Turning Her Body into a Weapon of Persecution/Genocide: Rape and Sexual Violence Against Uyghur Women

Marking International Women’s Day – Monday 8 March 2021

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Speakers include:

• Rahima Mahmut, Director of the World Uyghur Congress (UK)
• Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
• Abid Shamdeen, Executive Director of Nadia’s Initiative
• Laura Marks OBE, Chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust

In January 2021, the Chinese Embassy in the US tweeted:

“Study shows that in the process of eradicating extremism, the minds of Uyghur women in Xinjiang were emancipated and gender equality and reproductive health were promoted, making them no longer baby-making machines. They were more confident and independent.”

The tweet met with significant criticism and was ultimately removed by Twitter for violating Twitter’s rules. Only a few weeks later, a BBC documentary shed light on what this ‘emancipation’ really meant; Forced sterilisations, forced abortion, rape (including gang rape), sexual violence and torture. The evidence suggest that Uyghur women’s bodies were turned into a weapon of persecution.

The panellists will discuss the issue of rape and sexual violence as a weapon against the Uyghur women and how does it translate into international crimes requiring urgent response.

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