Yakin Ertürk, former special rapporteur to the United Nations Commission on violence against women, its causes and consequences, was this year’s distinguished speaker for the J. Jobe Soffa and Marguerite Jacqmin Soffa Distinguished International Visitor Fund lecture last Thursday, March 18, at the Pyle Center.
Ertürk, professor of sociology and head of the Gender and Women’s Studies Programme at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey, drew a crowd of more than fifty students, faculty, and members of the Madison community eager to hear her discuss “Universalizing Women’s Human Rights: The Quest for Gender-Just Peace.”
The public lecture was sponsored by the UW–Madison Division of International Studies’ J. Jobe Soffa and Marguerite Jacqmin Soffa Distinguished International Visitor Fund which provides regular lectures on contemporary issues of global significance. Members of the Soffa family including, Marguerite Jacqmin Soffa who established the fund to bring renowned women from across the globe to lecture, were present at the talk.