American Civil Liberties Union

The ACLU Women's Rights Project and Human Rights Program will host a roundtable discussion in conjunction with the 53rd Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). This CSW session will be one of the first international forums that the U.S. will participate in under the Obama administration and is a unique opportunity to discuss the advancement of women's rights as human rights.

The roundtable will feature U.S. advocates sharing their visions and plans to engage with the Obama administration to address, among other things, human trafficking, violence against women, issues facing women in the criminal justice system, women workers rights issues, reproductive rights, and police brutality against women of color.

Special remarks by:
PROF. YAKIN ERTÜRK, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women

Moderated by:
LENORA LAPIDUS, Director of the ACLU Women's Rights Project and JAMIL DAKWAR, Director of the ACLU Human Rights Program

Speakers will include:
MALIKA SAADA SAAR, Executive Director of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights
IVY SURIYOPAS, Staff Attorney at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
BETSY HAWKINGS, Managing Director of Government Relations at Amnesty International
ANDREA RITCHIE, Director of the Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center
CATHY ALBISA, Executive Director of the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
SARAH PAOLETTI, Director of the University of Pennsylvania Law School Transnational Legal Clinic
LOUISE MELLING, Director of the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project

The event will be held at:
the United Nations Church Center at 777 United Nations Plaza in New York
on Thursday, March 5th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the 8th floor conference room.

Space is limited. Please RSVP by Wednesday, March 4th if you plan to attend by emailing Eliza Reshefsky at ereshefsky@aclu.org