia at Miss Universe, placing in the top 10, and has a keen interest in social issues including diversity, inclusion, youth empowerment, mental health and gender equality advocacy.

Claire Rapson

Ms Rapson (she/her) is chair of the Victorian Women Lawyers’ Law Reform Committee, advocating for law reform which supports and promotes the understanding of women’s legal and human rights. She is also a consultant at Ernst & Young, specialising in advising government, private and non-for-profit clients across the human services sector, with a particular focus on family violence and gender equality.

Aisya Zaharin

Ms Zaharin (she/her) is an intersectional Muslim feminist who uses her academic platform for activism and shares the voices of those experiencing intersecting discrimination from multiple identities. She is a member of the Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Council (AGMC) and is one of the Board Directors of the Forcibly Displaced People Network (FDPN). She is also completing a PhD in navigating Asian values and media responsibility. Ms Zaharin holds a strong interest in intersectional feminism and understanding the depths of how people’s social identities can create overlapping inequalities and discrimination.

Bobbie Trower

Bobbie Trower (they/them) is the Senior Manager of Advocacy at Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Australia. They have expertise in policy, domestic violence, development/impact measurement and gender responsiveness and are helping shape Australia’s gender equality sector and it’s understanding of gender inclusiveness, pushing language, policy progress and barriers along the way.