Gendered violence in activist communities 21/09/2016

Dates

Dates

Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - 19:00 to 21:00

Location

Centre for Crime and Justice Studies 2 Langley Lane Vauxhall London, SW8 1GB

Convenor: Dr Julia Downes,  The Open University, Social Policy & Criminology

The Salvage Research Project explored the lived experiences of harm, violence and abuse experienced by women, non-binary and transgender individuals in radical activist communities in the UK. This event will mark the launch of the final report and toolkit with a panel discussion of the key findings and implications for action and social justice.

Background

Recent cases of high-profile male activists accused of perpetuating violence against women activists have highlighted a persistent culture of sexism and exclusionary practices within social justice movements.

Alternatives to the criminal justice system, such as safer spaces policies and community accountability processes, have been the subject of controversy and debate. However little is currently known about the contexts and complexities in which both harms and alternative interventions take place.

Speakers

·Dr Avi Boukli is Lecturer in Criminology at The Open University. Their recent work has examined anti-trafficking regimes and the financialisation of victim services, and they have broader interests in gender, sexuality, critical victimology and social harm. Avi is currently in the early stages of setting up the Queering Victimology project.

·Dr Alex Dymock is Lecturer in Criminology and Law at Royal Holloway University of London. Her research interests include visual and cultural criminology, gender and sexuality studies, and feminist and queer perspectives on criminal law. Alex is currently in the early stages of setting up the Queering Victimology project.

·Camille Kumar is Membership and Sustainability Coordinator at Imkaan, the umbrella group for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) organisations in the UK. Camille has worked in the ending VAWG sector/ movement for 15 years primarily in service provision for women experiencing VAWG. Camille is also a member of Black Feminists UK and Freedom without fear platform and is committed to developing and nurturing intersectional black feminist approaches in her work and her organising.

·Dr Sarah Lamble lectures in criminology at the School of Law, Birkbeck, University of London. Sarah’s research addresses issues of gender, sexuality and criminal justice, with a current focus on community engagements with transformative justice. Sarah is co-editor of the Routledge Social Justice Book Series and a member of the Reclaim Justice Network.

·Salvage is a collective of survivors, activists and allies who aim to challenge endemic sexual violence and inadequate responses to sexual violence within radical social justice movements. The research project was conducted by the Salvage research collective: Dr Julia Downes is a Lecturer in Criminology at The Open University, Karis Hanson who works at Solace Women’s Aid and Rebecca Hudson who works at Crossroads Women’s Centre.

·Sisters Uncut is a feminist direct-action collective who are united by a desire to campaign for better domestic violence services

Safer spaces policy

There is a safer spaces policy in place for this event, available to view here. Please email thesalvagecollective@gmail.com for further information. The safer spaces policy will be shared and explained at the beginning of the event.