Sexual violence is often the ‘silent crime’ of armed conflicts, leaving largely invisible scars that too often go unnoticed. For practitioners and researchers alike, how we talk and think about sexual violence has real-world consequences for the recovery of people affected by it.

To commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, join the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for a conversation on the importance of addressing this issue in a proactive, multidisciplinary way.

Moderator

Bina D’Costa is Professor in the Department of International Relations in the Coral Bell School. Bina’s research interests span migration and forced displacement; children and global protection systems; gender-based violence in conflicts; and human rights and impunity. She has undertaken studies on refugees, stateless communities and IDPs, and has provided inputs and technical advice to Human Rights bodies, UN agencies and NGOs.

Speakers

Kirsten Ainley is Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations in the Coral Bell School and Deputy Principal Investigator of the GCRF Gender, Justice and Security Hub. Her research focuses on international policy and practice in military, legal and development-focused interventions, and the impacts of these interventions. She has published on international criminal law, transitional justice, the International Criminal Court and the Responsibility to Protect, and her current work focusses on methods of evaluating the gendered impacts of transitional justice programmes.

May Maloney is a Sexual Violence Advisor for ICRC based in Geneva. She has over a decade’s experience addressing sexual and gender-based violence, gender and diversity and social inclusion in the human rights, community development, torture and trauma, and humanitarian fields. Her work focuses on technical field support and leading the Sexual Violence team’s humanitarian diplomacy priorities, operational research outcomes, and external relations. She is the winner of the 2018 Mary Fran Myers Gender in Disasters Award for her work spearheading a team of local female humanitarian actors across the Asia Pacific in researching the impacts of disasters on gender-based violence.

Rebecca Piam is a Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Field Officer with ICRC in Papua New Guinea. She has a bachelor’s degree in counselling from Divine Word University in PNG and a counselling diploma from Griffith University in Australia. Rebecca works directly with communities in the PNG highlands to improve access to and the quality of mental health and psychosocial support and services.

This event is jointly hosted by Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs and the International Committee of the Red Cross.