Gender-Based Violence: A Raging Pandemic | Maryum Saifee

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a harmful practice that transcends religion, geography and class, and is carried out as a way to control women’s sexuality. While studying at the University of Texas, Maryum Saifee heard about FGM for the first time — which soon unearthed a dark memory from her childhood.

According to the UN, gender-based violence is the most pervasive yet least visible human rights violation in the world. It is a global pandemic that affects 1 in 3 women in their lifetime. 

More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to the harmful practice of FGM.  This episode examines why FGM and other forms of gender-based violence are prevalent in societies. As a survivor, Maryum shares how cultural and religious norms allow perpetrators to go unpunished. We explore solutions to protect survivors and put an end to gender-based violence.

Featuring policy and advocacy insights from experts: Prof. Yakın Ertürk, former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Natasha Latiff, Human Rights Lawyer at SAHR and Women for Justice Afghanistan.

The Elders Special Segment Guest:  Graça Machel, Freedom Fighter, International Advocate for Women’s and Children’s Rights, and Founding Member of The Elders.

Hosted by: Hazami Barmada, Founder & CEO, Humanity Lab Foundation.

---

FOR ADDITIONAL LEARNING ON THIS TOPIC, download our free educational toolkit and "policy deep-dive" document. We invite you to use this episode/toolkit for continued learning, advocacy and activism.

---

Speaker Biographies:

Maryum Saifee is a Human Rights Advocate at the Oslo Women's Rights Initiative

Maryum Saifee is a human rights advocate working with the Oslo Women's Rights Initiative and co-founder of the #FreeToBe campaign. She participated in this podcast in her personal capacity. Prior to OWRI, Saifee served as a U.S. diplomat for over a decade with overseas postings in Cairo during the early days of the Arab uprising in 2011, as well as Baghdad and Erbil, and most recently, she was spokesperson for the U.S. Consulate in Lahore. She was also a policy advisor in the Secretary's Office of Religion and Global Affairs and the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues. Saifee was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow from 2018-19. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jordan and an AmeriCorps Volunteer in Seattle working with South Asian and Muslim immigrant survivors of domestic violence. She was a consultant at the Ford Foundation, Women Deliver, UNDP's Regional Bureau of Arab States, and Acumen Fund. Saifee is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She is a 2019 Presidential Leadership Scholar and serves on the advisory boards of the Athena Leadership Project, Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security's New York chapter, Too Young to Wed, The US Network to End FGM/C, Sahiyo, and the Center for Women, Faith, and Leadership. Her advocacy work has appeared in the Guardian, NPR's Weekend Edition, Ms. Magazine, Al Jazeera, and the Economist. Twitter: @MaryumSaifee, @oslOWRI

Professor Yakin Ertürk is a former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and a Human Rights Expert

Yakın Ertürk is professor emeritus of sociology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara. Her professional experiences include: consultancies for national and international agencies on rural development projects; employment as director of UNDAW (1997-99) and UNINSTRAW (1999-2001); international and regional human rights monitoring mandates: UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women (2003-09); member of Independent International Commission of Inquiry of the June 2010 events in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan (Oct. 2010-April 2011); member of Independent Commission of Inquiry for Syrian Arab Republic (Sept. 2011 – March 2012); member European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). From Sept 2017 to May 2018 she was a Global Visiting Associate at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) and the Institute for Women’s Leadership (IWL) Consortium, Rutgers University. She is the founding member of the Turkish Antenna of Mediterranean Women’s Mediation Network. Her recent publications include: Violence without Borders: Paradigm, Policy and Praxis Concerning Violence against Women (2016); Feminist Advocacy, Family Law Reform and Violence against Women (Co-editor, Routledge 2019); “Political Economy of Peace Processes and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda,” Conflict, Security and Development (2020). Yakın Ertürk holds a PhD in development sociology from Cornell University.

Natasha Latiff is a Human Rights Lawyer and co-Founder and Legal Director of SAHR and Women for Justice Afghanistan

Natasha Latiff is an acclaimed human rights lawyer represents victims in cases of rape, sexual violence and torture. She is the Co-Founder and Legal Director of two legal action organisations, ""SAHR"" which operates globally and ""Women for Justice Afghanistan"" which operates in Afghanistan. Through her organisations, she takes some of the most high-profile sexual violence cases to hold States and institutions accountable. She has served as a Legal Advisor and Legal Consultant to several INGOs and UN entities. She advises on human rights issues and cases such as rape, sexual violence, political persecution, torture, virginity testing and murder. She has submitted expert opinions in the courts of Switzerland and United States. Through her work, she has secured compensation for victims; held government officials accountable; released women from prison in Afghanistan. The former Attorney General of the United Kingdom, former President Bill Clinton and former Dean of School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, has recognized her contribution to pro bono work globally. She holds an LL.B. from the University of Warwick and an LL.M. with Distinction from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She is admitted to practice as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore. Twitter: @SAHR_NGO, @natasha_latiff 

Graça Machel is Deputy Chair of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, who work together for peace, justice and human rights.

Graça Machel co-founded The Elders with her husband, Nelson Mandela in 2007. She is a renowned international advocate for women’s and children’s rights. As Education Minister in Mozambique’s post-war government, she oversaw an increase in primary school enrolment from 40% of children in 1975 to over 90% of boys and 75% of girls by 1989. In 1994, she was appointed by the UN Secretary-General to assess the impact of armed conflict on children. Her landmark report established a new and innovative agenda for the comprehensive protection of children caught up in war. Graça Machel is Founder and President of the Foundation for Community Development (FDC) and Founder of the Graça Machel Trust.

Hazami Barmada is the Founder and CEO of the Humanity Lab Foundation and Executive Producer and Host of the Finding Humanity Podcast

Hazami is a social entrepreneur, thought leader, and public affairs and social impact expert recognized by Forbes as an “inspirational agent of change.” She has consulted for many leading global brands including the United Nations, United Nations Foundation, Aspen Institute, and the Royal Court of the Sultanate of Oman. She served as the Coordinator for the United Nations Secretary General's World Humanitarian Summit, an Advisor to the first-ever United Nations Secretary-General's Youth Envoy, as as a member of the UN's SDG Strategy Hub. Hazami has a Masters from Harvard University where she was an Edward S. Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management. She studied social and public policy at Georgetown University and has a BA from Rhodes College in Anthropology and Sociology. Twitter @hazamibarmada; Instagram @hazami

---

Finding Humanity is a production of Humanity Lab Foundation and Hueman Group Media. This episode is made possible with support of Vodafone Americas Foundation. To learn more about their programs and how you can support their network of partners, visit vodafone-us.com 

Subscribe, rate and leave us a review. Follow us on Twitter + Instagram @find_humanity and Facebook.