This episode features Lisa Davis, Associate Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Human Rights and Gender Justice (HRGJ) Clinic at the CUNY School of Law.  Prof. Davis explains the particular vulnerabilities that women and LGBTIQ persons face in contexts of armed conflict, developments in international law concerning gender-based violence, and the crime of gender persecution. Also discussed is the work of the HRGJ Clinic, the stigma of sexual violence and associated challenges, and partnerships with nongovernmental organizations.   

UN Security Council Resolution 2467 significantly advanced recognition of the impact of conflict on exacerbating gender-based violence including by implicitly recognising LGBTI+ and non binary people, however mechanisms to document, understand and respond to the vulnerabilities faced by this group remain limited. Join Professor Lisa Davis, Special Advisor Gender Persecution with the International Criminal Court (ICC), and Dr Charbel Maydaa from the MENA Organization for Services, Advocacy, Integration and Capacity building (MOSAIC),  as they discuss the policy advancements and practical challenges in responding to the needs of LGBTI+ survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.

The first time Majid and Ahlam saved a gay person’s life, they didn’t even know what LGBT stood for. Word had reached them that three men were being held at home by members of their extended family, who were preparing to execute them for “shaming” the family.

Majid, a bulky 54-year-old who spent much of his life as a housepainter, and Ahlam, the 50-year-old widow of an intelligence officer in Saddam Hussein’s military, arrived at the house an hour later to find it surrounded by 15 armed men.

Three organizations announced a petition on Wednesday asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring charges against ISIS for persecuting the people under its control on the basis of gender — including the public execution of men alleged to be gay.

The petition is being submitted to the ICC by the New York-based women’s rights group Madre, the Organization for Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), and City University of New York School of Law. It will be formally presented Wednesday afternoon at an event with ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.