Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association and

Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights

present

Women’s Human Rights Speaker Series

The Women’s Movement in Pakistan:

Achievements and Challenges

Dr. Fouzia Saeed

Tuesday, October 9^th, 2007, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Briggs and Morgan, Minnesota Room

2200 IDS Center, 80 S. 8^th St., Minneapolis

Application will be made for one CLE credit.

Efforts to improve women’s conditions on the Asian sub-continent started well before the partition of Pakistan and India.  Some of the issues women are working to change today have persisted for decades.  Violence against women, sexual harassment, and political participation of women in mainstream politics will be examined and linked to issues like patriarchy, militarization and religious extremism, which are significant factors in the current political context.  Key achievements, lessons learned, and remaining challenges that the Pakistani women's movement faces, as well as the complexities and challenges faced by individual activists, will be discussed.

Dr. Fouzia Saeed is a social activist who has played a key role in the women’s movement in Pakistan for the last 25 years.  Much of her work has been around violence against women, sexual harassment at the work place, mobility of women and prostitution.  She has founded organizations and networks to respond to these issues both at the local level and through federal policy in Pakistan.  Her work in international development has been as a part of the United Nations Development Program, Action Aid, and the Aga Khan Foundation and as a consultant in over 13 countries.  Her most recent book is on prostitution (Taboo: The Hidden Culture of a Red Light Area), and it has been translated into several languages and used by several universities as a text.  She earned her doctorate in education at the University of Minnesota and was the recipient of the University of Minnesota Distinguished International Alumni Award in 1998.

Free and open to the public (registration required).  Please RSVP to Christine at cjones@briggs.com or 612-977-8126 by Friday, October 5^th.  Lunch will be provided for those who RSVP. 

This is one in a series of lunchtime speakers dedicated to improving awareness of women’s human rights issues.  Please join us the second Tuesday of alternating months for additional presentations.  For more information, contact Mary Hunt at Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, mhunt@mnadvocates.org or 612-341-3302, ext. 107, or see our website at www.mnadvocates.org.