Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Conflict
A Discussion with Dr. Sarah Sewall, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights U.S. Department of State
Matrix is located on the 8th floor of Barrows Hall, on the UC Berkeley campus, near Telegraph and Bancroft Avenues, just up the hill from Sather Gate. There are entrances at both ends of the building, but only one of the elevators on the eastern side goes directly to the 8th floor. You can alternatively take the stairs to the 7th floor and walk up the stairs.
Please join us on February 26th for an interactive seminar with Dr. Sarah Sewall, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights with the U.S. Department of State, focused on a pressing global issue: the prevalence of sexual violence in conflict.
After describing the scope of the problem around the world, the Under Secretary will engage students in discussion about how sexual violence relates to other national security challenges like conflict and violent extremism, and will explore the steps the U.S. Government is taking to address these issues with more comprehensive approaches. Under Secretary Sewall will also share advice and reflections about how students at UC Berkeley can help end sexual violence in conflict, both now and later in their professional careers.
Dr. Sarah Sewall is a longtime advocate for advancing civilian security and human rights around the world. Dr. Sewall was sworn in as Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights on February 20, 2014. She serves concurrently as the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues. Over the previous decade, Dr. Sewall taught at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she served as Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and directed the Program on National Security and Human Rights.
Dr. Sewall has extensive experience partnering with the U.S. armed forces around civilian security. At the Kennedy School, she launched the MARO (Mass Atrocities Response Operations Project) to assist the U.S. military with contingency planning to protect civilians from large-scale violence. She was a member of the Defense Policy Board and served as the Minerva Chair at the Naval War College in 2012. She also led several research studies of U.S. military operations for the Department of Defense and served as the inaugural Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance in the Clinton Administration. Prior to joining the executive branch, Dr. Sewall served for six years as the Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to U.S. Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell and earned a Ph.D at Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
Introductory remarks will be delivered by Carla Hesse, Executive Dean of the College of Letters & Science, and Kim Thuy Seelinger, Director of the Sexual Violence Program at the Human Rights Center. A reception will follow. This event is co-sponsored by Social Science Matrix, the UC Berkeley Human Rights Program, the Goldman School of Public Policy, and the Human Rights Center at Berkeley Law.
For additional information, please contact Lynsay Skiba at lynsayskiba@berkeley.edu.