Today’s podcast guest is Katrina Fotovat, the former Principal Deputy Director in the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, where she led a team of experts promoting women, peace, and security, countering violent extremism, promoting women’s economic empowerment, and combatting gender-based violence.
In this episode, we discuss the critical work that has been done by the Office of Global Women’s Issues under three different presidential administrations, local outreach programs facilitated by the US overseas to support women’s issues and combat gender-based violence, including working with men and boys, and the global impacts of the current Trump administration’s drastic cuts to foreign aid.
Listen now; link in bio.
The authorities’ and social media platforms’ insufficient responses have further deterred journalists from speaking out. Additionally, many journalists have migrated to better regulated online media platforms, leaving behind X and Facebook, where abuse remains prevalent, in search of safer, more controlled spaces.
https://ihcr.institute/writing/a-digital-conflict-is-escalating-technology-facilitated-violence-against-women/
UN experts now warn that torture of Palestinians has become “state doctrine” in Israel, potentially a crime against humanity. Defense for Children International – Palestine documents how children seized from Gaza were transported to the Sde Teiman camp, stripped, starved, beaten, caged, subjected to electric shocks, and tormented in a “disco room” with deafening music and random assaults. In legal terms, these practices constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s reign has become a tragedy of moral collapse and national ruin. He thrives on perpetual war—whether in Gaza, Lebanon, or Iran—sacrificing Israel’s security and moral standing for his own survival without showing any tangible gain.
Today’s podcast guest is Katrina Fotovat, the former Principal Deputy Director in the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, where she led a team of experts promoting women, peace, and security, countering violent extremism, promoting women’s economic empowerment, and combatting gender-based violence.
In this episode, we discuss the critical work that has been done by the Office of Global Women’s Issues under three different presidential administrations, local outreach programs facilitated by the US overseas to support women’s issues and combat gender-based violence, including working with men and boys, and the global impacts of the current Trump administration’s drastic cuts to foreign aid.
Listen now: soundcloud.com/alon-ben-meir/on-the-issues-episode-147-katrina-fotovat
Full bio
Katrina “Kat” Fotovat is the former Principal Deputy Director in the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI), where she led a team of experts promoting women, peace, and security, countering violent extremism, promoting women’s economic empowerment, and combatting gender-based violence. Ms. Fotovat has over 20 years of experience advocating gender and human rights globally, specifically in conflict and post-conflict settings. Before joining the office she served as Director for the Office of Communications, Policy, and Partnerships, in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations where she oversaw an expert team that provided policy and strategy guidance to respond to atrocities, fragility, increase global stability and peacebuilding, and integrating women, peace, and security efforts in areas of conflict. Ms. Fotovat was also the Deputy Director for the Global Programs Office in the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor where she oversaw over a billion dollars in active programs geared toward supporting civil society and human rights in the most sensitive and fragile spaces, including internet freedom, transitional justice, and marginalized populations. Other positions in the US Government included as a Political Officer in the US Embassy in Moldova, and as the Senior Grants Officer in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Senior Human Rights Advisor in the Office of the Procurement Executive, and Interagency Liaison at USAID.
Before joining the U.S. government, Ms. Fotovat’s experience includes transitional justice and peace negotiations efforts with the Nobel Prize-nominated, Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG). This work included drafting post-conflict constitutions in Iraq and Kosovo, and international crisis aid negotiations in Sri Lanka. Additionally, she has done extensive gender and human rights work supporting the efforts of UNHCR, CEDAW, American Bar Association, and other organizations. Ms. Fotovat previously worked as a part of legal counsel at the International Human Rights Legal Clinic, focusing on trafficking in persons and asylum cases, with a special focus on Burma. Ms. Fotovat also helped to found an anti-trafficking in persons organization in Moldova, where she was also a Peace Corps Volunteer. She holds a Juris Doctor in International Human Rights Law and a master’s degree in Foreign Policy from American University. She is married and has a son.
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Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are increasingly harassing, arresting, and intimidating journalists, activists, and opposition members, according to Human Rights Watch. As political tensions rise and conflict continues in eastern Congo, critical voices are facing arbitrary detention, violent crackdowns on protests, enforced disappearances, and intimidation for speaking out. Journalists have reportedly gone into hiding, while activists and opposition figures remain detained without due process. Data show that Freedom of expression and peaceful protest are under growing threat. Congolese authorities should immediately end the repression and protect fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms.
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UN experts now warn that torture of Palestinians has become “state doctrine” in Israel, potentially a crime against humanity. Defense for Children International – Palestine documents how children seized from Gaza were transported to the Sde Teiman camp, stripped, starved, beaten, caged, subjected to electric shocks, and tormented in a “disco room” with deafening music and random assaults. In legal terms, these practices constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute.
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LIAR!!
🙏Help needed to get Israel right !! 🙏
Horrifying! 👎👎👎
The United States is reportedly considering improving diplomatic relations with Eritrea and possibly lifting sanctions imposed over serious abuses committed during the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Human rights groups warn that easing sanctions without accountability could send a dangerous message that grave abuses can go unpunished. Eritrea remains one of the world’s most repressive countries, where people face indefinite military service, arbitrary detention, forced labor, and severe restrictions on free speech and independent media. Eritrean forces have also been accused of massacres, sexual violence, and other abuses in Tigray. Human Rights Watch says sanctions should not be lifted until Eritrea takes meaningful steps toward accountability and respects basic human rights and freedoms.
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