Our dear friend and colleague Rita Sabat passed away on December 30, 2013. Her joy of life, courage, humor, thoughtfulness and warmth touched and inspired everyone she met. Her spirit lives on among us. Our deepest condolences to her family and friends, and especially her beautiful daughter whom she adored.

Rita A. Sabat (Lebanon) earned her PhD in International Relations from Florida International University in Miami in May 2010. She is an Assistant Professor at Notre Dame University (NDU)–Louaizé in the Faculty of Political Science, Public Administration, and Diplomacy. Since her appointment at NDU, she has been teaching courses in the areas of international institutions, gender, non-governmental organizations, and development. Dr. Sabat recently presented her research on gender equality, women’s non-governmental organizations and violence against women in Lebanon at international conferences in Switzerland, India and the Emirates.

Her research interests and specialization have been in the area of gender, international relations and development in the Middle East. Dr. Sabat has a forthcoming chapter “Translating international gender equality norms: The Case of Combating Violence against Women in Lebanon” in Feminist Strategies in International Governance ed. Elisabeth Prugl, Guelay Cagler, and Suzanne Swindle.  Dr. Sabat serves as a member of the Technical Task-Force of the National Gender-Based Violence Unit, headed by the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs, International Medical Corps, and Abaad Resource Center for Gender Equality.

Dr. Sabat recently spoke at an event in New York co-hosted by ICAN, the Norwegian Mission to the UN, and the International Peace Institute. She focused on the connection between Gender Based Violence in Lebanon and international insecurity. You can watch the video of the event here and listen to an accompanying interview with Dr. Sabat here.