Tibetan

In 1949, massive numbers of Chinese soldiers crossed the border into Tibet. Ten years later, Tibetans, led by the Dalai Lama, rebelled, protesting the occupation of their country. Some 80,000 were killed and many more imprisoned. Upon the failure of this uprising, the spiritual leader and many of his followers fled to India. In the intervening years, Tibet has seen the systematic destruction of its unique culture and the establishment of marshal law. Losang Rabgey, born in a refugee settlement in northern India and raised in Canada, is now advocacy coordinator at the International Campaign for Tibet. Responsible for outreach, she addresses critical issues facing the Tibetan community, empowering its members to take a stronger role in shaping their futures. Ms. Rabgey spoke before the UN Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission to End Discrimination against Women on behalf of the Asian Women’s Health Caucus. She broadcasts “Global Perspective on Women’s Rights,” a Tibetan-language radio show for Radio Free Asia; topics addressed include abortion, domestic violence, and gender roles. Ms. Rabgey holds a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Toronto. She is a Commonwealth Scholar and doctoral candidate at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. Her specialty is gender anthropology and contemporary Tibet, and her fieldwork focuses on the oral histories of Tibetan women living in India and the West.

Ms. Rabgey’s peace-building activities include:

• presenting and lecturing on the situation in Tibet at a number on prominent campuses and for esteemed organizations, including Oxford University, Harvard University, New York University, George Washington University, Middlebury College, and the American Anthropological Association;
• creating links among academia, think tanks, advocacy groups, and policymakers, furthering the discourse on Tibet, with the goal of encouraging creative and constructive action;
• co-directing the Tibet Project on Cultural Survival, which awards grants to Tibetans for health work, education, and innovative projects, such as ethnographic films; and
• cofounding with her family the Shenpen Fund, a Tibetan community development group that has sponsored a scholarship for university-bound women from low-income families, the first community library and learning center, and a primary boarding school in rural Tibet.

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