SEMINAR

Fighting global Aids: the struggle for the rights of beer girls in
Cambodia

The rapidly increasing spread of HIV/AIDS in Asia is associated with
heterosexual sex workers as well as IV drug use. In the past year
international tourism to Siem Reap, the town near Angkor Wat in
Cambodia, has increased over 400% In this conversation Ian Lubek
explores the global and local strategy to empower Siem Reap "beer
girls" contracted by multi-national liquor companies, to resist sexual
exploitation and find alternative pathways to economic
self-sufficiency.

This seminar will bring together insights gained from political
psychology, social activism and global alliances to raise questions
about how Australian social scientists and activists can contribute to
this most local of global challenges - at the interface of health,
gender power, national development and global capital at its most
rapacious. The campaign has been waged on the streets of Siem Reap, in
the palaces of Phnom Pehn, in the pages of the Lancet and in the
newspapers and stock exchanges of a dozen western nations.

For information on SIRCHESI see http://www.angkorwatngo.com

Ian Lubek is Professor of Psychology at University of Guelph in
Ontario, a renowned political psychologist, and an ardent advocate in
the Siem Reap struggle. He has pioneered international student
placements with Cambodian NGOs, and initiated important publishing
collaborations in prestigious international journals for Cambodian
researchers. He is currently attached to the National HIV/AIDS research
centre at UNSW.

Social Inquiry Ideas in Action Series
In conversation with Andrew Jakubowicz
Friday 23 March 2007
5-6.30pm
UTS Building 2 Room 7065
RSVP attendance to A.Jakubowicz@uts.edu.au