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On this International Women Day, we celebrate women who teach at the Geneva Academy in our three master’s programmes: the LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, the Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, and the Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict.
Discover what this day means for them!
Discover
Dr Cécile Aptel is Deputy Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). With over 20 years of experience in international affairs, working for several UN entities, universities and NGOs on legal, policy, international security and humanitarian issues, she teaches a course on international criminal justice in our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict.
‘The lives of women and girls are profoundly affected by conflict, injustice, misuse of weapons, human rights violations, and humanitarian crises. Too many pay a heavy price and have their lives destroyed. Yet women remain a minority in high-level multilateral negotiations on disarmament and weapons’ control. Consider that just a quarter of speakers during the High-Level Segment of the 2022 Conference on Disarmament were women. This needs to change. Women are always on the frontline, they have a right to shape the decisions that affect their lives and have a greater place in international security discussions.’
© UN
Dr Annyssa Bellal is a Senior Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy. She is also the Executive Coordinator, Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and a Senior Researcher at the Center on Conflicts, Development and Peacebuilding. She teaches an optional course on armed non-state actors in our LLM in IHL and Human Rights and a core course on IHL in transitional phases in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law.
'I am a very strong believer in the power of sorority. My colleagues are often my biggest supporters, always ready to encourage me when I have doubts or help me find solutions to work challenges. In a sometimes very competitive academic world, this solidarity among us is precious. The 8th of March is a great reminder of these values and the strength they represent for society as a whole.'
© Olivier Chamard
'I am a very strong believer in the power of sorority. My colleagues are often my biggest supporters, always ready to encourage me when I have doubts or help me find solutions to work challenges. In a sometimes very competitive academic world, this solidarity among us is precious. The 8th of March is a great reminder of these values and the strength they represent for society as a whole.'
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Dr Lindsey Cameron is the Head of the Unit of Thematic Legal Advisers in the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). She teaches a course on the implementation of international humanitarian law in our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict.
‘In various places I have lived and worked, International Women’s Day has been treated in different ways. In some places, people wish women a happy women’s day and give flowers and chocolates – which surprised me very much, as for me it is a day to think about the empowerment of women. But perhaps these other ways of marking the day show that we should also celebrate women. International women’s day serves as a reminder that we still have much to explore and learn about how women are affected by armed conflict – whether they are fighters, victims, government representatives, or simply carrying on with their daily lives as best they can – so that we can better interpret and understand the rules that protect them.’
© Geneva Academy
Professor Gabriella Citroni teaches an optional course on enforced disappearances in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. A leading expert on this issue, she is notably a member of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
‘Women are especially affected by enforced disappearance, both as direct victims and relatives of disappeared persons. For me, International Women’s Day offers an opportunity to recall this, but, even more, to remember and celebrate how women are often at the forefront of the struggle against this heinous crime. This is the opportunity to acknowledge the immense suffering inflicted worldwide on women by enforced disappearance, but also to their brave struggle and the fundamental role they play in securing and advancing the rights of forcibly disappeared persons.’
© Gabriella Citroni
‘Women are especially affected by enforced disappearance, both as direct victims and relatives of disappeared persons. For me, International Women’s Day offers an opportunity to recall this, but, even more, to remember and celebrate how women are often at the forefront of the struggle against this heinous crime. This is the opportunity to acknowledge the immense suffering inflicted worldwide on women by enforced disappearance, but also to their brave struggle and the fundamental role they play in securing and advancing the rights of forcibly disappeared persons.’
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A leading expert in international criminal law and international criminal courts and tribunals, Professor Paola Gaeta teaches international criminal law as a core course in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.
‘I am a teacher and a scholar. In celebrating Women's Day, I think of the millions of women who through their strenuous and tenacious struggle have paved the way for their emancipation, which also passes through education. I am proud of their struggle and I feel all the responsibility for it, because if I can be a teacher and a scholar today it is only thanks to them. Rita Levi Montalcini, Nobel Prize for Medicine, used to say that 'Women have been blocked for centuries. When they have access to culture, they are like starving people. And food is much more useful to the hungry than to the already full.' Every female student I met in the classrooms was starving for learning. In all my years of teaching, I hope I have been able to contribute at least one piece of bread to appease that hunger to at least one of them.’
© Graduate Institute
Professor Gloria Gaggioli is the Director of the Geneva Academy and a renowned scholar in international humanitarian law and human rights. She teaches part of the core course on international human rights law in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and a course on preventing and combating terrorism in our Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict.
‘On this 8 March, my thoughts go to all the victims of sexual and gender-based violence. During armed conflicts, these crimes are often used as a tactic against women and girls to subjugate the enemy. They are an affront to human dignity, which should not go unpunished and reparations for victims are needed.’
© Gloria Gaggioli
‘On this 8 March, my thoughts go to all the victims of sexual and gender-based violence. During armed conflicts, these crimes are often used as a tactic against women and girls to subjugate the enemy. They are an affront to human dignity, which should not go unpunished and reparations for victims are needed.’
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Sévane Garibian is a Professor in International Criminal Law and Transitional Justice at the University of Geneva Law Faculty and a leading expert on issues related to the role of law in addressing state-sponsored crimes, impunity for mass crimes, international criminal law, transitional justice, human rights, the history of international criminal law and philosophy of law. She teaches two core courses on transitional justice and criminal justice in transitional contexts in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law.
‘For me, 8 March represents, above all, a tribute to women’s creative force that displays in all aspects of their personal and professional life, individual and collective, spiritual and scientific.’
© Olivier Vogelsang
Katia Papagianni is the Director for Policy and Mediation Support at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD Centre) in Geneva. She specializes in the design of peace processes and, more specifically, in national dialogues and constitution-making processes. She teaches a core course on peacebuilding in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law.
‘I teach at the Geneva Academy a course that explores the intersection of gender, peacebuilding and transitional justice. As a practitioner-academic, I find the interaction with the students extremely inspiring. They bring passion, commitment and insight to the issues, which I then rely on to inform and strengthen my work. March 8th is always a reminder of how much more there is to do to protect and promote women’s rights in political, social and economic life.’
© Katia Papagianni
‘I teach at the Geneva Academy a course that explores the intersection of gender, peacebuilding and transitional justice. As a practitioner-academic, I find the interaction with the students extremely inspiring. They bring passion, commitment and insight to the issues, which I then rely on to inform and strengthen my work. March 8th is always a reminder of how much more there is to do to protect and promote women’s rights in political, social and economic life.’
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Professor Clara Sandoval is a leading expert in transitional justice, the Inter-American System of Human Rights, legal theory, business and human rights, reparations, guarantees of non-repetition and implementation of human rights orders and recommendations. She teaches a core course on victims and human rights law in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law.
‘International women’s day allows us to take stock of all that has been gained to secure women’s equality and get rid of discrimination worldwide, but it also reminds us that we are not there yet and that we cannot wait any longer to act and ensure that our rights are upheld and our voices are heard. We continue to fail women and girls in every corner of this world. In my field of work, reparations, I have witnessed the massive failure of States and other stakeholders to ensure that women and girls receive adequate, prompt and effective reparation for the violations they have suffered, and to address the root causes and structures that allowed so many forms of violence, to happen, including conflict-related sexual violence. We need to shift things around, and a day like today invites reflection on the contributions we all can make to this end.’
© Clara Sandoval
Professor Neus Torbisco-Casals is an expert in human rights, minority rights and theories of justice, anti-discrimination law and policy, gender equality and cultural diversity. She also conducts research on international courts and diversity, on trust and democratic theory and on indigenous claims and the politics of self-determination. She teaches a core course on cultural diversity and transitional justice in divided societies in our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law.
‘For me, this is a day to celebrate women, in all our diversity, and to increase the visibility of our many achievements and the numerous ways in which we are forging change and making a positive difference in our societies. But it is also a day to raise awareness of the multiple forms of bias, stereotypes, violence and patterns of discrimination that women everywhere suffer. A day to make our presence visible and our voices heard across all realms of life, as we reaffirm the feminist commitment to challenging gender injustice and reclaiming our human rights.’
© Neus Torbisco-Casals
‘For me, this is a day to celebrate women, in all our diversity, and to increase the visibility of our many achievements and the numerous ways in which we are forging change and making a positive difference in our societies. But it is also a day to raise awareness of the multiple forms of bias, stereotypes, violence and patterns of discrimination that women everywhere suffer. A day to make our presence visible and our voices heard across all realms of life, as we reaffirm the feminist commitment to challenging gender injustice and reclaiming our human rights.’
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