Violence against Women and Girls: Reason to Hope?

What hope is there for ending violence against women in the City, nationally and around the world? Currently in the UK, two women are killed by a current or former partner and around the world one in three women have been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused. Violence against women and girls is pervasive and not only experienced physically. It can be an everyday and ongoing experience of exclusion, objectification and marginalisation, and can result in torment both emotionally and mentally. In recent years we have witnessed an increase in sexual abuse and violence against women all over the world including towards the highest profile women in UK politics.

Join us as our panel of speakers talk about reasons to hope in the face of such violence, and point to ways we can all be part of positive change.

Speakers include:

Lisa Gormley, LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security – From 2000 to 2014 Lisa served as a legal adviser at Amnesty International’s International Secretariat, mostly specialising in women’s rights in international law. During this time, she participated in the negotiation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted in 2002, and the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, which was adopted in 2011.

Since leaving Amnesty International, Lisa has been teaching the module on women’s human rights law on the LLM program at Essex University (2015 and 2016). She has also written the Practitioners’ Guide on Women’s Access to Justice for Gender Based Violence (PDF) as a consultant for the International Commission of Jurists, published on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2016.

Iman Abou Atta OBE, Director Tell MAMA – Iman is the Director of Tell MAMA (Measuring antiMuslim Attacks) project in the UK. She is also the Founder of two not-for-profit organisations established to facilitate the socio-economic and political development of the Arab region. One of these being SCEME – Social Change Through Education in the Middle East and North Africa(www.sce-me.org). This organisation works on education for women and families and is also working on stopping the trafficking of young females from Iraq to neighbouring countries in the Middle East. Iman dedicates her time and efforts to building the capacity and skills of young people, women, civil society and political leaders across Europe and the Middle East to promote inclusive, participatory and cohesive societies.

Dr Elaine Storkey – a philosopher, sociologist, and theologian, who has held university posts at Kings College, London, Stirling, Oxford, Calvin College USA, and the Open University.

A broadcaster and writer, she has been involved with the BBC for 30 years. Her writing includes eight books and hundreds of journal articles. Elaine is a Fellow of Aberystwyth University, Senior Member of Newnham College, Cambridge and former Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity; she has also lectured in Africa, Asia and Haiti. Her presidency of Tearfund, in aid and development spanned 17 years and influenced her most recent book, Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and Overcoming Violence Against Women. For 28 years she served on the General Synod of the Church of England and has acted as Archbishop’s adviser, delegate to the World Council of Churches, and on many Boards and Commissions