On November 8th the CGGH speaker series is holding a special event in the form of a panel discussion.

The speakers, bringing together a diverse range of disciplines and expertise, will explore 'honour', a concept that exists in communities across the globe and should support people. However words such as dishonour and shame are often used to control people, in particular girls and women. A panel of experts will discuss how honour can become harmful. The topics to be discussed include forced marriage, honour based violence, honour killings, sati, vani, gang and tribal violence against girls and women.

The event will also feature survivor experience and this will allow for insight into the lives of someone who has endured living within a harmful honour system. Please come and join us to hear more about how honour can destroy lives.

This event is open for all to attend, however pre-registration is required. Please register here.

Speakers

Dr Phyllis Chesler

Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D, is an Emerita Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies at City University of New York. She is a best-selling author, a legendary feminist leader, a retired psychotherapist and an expert courtroom witness. She has lectured and organized political, legal, religious, and human rights campaigns in the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, and the Far East. Her work has been translated into many European languages and into Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Hebrew.

Dr. Chesler is a co-founder of the Association for Women in Psychology (1969), The National Women's Health Network (1974), and The International Committee for the (Original) Women of the Wall (1989). She is a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at The Middle East Forum, Advisor-in-Chief at Choices Global Institute of Healing & Education, a fellow at the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy (ISGAP), a founding member of SPME, and currently a member of SPME’s Council of Scholars. She is the author of seventeen books, including the landmark feminist classic Women and Madness, as well as many other notable books. Since 9/11, Dr. Chesler has focused on anti-Semitism and the demonization of Israel; the psychology of terrorism; the nature of propaganda and the importance of the cognitive war against fact and reason; honor-based violence and the rights of women, dissidents, and gays in the Islamic world. Dr. Chesler has published four studies, and is working on a fifth, about honor-related violence, including honor killings, and penned a position paper on why the West should ban the burqa; these studies have all appeared in Middle East Quarterly. She has testified for Muslim and ex-Muslim women who are seeking asylum or citizenship based on their credible belief that their families will honor kill them. She has published widely over the years in the mainstream media, such as NY Times, as well as at FOX, Middle East Quarterly, New York Post, FrontpageMag.com, Israel National News, PJ Media, Breitbart.com, Times of Israel and more. She lives in Manhattan and is a proud and grateful mother and grandmother.

Follow Phyllis @Phyllischesler

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Sabin Muzaffar

Sabin Muzaffar is the Executive Editor of Ananke - an online magazine celebrating visionary women. She has been in the publishing business for almost two decades and has worked for prestigious media entities from Pakistan’s SPIDER Internet magazine to UAE’s daily Gulf News and many more. Sabin believes in creating social impact and empowerment through education.

Recognizing a grievous void in digital space as far as documentation of the amazing work and achievements of women were concerned, Ananke - a non-profit, digital platform empowering women was launched by Sabin Muzaffar in December 2014. Through her platform, Sabin has created a virtual space to hold meaningful discussions and dialogue on issues including Women's health, education, participation in political life, care work, women in tech, violence against women, digital gender gap, pay gap and more. In 2015, Sabin launched Ananke’s VIMEO channel called POWER TALK to visually showcase women in leadership position. Sabin has worked for, as well as contributed numerous articles and interviews to, renowned, global publishing platforms online and off, including Gulf News, The News International, SHE magazine for women, BBVA OPENMIND, International Women's Initiative, LSE Human Rights Blog, ITP publishing and more. A staunch advocate of women's rights, she was named Empower Women Global Champion for Women’s Economic Empowerment 2015-2016. Later, Sabin was not only chosen as an Empower Women Mentor 2016-2017, but also selected to be a vision mentor at World Pulse in the same year. Sabin specialises in topics such as education and technology, as well as women’s economic empowerment. In 2017, Sabin launched Ananke’s Empower Program for Professional Women, a digital program, it currently boasts a formidable group of diverse women from the UAE, US, Australia, Kenya and Pakistan. Sabin has partnered with Empower Women in numerous events and campaigns such as Violence Against Women, 16 Days of Activism, HERstory Editathon etc. In addition, the platform has collaborated with a number of international and regional NGOs such as US-based Meera Kaul Foundation, Pakistan Innovation Foundation, Circle's Elevate campaign, Sayfty.com, The Red Elephant and more.

Follow Sabin @critoe

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Mandy Sanghera

Mandy Sanghera is an award-winning philanthropist, community consultant and global campaigner, as well as a international human rights activist and motivational Tedx speaker from UK, who has travelled all over the world empowering and motivating others. With over two decades of experience, Mandy is an expert in various development related fields. She has been driving innovation, building strategic partnerships, promoting advocacy and programming in the areas of human rights, gender equality, accountability and social justice globally. Mandy has spent the last 27 years raising awareness of harmful practices and the ideology of cultural traditions, and recently spoke at The UN in Geneva regarding witchcraft and Human Rights. Mandy has helped hundreds of individuals and now reaches thousands through social media and her generous amount of worldwide TV appearances and public speaking engagements. She regularly appears in international press. Mandy has been involved in several documentaries, raising awareness of social issues such as witchcraft, forced marriages, female genital mutilation and honour killings. Mandy has been one of the leads on vulnerable adults and forced marriages and was involved in writing the guidelines on disability and HBV for the forced marriages unit.

Follow Mandy @Mandy_Sanghera1

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Gwenton Sloley

Gwenton Sloley has worked in the housing sector as a specialist in relation to the housing of ex offenders, vulnerable young people and their families for over 10 years. During this time he became involved in the professional development of professionals in related sectors through his training and books. He has made a point of remaining rooted in the communities he serves which he believes has greatly contributed to the efficacy of his work.

Gwenton is recognised as having saved more lives than any other individual working in the violence sector over the last 10 years. The Home Office describe his amazing achievements in monitory terms by stating that he has saved the state approximately £42,500,000 during that period because in that time he has saved at least two lives a year, and the cost of investigating a murder is at least £1.700,000. It works out to approximately four lives a year over that period. We know it must be more than that because he is called at least twice a week to help families assessed as being at risk, move to a safe location. They are only deemed to be at risk when a proven murder attempt has taken place by an individual or individuals who have a track record of murder, which is known either through intelligence from a number of sources and or prior convictions. He does not deliver this service on a 9-5 basis because as we know the street never sleeps. As a consequence he is often in the homes of frightened families in the early hours of the morning reassuring frightened mothers and siblings that they will be taken to a place where they will be able to sleep at night and step out of their front door without fear. Often even with the threat of death hanging over their heads these families choose not to move, in such cases Gwenton can find himself back at the Nine Night of the young person and the family he had previously tried to save from the ultimate loss.

Follow Gwenton @Gwenton

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Chair: Asma Ashraf

Asma Ashraf is a registered nurse working in HIV and sexual health research at UCL in London. She is a tutor at the UCL Medical School and has delivered an innovative module on gender based violence focusing specifically on domestic violence, forced marriage and so called honour based violence. Asma teaches medical students about these topics and wants all health professionals to be able to support those facing forced marriage and honour based abuse. She trained as a nurse at City University's School of Health Sciences and has over 18 years of nursing experience working with ‘at risk’ populations facing forced marriage, honour based abuse, sexual crime, Trans* health, sex workers, gangs and youth offenders. She completed an MSc in Public Health in 2011, where her research explored forced marriage as a public health issue. Asma is currently co-leading the development of a forced marriage research network at UCL. She has organised events at UCL using creative methods to raise the profile of gender inequality and gender based violence through film and theatre.

Follow Asma @anakoi4

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Follow the event on Twitter @UCLGenderHealth.

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