(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)October 6, 2005

(Mahwah) – The Disabling of the Women of Darfur” will be the subject of a panel discussion to be held Tuesday, October 18 at 3:30 p.m. at Ramapo College of New Jersey.  The participants will be Denise Bell of Amnesty International and Abdelbaggy Abushanab of the Darfur Rehabilitation Project.  The event will be held in the H-Wing Auditorium.

Sponsored by the Gross Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, the Office of Specialized Services and the Women’s Center of Ramapo College, the program will deal with the sexual violence against women that is part and parcel of violence against the indigenous population of the Darfur region of Sudan.  Reports by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Doctors Without Borders make it clear that rape and other forms of sexual abuse are an integral component of the campaign of terror being perpetrated by the government-supported Jinjaweed militia.

According to a recent report of New York-based Human Rights Watch, Rape and sexual violence have specifically been used to terrorize and displace rural communities.  In some attacks … girls as young as seven and eight years old were raped, while some women were raped and then genitally mutilated.”

Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres in June found that in the four previous months alone 500 women had been raped. Women in refugee camps cannot go out in search of food without risking being assaulted.

Among the questions that will be raised at the event are:

• What can be done to end the killing and violence?
• What makes the situation in Darfur so intractable?
• What is our role as members of a college community? As ordinary citizens?
• Why is the disabling” of women in all its manifestations seemingly such an constant element in ethnic and racial violence?

For more information, please contact Dr. Michael A. Riff, director of the Gross Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, at 201.684.7409, or Cheryl Schwartz of Ramapo College’s Office of Specialized Services at 201.684.7693.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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