PSI Public Lectures
Upcoming public lectures
Wednesday, 3rd June, 2009 - 3.00pm-5.00pm
Najia, from RAWA: Women’s lives in contemporary Afghanistan
Since the invasion by NATO and American troops, life in Afghanistan has become intolerable, particularly for women. The rhetoric given at the time to explain the invasion was the ‘liberation of women’ and ‘the establishment of a democratic, socially improved Afghanistan’. But seven years down the track, lack of security, poverty, an ever increasing number of civilian deaths and injuries caused by both insurgent and western forces and the rise of corrupt and powerful warlords is commonplace. For women and girls, life is hardest. Early forced marriage, rape, the increasing number of destitute widows, common and extreme domestic violence and stark gender inequality, are part of everyday life.
For girls, there is the constant fear of kidnap or assault in public places, even on their way to school and, just recently, the reintroduction of archaic, misogynist laws to control women’s movement in public and formalise males’ sexual right over their wives have been formalised. Suicide by self -immolation is common and tragic. At the same time, the extensive presence of westerners in the country has seen property, rent and food prices escalate, greatly disadvantaging ordinary Afghans. Many are on the brink of starvation.
RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, (http://www.rawa.org) has been actively supporting the most needy women and girls, for over 30 years and continues its extraordinary work in these difficult time, running literacy classes, schools, orphanages, small business projects and much more, still under threat of death, whilst publicly advocating for women’s human rights.
LOCATION:
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
Theatre H238
Queries: janemaree.maher@arts.monash.edu.au
Past events
Friday, 22 May 2009
"Terrorist Rehabilitation and Community Engagement"
Professor Rohan Gunaratna
Abstract: Terrorist rehabilitation is the answer to two grave challenges the
world is faced with today. First, Al Qaeda and its family of groups
specifically target the Muslim population. The contemporary wave of violence
and counter violence produces terrorist recruits and extremist supporters.
Those exposed to the vicious ideology believe in the philosophy and
methodology of Al Qaeda. They need to be ideologically and theologically
rehabilitated. Second, contemporary detention and prison conditions
contribute to radicalization. Unless detainees and inmates are kept in
isolation, they become susceptible to indoctrination and training by fellow
detainees and inmates. In most penitentiary and detention facilities,
detainees and inmates are housed communally. In some facilities, both
criminal inmates and security detainees are co-located leading to an
exchange of skills and will as well as co-recruitment and alliances that
persist after release.
The reverse of radicalization in custody is rehabilitation. To address the
above-mentioned problems, rehabilitation should be made available in every
facility housing terrorist detainees and inmates. After examining the
practices of terrorist rehabilitation programs, the presentation argues why
a global regime on terrorist rehabilitation is a vital tool in the fight
against terrorism.
Professor Gunaratna is a member of the Steering Committee of George
Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute, and also
Senior Fellow both at
Fletcher School for Law and Diplomacy's Jebsen Centre for Counter Terrorism
Studies and the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism,
Oklahoma. A former Senior Fellow at the United States Military Academy's
Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point, he holds a masters in
international peace studies from Notre Dame, US, and a doctorate in
international relations from St Andrews. He is currently head of
Singapore's International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism
Research (ICPVTR), one of the largest specialist counter terrorism research
and training centres in the world.
Thursday 21 May
"The Money Trail: Finding, Following and Freezing Terrorist Finances"
Dr Matthew Levitt
U.S. and international efforts to combat the financing of terrorism are an underappreciated and little-understood aspect of the global counterterrorism campaign. But since terrorist attacks are often inexpensive to mount-the September 11 attacks were staged for less than $500,000-why should governments devote so much attention to tracking and severing the money trail for terrorism? How effective have U.S. and international efforts to combat terrorist financing been against al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Hizballah, and what more can be done by the Obama administration?
 |
Dr. Matthew Levitt
Dr. Matthew Levitt is Director of Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Previously, he served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury where he played a central role in efforts to protect the U.S. financial system from abuse and to deny terrorists, weapons proliferators, and other actors the ability to finance threats to U.S. national security. He was a co-convener and co-author of The Washington Institute's Rewriting the Narrative: An Integrated Strategy for Counterradicalization. Dr Levitt is currently in Australia as a guest of the Australia-Israel Jewish Affairs Council. |