Cindy Dyer – Addressing violence against women globally – TEDxSMU 2014
Violence against women plagues every country in the world. Fortunately, the problem and the solutions are similar. This talk discusses the four concrete steps that are necessary to combat this epidemic.
Cindy Dyer serves as the Vice President of Human Rights at Vital Voices Global Partnership where she leads the organization’s efforts to address all forms of violence against women. Cindy specializes in working with women leaders to develop effective legal frameworks that address sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking. Prior to joining Vital Voices in 2009, she served as the Director of the United States Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women where she served as the liaison between the Department of Justice and Federal, State, and International governments on crimes involving violence against women. Cindy was nominated to this position by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate.
Cindy has extensive international training experience and has worked in more than a dozen countries to improve the criminal justice system’s response to gender-based violence. She was a specialized domestic and sexual violence prosecutor for 13 years and has received numerous awards and recognition for her service to victims. Cindy served for 10 years as a member of the Public Policy Committee of the Texas Council on Family Violence and she was a weekly hotline volunteer for 9 years at a shelter for battered women and their children.