Barnard Forum on Migration Presents "Operation Fine Girl: The Abuse of Women in War-Torn Sierra Leone," Oct. 1
Screening of Documentary and Lecture

New York, N.Y., September 12, 2002— On October 1, the Barnard Forum on Migration will present "Operation Fine Girl: Rape as a Weapon of War," a documentary told through the eyes of both the women who have survived rape and of their assailants. Following the film, Dr. Adeyinka Akinsulure-Smith and Judy Rogers, organizers of the volunteer group Nah We Yone, will speak about their experiences working with victimized women in Africa. The event will be held in the Julius S. Held Lecture Hall, 304 Barnard Hall (117th Street and Broadway) at 7 p.m.

"Operation Fine Girl" tells the story of survivors and perpetrators who have lived through the last decade of war in Sierra Leone. Produced and directed for the activist group WITNESS and for Oxygen Media, the documentary supports the efforts of groups in Sierra Leone to increase funding to provide psycho-social support and healthcare for the estimated 500,000 survivors of rape in the country.

Akinsulure-Smith and Rogers, co-chairs of Nah We Yone, will provide additional background on the conditions in Sierra Leone and the work that their group is doing to aid the victims. Nah We Yone is a New York City-based group that reaches out to displaced persons of Sierra Leone and facilitates their adjustment in the United States, providing psychological support and emergency services to the immigrants. Akinsulure-Smith is a licensed psychologist and adjunct assistant professor at Teachers College, Columbia University who has extensive experience working with survivors of torture. Rogers is a clinical social worker with background in both adult and child psychiatry.

The Barnard Forum on Migration sponsors special events featuring lectures, readings and films exploring issues connected to the movement of people from one part of the world to another. Each year, the Forum hosts distinguished writers and academics who address a broad range of issues which relate to questions of migration and social order. The Barnard Forum on Migration is supported by a bequest establishing the Weiss International Fellowship Fund to bring distinguished scholars in literature and the arts to Barnard. The Forum is organized by Caryl Phillips, the Henry R. Luce Professor of Migration and Social Order.

The program is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the Barnard Forum on Migration at 212-854-3577.

Contact: Petra Tuomi, Public Affairs, 212-854-7907
Laura Whitlock, Public Affairs, 212-854-2037
Michelle Hand, Barnard Forum on Migration, 212-854-3577