Monia Mazigh: The Rest of Herstory

The International Women’s Day Lecture of The Sophia Series
Dr. Monia MazighThe Rest of HERSTORY 
Brescia Auditorium, Free Will Donation, Free Parking  

In March 2004, Dr. Monia Mazigh shared with our Brescia audience her struggle to have her husband (and Canadian citizen) Maher Arar, released from a Syrian prison.  He was unjustly held and tortured for a year before Dr. Mazigh’s efforts succeeded and he was able to return home.  Her husband’s release, however, was not the end of the story.  Join us as Dr. Mazigh takes us on a journey through the following years of pursuing justice through their lawsuit against the United States government, the Garvie Report, the Commission of Inquiry and her experience running for the NDP in 2004. 

Monia Mazigh was born and raised in Tunisia and immigrated to Canada in 1991. She holds a Ph.D. in finance from McGill University and speaks Arabic, French, and English fluently. She has worked at the University of Ottawa and taught at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. Mazigh was catapulted onto the public stage in 2002 when her husband, Maher Arar, was deported to Syria where he was tortured and held without charge for over a year. She campaigned tirelessly for his release during that time. In 2004, she ran in the federal election for the NDP, coming third but gaining the most votes for the riding the NDP had ever received. Dr. Mazigh lives in Ottawa with her husband and two children. Dr. Mazigh’s book, Hope and Despair: My Struggle to Free My Husband, Maher Arar was published in November 2008.