Event Details
📍 Location: Anna Nussbaum Auditorium, World Trade Institute, Hallerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern (CH)
💻 Remote Attendance: Also available via Zoom
🎟️ Participation: Open to the public and free of charge
Abstract
This lecture explores how feminist approaches to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) can inform strategies to address the increasing risks women and girls face due to climate-related insecurity, forced displacement, and extreme weather events.
It maps the fragmented international responses to climate-induced gendered violence, including the UNFCCC regime, the UN human rights architecture, and the World Humanitarian Summit, and analyzes how these siloed frameworks have shaped Women, Peace and Security (WPS) National Action Plans.
The lecture will examine the linkages between climate risks, armed conflict, and CRSV, including the potential for a surge in prevalence and the persistent absence of robust domestic legal protections. It poses a critical question for the global feminist movement: How can we preserve human dignity and agency amid the choices made to confront climate impacts?
As emphasized by the UNDP Report on Gender, Climate and Security (2020):
“There is… an urgent need for better analysis and concrete, immediate actions to address the linkages between climate change and conflict from a gender perspective.”
This lecture outlines the necessary reforms in international regulatory frameworks to adapt to climate risks and better prevent CRSV.
Biography of the Speaker
Professor Susan Harris Rimmer is an expert in international human rights law, climate justice, and gender equality, based at the Griffith Law School in Brisbane (Meanjin), Australia.
She led the independent review of Queensland’s Human Rights Act 2019, tabled in March 2025, and currently leads the Climate Justice theme of the Griffith Climate Action Beacon. She is the founder of EveryGen, a coalition amplifying the voices of current and future generations on long-term policy impacts.
Prof. Rimmer was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship in Australian–United States Alliance Studies in 2021 and conducted research at Georgetown University in 2022. She was also named a Top Innovator by the World Economic Forum’s Uplink platform for launching the Climate Justice Observatory.
Her expertise has been sought in several high-profile roles, including as Human Rights Adviser for the 2018 Commonwealth Games (GOLDOC) and the Human Rights Assessment Lead for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2032 Bid. She has published over 46 academic articles and co-edited Climate Politics in Oceania (MUP 2024).
Previously, she worked with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Australian Parliament, and National Council of Churches, and led advocacy at the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID).