Third Annual Paragon Human Rights Lecture hosted by the University of Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre and Paragon Law Monday, 12 May 2008 Prince Hotel Prince Room 2, Level 3 Programme Registration Welcome by Prof. Brian Atkin, Vice-President of the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus Introduction by Prof. Michael O’Flaherty, Co-Director of the University of Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre Presentation by Ms Shanthi Dairiam, Member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Presentation by Prof. Vanessa Munro, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies, University of Nottingham Question and answer session chaired by Prof. Michael O’Flaherty Vote of thanks proposed by Ms Kirin Abbas, Director, Paragon Law Presentation of Gifts Reception Third Annual Paragon Human Rights Lecture "The Role of Women in Society: Malaysian and United Kingdom Perspectives" Speaker Profiles Shanthi Dairiam Member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; Director of International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific Ms Shanti Dairiam has been an elected member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) since 2005, and she has recently also been appointed as the Committee’s Rapporteur. Ms Dairiam is also founder and Director of the International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW-Asia Pacific), an independent regional NGO which collaborates with various entities in several Asian and Pacific countries to monitor and facilitate the implementation of the CEDAW Convention. She has worked as advisor for the governments of Bangladesh and Malaysia on various women and CEDAW-related issues and has undertaken collaborative projects with women’s NGOs, governments and international institutions that aim to contribute to the effective implementation of international human rights standards for the advancement of women. Her work has included creating and developing conceptual clarity and tools in regard to the practical application of the CEDAW Convention, methodologies for research oriented advocacy, and training. She has a wealth of experience as facilitator and trainer on State obligations under the CEDAW Convention for various Asian Pacific States. Ms Dairiam is also member of the National Advisory Council on Women, Malaysia and Executive Committee Member of the National Council of Women’s Organisations of Malaysia and of the Women’s Aid Organisation of Malaysia. Vanessa Munro Professor of Socio-legal studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Law and Education, University of Nottingham Professor Vanessa Munro joined the University of Nottingham School of Law in September 2007, having previously been a Reader in Law at King’s College London. She has published various articles on feminist legal and political theory. She is author of Law and Politics at the Perimeter: Re-Evaluating Key Debates in Feminist Theory (Hart, 2007) and co-editor of Sexuality and the Law: Feminist Engagements (Cavendish, 2007). She combines this theoretical work with empirical projects examining popular and penal responses to gender violence. She has conducted a comparative study of legal responses to sex trafficking and an empirical study of juror deliberation in rape cases involving intoxication. With the support of the British Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), she has co-convened an inter-disciplinary expert group on supply / demand dynamics in prostitution, resulting in the production of an edited collection entitled Demanding Sex? Critical Reflections on the Regulation of Prostitution (Ashgate, 2008). In 2006, she was appointed as a special advisor to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry into Human Trafficking. She is currently working on an ESRC funded study on the impact of expert evidence on credibility assessment in rape trials, and is part of an Expert Group that is investigating future sexual offences reform. She is also involved in a pilot project on rape and asylum. She was a founding member of the Sexual Offences Research Initiative and has been a visiting fellow / speaker at various UK academic institutions, as well as at the University of North Carolina, Australian National University, University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington and the New Zealand Ministry of Justice.