Press Release: Women’s Learning Partnership Announces Research Initiative at CSW60 on Discriminatory Family Laws in Global South and Violence Against Women

Published: 
By:  Women's Learning Partnership
Ending Violence against Women
Reforming Family Laws

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 14,  2016

Media contact: 

Kimberly Schor, Phone  +1-301-654-2774; Email: wlp [at] learningpartnership.org

Bethesda, MD—Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace and The New School for Social Research Department of Gender Studies present When Home is Where the Harm Is:  Family Law Reform to Challenge Gender-Based Violence on March 17, 2016, 10:00am to 3:00pm at the 12th Street Auditorium/Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall  at The New School for Social Research.

In many ways, discriminatory family laws lie at the heart of women’s disempowerment. Throughout the world, articles of “family law” (also known as personal code), have been used to condone violence against women, including child marriage, marital rape, and even stoning for adultery. These are endemic forms of violence affecting millions of women globally.  As experts have shown, empirical evidence that gender inequality in family laws contributes to a state’s instability; reforming these laws would represent a significant path towards addressing the root causes of human insecurity.

In honor of the 60th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Women’s Learning Partnership will launch the first global campaign to reform family law to challenge gender-based violence at its conference at The New School on Thursday, March 17, 2016.

Mahnaz Afkhami, President of Women’s Learning Partnership and former Minister for Women’s Affairs in Iran, will open the conference by exploring the relationship between women’s empowerment and human security. Moderator Yakin Ertürk, former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, will discuss the relationship between discriminatory family laws and violence and how civil society can work with the United Nations to bring about legislative changes. Musimbi Kanyoro, CEO of Global Fund for Women, and Asma Khader, a prominent Jordanian human rights lawyer, will share stories about how policymakers and grassroots organizations have successfully reformed laws that impact women in difficult cultural contexts.  Moderator Kavita Ramdas, Senior Advisor on Global Strategy at the Ford Foundation,will highlight cultural and religious influences across faiths tying family law to violence against women. Expert panelists will provide recommendations on how the United Nations can achieve its Sustainable Development Goals through the empowerment of women. 

A list of featured experts follows.

About Women’s Learning Partnership: The inspired conversations at the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing led to the creation in 2000 of Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP). Beginning with 5 national organizations in Afghanistan, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Lebanon, and an international secretariat in Bethesda, Maryland, WLP is now a strong partnership of 20 autonomous women’s rights organizations in four regions of the world working in 50 countries. WLP is dedicated to women’s empowerment and leadership.

 “When Home is Where the Harm Is: Family Law Reform to Challenge Gender-Based Violence” 

Speakers:

 

Mahnaz Afkhami,(Iran/USA) President and Founder of the Women’s Learning Partnership

Yakin Ertürk, (Turkey) Former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women

Anne Gahongayire, (Rwanda) former Secretary General of the Rwandan Supreme Court; former Secretary General of the Ministry for Gender and Family Promotion

Tolekan Ismailova, (Kyrgyzstan) Director of Human Rights movement “Bir Duino Kygyzstan”

Musimbi Kanyoro, (Kenya) President and CEO of Global Fund for Women

Asma Khader, (Jordan) Former Senator in the Parliament of Jordan; former Secretary General of the Jordanian National Commission for Women

Jacqueline Pitanguy, (Brazil) Founder and Executive of Cepia

Kavita Ramdas, (India) Senior Advisor on Global Strategy, Ford Foundation; Former President and CEO of Global Fund for Women

Madeleine Rees, (UK) Secretary General of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom

Dubravka Simonovic, (Croatia) UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women

 

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