Rubina Feroze Bhatti presents on ‘The Struggle for Peace, Environmental Justice and Women’s Rights in Pakistan’

Rubina Feroze Bhatti, Pakistani human rights and peace advocate, will deliver a lecture titled "The Struggle for Peace, Environmental Justice and Women's Rights in Pakistan" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 4 in Room 264, Quadrangle Building, Saint John's University.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Global Awareness Lecture Series at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University.

Bhatti is a founding member and general secretary of Taangh Wasaib Organization (TWO), a non-governmental non-profit organization in Pakistan dedicated to fostering the development of interfaith harmony, women's rights, health and equality through its educational programs that creatively address issues of intolerance, sectarianism and discriminatory laws against both women and minorities. The educational and cultural programs of TWO help empower women to report on violence against women, provide counseling, legal aid and economic development assistance.

Since 1991, Bhatti has dedicated her life to protecting the rights of women and minorities in Pakistan. She began her work when she helped fight blasphemy laws that targeted a Christian Pakistani man who was falsely accused of committing an offense against Islam.

In addition, Bhatti succeeded in helping to restore the joint electorate system in Pakistan. As of 2002, Muslims and Christians are legally allowed to vote for one another, thus creating a more just electoral system.

In 2009, she was selected as a 2009 Woman Peacemaker by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice.

The Global Awareness Lecture Series has presented some 150 campus programs on international issues for more than 25 years. The series was launched as an effort to internationalize curriculum at CSB and SJU, including a focus on the lesser developed world.