In a few days, I will leave San Francisco, California and fly to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Hercegovina where I have been invited to speak at the International Association of Genocide Scholars Conference. I will be speaking on a panel about sexual violence as a genocidal strategy.
I have recently published a short book about the problems of mass rape for women survivors of genocide, so the conference couldn't have come at a better time. I keep joking that no one in the world wants to read (or buy) my book... except for everyone at this conference!
I have business cards, and 10 copies of my book, and tomorrow morning I will pick up 250 postcards that I ordered promoting my book (with a picture of the book cover and the website where you can buy the book).
I feel confident and happy, about to take the next step in my professional career! The best part of the conference is that they are putting me up in a hotel (the main conference venue!) and feeding me for a whole week!! It is going to be so amazing!!!
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This is the reconstructed bridge connecting Croat and Muslim communities on either side of the Neretva river.
If You Are Interested in My Work
The Old Bridge of Mostar
This is the reconstructed bridge connecting Croat and Muslim communities on either side of the Neretva river.
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International Association of Genocide Scholars Conference
I have been invited to present my work at this conference, which focuses on understanding and thus preventing genocide. The conference is held biannually, and it alternates between a US location and an international location. This is the first time the conference has been held in a place where there was a recent genocide, and the conference has shifted appropriately to give homage to the atrocities that happened in Sarajevo and Bosnia-Hercegovina. For example, we will be spending the entire day on Wednesday participating in a memorial at Srebrenica (where 8,000 Muslim men and boys were slaughtered and women and girls were forcibly removed and assaulted). The memorial includes a reburial of remains that were excavated/identified in the past year (they have this memorial with proper reburial of remains discovered each year). If you want to learn more about the conference or read about the presentations I will be attending, you can check out the main website at http://www.isg-iags.org/ and the conference website at http://www.isg-iags.org/events/2007iags.html.
Ruby's Book is Available!
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The Contemporary Problem of Mass Rape
Sexual assault is used as a tactic of war and genocide because of its consequences for individuals, families, and communities. The physical and emotional impact of individual assaults are magnified when rape is committed on a mass scale, as in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Rwanda, and Darfur. Forced sexual penetration with insemination and impregnation represents a symbolic conquest of the woman by the rapist and by extension the raped woman’s community, family or culture.
This symbolic conquest becomes applicable to the whole population as survivors, witnesses, families and communities internalize rape as an assault on their collective identity. Although social welfare is uniquely suited to respond to the problems of rape, the topic of mass rape has been neglected. This book makes a plea for deeper engagement by social welfare and social work scholars and professionals in responding to the problems of mass rape.
This symbolic conquest becomes applicable to the whole population as survivors, witnesses, families and communities internalize rape as an assault on their collective identity. Although social welfare is uniquely suited to respond to the problems of rape, the topic of mass rape has been neglected. This book makes a plea for deeper engagement by social welfare and social work scholars and professionals in responding to the problems of mass rape.
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