Human Rights Talk Show: Violence against women and girls in Iran

The recently created Human Rights, Society and Arts research group at Brunel University London presents its first Human Rights talk show... Violence against Women and Girls in Iran: An unfolding tragedy since the killing of Mahsa Amini.

Following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-years old who died while in police custody, protests have sparked in the streets of Iran and public authorities have brutally repressed them. As repeatedly condemned by the United Nations, Iran security forces have been responsible for serious human rights violation, including alleged arbitrary arrests and detentions, gender-based and sexual violence, excessive use of force, torture and enforced disappearances.

In this Talk Show, organised by the Brunel Research Group on Human Rights, Society and Arts, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, Professor Javaid Rehman, will reflect on the current human rights challenges in Iran and the possible responses of the international community, in conversation with Dr Elena Abrusci.

The Human Rights, Society and Arts research group, led by Dr Elena Abrusci and Dr Marcus De Matos, is a hub for interdisciplinary teaching and research on human rights. It engages with different methods from social sciences and humanities to address cultural, political, economic and social challenges to human rights. Human rights are the leading discourse that shaped democratic societies in the 20th century. However, human rights are also in constant flux and there are never-ending disputes over their very meaning and the expectations they create.

This series of Talk Shows promoted by the Brunel Research Group on Human Rights, Society and Arts will engage with human rights discourse at different levels, using an interdisciplinary approach to understand, define and criticize social mobilization, cultural challenges and institutional limitations over conflicting notions of human rights. The Human Rights Talk Show will be an opportunity to engage with and hear from artists, jurists, lawyers, social workers, psychologists, human rights advocates and many other academics and guests who promote human rights on a practical and critical perspective.