ISFiT presents: Discrimination, why?

What is discrimination, and why does it occur? This plenary session will focus on the psychological and social mechanisms behind discrimination, discriminatory practices and how to battle these individually and structurally. To guide us through the evening we have Canadian ambassador to Norway, Artur Wilczynski (CA) as a chairperson. The speakers at the plenary will be Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN, Kate Gilmore, Adviser on Gender Diversity for the Organisation “Fri” Luca Dalen Espseth, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Blind Union Arnt Holte, NTNU Ph.D Candidate Olga V. Lehmann and Human Rights Activist Maryam al-Khawaja as speakers.

More about the speakers

Kate Gilmore (AUS) was appointed Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights in the UN in December 2015. Prior to that, she has served as Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, and have had leading positions at Amnesty International, Amnesty International Australia and Government of Australia, establishing Australia’s first Centre Against Sexual Assault. Her work over a number of years focused on prevention of violence against women. In Australia, she was granted honorary appointments to provincial and national public policy and law reform processes, including membership of the country’s first National Committee on Violence Against Women. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New England and postgraduate degrees in Social Work from the University of Melbourne and Community Development from RMIT.

Maryam al-Khawaja (BH), born in Syria, has been a protester, human rights activist and volunteer for various human rights organisations since her early teens. She is currently residing in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is the co-director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights, member of the Bahrain Watch, and Board member of ISHR (International Society for Human Rights).

Luca Dalen Espseth (NO) is a Norwegian activist, blogger and Adviser on Gender Diversity for “Foreningen Fri”, a Norwegian organisation working towards equality in regards to gender and sexual diversity. He is also trans, and his personal history and thoughts in regards to this are the main focus points of the documentary “Mann uten penis” (“Man without penis”).

Arnt Holte (NO) is the Secretary General of the Norwegian Association of Blind and Partially Sighted and is also the Chairman of the Atlas-alliance. He was employed by the Norwegian Association of Blind and Partially Sighted in 1983, and has since then occupied several leading positions within various organisations ensuring the rights and safety for people with various impairments, and by this battling discrimination.

Olga V. Lehmann (CO/DE) is a Ph.D Candidate in Psychology at NTNU, and her research topics include silence in everyday life, emotions, poetic instants, death beliefs, communication in healthcare contexts and promotion of quality of life. Among other things, she has also hosted Poetry Nights Trondheim and been a speaker at various events in Japan, UK, Poland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Argentina and other countries. She has also been a regional finalist in Forsker Grand Prix.