Conference on Domestic Violence Urges “Family Conversations: Let’s Tell the Secrets”

March 22, 2007
No. 18/07

Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) -- The Institute of Gender Studies of Addis Ababa University (AAU), in partnership with the United States Embassy and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, organized its first conference on domestic violence to celebrate the 2007 International Women’s Day under the theme “Family Conversations: let’s tell the secrets.”  The two-day conference opened March 22 in Addis Ababa by U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, Janet Wilgus, with a keynote address by The Honorable Woizero Gifti Abasiya, Chairman of the Women’s Affairs Standing Committee in the House of People’s Representatives.

The aim of the conference is to bring together students, specialists, journalists and activists in Addis Ababa to create a joint platform for action against domestic violence.  The conference will also serve to broaden and strengthen the national network of gender specialists, professionals and students interested in gender issues, so that they can more effectively fight against domestic violence and promote the implementation of policies to decrease the incidence of domestic violence in Ethiopian society.  The event is also an opportunity to bring the research, analysis and policies relevant to this field to a broader public. 

Distinguished guest speakers at the conference include The Hon. Woizero Netsanet Asfaw, Deputy Whip, House of People’s Representatives; Mangai Natarajan, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the City University of New York; Marren Akatsa-Bukachi, Executive Director of Eastern African Subregional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI), Kampala, Uganda; Sosena Mulatu, Institute of Gender Studies, AAU; Maria Munir, Director, Tsotawi Tekat Tekelakay Mahber, and others. 

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