News

Roundtable: Engaging with media and challenging gender-based violence: foregrounding migrant women's perspectives And launch of:  Stories of Migrant Women in Ireland: Surviving Gender-based Violence  - a collection of first-person accounts by participants in the EU/IRC Gender Net Plus MIG-GBV research project (2019-2023) Chair: Susan McKay, Press Ombudsman Roundtable speakers: Dr Salome Mbugua CEO, AkiDwA, the national network of migrant women Shamim Malekmian, Journalist, Dublin Inquirer Emma DeSouza, Writer, campaigner and Co-facilitator, Northern Ireland Civic Initiative Dr Nasrin Khandoker, CyberSocial Research Lab, UCC, previously MIG-GBV postdoctoral researcher Registration: https://forms.office.com/e/9hanLec54g

Áine Treanor In 2022, Áine spent three months in the West Bank as a Human Rights monitor.  During her time there, she witnessed housing demolitions, extreme military control and an apartheid system facing Palestinians living under military occupation. In her testimony, Áine tells the story of a rural community threatened with the expansion of an illegal Israeli settlement, the violence and harassment they face by both settlers and Israeli soldiers, and the women shepherds who are fighting for their livelihoods and their right to exist.    Zeina Alazzeh Zeina Alazzeh is a Palestinian first-year Ph.D. researcher at the University of Galway, specializing in EU relations with Palestine. Zeina's academic journey in Ireland began with a Master's degree in International Public Policy and Diplomacy at the University College of Cork, where she developed a keen understanding of international relations. She currently works as a Communication and Policy Officer at the Mission State of Palestine in Dublin. Before her current role, Zeina worked as a Research and Teaching Assistant at Birzeit University in Palestine, where she contributed to the academic and intellectual development of Palestinian students.   Her commitment to her work is rooted in her personal experiences as a woman, having been raised in the West Bank and bearing witness to the challenges faced under occupation.  Checkpoints, daily raids, demolition, and continuous harassment of Israeli soldiers to her people and loved ones have shaped her passion for promoting peace and justice. Registration: https://forms.office.com/e/EZQacxpBNt 

  To mark the 2023 campaign, and the theme of Unite! Activism to End Violence against Women and Girls,  the Centre for Global Women's Studies, University of Galway panel discussion was held on on the 8th of December. Speakers included Robyn Gannon (Aoibhneas Domestic Abuse Support), Kaata Minah (Purposeful, Sierra Leone), Lennita Ruggi (PhD Candidate with a focus on Feminist Activism for Gender Equality at University of Galway) and Lorraine Hayman (PhD Candidate with a focus on Cybersexual Violence). Sarahjane Grennan, Psychological Support Service Team Manager at Galway Rape Crisis Centre acted as discussant. ‌

On Nov. 1, GATE held a research roundtable with researchers and practitioners who are working to combat gender-based violence. The roundtable laid the groundwork for future collaboration on innovative interventions that will help society prevent and address GBV, which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Dr Nata Duvvury, Centre for Global Women's Studies at University of Galway presented on Violence Against Women and Social Reproduction.    ‌ ‌

Launch the Jordanian National Report on Economic Cost of Domestic Violence in Jordan under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Basma Bint Talal 28 November 2023Venue: Royal Hotel, Amman Violence against women (VAW), and specifically domestic violence (DV) against women, is a global pandemic and a violation of an individual’s human rights. Violence against women remains one ofthe starkest manifestations ofthe gender discrimination that exists in all of oursocieties. The economic, social and health costs of VAW, are considered by researchers, programme practitioners and advocates to be enormous. While some data is available in some countries, theunderstanding of the economic impacts and financial consequences of domestic violence is limited. During the years of 2021 and 2022Jordan carried out the research to estimate the economic costof domestic violence against women and girls in Jordan. This report is among the Government’s efforts to provide evidence based on the wider economic costs of violence against women and girls on women and girls, households, and the economy, as well as the costs of providing services to survivors of such violence in Jordan. Significantly, this is the first report to combine the calculation of the costs incurred at the household level and the cost of services incurred by governmental and non-governmental organizations in the Arab region according to the full operational model, produced by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), for estimating the costs of marital violence in the Arab region. This report is the product of a collaboration between the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW); the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA); the United Nations Population Fund, Jordan Country Office (UNFPA); the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, Jordan Country Office (UN-Women); theCentre for Global Women’s Studies at the University of Galway in Ireland; the Jordanian Department of Statistics (DOS), which carried out the survey; and Leading Point Management Advisory Services with the support of the Government of Cyprus. The Jordan’s national report on the economic cost of domestic violence against women shows that the domestic violence against women in Jordan comes at a considerable financial cost to survivors, communities and the State.     ‌

The  global campaign for the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence starts tomorrow, 25th of November, and runs until the 10th of December. To mark the 2023 campaign, and the theme of Unite! Activism to End Violence against Women and Girls,  the Centre for Global Women's Studies, University of Galway is engaging in the following ways:   A panel discussion will be held on on the 8th of December, 2-4pm, THB-G010, Hardiman Research Building, followed by a reception. Speakers include Robyn Gannon (Aoibhneas Domestic Abuse Support), Kaata Minah (Purposeful, Sierra Leone), Lennita Ruggi (PhD Candidate with a focus on Feminist Activism for Gender Equality at University of Galway) and Lorraine Hayman (PhD Candidate with a focus on Cybersexual Violence). Sarahjane Grennan, Psychological Support Service Team Manager at Galway Rape Crisis Centre will act as discussant. All welcome!   The 2023 Volume of Dearcadh: Graduate Journal of Gender, Globalisation and Rights will be formally launched at the event of the 8th December   An X campaign to raise awareness about activism on Gender-Based Violence will be running throughout the 16 Days. To get notifications follow us @CGWSuniofgalway   We encourage you all to take part in the 16 Days Campaign with the Centre for Global Women's Studies.   Background:   The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an international civil society led campaign that takes place each year. It commences on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and ends on 10 December, Human Rights Day, indicating that violence against women is the most pervasive breach of human rights worldwide. It was originated by activists at the inaugural Women's Global Leadership Institute in 1991. It is used as an organizing strategy by individuals and organizations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls (VAWG). (UN Women, 2023)   ‌

Violence Against Women and Social Reproduction A public talk by Dr. Nata Duvvury of the University of Galway     ‌

Division Seminar SeriesSocial and Behavioural Health SciencesTuesday, November 21, 12-1pm Zoom link: https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/84813524969 Meeting ID: 848 1352 4969 Dr. Nata DuvvuryAssociate Professor, University of Galway Constructing Scale Index of Intersectional discrimination: Preliminary OutlineIn the discourse on equality, diversity and inclusion, intersectionality has emerged as a key framework to integrate into policies and programmes to effectively address discrimination. However most research on access to institutional systems such as health or education, find it difficult to operationalize the concept of intersectionality into quantitative research and thus focus on single axis of discrimination (gender, race, disability, etc). In this presentation we will first review the work of Scheim and Bauer who have proposed measure for self-reported discrimination using intercategorical analysis. We will then present a preliminary framework for constructing an index of intersectional discrimination in higher education that aims to address the gaps of the Scheim and Bauer scale. As the thinking is still preliminary all criticisms and suggestions are welcome.Nata Duvvury, Associate Professor and Director, Centre for Global Women’s Studies, School of Political Science and Sociology, University of Galway is a feminist researcher & development expert with research interests in gender, labour markets and welfare state, gendered impacts of globalization, economic costs of gender-based violence, civil society and global governance, and social mobilization.   David KryszajtysSBHS PhD Candidate, DLSPH Deciding to Use Psychedelics to Self-Treat Depression and Anxiety: A Grounded Theory of People’s Experiences from Online Community DiscussionsBased on the findings from a qualitative study, this presentation will explain how online community members decide to use psychedelics on their own to help with their depression and anxiety. It will outline the steps these individuals take and the resources they may use to make choices around these practices, as well as the factors that they consider significant in their decision-making process. Specifically, it will explain how past experiences with conventional mental health care and shared values within online communities can shape decisions around self-treatment with psychedelics. Additionally, the presentation will discuss the implications of this research for public health policy and suggest directions for future research. David Kryszajtys is a PhD candidate at the SBHS division. His research is situated at the intersection of harm reduction and self-directed mental health care. David’s CIHR-funded dissertation is a qualitative study using grounded theory that investigates online discussions about self-treating depression and anxiety with psychedelics. His project explores how people’s decision-making is influenced by previous experiences with the mental health system and their engagement with online communities.  

The School of Political Science and Sociology invite you to a research seminar with Oluwatumininu Adebayo and Stacey Scriver (Global Women’s Studies Research Cluster)  Tuesday 14th November,   1-2pm  AS203, River Room  University of Galway “Negotiating Nollywood: Women, intersectionality and post-feminist sensibilities”     Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, is the second largest film industry globally based on the number of movies produced each year. Women, via their roles as actresses and more recently as producers and directors, have an opportunity to grow their careers and status within the industry and Nigerian society more generally. However, research has found that women are often relegated to stereotypical roles and are subjected to vitriol by the public in relation to their choices. While several studies have focused on female representation in Nollywood films, few have engaged directly with women in Nollywood to understand their lived experience within the film industry and fewer again have done so from an intersectional perspective. This presentation is based on interviews with female filmmakers, including actresses, directors, and producers, and aim to deepen understanding of the challenges women face in the Nollywood industry. The findings reveal that discrimination, sexual harassment, and stereotypes persist in the industry and are shaped not just by gender, but also by ethnicity and social standing. While some positive changes are occurring in Nollywood, we find that the approaches of women in negotiating the inequalities present, aligning with a post-feminist sensibility, may undermine collective action and the achievement of equality in the industry. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the intersectionality of gender and other identities in the Nollywood industry and the influence of the post-feminist sensibility on shaping women’s responses to the challenges encountered.     

Rethinking Wellbeing & Prosperity    Dr Nata Duvvury speaks on the impacts of violence against women and their implications for Rethinking Wellbeing & Prosperity podcast.  A podcast series led by ElsaMaria D'Silva, Founder of Red Dot Foundation and Red Dot Foundation Global, nonprofits that work on gender equity, safety, and justice; developed for the Heinrich Boll Foundation in partnership with Nikore Associates, a youth led public policy research group.  Listen back here.

  MA Public Policy students from the School of Political Science and Sociology made a field trip to Dublin on 11th October, accompanied by students from the MA Gender, Rights and Globalisation, and MA in Political Science and Sociology. 17 students and 2 lecturers boarded the 7.30am train to Dublin on Wednesday morning to visit the Oireachtas buildings at Leinster house.                    The group was greeted by Galway West Deputy Mairéad Farrell, who sponsored our visit, and policy advisor Cillian Doyle. The group was then welcomed to the Sinn Féin party room where the students had an insightful Q&A session with Mairéad, who shared her views and experiences in a frank manner. We then visited the Dáil chambers and sat in the gallery during Leaders’ questions and witnessed some intense debate.          After lunch we visited the Department of Rural and Community Development at Trinity Point, where we were welcomed by Principal Officer Andrew Forde. The afternoon was filled with presentations on the role and functions of the department, the implementation of Ireland’s National Rural Development Policy, and evidence informed policy-making. There was time for questions and answers, and the civil servants also shared stories of their careers in public life.          Lecturer in Public and Social Policy Hanna-Kaisa Hoppania commented ‘This was a great opportunity for MA students to gain insight into the functioning of the political process in real life, to ask questions and engage in discussions about careers in civil service.’         

MY PARTICIPATION AT THE UNITED NATIONS GENEVA 61ST GRADUATE STUDY PROGRAMME (#GSP61)    I am elated to announce that I was selected to participate in the 61st Graduate Study Programme at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, between 3rd-14th July 2023. The theme for this year’s programme is “All Rights for all People”: Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 75. Walking through the magnificent halls of the world’s most powerful global governance system is a dream come true. This two-week-long summer seminar gave me the opportunity to deepen my understanding of the United Nations and the “international Geneva” through first-hand observations, lectures, research, and visits to Geneva-based institutions. This year’s cohort comprises fifty-eight (58) students and young professionals from fifty (50) countries worldwide from various fields, backgrounds, and expertise.  I attended lectures from many specialists on topics like gender equality, climate change, sustainable development, rights to development, peace, and security, refugees and migrants, humanitarian action, disarmament, trade, global health, and AI, to mention a few, which offered me direct knowledge of how the UN functions. Through my participation, I came to realise the relevance of my current master’s at the University of Galway’s Centre for Global Women’s Studies: Gender, Globalisation and Rights course. My course concurrently blends studies about international development, human rights, gender, sustainable development, sexuality, religion, armed conflict, and global health, to mention a few within an unequal globalised world. This fits aptly into the curriculum of the #GSP61 which deals with recognising the human rights of all people, international development, and environmental concerns in a globalised world. I felt confident in all the sessions as my current master’s better equipped me with the emerging global themes around human rights. Participating in the #GSP61 not only allowed me to meet and network with various professionals and experts but also gave me a renewed sense of direction and purpose and confirmed my desire to continue being human rights and gender justice advocate, thereby making a positive impact on people’s lives primarily women and girls. Through my incessant pursuit to contribute to ways to deal with social inequalities and promote sustainable development, I am determined to leverage the insights, the platform, and the multiple networking connections that the #GSP61 has accorded me to be an agent of change wherever I am. My profound gratitude goes to the University of Galway’s Centre for Global Women’s Studies: Gender, Globalisation, and Rights for their financial, academic, and moral support in ensuring I participate and represent the University of Galway in the #GSP61. Opening of the #GSP61 MY WORKING GROUP EXPERIENCE The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has acknowledged that racism exists at the UN, making the anti-racism agenda one of his main priorities. As part of the Graduate Study Programme 61st curriculum, I was placed in the ‘Fighting racism within UN Geneva” working group with twelve other members. Being placed in a working group on policy and development and charged with providing recommendations for dealing with racism within the UN was daunting but rewarding. Working Group Presentation The working group was tasked with the following: Review existing practices in different international organisations in Geneva and, if possible, in selected large private companies in Geneva, about their fight against racism and racial discrimination. Suggest practical means to fight racism and racial discrimination at the UN Geneva Draft a communication strategy to raise awareness about the need for more diversity to fight racism and racial discrimination at the UN Geneva.The Communication Strategy should include: Material for an internal web page dedicated to the fight against racism. Social media posts related to the celebration of international days that deal with the issues of racism and racial discrimination. A video series will feature several UN Geneva staff sharing their ideas about fighting racism and racial discrimination. To undertake the assigned tasks, my working group used the following methodology: Sixty-five international organisations based in Geneva were analysed for anti-racism and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies and practices, with relevant information obtained from twenty-three organisations. Eleven interviews on racism at UN Geneva were conducted with different categories of UN staff and other professionals, generating around fifty-five minutes of recordings, of which seven were used, generating about 10 minutes of video series. Background information on racism in UN Geneva was also drawn from the 2022 Review on Racism and Racial Discrimination in the UN system, Further research was undertaken to establish types of racism, including microaggressions and effective communication strategies to promote anti-racism. Some of the recommendations proffered by my working group included but not limited to the following: Media strategies and campaigns, includinga monthly podcast with guest participation by staff from different backgrounds or cultures; UN digital media, i.e., UNTV, to conduct campaigns or advertisements on anti-racism; staff testimonials of racism via short videos and how it could be addressed in the UN.   Using the arts: Creating arts and activities to promote special celebration days focused on eradicating racism (performances, photography, pop-up exhibitions, etc.), creating an artwork committee to display anti-racism art within the UN, and developing a short mantra/slogan about ending racism in the UN.   Education and training; compulsory training and developing an e-learning programme, Massive Open Online Courses, and resources toolkit available for staff.   Human Resources processes: Develop a diversity and inclusion module as part of the Code of Conduct, grievance mechanisms, sharing of data on disciplinary action, and other accountability measures.   Governance, quality assurance, and compliance; Cultural ambassador against racism, routine inspection in offices assessing compliance with policy and procedures concerning non-discrimination and staff wellbeing. Creating a system that enables the protection against retaliation and strengthens whistleblowing of racist incidents and develops staff surveys on experiences of racism and precise recording of anti-discrimination or anti-racism activities. Create a Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council.    Staff wellbeing: Formulate a mental health support team professionally trained to deal with victims of racism.    The UN Geneva Information Service and the Anti-Racism Department would publish my working group’s final paper. I am grateful for this life-changing and impactful experience. Graduation Day with the Director-General of the UN Geneva, Tatiana Valovaya Graduation Day!  

     Post Doctoral Researcher – Centre for Global Women’s Studies SCHOOL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND SOCIOLOGY Ref. No. University of Galway 123-23   Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for a fixed term/specific purpose position as a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Centre for Global Women’s Studies at the University of Galway.   This position is funded by UNFPA and is available from July 3rd, 2023 to contract end date of Decembe 31st, 2024.   Centre for Global Women’s Studies The Centre for Global Women’s Studies builds on a long tradition of community engagement in Women’s Studies at University of Galway and a commitment to promoting global goals of peace, development and human rights. Rooted in academic excellence, the Centre brings together learners and researchers who are passionate about cultivating critical thinking, knowledge and skills, in partnership with diverse communities, to foster positive change and to advance gender equality, women’s empowerment and human rights for all.   Research in the Global Women’s Studies Cluster investigates the operation of gender in society, gender inequalities, changing notions of gender identity, and the challenges of achieving women's empowerment and human rights in Ireland and beyond, in a context of globalisation. Addressing the global issue of gender-based violence is one of our core areas of focus.   Post Doctoral Researcher: The Position The Centre for Global Women’s Studies is seeking to recruit a Post Doctoral Reseacher with appropriate qualifications and practical experience in applied research on gender-based violence and costing reserach.  The post-holder will be the lead researcher on  a project focused on piloting and implementing a global resource investment tool designed to estimate the resources required to comprehensively address gender-based-violence.   Job Description: The successful candidate will carry out research focused on the implementation of the Global Resource Investment Tool of the Essential Services Package for women and girls subject to violence (ESP). The United Nations Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence aims to provide greater access to a coordinated set of essential and quality multi-sectoral services for all women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence. The Global Resource Investment Tool, has been developed to enable national institutions to estimate the resource requirements for a minimum package of services, based on selected ‘essential services/actions’ identified across the police and justice, social services and coordination modules in the Essential Services Package (ESP). The tool is intended to help inform national planning, programming and budgeting processes, as well as helping Governments and civil society to better understand what is required for service provision and why this is necessary.   The project comprises four phases: Two country pilots of the existing Global Resource Investment Tool ( one pilot has been completed); expansion of the Tool based on lessons learned from these pilots; implementation of the revised Tool in a third country. A key element of the work involves undertaking qualitative focus groups and interviews with stakeholders in the two of the  participating countries –Papua New Guinea and Pakistan. In addition, the Post Doctoral Researcher will be the technical lead in the estimation of the resources required to comprehensively address gender-based violence in each country, employing the Global Resource Investment Tool. This tool is excel-based.   Duties:   Preparing stakeholder workshops, in conjunction with the project Principal Investigator (PI) and Research Associate for two countries implementing the ESP. Conducting stakeholder workshops in the participating countries with the support of the Reseach Associate and in-country UNFPA offices. Conducting Training on cost estimation and the Global Resource Investment Tool with key national stakeholders and service providers. Identifying and sourcing relevant administrative data. Undertaking questionnaires, focus groups and interviews with stakeholders in the participating countries to collect primary data to establish unit costs of service provision. Providing technical lead for the estimation of resource requirements to comprehensively address gender-based violence in each country, employing the Global Resource Investment Tool. Preparing and conducting global coordination workshops, in conjunction with the project Principal Investigator (PI) and Research Associate. Documenting lessons learned from the country pilots, in conjunction with the project Principal Investigator (PI) and Research Associate. Leading the application of lessons learned to expand/revise the Global Resource Investment Tool, as well as developing new cost strategies. Report writing, in conjunction with the project Principal Investigator (PI) and Research Associate. Liaising with stakeholders.     Other duties may be assigned by the PI from time to time. The Researcher will carry out the duties of the post under the direction of the PI.   Qualifications/Skills required:   Essential Requirements: The successful candidate will have a PhD degree in a Social Science subject such as Sociology or Economics.   PhD in a Social Science subject such as Sociology or Economics. Familiarity with costing studies of service provision (health, psychosocial or legal services) Demonstrable understanding of gender-based violence. Experience of conducting social science research on pressing social issues. Expertise in conducting qualitative research – focus groups and interviews. Expertise in conducting quantitative research – questionnaires. Practical knowledge, and experience, of statistical software, including excel. Robust analytical skills – qualitative and quantitative data. Excellent interpersonal skills. Strong report writing skills. Fluency in written and spoken English.   Desirable Requirements: Expertise in conducting research on gender-based violence. Experience in conducting costing studies, particularly in terms of service provision. Expertise in statistical software such as SPSS, R and Stata. Practical experience of sourcing administrative data. Experience of preparing and conducting stakeholder workshops. Experience of working with global organisations, such as UNFPA. Ability to work within a multidisciplinary research team.      Employment permit restrictions apply for this category of post   Salary: €42,032 to €48,429 per annum pro rata for shorter and/or part-time contracts (public sector pay policy rules pertaining to new entrants will apply).     Start date: Position is available from 3rd July 2023   Continuing Professional Development/Training: The University of Galway provides continuing professional development supports for all researchers seeking to build their own career pathways either within or beyond academia.  Researchers are encouraged to engage with our Researcher Development Centre (RDC) upon commencing employment – see www.universityofgalway.ie/rdc for further information.'   Further information on research and working at University of Galway is available on Research at University of Galway   For information on moving to Ireland please see www.euraxess.ie   Further information about the Centre for Global Women’s Studies is available at https://www.universityofgalway.ie/womens_studies/index.html   Further information about the ESP Global Resource Investment Tool is available at https://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/ESP_Module-7-CostingTool-EN.pdf Informal enquiries concerning the post may be made to Dr Nata Duvvury (nata.duvvury@universityofgalway.ie)     To Apply: Applications to include a cover letter, CV, and the contact details of three referees – to be sent, via e-mail (in word or PDF only), to Dr Nata Duvvury: nata.duvvury@universityofgalway.ie   Please put reference number University of Galway 123-23 in subject line of e-mail application.   Closing date for receipt of applications is 5.00 pm June 16th     We reserve the right to re-advertise or extend the closing date for this post.   The University of Galway is an equal opportunities employer.   All positions are recruited in line with Open, Transparent, Merit (OTM) and Competency based recruitment    

Centre for Global Women’s Studies Discipline of Gender and Women’s Studies School of Political Science and Sociology University of Galway   In association with   Teagasc & Dublin City University     Date: Wednesday, May 24, 11:30 - 12:30 (GMT) G011, Hardiman Research Building, University of Galway, H91 REW4 or online via Zoom, link will be issued in advance of event to registeredparticipants. The case for farmer cooperation: lessons from India and Europe Moderator: Dr Nata Duvvury, Director, Centre for Global Women’s Studies, University of Galway   Speaker: Professor Bina Agarwal, University of Manchester Seminar     Bina Agarwal is Professor of Development Economics and Environment at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK. She has been President of the International Society for Ecological Economics; President of the International Association for Feminist Economics; and visiting professor at Cambridge, Harvard, and Princeton. She holds several honorary doctorates. Her over 100 academic papers and 13 books, include the award-winning book: A Field of One’s Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia (Cambridge University Press 1994); Gender and Green Governance (OUP, 2010) and Gender Challenges (OUP, 2016), a three-volume compendium of her selected papers. Her pioneering work on gender and land rights and on environmental governance has had global impact. In 2005 she led a successful civil society campaign to make India’s Hindu Inheritance law gender equal. She is currently working on group farming in Asia and Europe. Agarwal’s many awards include a Padma Shri from India’s President; several book prizes; the Leontief Prize ‘for advancing the frontiers of economic thought’; the Louis Malassis International Scientist Prize for ‘an outstanding career in agricultural development,’ and the International Balzan Prize 2017. She is only the second woman from the Global South to win the Balzan prize since its inception in 1961. See also, www.binaagarwal.com.    Seminar information available here. Registration via Eventbrite. ‌    

International Women's Day 2023 Programme of Events    Centre for Global Women’s Studies Discipline of Gender and Women’s Studies School of Political Science and Sociology Date: 8th March 2023, 3:00 – 4:30 pm (GMT) G010, Hardiman Research Building, University of Galway, H91 REW4 or online via Zoom, link will be issued in advance of event to registered participants.  The Rise in the Cost of Living: a crisis of social reproduction  Opening Remarks Professor Ciarán Ó hOgartaigh,President, University of Galway Moderator:Dr Nata Duvvury, University of Galway  Speaker:Professor Diane Elson, University of Essex  Discussants:  Dr Shana Cohen, Director of Think tank for Action on Social Change (TASC) Mr Owen Reidy, General Secretary, Irish Congress of Trade Union Registration:  https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/537692682287  Seminar programme availble here‌. ‌‌ **** Date: 9th March 2023, 2:00-3:00pm (GMT) G006, Institute for Lifecourse and Society, University of Galway Sustainable Agriculture: Addressing Gender Gap in Agricultural Productivity in Africa Speaker: Professor Haroon Akram Lodhi, Trent University Haroon Akram-Lodhi is Professor of Economics and International Development Studies at Trent University, Peterborough, Canada. An Associate Editor of Feminist Economics, his most recent (co-edited) book is Handbook of Critical Agrarian Studies (Edward Elgar, 2022). To register www.eventbrite.ie/e/536921194747          ‌    

Virtual Book Launch: Irish Women’s Prison Writing: Mother Ireland’s Rebels, 1960-2010s Date: 8th December 2022, Time: 4:00 - 5:00 pm Join us for the launch of a new book from Routledge Press by Red Washburn - Irish Women’s Prison Writing: Mother Ireland’s Rebels, 1960-2010s. This book explores 50 years of Irish women’s prison writing, connecting the work of women leaders and writers in the Six Counties of Ireland during the Troubles. The book documents and analyzes the ongoing Irish freedom struggle from an abolitionist feminist perspective, using personal correspondence, auto/biographical narratives, and poetry of the following key women: Bernadette McAliskey, Eileen Hickey, Mairéad Farrell, Síle Darragh, Ella O’Dwyer, Martina Anderson, Dolours Price, Marian McGlinchey (formerly Marian Price), Áine and Eibhlín Nic Giolla Easpaig (Ann and Eileen Gillespie), Roseleen Walsh, and Margaretta D’Arcy. Speakers:  Red Washburn, the author of the poetry collections Crestview Tree Woman and Birch Philosopher X as well as the academic monograph Irish Women’s Prison Writing: Mother Ireland’s Rebels, 1960-2010s. They are Professor of English and Director of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Kingsborough and the Graduate Center (CUNY). Margaretta D’Arcy is a playwright and filmmaker. She was in Armagh Jail and her writings are included in this collection women’s prison writing. She is a member of Aosdana and lives in Galway. Eugene O’Brien, editor of the Routledge Series in Irish Literature, is Associate Professor, and Head of Department of English Language and Literature, in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland Nata Duvvury, Associate Professor and Head, Discipline of Gender and Women’s Studies, School of Political Science and Sociology, University of Galway.  Registration: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/473356009567 Centre for Global Women’s Studies Discipline of Gender and Women’s Studies School of Political Science and Sociology     ‌    

WEBINAR: Taking Stock of the Violence Against Women Movement: Where are we? What is the Future? 1 December 2022, 2pm – 3.15pm (GMT)   Currently, we are witnessing an increased backlash against the advances we have made towards achieving gender equality. Trends of concern include the spread of fundamentalist ideology across the world and the curtailing of civil society spaces. The ongoing problem of violence against women is one issue of particular concern. We are thus presented with an important opportunity to pause and reflect on our collective efforts over the last 30 years to end such violence. Where are we today? What have we achieved? Equally, what challenges do we face? What are the critical gaps? And what future directions are needed?   Save the date for an intriguing conversation with academics and activists reflecting on international and local experiences and perspectives concerning future directions for the violence against women movement.   Speakers:   Ardra Manasi, Research Fellow, International Institute of Migration and Development, India Audrey Rousseau, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) Stephanie Futter-Orel, Executive Manager, WAVE Network Simone George, Human rights lawyer, Ireland Webinar recording is available here.   Centre for Global Women’s Studies Discipline of Gender and Women’s Studies School of Political Science and Sociology      

The School of Political Science and Sociology invite you to a research seminar with:    Prof. Audrey Rousseau  ‘Exploring testimonial sensibilities and credibility judgments with regards to the Magdalen Laundries and the Mother and Baby Homes’  Supported by Global Women’s Studies  Cairnes Building, CA110  Thursday 10th of November, 2022, 1-2pm  All Welcome  For decades, women and children, survivors of institutional and state violence, have kept silent with regards of what was considered immoral whether giving birth out of wedlock, being so-called “illegitimate”, or solely not adjusting to gendered societal norms. In 1990s, but more audibly from 2000s, witnesses have bravely started to tell their story publicly, offering a vivid analysis of how oppression have affected their lives but also, in many cases, the lives of their descendants. Today, their claims for recognition and reparation are taken up in the media and the political realms, including the Ryan report, the McAleese report, the Mother and Baby Homes report. Of course, those committees or inquiries are to be acknowledged, but they also need to be questioned notably in how they treated survivors accounts, and the way they often missed opportunities in challenging official historical accounts on violence. Firstly, drawing on observations from my PhD thesis, which aimed at reflecting on the capacity “as a giver of knowledge” involved in the act of remembering in the struggle for recognition of the Irish Magdalen Laundries, 1993-2014, I wish to discuss the defamatory discursive ethos (based on suspicion and blame) that has long stood in the way of women's experiential narration. Secondly, I will explore the bases of a new comparative discourse analysis challenging the differential logic at work between the Magdalen Laundries and Mother and Baby Homes in the Republic of Ireland (1993-2022). In doing so, I hope to investigate how prejudice based on gender, class, and age, may still be at work in depicting and distributing a capital of sympathy and veracity judgment while listening sensitively to survivors, activists, and their descendants. About: Audrey Rousseau is an Associate professor in sociology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), Canada. She specializes in the study of contemporary memorial processes, including the politics of recognition and redress of historical injustices in relation to colonial and gender-based violence experienced by Indigenous peoples in Canada, as well as the confinement and forced labour of thousands of women in religious institutions in Ireland (18-20th centuries). Aside from two book chapters (University Press of Florida and Manchester University Press), she has mostly published in French-speaking journals such as Études Irlandaises, Études Féministes, and Criminocorpus     ‌  

Invitation: Launch and Celebration of Dearcadh: Graduate Journal of Gender, Globalisation and Rights  When? Wednesday, 28th of September @ 5:30pm  Where? CA110, Cairnes Building, University of Galway  RSVP to Stacey.scriver@universityofgalway.ie  As you may know, the Gender and Women’s Studies discipline publishes a peer-reviewed graduate journal that features the work of graduates of the MA Gender, Globalisation and Rights as well as other programmes. You will have an opportunity to publish in the journal and we recommend you come along to the launch of the third volume of Dearcadh: Graduate Journal of Gender, Globalisation, and Rights where you will have the chance to hear from past authors (and MA GGR graduates) about their experience.  In this years’ volume authors address issues including care work and the impact of COVID 19, technology and sex work, image-based sexual violence, same-sex intimate partner violence, the right to development, and race and gender decertification.   We hope to see you at the informal celebration and launch on the 28th of September, from 5:30pm in CA 110, Cairnes building (across from Aras Moyola).   For current and graduating MA students this is an opportunity to learn more about publishing with Dearcadh.  For the purposes of catering please RSVP to Stacey.scriver@universityofgalway.ie by the 23rd of September.    ‌ ‌

Dr Nata Duvvury,  to chair panel on Gender Based Violence in the World of Work at the 30th Annual IAFFE Conference, June 29 to July 1st in Geneva. Follow the conversation at #IAFFE2022

Dr Nata Duvvury, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Centre for Global Women's Studies, NUI Galway, recent Cois Coiribe article. Synopsis: Research shows that strong links exist between domestic violence and manifestations of public violence, from crime to war and terrorism. According to global women’s studies director, Dr Nata Duvvury, to neglect the problem of domestic violence is to neglect the wider conditions for violence across society. Read the full article here.  

Gender based violence and migration: Centring hidden intersections This webinar will report key findings from the GBV-MIG Project - Violence against women migrants and refugees: Analyzing causes and effective policy response project.  Date: Tuesday March 8th  Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm Register: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/274913893857 Zoom Link: https://nuigalway-ie.zoom.us/j/99096856338? pwd=T2dPK0tJZFJaeUhTYzhjV2tuencxdz09 Speakers include: Dr Nata Duvvury , Director, Centre for Global Women’s Studies, NUI Galway, Professor Jane Freedman, Université of Paris 8 , Dr Nina Sahraoui, Paris Centre for Sociological and Political Research & Dr Nasrin Khandoker, NUI Galway Moderated by: Dr Stacey Scriver, Centre for Global Women’s Studies, NUI Galway. Project Description: Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is a major infringement of women’s human rights and an obstacle to sustainable development. SGBV against migrant and refugee women is widespread, but often remains invisible and under-analysed both in academic research and policymaking. This research takes an intersectional approach to understand SGBV in migration contexts, analysing the ways in which different forms discrimination and inequality based on gender,'race', nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and age, interact to make some more people more vulnerable that others to SGBV and less able to access support and services. French team: Jane Freedman is a Professor at the Université of Paris 8 and Co-Director of the Paris Centre for Sociological and Political Research (CRESPPA). Nina Sahraoui is Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Paris Centre for Sociological and Political Research, CNRS  Irish Team: Niamh Reilly is Established Professor of Political Science and Sociology at NUI Galway. Niamh is Principal Investigator of the Irish Study of GBV-MIG Project Nasrin Khandoker is Post-Doctoral Researcher with GBV-MIG Ireland. She is also an associate professor in the department of Anthropology, Jahangirnagar University    

PhD Fellowship The Centre for Global for Women’s Studies (CGWS) in collaboration with the Office of the Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is pleased to announce a  4 year Doctoral Fellowship funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and CGWS. The student will be based in the Centre for Global Women’s Studies, School of Political Science and Sociology, National University of Ireland Galway. The selected scholar will have full access to the NUI Galway Library, Hardiman Doctoral Hub, and other resources. This PhD position is part of the Project ‘Developing an Index of Intersectional Discrimination’ led by Dr Nata Duvvury. The position offers an annual stipend of  €18,500 and fully paid fees for four years, flexible work hours,  graduate training and travel expenses for conference presentation and field visits. Applications from both EU and non-EU citizens are very welcome. As part of the project, the PhD fellow will work along with the PI to achieve the objectives of the project in terms of conference organisation, presentation, publications and other forms of public dissemination. The fellow will co-author and publish articles and potentially an edited volume on intersectional discrimination in HEIs, alongside working on their thesis. About the Project: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Ireland have increased their commitment to strengthen the advancement of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion agenda to end discrimination and  achieve a fundamental shift in institutional culture grounded in respect, openness and equality.  A major challenge faced by institutions in this endeavour is the lack of understanding  and robust application of an intersection framework. How do the different grounds of discrimination (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, disability, age, socio-economic status, religion and marital status)  interact to shape the individual experience of discrimination? Is it possible to measure intersectional discrimination to understand how it shapes well-being of individuals and groups? This project aims to fill this gap in our understanding and explore developing an index of intersectional discrimination to evaluate the prevalence and impacts of every day, anticipated and major discrimination experienced by students and staff in HEIs across multiple social identities and diversity characteristics. Specifically,  the project will conduct research on the context and impact of discrimination, applying an intersectional and decolonial framework to develop a valid and reliable IDI[1].   The successful candidate will begin their fellowship from approx April 2022 and is expected to be normally resident in Galway for the entire duration of the programme. Centre for Global Women’s Studies,  School of Political Science and Sociology The Centre for Global Women’s Studies is the research arm of the Discipline Gender and Women’s Studies. The Discipline of Gender and Women’s Studies is built on a 30-year history of feminist academia and activism at NUI Galway. Grounded in a feminist ethos, Gender and Women’s Studies is committed to cross-disciplinary teaching and research that engages with current and historical inequalities from a critical, reflexive and intersectional perspective. Members of the Discipline bring expertise from across the fields of sociology, politics, economics, women’s history, international development, human rights and the humanities more broadly. Working through collaborative practices, Gender and Women’s Studies is dedicated to understanding the lived and gendered experiences of people throughout the world  and to contributing towards a more equitable future through public engagement and activism. The Centre for Global Women’s Studies has gained international reputation for feminist research in gender and development grounded in feminist political economy and human rights. Major themes of research include the operation of gendered power relations and gender inequalities, changing notions of gender identity, and the challenges of achieving women's empowerment in Ireland and beyond in a context of globalisation. The Centre has had numerous research awards from UN organisations, World Bank, bilateral development agencies such DFID, Irish Government, and international and national NGOs.   Essential Qualifications:  MA in Gender Studies, Sociology, Politics, Human Rights, Psychology or similar areas that broadly aligns with the subject of research Good grounding in discourses in feminist theory, intersectionality, and EDI Strong written and verbal skills Familiarity with index development Strong qualitative and quantitative skills Desirable Qualifications: Familiarity with the HEA policies on EDI Previous experience of research on sensitive topics with vulnerable and/or marginalised communities We particularly encourage applications from candidates belonging to minority ethnic groups, and gender and sexuality minority groups (LGBTQ+), or those in Direct Provision. Selection Process: Interested candidates are requested to send their CVs, a 300 word personal statement and a 800 word research proposal related to the project to Ms. Gillian Browne with the title ‘PhD Application’.  Applicants are requested to have two academic referees send their reference letters by closing date to Ms Gillian Browne (gillian.browne@nuigalway.ie), with applicant’s name in the subject line. Deadline for application is 31 March 2022, 5pm Irish time.  Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview.  Contact: For any query in relation to the project, email nata.duvvury@nuigalway.ie [1] The development of this index will draw on previous existing research and experience using an Intersectional Discrimination Index in health research across diverse populations, including in data collection, analysis, and presentation of findings.  

She was going for a run  As Irish society tries to come to terms with the brutal murder of Ashling Murphy, this simple statement is being shared across social media. Ashling, aged 23, a teacher in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, was jogging along the Grand Canal on Wednesday afternoon when she was killed. This is an appalling act of violence against a woman and, unfortunately, such acts are part of a wider pervasive societal issue both in Ireland and worldwide. Globally, one in three women are subjected to some form of physical and/or sexual violence. Every day, 137 women across the world are murdered by a partner or member of their family. In Ireland, 244 women have died violently between 1996 and 2022, with 18 children dying alongside their mothers. The majority (87%) of these women (where the case has been resolved) were killed by a man known to them, while 13% of these women were murdered by a stranger.  Women are not safe in our homes or in our communities. Women are scared. Women are angry. Women feel powerless.  In the Centre for Global Women’s Studies, we work for a world without violence against women and all forms of gender-based violence. In conjunction with NGOs such as Safe Ireland, we call for an end to violence against women. We call for a greater focus on eradicating the patriarchal norms of masculinity (dominance, control and male entitlement) that underpin such violence. We call for greater accountability for perpetrators of violence against women. We call for sufficient government resources to be allocated to the prevention of, and response to, acts of violence against women.  We call on men to stand in solidarity with women in tackling violence against women.   Our sympathies to Ashling’s family, friends and pupils. May Ashling rest in peace. #stopviolenceagainstwomen https://www.rte.ie/news/2022/0114/1273610-vigils-ashling-murphy/ https://www.safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/ https://www.womensaid.ie/about/           

The US and NATO forces have withdrawn from Afghanistan with no semblance of peace or safety for those who remain. We have watched the ill-fated 20-year US military intervention in Afghanistan, along with the Doha agreement, end in Taliban-reinstated rule. The repeated promises of democracy- building lie in tatters. amidst the fall of the Afghan government. We have watched the chaotic withdrawal of troops and documented civilians culminate in bombings, injuries and fatalities. The eyes of the world are watching, but for how long? Once the global focus shifts, as it inevitably does, the Taliban will have free reign. Even now, reports are emerging about harassment, threats and murder of dissidents. In addition, religious leaders in Badakhshan and Takhar provinces have been requested to supply the Taliban with lists of girls over the age of 15 and widows under 45 for so-called ‘marriage’ with Taliban fighters. It has been 43 years since the fighting began in Afghanistan and there is currently conflict between the Taliban and ISIS-K. The people of Afghanistan, once again, have no security, particularly those who aided the US and women, girls and sexual minorities. The violent and patriarchal regime enforced by the Taliban will destroy any positive changes achieved in the country, pushing those still marginalised back into darkness and rendering many of them victims of gender-based violence. The UN must respond decisively to prevent further atrocities against the people of Afghanistan, particularly women and girls. We call on the Irish government, now sharing the presidency of the Security Council with India, to lead sustained and comprehensive action. We endorse the following recommendations by Vrinda Narain, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism; Max Bell School of Public Policy, McGill University and board member of Women Living Under Muslim Laws. These four policy actions for the international community to bring about sustainable peace are guided by Resolution 1820 ‘that underscores the importance of including women as equal participants in the peace process and condemns all forms of gendered violence against civilians in armed conflict’: 1) Calling for an immediate ceasefire to ensure the peace process can proceed in good faith. 2) Ensuring that women’s rights — enshrined in Afghanistan’s Constitution, national legislation and international law — are respected. 3 Insisting that peace negotiations continue with meaningful participation of Afghan women. Currently, there are only four women peace negotiators on the Afghan government’s team and none on the Taliban’s. 4) Lifting sanctions against the Taliban must be conditional on their commitment to uphold women’s rights. The European Union and the United States, currently the largest donors to Afghanistan, must make aid conditional upon women’s rights and their access to education and employment.

A new Safe Ireland and NUI Galway research report, published today, finds that the aggregate cost of domestic violence to a woman, over her journey from abuse to safety, is approximately €113,475 over a time span of 20 years or more. The new report is the first to assess the indicative economic and social costs of domestic violence in Ireland. Based on the individual estimate, the report assesses that the national cost of domestic violence to survivors is an estimated €56 billion over a 20.5 year journey – a total cost that is based on the most comprehensive study of the prevalence of violence against women in Ireland (Fundamental Rights Agency – FRA – 2014). While the cumulative cost of domestic violence is a more useful measure of the economic impact of DV over a “lifetime”, according to the researchers, it does indicate that domestic violence is costing women survivors at least €2.7 billion each year. Assessing the Social and Economic Cost of Domestic Violence was undertaken for Safe Ireland by researchers, Dr Nata Duvvury and Dr Caroline Forde, of NUI Galway’s Centre for Global Women’s Studies. It is based on in-depth interviews with 50 women, using a purposive sampling strategy to ensure diversity and representation. The costs were tracked over three distinct phases; the abusive relationship phase lasting on average 15 years, the sanctuary and interim phase lasting on average 1.5 years and the relocation and recovery phase, spanning on average four years. Echoing the EU FRA prevalence study, emotional abuse was the most common form of coercive control. Assessing the Social and Economic Cost of DVDownload PDF: https://www.safeireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/Assessing-the-Social-and-Economic-Costs-of-DV-July2021.pdf Mary McDermott, CEO of Safe Ireland, said that as well as highlighting the enormous economic and social cost of domestic violence to women, children and the state, the report highlights the complex relationship between poverty, social exclusion and domestic violence. “The relationship between poverty and domestic violence/coercive control is complex and circular, acting as both a cause and effect of poverty,” she said. “When women are in, leave, or are recovering from an abusive relationship, they will face an increasing and real threat of poverty, especially where financial control has been a core element of their abuse. However, it is also the case that many women do not leave abusive relationships because of the threat of poverty and stigma. This hidden domestic violence/coercive control poverty trap needs close scrutiny and further research.” Lost income/productivity emerged as the single major cost for women, equivalent to an average of €205,511 for those women who experienced income loss over the three phases (not all women experienced or reported income loss or indeed all costs). Health costs were the most widely reported. In addition, women faced significant service bills such as legal costs, debt, damage or loss of property often caused by the perpetrator, as well as critical challenges with regard to housing and relocation in particular. A number of women became homeless as a result of domestic violence through their journey. The report also highlighted the prevalence and cost of ongoing or separation abuse, in particular the impact of ongoing financial abuse in terms of unpaid child maintenance or the use of child maintenance payments to exert control. Dr Caroline Forde, NUI Galway said that the findings confirm existing international evidence that domestic violence/coercive control is a costly, pervasive social problem that costs survivors, families and the State, directly and indirectly. “The cost of domestic violence/coercive control both for individuals and families, as well as for the national economy, is substantial. Direct costs include expenses for services to treat and support abused women, their children and to bring perpetrators to justice,” she said. “The indirect costs include lost employment and productivity which greatly undermines women’s capabilities.” She highlighted that twice as many women in the sample were unemployed at the time of interview than were at the beginning of the abusive relationship. Most had been driven into unemployment because of illness/injury and trauma due to domestic violence, or because the perpetrator prevented them from working, thus stalling their careers. The interview-based methodology also meant that the researchers could identify the channels of help that most women seek along the way. They found that across the three phases, services in the domestic violence, healthcare, legal, criminal justice and judicial sectors were most commonly accessed by women. The primary entry point for support was through healthcare services. Safe Ireland said that the findings of this research could make an important contribution to ongoing Government developments in the area of DSGBV, including the first national Audit of DSGBV, the ongoing Tusla Accommodation Review and the development of the third DSGBV Strategy. The new Irish findings are in line with, and contribute to, the international evidence base for the cost of domestic violence. Research from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), released last week, has estimated that the cost of gender-based violence across the EU is €366 billion a year. Violence against women makes up 79 % of this cost, amounting to €289 billion.  

Dr Stacey Scriver, Lecturer and Researcher in the Global Centre for Women’s Studies in NUI Galway, introduces the thoughts of Masters students who are studying issues around gender, globalisation and rights. Below, students of the MA Gender, Globalisation and Rights use the concept as a heuristic device to explore their experience of common differences as students at NUI Galway. https://impact.nuigalway.ie/news/student-reflections-on-equality-diversity-and-inclusion/  

NUI Galway will launch a Domestic Violence Leave Policy, the first Higher Education Institution to do so in Ireland. The policy will be launched by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD on Wednesday, 26 May.The purpose of NUI Galway's Domestic Violence Leave Policy is to provide for a period of paid time away from work for staff members who have suffered or are suffering from domestic violence or abuse. This leave will enable the staff member to take the time they need to seek assistance in a structured and supported environment.Violence be it physical, sexual or emotional abuse by an intimate partner, family member or a child has significant consequences for physical and mental health as well as overall wellbeing. The World Health Organisation has documented the severe health consequences of interpersonal violence including premature death, long-term morbidity, poor mental health, increased risk of substance abuse, and risk with pregnancy outcomes among others.Less recognised is the impact of domestic violence on the victim’s work. Research by economists in the US, UK and other European countries have established that women who experience domestic violence are at increased risk of absenteeism, more irregular work history, reduced performance at work, limited occupation mobility, dropping out of the labour force and ultimately lower earnings.Globally there is a growing movement across various jurisdictions that the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion agenda must also address the consequences of domestic violence in addition to workplace harassment and bullying. The International Labour Organisation Convention on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work, to which Ireland is a signatory, explicitly calls for governments and employers to address the risks and impacts of domestic violence in workplace policies.Higher Education Institutions are not only institutions of learning that contribute to knowledge on deep-rooted social problems such as domestic violence; they are equally places of work committed to creating a safe and respectful working environment that promotes dignity and wellbeing of all members of their communities.Minister Harris commented: “The impact of domestic violence on victims and their families can be devastating physically and emotionally and their stress can be compounded by the worry of work or not being paid. Support for victims who are working, in the form of paid leave, could be crucial in ensuring that they retain their employment and have the economic capacity to escape an abusive relationship. “The introduction of the Domestic Violence Leave Policy at NUI Galway marks a critical step forward in ensuring that Higher Education Institutions are safe and supportive workplaces. I really want to commend NUI Galway for this important work and I hope it will be the first of many institutions to adopt such a policy.”Speaking in advance of the launch, President of NUI Galway, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, said: “NUI Galway is proud to introduce this Domestic Violence Leave Policy, which aligns with our vision and values of respect and excellence of our students and staff as citizens connected to, and contributing to, community and society in Ireland and internationally for the public good.”New research including that from the Centre for Global Women’s Studies at NUI Galway has quantified the impact of domestic violence on productivity loss with women on average missing 7 to 15 days of work and being less productive for an additional 5 to 10 days. An overwhelming majority of those who experience domestic violence globally are women, with 1 in 3 women reporting a lifetime experience of physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner. In Ireland, the equivalent figure is 1 in 6 (15 per cent of women). More women face emotional violence, and in Ireland, twice as many women experience a lifetime of emotional abuse by a partner (31 percent).Annually, it is estimated that 50,000 women experience physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former partner and approximately 117,000 experience psychological violence by a current partner. During Covid-19 there has been a sharp increase by nearly 43 per cent in calls to organisations such as Women’s Aid and Safe Ireland.Dr Nata Duvvury, Director, Centre for Global Women’s Studies at NUI Galway said: “More than 30% of women experience emotional violence in their lifetime by a partner, which affects women’s working lives leading to lower productivity and wellbeing. For example, women experiencing domestic violence miss on average 15 days of productive work on a yearly basis.”Speakers at the launch will include Minster Harris, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh and Dr Nata Duvvury, NUI Galway, Louise O’Reilly, Sinn Fein TD for Dublin Fingal and Sinn Fein Spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, Professor Audra Bowlus, Department of Economics, University of Western Ontario, Canada, Josephine Hynes, HR Director, NUI Galway and Eileen Mannion, Interim Chair Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Údarás na hOllscoile, NUI Galway.Read NUI Galway's Domestic Violence Leave Policy is available here. The online launch will take place on Wednesday, 26 May from 1pm-2pm and is open to the public.To register to attend the launch visit: https://teams.microsoft.com/_#/broadcastPlaybackScreen. The Office of the Vice-President for Research and Innovation have developed the first in a series of ‘research impact case studies’ modelled on the UK Research Excellence Framework. One of the case studies includes Dr Nata Duvvury on the impact of her work in the area of domestic violence. See: https://www.nuigalway.ie/researchcommunityportal/researchimpact/.         

We are pleased to confirm the below programme of speakers for the launch of the University’s Domestic Violence Leave Policy on 26th May 2021 at 1pm.* Please join us then via this link. Speakers: Nata Duvvury, Director, Centre for Global Women’s Studies, NUI Galway Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, President, NUI Galway Simon Harris, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Audra Bowlus, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Western Ontario Josephine Hynes, HR Director, NUI Galway Louise O’Reilly, TD, Sinn Féin Eileen Mannion, Interim Chair EDIC, Údarás na hOllscoile, NUI Galway Please note that the Domestic Violence Leave Policy is available here on the HR website and provides details of all available resources and supports. We look forward to seeing you at the launch. Best wishes, Sinead and Nata Sinead Wynne Employee Relations Manager Dr Nata Duvvury Director, Centre for Global Women’s Studies   *Please note that the time and date of this event has been amended based on the Minister’s availability    

What’s happening in Myanmar? From Putsch to popular protest  Moore Institute, Centre for Global Women’s Studies, and School of Political Science Sociology webinar with Vijaya Nidadavolu   Thursday 6th of May at 2pm   Min Aung Hlaing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar military, staged a coup d’etat on February 1st and with it Myanmar’s tentative democratic transition has been brought to a violent halt. A popular multi-centric protest that coalesced in the immediate aftermath continues to-date, taking the military and observers by surprise by its size, unity and innovativeness.  This session will provide an overview of what is happening on the ground in Myanmar and the forces behind the protest movement. Discussion will focus on the prolific protest art movement led by youth, including young women in particular.  The speaker, Vijaya Nidadavolu, is a Gender and Development specialist with years of experience in using popular culture and media for advancing gender and social justice issues. She has lived in Myanmar since 2015, but has recently left as a result of the coup.  To attend please register via:  https://nuigalway-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xr1aKMFeTF6nIoLIhb3nIQ  

Watch – Engendering the Macroeconomy: Current Efforts and Future Directions   On 8th of March, the Whitaker Institute was delighted to host Engendering the Macroeconomy: Current Efforts and Future Directions. Economics has neglected integrating gender in its analysis and as a result economic discourse fails to see and address gender inequality in the context of a modern economy. Feminist Economists have been pushing the frontiers of Economics, for the past three decades, in articulating the consequences of development and growth for gender inequality, and the implications of persistent gender inequalities on inclusive growth and sustainable development In the last decade, more exciting and promising research has emerged in this field including the specific theme of ‘engendering macroeconomics’. This session focused on exploring what engendering the macroeconomy entails – what are some of the current efforts, what challenges are faced and what are some future directions. Maria Floro, PI of Hewlett funded research programme on ‘Care Work and the Economy’,  and Srinivasan Raghavendra, Co-PI of DFID funded research on ‘Economic and Social Costs of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)’ and also a research associate in the Hewlett project, shared insights from their work on integrating the issues of care work and VAWG into macroeconomic analysis as well as their reflections on advancing gender-sensitive macroeconomic policy models. The event was hosted by Dr Nata Duvvury, co-leader of the Gender and Public Policy cluster. The event is available to watch back here. This session was jointly organised by the Gender and Public Policy Cluster and the Centre for Global Women’s Studies Speakers Maria S. Floro is Professor of Economics and co-director of the Program on Gender Analysis in Economics (PGAE) at American University in Washington DC. Her publications include co-authored books on Informal Credit Markets and the New Institutional Economics, Women’s Work in the World Economy, and Gender, Development, and Globalization:  Economics as if All People Mattered and articles on time use, care work and unpaid work, gender and vulnerability, urban food security, poverty, ecological crises, household savings, credit and informal employment. Dr. Floro currently leads the Care Work and the Economy Project (www.careworkeconomy.org). Srinivas Raghavendra is Lecturer in Economics and co-PI of the DFID funded project on Economic and Social Costs of Violence against Women and Girls (www.whatworks.co.za). He is also member for the Research Network for the Care Work and Economy Project. His main area of research has been in Macroeconomics, with a particular emphasis on understanding the implications of financialization for distribution and growth.For the last number of years, he has been working in this broad field of Engendering Macroeconomics focused on a diverse set of questions ranging from integrating the issue of violence against women and unpaid care work in the macroeconomic models. His publications in this field include journal article in the Feminist Economics on the issue of violence against women, commissioned research report for the World Bank on the Intimate parter violence, commissioned research report on microfinance, care work and the macroeconomy for the Care Work and the Economy project and a working paper on the implications of violence against women for growth in the Levy Economics Institute New York.

As researchers – historians, social scientists, journalists, legal experts, researchers on Irish culture -and survivors who have been forced to do our own research we reject the conclusions of the report of the Commission of Inquiry into Mother and Baby Homes and in particular its claims about the evidence, which are deeply flawed. The report does no justice to the survivors whose testimonies are at the centre of the inquiry, and it draws conclusions based on a partial and biased review of the evidence, which systematically downplays survivor testimony. Many of the leading experts in the area have already put their rejection of this approach on record. There is ample expertise available in Ireland and internationally to tell a far more detailed, accurate and precise story about the institutions of the mother-and-baby homes and the women and children who spent time in them than the one presented in the current report. The report’s conclusions ignore the existing research on these subjects and falls far behind them in its methods and understanding. The historic record is ill-served by this document, and we do not accept its conclusions as fact or its methodology as credible. As has been observed many times in the past weeks, the report contains multiple inaccuracies and presents survivor testimony in an unethical and unreliable way. We wish to draw attention to specific aspects of the report that are most egregious: It is not the case that there is no evidence of forced adoptions. Indeed the Commission acknowledges testimonies from women who did not give free, full and informed consent for the adoption of their babies – but concludes that “there is no evidence that this was their view at the time of the adoption”. Similar problems exist with the claims that there is no evidence for money changing hands or for physical abuse. The Commission ignores existing research as well as the survivor testimonies it collected. The report is deeply inadequate in its treatment of the subject of discrimination, particularly as regards race and disability. The conclusion that there was no evidence of discrimination in relation to mixed race children or children with disabilities is narrow and overlooks extensive reports of discrimination and exclusion in mother and baby homes and following adoptions. Survivors have raised serious challenges as to the accuracy of how the Commission has represented their testimony. There are serious ethical questions around many dimensions of its investigative process, which also ignores human rights aspects. The systematic marginalisation of survivor testimony in this context is deeply offensive and makes for inadequate research. The framing of the report, from the opening paragraphs of the Executive Summary to the final page, is designed to avoid direct and actionable attribution of responsibility. “Women who gave birth outside marriage [in early 20th Century Ireland] were subject to particularly harsh treatment”, the report states, going on to say: “Responsibility for that harsh treatment rests mainly with the fathers of their children and their own immediate families.” This attempt to deflect liability is woefully inadequate. Fortunately, the collusion of church and state to create the “cold harsh environment for women” which the report references has been carefully examined by academics, researchers and reporters in numerous independent analyses which are familiar to scholars and indeed the general public. Since the commission was directed by its terms of reference to look only at the running of the institutions themselves, it is not in a position to draw conclusions about where responsibility for the treatment of women in a smotheringly patriarchal system lay. Interested parties must look elsewhere for such analysis, grounded in actual research. We the undersigned note that the information gathered by the Commission of Inquiry is of immense importance, most especially the 500 survivor testimonies collected. However, the ensuing report is in no way the final word on the experiences of thousands of women and children who passed through Ireland’s institutional architecture in the 20th century, and falls far short of existing research in the field. Future research must endeavour to understand the full extent of the systematic discrimination against women which enabled this system of institutional harm, and continues to influence Ireland’s polity today. It will need to focus in depth on questions of profit and loss; of Church and state relations of power; of marginalisation, exclusion and intersecting discrimination – for instance against black and mixed race women and children, the Mincéir community and women and children with physical and intellectual disabilities. In all of this the experience and concerns of survivors must be centre-stage, along with the meaningful forms of redress they are asking for. We fully endorse the recommendations of the Clann Project, the joint initiative of Justice for Magdalanes Research and the Adoption Rights Alliance. A detailed list of recommendations can be found here http://clannproject.org/commission-report/; in sum, they are: 1. ACCESS TO RECORDS LEGISLATION 2. EXPLICIT RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE ADOPTED OVERSEAS 3. PROPER IMPLEMENTATION OF EU GDPR RIGHTS 4. REDRESS AND REPARATIONS 5. ACCESS TO COURT 6. DEDICATED CRIMINAL JUSTICE UNIT & HUMAN RIGHTS-COMPLIANT CORONER’S INQUESTS 7. REPEAL OF ‘GAGGING’ ORDERS Click here to see all signatures: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H3bUYPczjQgGv0z30L31o0zOh46ibkqiPs8P0y32q2Y/edit          

We welcome the publication of the Final Report from the Mother and Baby Institutions Commission of Investigation. This harrowing report documents the sustained neglect and abuse of women and children incarcerated in these institutions from 1922 to 1998. According to the report, some of the ‘women’ incarcerated were as young as 12, some became pregnant as a result of rape and some had mental health problems. We also welcome the Taoiseach’s apology on behalf of the State. His Daíl speech reiterated the two most significant aspects of the legacy of the Mother and Baby Institutions – stigma and shame. However, it is with sadness that we note the misuse of these terms with regard to the locus of responsibility. The Commission’s report has left several glaring issues in its wake, such as the leaking of information within the report to the media before it was shared with survivors, and the inaccuracies and omissions in the report highlighted by some survivors. As such, many survivors are justifiably upset and angry. Moreover, the report’s tone, from the outset, has caused much consternation. This is due to the downplaying of the Church/State nexus role in the abuse of the Institutions’ survivors, with the blame predominantly shifted to ‘society’ and individuals: Responsibility for that harsh treatment rests mainly with the fathers of their children and their own immediate families. It was supported by, contributed to, and condoned by, the institutions of the State and the Churches (p. 1). The suggestion is that the sexual mores of the time were designed by the individual people of Irish society or that these mores materialised out of thin air. As such, adherence to norms has been conflated with the establishment of norms and the role of figures of authority in doing so. It further overlooks the structural inequalities that resulted in such institutes primarily being occupied by women and children from working class backgrounds, the same groups who have the least capacity to challenge social norms or the sanctions that accompany breaking them. As highlighted by survivors and survivor support groups, it is vital that blame is not shifted to those who were largely already powerless, allowing those who held the power to expand or contract women’s choices and opportunities to abdicate responsibility. As is well documented, the Church/State nexus came into being upon the founding of the Irish Republic, leading to the reinforcement of patriarchal roles/responsibilities shaped by Church teachings on gender and the family. Irish women were idealised as chaste and any deviation from this norm was met with punitive State-Church measures. Ireland’s Mother and Baby Institutions thus functioned as a punishment, as a threat, and as a place of grotesque abuse on many levels. To suggest that there is no evidence of women being forced into these institutions is to completely whitewash the implicit and insidious nature of Catholic Ireland. These were institutes of coercive confinement: the women incarcerated in such homes had no other choice. To further name these carceral institutions as a ‘refuge’ is reprehensible. It not only does a severe injustice to the institutions’ survivors but also to survivors of domestic violence and the support workers who provide them with a safe place. The abuse women and children suffered in the Mother and Baby Institutions was perpetrated by the Church/State nexus. Their collusion is evident in the report’s phrases such as ‘no clear policy on oversight’, ‘lack of clarity in the legislation’ and no ‘clear demarcation between the roles of national and local government’. Likewise, the stigma and shame forced upon the institution’s survivors primarily have their origin in the institutional structures governing Irish society. This, in addition to the gendered nature of the abuse, must be unambiguously acknowledged. We stand in solidarity with survivors in calling on the current government, the 2021 manifestation of the very government that condemned women and children, to finally step up and do what is long past due. The truth must be acknowledged, in all its depth. Full and unambiguous responsibility must be taken, and reparations must be made. Action not words. #Stand4Truth#MotherAndBabyHomes    

Thursday, December 3rd, 7pm A Conversation with: Senator Eileen Flynn, Independent Politician JoAnne Neary, Leitrim Abortion Rights Campaign Áine Treanor, Galway Feminist Collective Joseph Kalelo-Phiri, Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Malawi Trixie Neary, Activist Moderated by: Caroline Forde, Centre for Global Women’s Studies Link to join: https://nuigalwaye.zoom.us/j/94961432934?pwd=TlZialh4Y2FGSW94Q3FSL09VaWU3UT09Meeting ID: 949 6143 2934 Passcode: 364407 Organised by Centre for Global Women’s Studies, Leitrim Abortion Rights Campaign and Galway    

  Centre for Global Women’s Studies staff, Dr Nata Duvvury and Dr Caroline Forde, present today at the Launch of a Global Costing Tool for the Essential Services Package. The event is organised by UNFPA, UNODC, WHO, UNDP and UN Women in collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations. Zoom Webinar https://unwomen.zoom.us/j/94688450671?pwd=TC9kR3h6S25nVThxcmtONStGV1RvUT09 Meeting ID: 946 8845 0671 Passcode: Costing1@  Time: 6th October, 14:30 to 16:00

Friday, the 18th of September, women all over the world lost a voice of passion and reason in the struggle to advance gender equality, and, in fact, equality for all irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity, disability, or sexual orientation. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, more affectionately known as ‘Notorious’ RBG among millennials, laid the foundations of jurisprudence on equality throughout her eminent career as an activist, legal scholar, jurist and Supreme Court justice. Her determination to achieve gender equality has left us a legacy of victories to build on even as we face backlash from a hardened right wing and fundamentalists across the globe. The Centre for Global Women’s Studies joins women and all those striving for equality to mourn the loss of RBG, a titan among us. We commit to continuing our contribution, through our teaching, research, and community engagement, to the ongoing fight to realise equality for all and a just society.  

  When: Tuesday 8 September; 2pm - 3pm (Irish GMT) Registration: Register in advance here.   This webinar hosts this webinar with speakers providing insights across the global north and south. Speakers will discuss women’s role in leading the COVID-19 response from local to national levels, consider to what extent women’s specific needs have been addressed while identifying challenges for women’s leadership in COVID-19 mitigation & recovery planning and future development. The Gender Studies Group of DSAI and The Centre for Global Women’s Studies (NUIG) are pleased to host guest speakers: Francesca Rhodes, Care International Vanita Mukherjee, DAWN About: 2020 was earmarked as the 25th anniversary of the historic Beijing meeting on women’s rights and participation, however the COVID19 global pandemic has impacted on these on an unprecedented scale. The pandemic has brought into sharp relief the questions around the actual progress that has been made since Beijing. Two issues have particularly come to the fore – women’s leadership in decision-making and continued violence against women, in particular domestic violence, as a daily feature of women’s lives. There is an emerging discussion in Europe and across the Global South that women are mostly absent in decision making in the COVID-19 response. It is an opportune time to discuss the consequences of this lack of women’s leadership as countries move to develop COVID-19 mitigation and recovery plans. In particular what are the key policies needed to address the specific challenges women face in terms of greater insecurity of employment, pay gap, lack of childcare, GBV and rights erosion.

‌ The Magnifying Effect of the Coronavirus: Domestic Violence, Inequality and the Economy By  The New Pretender   21 June 2020     The Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has had an enormous impact on the way we live our lives. In battling the virus, global restrictions such as social distancing have not only led to significant socio-economic issues, they have also highlighted ongoing inequalities stemming from the injustice of neoliberal systems underpinning many of our societies. For example, numerous national and international news reports have highlighted the increase in domestic violence (DV) perpetrated against women due to lockdowns, and specialist DV services expect a further surge in help-seeking once restrictions are lifted. The Irish government has responded, yet housing support remains a crucial obstacle and the challenges faced unfold against the backdrop of a global recession/depression and persistent inequalities marked by race, class and gender. Discussions concerning the impact of a recession predominately veer towards national debt and austerity measures. Given the lack of gendered analysis, in conjunction with a governmental focus on reviving our neoliberal-based economy, it is important to examine the relationship between gender, DV and the economy. Placing this analysis within the wider discourse on the need for a new type of economic model yields salient insights. Economic Costs of Domestic Violence It is well established that violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a human rights violation and public health issue. More recently, there is a growing recognition of the wider economic and social costs of VAWG for individuals/households, the community, businesses, society and the economy. Research estimating the economic costs of DV perpetrated against women is gaining momentum worldwide. Productivity loss has emerged as a significant economic cost across several studies. DV’s profound impact often translates into lost productivity when women 1) miss workdays or can no longer participate in the labour force due to injuries or illnesses associated with the abuse, 2) are prevented from having a career and 3) find it difficult to concentrate at work. These consequences result in foregone income and reduced economic outputs, which undermine the economy. Lost productivity also has negative consequences for women’s wellbeing and capabilities, thus hindering their future employment, earning potential and career progression. Gender inequality, which is at the heart of DV, also directly impedes women’s labour force participation (26.5% lower than men, concentrated in precarious and low-income work) and earnings (15% global gender wage gap). Covid-19 has exacerbated the structural factors driving DV and women’s unequal labour force participation. Lockdown restrictions facilitate coercive control and intensify psychological and economic stressors that increase DV and impede help-seeking. They also lead to job losses that disproportionately affect women-dominated sectors, such as retail and personal services, characterised by informality, low pay and a higher presence of ethnic minorities and migrants. As previously witnessed in the financial crisis of 2008, a global recession will also likely hinder women’s labour force participation. It is expected that different country responses to addressing both the pandemic and the resulting increase in DV will have a significant impact on the length of lockdown periods and the subsequent consequences for employment. Potentially, structural inequalities in the recovery phase may reinforce a lockdown for women via restricted employment opportunities. So, how can this knowledge help to shape the path of economic recovery? Political parties such as People Before Profit and Sinn Fein are calling for a socialist mandate that prioritises a more equal and planet-friendly economy. Critics of left-leaning politics caution against idealism. However, all economic models stem from ideology and socialist policies have a strong grounding in feminist and eco-feminist economics. Entrenchment in our current economic model often precludes the imagining of an alternative, yet neoliberalism, which is underpinned by privatisation, was only introduced in the 1980s. Privatisation has led to many social issues in areas such as healthcare and housing. According to Safe Ireland, owing to the lack of available and affordable accommodation, women fleeing DV are forced to stay in refuges for longer periods of time, which negatively impacts the refuges’ ability to take in families seeking safety. Social and Solidarity Economy The current pandemic reiterates the need for a thorough exploration of sustainable solutions to such problems that involve a future economy built on equity. So, what could an alternative economic model look like and what role would women play? Across the world, women are at the heart of the growing Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), a movement to develop an equal and sustainable economic system by prioritising people and planet. Building upon existing foundations, this ecosystem incorporates current and emergent transformative practices across all sectors: production, distribution and exchange, consumption, finance and governance. Recent data indicate that approximately 761,221 cooperatives and mutual associations have US$18.8 trillion in assets, US$2.4 trillion in annual revenue and 813.5 million members worldwide. Collective SSE practices, such as local food production for local consumption, and shared consumption (e.g. tool and toy libraries), are increasingly garnering government support in countries such as Canada, France, Mexico, Germany and Spain. Indeed, community public banks, which exist to serve the public good, rather than to maximize shareholder profits, are an important element of the German economy. Numerous food and worker cooperatives, including women’s cooperatives, are also thriving. Another example is The Baan Kredtrakarn shelter for women who are survivors of violence established in Thailand in 1960, which further demonstrates an innovative model to simultaneously address intersecting issues. For example, their waste management programme enables women to produce local market products from waste to earn an income, thus alleviating poverty.   The EU (Charter Principles of the Social Economy), the UN (Inter-agency Taskforce on the Social Solidarity Economy) and the International Labour Organisation recognise the importance of such cooperatives based on participatory democracy. Indeed, Elinor Ostrom won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics for her work documenting numerous examples of forests, irrigation systems, fishing grounds, and pastureland managed as commons more efficiently, sustainably, and equitably than by the state or private owners. As Peter Utting argues: “If consumption patterns were to change in ways conducive to sustainability, SSE organisations could position themselves as ‘the natural providers of goods and services to respond to these new considerations of the consumer-citizen’”. Understandably, establishing an SSE model involves complexities, tensions and compromises. Utting recommends interactions between bottom-up contestation and claims-making, technocratic problem-solving, strategising by policymakers, and political will to re-accommodate oppositional forces. Drawing on fourteen case studies across five continents, Marguerite Mendell and Béatrice Alain foreground the importance of co-construction in policy-making. Such a process reduces information asymmetry and transaction costs, as well as enhancing understanding of the sector’s needs, resources and priorities, particularly when a range of SSE actors is involved. Mendell and Alain note that effective and representative intermediary organisations and networks are integral to optimal co-construction. Conclusion Historically, crises have led to fundamental shifts in the dominant economic paradigm. The current health, ecological and economic crisis not only highlights the profound failure of the twentieth-century solution to the multiple crises of the first half of the century, such as the Great Depression and two World Wars, it also presents us with an important opportunity to make a change for the better. Add to this the unfolding rejuvenation of the Black Lives Matter movement as a result of the recent murder of George Floyd and the need for radical and structural change could not be clearer. SSE presents a viable option that would address many of the issues stemming from the multiple and intersecting inequalities our societies face – e.g. gender inequality; women’s unequal labour force participation; DV and other forms of gender-based violence; structural racism; poverty; housing crises; healthcare system failures. Important conversations focused on SSE and its potential elements, such as a Europe-wide minimum income, are emerging. Reports of the benefits of SSE for women’s economic participation and the environment bolster arguments for this new economic model. For example, women workers in the informal economy often choose to create cooperatives to improve their livelihoods, their collective voice and negotiation power. Such gains would place women experiencing DV in a considerably more stable position to seek help and leave the abusive relationship if they so choose. Given the ethos of SSE, sufficient resources would also be allocated to both the prevention of VAWG and the cross-sectoral services addressing this issue. In addition, investing in land-based ecosystem services could save up to US$50 billion, while the associated cost of inaction could be equal to 7% of global GDP by 2050. Our future may be ambiguous, but these facts are not, and we can choose a path to economic recovery that leads to a more equal and sustainable future for our people and our planet. Caroline Forde, Nata Duvvury & Stacey Scriver, Centre for Global Women’s Studies, NUI Galway  

‌   The Centre for Global Women’s Studies stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. #BlackLivesMatter. What do we mean when we say this? Of course, Black lives have always mattered. In standing with this movement we recognise and condemn the institutional racism embedded in our societies. We, and particularly those of us who are White people and have been privileged by inequality, pledge to listen, learn, reflect and work to end racism in all its forms.  As George Floyd is laid to his final rest today, we express our deep condolences to his family and particularly to his young daughter who will hopefully draw strength as she grows from her own words “Daddy has changed the world”.  The very public murder of George Floyd has pierced the moral consciousness of people across the world, irrespective of race, gender and ethnicity. The very fact that it has resonated across different cultures and different people of colour shows the systemic and structural nature of racism that plagues our societies. Racism has increased the vulnerability of marginalised communities of indigenous people as well as Black Africans in countries spanning Asia, Europe, Latin America, Oceania and even Africa itself. Structural racism, born out of colonialism spanning more than 400 years, is a global pandemic that continues unabated. The pandemic of racism has quietly killed many Black people in the US and when it is coupled with an epidemic, it compounds the pain and suffering. In the US, Black and other people of colour have been disproportionately affected by the corona virus pandemic. When racism intersects with other forms of inequalities, it accentuates the vulnerability of women, disabled individuals, non-binary people and other marginalised communities.  The fact that we can watch George’s death on camera is both heart-breaking and an essential element of obtaining justice. Justice for George and his family. Justice for all black people and other ethnic minorities in the US. Justice for all ethnic minorities across the world. This justice is not the prosecution of the murderers, although integral, alone. Justice can be nothing less than the dismantling of White supremacy and the advent of true equality. As an academic organisation, the Centre for Global Women’s Studies, commits itself to explore more deeply the intersections of inequality, racism, and gender. We thus strive to ensure that our students are aware of the myriad consequences of structural racism, understand and take united action with BLM and other allied movements, and that we as an institution actively lead efforts to end structural racism in our own institution. We stand in solidarity with the movement in the US and with ethnic minorities all over the world, including Travellers and those interned in Direct Provision in Ireland.    

Closing Date for Proposals now Extended to Thursday June 25th  The Centre for Global Women’s Studies at NUI Galway are partnering with the UN Women Ethiopia Country Office (ECO) and the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA) to undertake a national cost of VAWG study. Following the experience of the national study on the costs of child marriage, institutions such as the Central Statistical Agency, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation will be key stakeholders. We are seeking an in-country research partner. The call for proposals provides an overview of the scope of the study and conceptual framework underlying this research. To find out more visit: Call for Proposals    

Dr. Srinivas Raghavendra, Lecturer, Discipline of Economics, Caitríona Gleeson, Programme and Communications Manager, Safe Ireland, Dr. Stacey Scriver, Lecturer, Centre for Global Women’s Studies, Dr. Nata Duvvury, Director, Centre for Global Women’s Studies The “What Works to Prevent Violence” funded by UK’s Department for International Development demonstrates the high cost of Violence against Women  An economic cost of over €115,000 for domestic abuse survivors in Ireland NUI Galway today held an event on ‘Violence Against Women and Girls: Accelerating Efforts to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals 5 on Gender Equality’. The event marks International Women’s Day and the close of the What Works to Prevent Violence project undertaken by NUI Galway researchers. The event was a collaboration between NUI Galway and Safe Ireland. The What Works research project which focused on Ghana, Pakistan and South Sudan was funded by the UK’s Department for International Development as part of its global programme to prevent violence against women. The research found that violence against women has serious opportunity and productivity costs. Opportunity costs for women including resigning from leadership roles due to stigma relating to intimate partner violence and changing their work patterns in an attempt to reduce violence they experienced at home. The economic costs of violence are particularly high. In South Sudan, the impact of violence on productivity meant that, in effect, employed women in businesses lost 10 working days per year in addition to their usual annual leave. In Ghana, the productivity cost due to absenteeism alone translated into a loss of 1% of Ghana’s GDP due to violence against women, an extraordinarily high figure. The study’s lead researcher, Dr Nata Duvvury from Centre for Global Women’s Studies at NUI Galway, concluded: “The cost of inaction - doing nothing or not doing enough to prevent violence- is a huge economic burden on not only women but also the wider economy, impacting potential for growth. Governments must be cognizant of the invisible costs violence imposes on countries, a cost that can be wiped out through effective action.” These impacts are also seen in Ireland. Further research conducted by Safe Ireland and NUI Galway found that the total average economic cost of domestic abuse in Ireland to a survivor was €115,790, from the onset of the abuse to their initial recovery. Today’s event emphasised that all governments, including the Irish government, should take a number of new steps to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in relation to gender equality. These steps should include collecting data on a regular basis on the prevalence of violence against women and girls and its costs; to integrate these costs into social and economic policy-making and budgetary planning to ensure Government scale-up prevention efforts; and a comprehensive package of measures to respond to and prevent the levels of violence against women in Ireland.  Sharon O’Halloran, CEO, Safe Ireland reiterated the social change agency’s call for violence against women to be a top priority in the new Programme for Government in order to begin to meet the SDG targets of 2030.  “Through prioritising a comprehensive programme which includes a focus on prevention to tackle the root causes of violence, as well as investing in appropriate infrastructure to respond effectively to survivors, we can begin to systematically erase the structural barriers which keep women, and their children trapped in controlling and abusive relationships. This joined-up approach would also address the social and economic cost to Irish society caused by violence. We know this is achievable, but it needs leadership with the combined effort of all sectors in order to realise the SDGs and make Ireland a more just and equal society.”  The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations’ Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership.  Goal 5 is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, with combatting violence being a core component.  Watch Full Event HERE Watch short film based on the study: Visible Scars, Invisible Harm HERE

Violence Against Women and Girls and the Sustainable Development Goals: Accelerating efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda ILAS Auditorium National University of Ireland, Galway March 11th, 7-9pm SDG2030 Agenda has established an explicit target to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in public and private spheres. With just a decade left to achieve this goal, considerable work must still be done. This event, held during the week of International Women’s Day, will present new research, from the DFID funded global What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Programme,  that highlights  the significant economic and social impacts of VAWG.  In particular the research demonstrates the magnitude of the loss of productivity, agency and well-being that violence imposes on women, their families, businesses, communities, and the overall economy. The findings highlight this impact in a new light and showcase that the cost of inaction could potentially constrain economic growth and limit our ability to achieve the SDG 2030 gender equality goals. In recognition of these impacts, promising response are being developed within the business community, who are emerging as new actors in the fight to tackle violence against women and girls.  The discussion draws together voices from academic, business, and women’s organisations to reflect on the efforts needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda on gender equality. Speakers:       Prof Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, President of the National University of Ireland, Galway       Dr. Nata Duvvury, Director, Centre for Global Women’s Studies/ Principal Investigator, What Works to Prevent Violence: Economic and Social Costs of VAWG       Dr. Srinivas Raghavendra, Lecturer, Discipline of Economics/Co-PI, What Works to Prevent Violence: Economic and Social Costs of VAWG       Dr. Stacey Scriver, Lecturer, Centre for Global Women’s Studies/Project Coordinator, What Works to Prevent Violence       Ms. Lindsey Block, Ethical Trade Controller- Solutions, Ethical Trade, Primark UK       CEO, Safe Ireland       Launch of a short film based on the study: Visible Scars, Invisible Harm This event is free and open to all, but spaces are limited. Please register with Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/95338069733 ‌

28th Annual IAFFE Conference Panel Glasgow Caledonian University Persistent Inequality: Economic and Social Impacts of Violence Against Women and Girls June 28th 13:50 to 15:40           Violence against women and girls (VAWG), a fundamental human rights violation, is a primary manifestation of gender inequality and is also linked to other axis of inequality such as class, race, and ethnicity. Equally violence against women as a result of its economic and social impacts can further strengthen inequality driving women and families further into poverty and social isolation. In this panel session, new evidence on the economic and social impacts of violence against women and girls is presented to illuminate this cyclical interaction between violence and inequality. Drawing on a multi-country study on the economic and social costs of violence against women funded by the UK Department for International Development as part of its flagship What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls, Research and Innovation Programme, the papers in this session discuss the multiple economic outcomes of violence against women and girls. In particular the session will have a minimum of four papers exploring the macroeconomic implications of VAWG, the specific consequences for businesses, the social impact on social capital and community fragility and the social burden of  VAWG related stigma and isolation. Overall the session will contribute to the discussion of violence against women as an issue central to both economic security and overall wellbeing of women and their households, communities and society at large. Papers in the Session:   Raghavendra, S., Kim, K., and Duvvury, N. The Macroeconomic Loss of Violence Against Women and Girls: The Case of Ghana and Pakist Mrinal, C., Asante, F., Ghaus, K. and Elmusharaf, K.  Costs of Violence Against Women and Girls to Businesses: Exploratory Findings from Ghana, Pakistan and South Sudan Sabir, S., and Raghavendra, S. Social Fragility and Violence Against Women and Girls Ballantine, C. and Scriver, S. Stigma and Violence Vara Horna, A., Duvvury, N., and Chadha, M. Measuring Productivity Loss due to Intimate Parnter Violence  

Economics is one of the most influential disciplines. By changing the way the world is understood, economics has indeed changed the world. The principles of economics have charted out the course of policies, impacting countless lives in myriad ways. However, these principles are based on highly reductionist and sexist assumptions. One way in which economics can be sexist is by not counting unpaid work, much of which is carried out by women in the household, such as cooking, cleaning, and care work. These activities may be purchased as services in the market, but remain difficult to impute value to. Another way in which economics can be sexist is by conceiving the household is an altruistic joint utility maximiser, that is, as an entity which works towards the best interests of all its members. What remains invisible in such a conception of the household is the various negotiations between members with conflicting interests and differential decision-making powers. Economics generally assumes that all individuals are equal, in terms of the choices that they can make, and ascribes rationality to individual utility maximisation. This assumption fails to take into account the differential social positions of individuals, which may constrain their choices or give them power over others. These are but a few of the dilemmas in mainstream/textbook economic thought. Sexism in economics does not end here. Even at the professional level, economics can be extremely sexist, by devaluing the contributions of women. THE PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS ARE BASED ON HIGHLY REDUCTIONIST AND SEXIST ASSUMPTIONS. Feminist economics is committed to addressing these dilemmas by working through gender issues. It entails a reworking of the principles of economics, and the dismantling of various assumptions. Some of the methodological legacies of feminist economics includes the disaggregation of macroeconomic data by sex, the recognition and incorporation of gender roles (including productive and reproductive activities) resulting in gender-aware policy and planning and gender budgeting, and the formulation of indices such as the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), and the Gender-related Development Index (GDI). Also read: Feminist Economics: How To Battle The Apathy Of Textbook Economics Eighty years ago, Sadie Alexander raised questions that mainstream economics continues to struggle with, such as the devaluation of household work. In 1970, Ester Boserup was writing about the role of women in economic development. Her writings paved the way for the UN decade for women between 1975 and 1985. In her groundbreaking 1988 book, If Women Counted: A New Feminist Economics, Marilyn Waring criticises the exclusion of housework and care work from the realm of productive economic activity, and the devaluing of nature. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen too has widely written on gender, family and feminist economics. FEMINIST ECONOMICS MAKES VISIBLE, IN THE REALM OF POLICY, ISSUES WHICH HAD REMAINED INVISIBLE FOR DECADES. Here are five feminist economists and their contributions. 1. Bina Agarwal: Land Rights And Empowerment Image Source: Varsity, Student Newspaper of Cambridge University, U.K. Bina Agarwal works on the rural economy creatively using quantitative and qualitative approaches. In her 1994 book A Field of One’s Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia, she argues that the most important factor which affects gender gap is command over property. She shows how women’s well-being, bargaining power within the household, and overall empowerment is enhanced through the ownership and control of land. She was instrumental in the 2005 campaign to amend the Hindu Succession Act, thereby allowing Hindu women to inherit property. Her paper titled “Bargaining” and Gender Relations: Within and Beyond the Household is the most downloaded paper in the journal Feminist Economics. She is a recipient of many awards including the Padma Shri. 2. Lourdes Benería: Globalisation, Gender And Labour Image Source: Young Academy of Europe on Youtube Lourdes Benería has worked on labour markets, women’s work and globalisation, and development issues in Latin America. Beneria notes that the differential impact of the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) on women was indeed acute. Moreover, there is also class differentiation in the impact of SAPs. In Latin America, they have led to theintensification of women’s work. Contrary to expectations, the informal sector has actually widened, and a larger section of people face precarious employment prospects. 3. Nata Duvvury: The Cost Of Violence Against Women Image Source: National University of Ireland, Galway Nata Duvvury has researched on gender based violence, women’s property rights, and HIV AIDS in conflict and post-conflict settings. She is at present leading the global research effort towards estimating the social and economic costs of violence against women. She has also written on gendered impacts of recession and recovery, and the health impacts of extended working life policies. 4. Nancy Folbre: Care As Work And Education As Investment Image Source: Institute for New Economic Thinking Nancy Folbre works on family economics, non-market work, and the economics of care. She criticises the exclusion of care from mainstream economics as it contributes to the marginalisation of women and children and leads to the devaluing of women’s contributions to the home and the economy at large. Folbre finds the popular notion of work as being something one gets paid for limiting, as it is evident that many people gain satisfaction from their work, and many aren’t paid, for activities such as care work. She focuses on the importance of childcare to the economy, and notes that while economists often speak about human capital investment, they would not often consider expenditure on education as investment in the aggregate economy. Folbre believes that economics can pave the way for alternate social imaginations and advocates a heterodox economics which takes into account, not only gender, but also diversity perspectives. 5. Naila Kabeer: Bridging Policy And Academia Through Gender Training Image Source: Salzburg Global Seminar on Youtube Naila Kabeer is a social economist, who has written widely on inequality, within the household, labor market, and wider economy. She is interested in the relationship between individual empowerment and social justice. In her book Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought, Kabeer shows how ways of seeing are inextricably tied to ways of doing. Kabeer criticises the equation of means with ends in neoclassical economics. She also works actively in gender training, bridging the gap between academia and policy by conducting workshops for governments, international agencies and NGOs.       ‌    

Galway Public Libraries, in association with NUI Galway, present Suffragettes in the Town Hall Town Hall Theatre  Monday 8th October, 8.00pm  A Spirited Address on Votes for Women This unique event will re-imagine the public talk about women’s suffrage held in Galway’s Town Hall on 18 October 1911 which featured leading English suffragette Christabel Pankhurst as guest speaker. An evening of life-stories, music and art will interpret how that Town Hall talk, organised as part of a campaign by the Irish Women’s Franchise League to influence public opinion, helped to extend votes to women in 1918. Organisers:  Galway Public Libraries: Sharleen McAndrew and Josephine Vahey. Centre for Global Women’s Studies, NUI Galway: Mary Clancy The programme for Galway’s Great Read 2018 - Women of the West: Art, Citizenship & Literature (an initiative of Galway Public Libraries) will be launched at this event. To register for this free event please visit: https://tht.ie/3019/suffragettes-in-the-town-hall     ‌    

‌‌The Centre for Global Women's Studies, School of Political Science and Sociology, hosted its 10th Anniversary Celebration of the MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights, coinciding with International Women’s Day and the 100th anniversary for women's suffrage in Ireland. Video presentation on MA in Gender Globalisation and Rights by Molly Geoghegan, Current student MA Gnder Globalisation and Rights.     Speakers included: Dr. Anne Byrne, School of Political Science and Sociology Mary Clancy, Centre for Global Women’s Studies, including video and radio Presentations by the students of the European Women’s Studies class of 2018 Dr. Nata Duvvury, Centre Global Women’s Studies                  Dr. Seamus Morrissey, Galway City Partnership  Mary McGill, PhD student and Alumni of MA Gender Globalisation and Rights  Erin Grant, Alumni of MA Gender Globalisation and Rights   Islammiyah Saudique,  Current student MA Gnder Globalisation and Rights Dr. Stacey Scriver, Centre for Global Women’s Studies                             ‌       ‌    

The Centre for Global Women's Studies, School of Political Science and Sociology, would like to invite you to the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights, coinciding with International Women’s Day and the 100th anniversary for women's suffrage in Ireland. Speakers will include former and current students and staff and will feature a student-produced documentary on the ways in which the MA has helped our students to  'press for progress' on gender equality issues. The event is being held from 3-5pm, with a reception (including birthday cake!) to follow, in AM243 lecture theatre, Aras Moyola, on the 9th of March.The event is being held from 3-5pm, with a reception (including birthday cake!) to follow, in AM243 lecture theatre, Aras Moyola, on the 9th of March.   All are welcome but please RSVP for catering purposes to m.geoghegan7@nuigalway.ie       ‌    

On 6 February, 1918, the Representation of the People Act extended the parliamentary vote to women. This political right was restricted to women over the age of 30 who met specified property qualifications or who held university degrees. An estimated 8.5 million women were qualified under the terms of the legislation – roughly 40% of the total number of potential women electors. In contrast, men were entitled to vote at age 21. The Act also extended local franchises to women and men alike and addressed war-time disruption to existing residency requirements. The 1918 Act gave partial or restricted rights to women only, reflecting long-entrenched class and gender-informed thinking. The clause, to grant votes to women, was resisted in the House of Lords until January 1918 - right to the end. In light of the long-held fear of the place and the power of the woman elector, the granting of votes to women in 1918, though restricted, was a revolutionary moment in women’s political history. In Ireland, the age of voting for women was lowered to 21 years in 1922 and, in England and post-partition North of Ireland, it was equalised only in 1928. The story of votes for women opens up important opportunities to think about citizenship, democracy, social class and how and why political life is shaped as it is. It is a time to reflect upon the arguments and ideas of those who campaigned to change the law; much of what they wanted to change still remains to be done.   ‌    

On Wednesday, December 6 2017, the guided walk on campus with stops to learn more about Gender-Based Violence in Education in Ireland and internationally began and ended  at the Emily Anderson Concert Hall as part of this year’s 16 days activism against gender based violence. The event organised by Global Women’s Studies and the MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights programme, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway addresses gender based violence in education and sexual assault and medical intervention. Lindsey Bacigal, MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights; Dr. Amie Lajoie, School of Political Science and Sociology; Dr. Kieran Kennedy, School of Medicine/Sexual Assault Treatment Unit; and Dr. Nata Duvvury, Global Women's Studies spoke at the event. Ceremonial Lighting of the Quadrangle also took place as part of the ‘Orange the World’ Campaign. There were enlightening addresses by Prof. Niamh Reilly, School of Political Science and Sociology and Prof. Anne Scott, Vice-President of Equality. The event was concluded with a Bake Sale in aid of Galway Rape Crisis Centre and Plan International at Emily Anderson Concert Hall.    

'Together We Can End Gender-Based Violence in Education' 16 Days of Activism Campaign Events with Global Women’s Studies, NUI Galway Global Women’s Studies (GWS) and the MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights programme, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway, are pleased to present the 2017 programme of events hosted by GWS for the 16 Days of Activism Agaisnt Gender-Based Violence. All events are free and open to all!   Throughout Nov. 25 - Dec 10 Facebook updates on Centre for Global Women's Studies page Twitter updates @GlobalWS_NUIG Nov. 29, 4pm – 5pm, Seminar ‘Sex, Consent and Violence in Irish Universities: Understanding and Tackling Sexual Violence in Education’ Speakers: Dr. Pádraig MacNeela and Elaine Byrnes ENG-2033 Lecture Room 06, Alice Perry Engineering Building, NUI Galway Dec. 6 Events 2-4pm Guided Walk - Understanding Gender-Based Violence in Education. Join us for a guided walk on campus with stops to learn more about Gender-Based Violence in Education in Ireland and internationally. The Guided Walk begins and ends at the Emily Anderson Concert Hall. Talks by: Lindsey Bacigal, MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights Dr. Amie Lajoie, School of Political Science and Sociology, Dr. Kieran Kennedy, School of Medicine/Sexual Assault Treatment Unit Dr. Nata Duvvury, Global Women's Studies. 4-4:30pm Ceremonial Lighting of the Quadrangle (Emily Anderson Concert Hall) Stay on after the guided walk or join us at 4pm at the Emily Anderson Concert Hall for special addresses by key speakers and the ceremonial lighting of the Quadrangle as part of the ‘Orange the World’ Campaign. Addresses by:  Prof. Niamh Reilly, School of Political Science and Sociology,  Prof. Anne Scott, Vice-President of Equality and Diversity, NUI Galway President, Dr. James Browne. 4:30-5:30pm - Bake Sale (Emily Anderson Concert Hall) Support the Galway Rape Crisis Centre and Plan International by purchasing baked goods following the ceremonial lighting of the ‘Quad’. The 16 Days Campaign of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign with participants in over 164 countries and involving more than 3400 organisations. The campaign links November 25th International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to December 10th, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically connect gender-based violence and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a human rights violation. The 2017 theme of the 16 Days is: ‘Together We Can End GBV in Education!’  See also RTE Brainstorm Article, ‘Taking action against gender violence, home and away’ For further information please contact: Stacey.scriver@nuigalway.ie      

Public Lecture: Informality & Labour Markets— Blurring Lines of Formal and Informal Economy November 2 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Location: Aras Moyola Lecture Hall 2/MY129, NUI Galway Galway, IrelandSpeaker: Prof Jeemol Unni, Amrut Mody School of Management, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad Organised by: Centre for Global Women’s Studies Informality & Labour Markets—Blurring Lines of Formal and Informal Economy Co-organised by the Centre for Global Women’s Studies, Gender ARC and the Whitaker Institute, Professor Jeemol Unni of Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, will be at NUI Galway and leading a public seminar on November 2. The link between formality and informality in the labour market, especially with the growth of varying types of self-employment, is an issue of long debate. In this talk, recent literature highlighting the integration of labour markets between formal and informal and wage and self-employment will be discussed. Comparative examinations of China and India will be presented to understand the outcomes of this integration in terms of convergence of returns to education in the formal and informal sectors. Additionally, the talk will explore the hot topic of debate and policy formulation in recent times: formalizing the informal economy. Specifically, the issue of the blurring line between formal and informal economies in the new context of the platform, or gig-, economy and how it is a growing challenge in countries across the globe. How to address this challenge will be discussed, drawing on the Indian debate on formalization and providing examples of recent efforts in India to overcome the formal/informal divide. Bio Jeemol Unni is Professor of Economics at Amrut Mody School of Management, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad. She was Director at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) and earlier RBI Chair Professor of Economics at IRMA. She holds a PhD in Economics and M.Phil in Applied Economics. She was a post-doctoral Fellow at Economic Growth Center, Yale University. She was an International Labour Organisation Consultant and Senior Advisor to the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, Government of India. She is a Director of BoG, Women in Informal Employment and Globalising and Organising global advocacy group for informal workers and enterprises, UK. Prof Unni is a specialist in labour economics and is currently working on the changing geographies of labour in urban India and the multiple manifestations of informalisation in the labour market. She also works on issues related to gender and higher education.        

Academic Unit: Funded PhD Scholarship Project Title: Gender Equality in Higher Education Institutes Supervisor:  Dr. Nata Duvvury, Global Women’s Studies, NUI Galway Duration: Funded for 4 years (Structured PhD), full-time. Project description: The Centre for Global for Women’s Studies in collaboration with the Office of the Vice-President for Equality and Diversity is pleased to announce a  4 year Doctoral Fellowship for 2017-18. The focus of the fellowship is gender equality in higher educational institutions. The centrality of gender equality for the growth and sustainability of higher education institution is well recognised by policy makers in the European Commission, national governments and in the education sector. In this policy context, the Doctoral Fellowship is focused on critical analysis to understand the nature of gender equality in educational institutions, identify the challenges and obstacles to advance gender equality and assess the effectiveness of strategies and action plans to realise gender equality. The doctoral fellowship is particularly focused on advancing a monitoring and evaluation system to establish the effectiveness and sustainability of concrete actions currently being implemented by the University structures. The PhD will be a four year structured doctoral programme. Interested candidates should submit a brief proposal outlining the rational, research questions, and research design and methodology, as well as CV and a sample of written work by November 27th, 2017.  Interested candidates are also recommended to upload application for the PhD in Global Women’s Studies via the PAC system.  Selected candidate will be notified by December 10th and it is expected that the student will register January 15th 2018. Stipend:   €14500 (including €500 for travel) plus annual fees. Entry Requirements: The PhD fellowship will be awarded on a competitive basis and applicants will be expected to demonstrate both a strong academic background and aptitude for research. In particular candidates with the following qualifications and skills would Qualifications: Minimum of 2.1 grade (or equivalent) in MA in Sociology, Psychology, Education, Women’s Studies or related discipline Required Skills and experience: Knowledge and experience undertaking Gender Analysis, Quantitative and Qualitative Research, Evaluation Research Methods     Desirable skills and experience: Evidence of capacity of undertaking independent research, Demonstrated capacity to work as part of a team,  and Strong Communication Skills Expected start date:  January 15th, 2018 How to apply: Please send a current CV, indicating your research experience and including the names of two referees, a letter of intent, and a sample of your writing (essay, chapter from dissertation, article, etc.) to Dr. Nata Duvvury via email to nata.duvvury@nuigalway.ie. The letter of intent should be limited to two pages and it should outline:    Reasons for application  Previous training and research experience  Interest in area of research  A brief proposal outline, limited to 3 pages Closing date for applications:  November 27th, 2017        

As part of the Path Breaking Women Exhibition, you are warmly invited to "Women in History, Politics and Culture", a day of talks and performance honoring five of the path breaking women of NUI Galway. Date: Friday July 21st Time: 11am-3.30pm Location: Room G011 Hardiman Research Building All are welcome For information and to RSVP please contact: lydia.kelly@nuigalway.ie   ‌

Researching gender and political engagement at the European Conference on Politics and Gender, Lausanne, Switzerland, June 8-10th, 2017. Marta Fraile (Universidad Autònoma de Madrid –Instituto de Políticas y Bienes Públicos del CSIC), Irene Sanches Vitore (European University Institute), Stacey Scriver (NUI Galway), Silvia Suteu (University College London), Lilijana Cickaric (Inst. for Social Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia), Ecem Hasircioglu (Université Paris 7 Diderot), and Marlene Gerber (Universität Bern) . ‌‌ Dr Stacey Scriver recently participated at the  6th European Conference on  Politics and Gender (ECPG) was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, June 8th to 10th, 2017. The conference is a bi-annual event organised by the Gender and Politics Standing Group of the European Consortium on Political Research, with membership in the Standing Group exceeding 700 scholars internationally. More than 450 papers were presented during the conference, in addition to a plenary talk by Prof. Shirin M. Rai and roundtables featuring world-leading researchers and academics. For more see: http://www.ecpg.eu/2017-conference.html     ‌

Srinivas Raghavendra, Dept. of Economics at NUI Galway, represented the What Works to Prevent Violence: Economic and Social Costs of VAWG project (led by Dr. Nata Duvvury, Global Women's Studies) at the International Economic Forum of the Americas, in Montreal, Canada on the 13th of June 2017.  THE THE COST OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE   In collaboration with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Worldwide, supply chains reflect the way in which current production takes place, opening job opportunities for millions of young, unskilled, unemployed women but also creating vulnerabilities and, according to recent studies, disturbingly high levels of violence against women in the workplace. How do workplace violence and harassment act as barrier to women’s entry to the labour market and, with what costs for the economy and the productive sphere? Will new industries or new technological advances increase or decrease women’s participation in the workplace of the future? What new areas of research are needed to address more profound and more practical advances in improving the status of women?   ‌

   Dr. Nata Duvvury, PI for Component 3/Director of Global Women's Studies, spoke at the International Conference on Women’s Economic Empowerment held by Asia-Europe Meeting, an inter-governmental platform to promote dialogue between Asia and Europe (http://www.aseminfoboard.org/about ) in Vilinus, May 25-26, 2017. President of Lithuania hosted the 1st ASEM discussion on women’s economic empowerment in the context of the recommendations of the High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment and Goal number 5 of the SDGS on gender equality. Key speakers included Ministers from Lithuania, India, Japan, Pakistan Romania as well as heads of National Women’s Commissions from China, Vietanm, Malta, and Philippines. Dr. Duvvury spoke in the Session on Economic Benefits of Gender Equality, highlighting the significant macro costs of violence against women. The key takeaway message was that women’s economic empowerment interventions must target reducing vulnerability to partner violence through incorporating gender transformative focused elements in order to reap economic benefits.   

‌‌‌‌PATH BREAKING WOMEN OF NUI GALWAY: 1912-1922 AND BEYOND As part of the Path Breaking Women Exhibition, you are warmly invited to “Remembering Margaret Heavey”.   With keynote presentation by Dr Pádraic Moran, lecturer in Classics NUI Galway, followed by a roundtable discussion on the many contributions of Margaret Heavey as a classics scholar, educationalist and long-time member of the NUI Galway community.    Date: Wednesday 28th June Time: 11am-1.30pm Location: Room G010 Hardiman Research Building   All are welcome   For information and to RSVP please contact: lydia.kelly@nuigalway.ie    

LECTURER BELOW THE BAR POLITICAL SCIENCE AND SOCIOLOGY (WOMEN’S STUDIES)   College Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies School Political Science and Sociology Post Title & Subject Area Lecturer Below the Bar, Women’s Studies Post Duration Permanent Level Below the Bar Contract Type Type B Reports to Head of School   JOB ADVERTISEMENT  Applications are invited for the post of Lecturer (Below the Bar) Women’s Studies in the School of Political Science and Sociology at NUI Galway. The post holder will have primary responsibilities for teaching, assessment, supervision and programme coordination relating to the MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights; a planned BA in Equality, Diversity and Advocacy, a minor in Gender Studies and related teaching in gender and organisation studies; and supervision of gender-focused PhD research. The Lecturer in Women’s Studies will also contribute to teaching of gender, equality and diversity dimensions of taught programmes delivered in conjunction with other disciplines and Schools, such as the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics. The School is, in particular, interested in developing gender programmes in a work setting. The post requires enthusiastic commitment to the discipline and active contribution to knowledge in the post-holder’s field through publishing and disseminating high quality research outputs. The Centre for Global Women’s Studies offers innovative, interdisciplinary, taught programmes that combine women’s and gender studies with sociology, politics, applied social sciences and other cognate disciplines, as well as coordination with other Schools and Colleges engaged in teaching and research related to gender, equality and diversity. Teaching programmes are research-led and practice-oriented, involving cooperation with a range of external partners and agencies across governmental, non-governmental, community and business sectors. Graduates are equipped for employment in advocacy, communications, policy and research roles and for further study/research in areas related to advancing equality, diversity, development and human rights. The post of Lecturer in Women’s Studies requires active collegiate and community contribution in the School, College and University to bring the benefits of the discipline to the wider university and community.  The Lecturer in Women’s Studies will play a central role in further developing the scope and impact of the teaching, research, and wider contributions of the Centre for Global Women’s Studies in the School, College and University.  The School of Political Science and Sociology is one of the largest academic units in the university, hosting more than 1,000 students. In addition to a growing suite of BA programmes, the School currently offers four taught Master’s programmes and supports a vibrant PhD research community. All Staff in the School are engaged in research and publication in one or more of the following domains, in which events, seminars and conferences are organised each year: Centre for Global Women’s Studies; Governance and Sustainable Development Cluster; Power, Conflict and Ideologies Cluster; UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre and the Social Science Research Centre.  Cooperation and collaboration is encouraged across the School’s research domains and beyond the School with related research institutes (ILAS, Moore Institute, Whitaker Institute) and the Gender ARC research network at NUI Galway.    For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Anne Byrne (Anne.Byrne@nuigalway.ie ) cc Gillian Browne (Gillian.Browne@nuigalway.ie) Additional information on the Discipline is available at: Centre for Global Women's Studies - NUI Galway Salary: €37,230 to €57,782 p.a. (applicable to new entrants effective from January, 2011) (This appointment will be made on the Lecturer Below the Bar scale in line with current Government pay policy) (For pre 1995 public sector entrants in Ireland, the D class Salary rates will apply) Closing date for receipt of applications is 17:00 (Irish Time) on  1st June 2017.  It will not be possible to consider applications received after the closing date. Garda vetting may apply. Appointments will be conditional on work authorisation validation. Further details are available atwww.djei.ie For more information and Application Form please see website:  http://www.nuigalway.ie/about-us/jobs/ Applications should be submitted online. Please note that appointment to posts advertised will be dependent upon University approval, together with the terms of the Employment Control Framework for the higher education sector. National University of Ireland Galway is an equal opportunities employer.    

  The Centre for Global Women's Studies is pleased to announce a number of Clár leader roles will be awared to students in 2017-2018 on a paid basis over the academic year (approx. €500 each). This involves, for example, co-coordination of guest speaker visits and field trips or development of the MA graduate network in collaboration with staff.   Application Process Interested candidates must first complete an application for admission to the MA in MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights online via the Postgraduate Application Center ( http://www.pac.ie/). Further details on application process will be announced in September.    

  Join us at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdRQeDJr370 to listen to recent seminar on Challenges to Gender Equality, Public Health and Human Rights in the Trump Era: Critical issues for development. The seminar was held in recognition of International Women's Day, hosted by the Gender Study Group of the Development Studies Association of Ireland, in collaboration with MUSSI (Maynooth University Social Science Institute) and the Centre for Global Women's Studies (NUI Galway), and with the support of the Trinity International Development Initiative (TIDI).     Speakers:   Dr. Su-ming Khoo, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway Dr. Greg Martin, Department of Public Health, Dublin   Chair:  Dr. Stacey Scriver, Global Women's Studies, NUI Galway   Bios: Dr Greg Martin is a medical doctor with an Masters in Public Health and an MBA and is currently working for the Department of Public Health in Dublin. Dr Martin is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Globalization and Health and hosts a Global Health YouTube channel. He also sits on the Board of Trustees of a number of health related NGOs. Dr Martin has worked in leadership roles in the global health space including working as the Head of Science and Research at the World Cancer Research Fund and as the Director of Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission at the Clinton Health Access Initiative.    Dr. Su-ming Khoo is a Lecturer in the School of Political Science and Sociology at NUI Galway and a member of the Gender Advanced Research Consortium. Her research, teaching and publications are focused on human rights, public goods, development alternatives; human development and capability approaches, alternative economics, consumer activism, higher education, internationalization and public scholarship.https://nuigalway.academia.edu/SumingKhoo  

  Dr Stacey Scriver, NUI Galway, presented this talk on the dynamics of public and private violence on behalf of the Conflict, Humanitarianism and Security research cluster at the 2017 Whitaker Institute Research Day held on the 6th of April 2017. For further details and presentation slides  'Dynamics of Public and Private VIolence: Situating domestic violence within conflict research' Please see: https://www.slideshare.net/Whitaker_Institute/20170406-dynamics-of-public-and-private-violence   ‌‌

‌‌‌‌PATH BREAKING WOMEN OF NUI GALWAY: 1912-1922 AND BEYOND With keynote speaker Máire Geoghegan Quinn  Thursday March 9th, 2017 11.00am - 12.30pm Hardiman Library Exhibition Pavilion, NUI Galway Reception to follow - All Welcome Please RSVP: gillian.browne@nuigalway.ie Marking International Women’s Day and History Month, PATH BREAKING WOMEN OF NUI GALWAY is a visual history exhibition that foregrounds 12 women, each a former faculty member or student of NUI Galway, who have made remarkable contributions, across the arts, sciences and political life, in the years around 1916, or subsequently in the  rst decades of Irish independence.  The project was supported by the IRC New Foundations scheme 2015 (Decade of Centenaries), the School of Political Science and Sociology, the Centre for Global Women’s Studies and the Moore Institute for Research in the Humanities and Social Studies, NUI Galway. It is led by Professor Niamh Reilly, with contributing researchers Mary Clancy and Dr Muireann O’Cinneide, in association with the Gender ARC research network and University Women’s Network at NUI Galway. For further details see: www.nuigalway.ie/pathbreakingwomen   ‌  

  Violence against women (VAW) is now recognized as a global issue that is prevalent in all societies at all levels of development. Globally the leading form of VAW is intimate partner violence (IPV) with more than 1 in 3 reporting experiencing it in their lifetime (WHO 2013). Despite the recent UN declaration on the new Sustainable Developmental Goals (the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development) incorporating the issue of VAW in the global development policy agenda, there is considerable inertia in policy action. One of the reasons for policy inaction is the lack of translation of the individual specific micro level costs that arise in the incidents of violence to the macroeconomic level. Economists in the What Works to Prevent Violence: Economic and Social Costs of VAWG team at NUI Galway have undertaken to do just this in their forthcoming publication in Feminist Economics (“Estimating the macroeconomic loss due to violence against women: The case of Vietnam”).   The infographic presents the details of key findings and policy implications of this important study.  http://whatworks.co.za/resources/evidence-reviews/item/278-macro-economic-loss-due-to-violence-against-women-infographic-the-case-of-vietnam   ‌  

In recognition of International Women's Day, the Gender Study Group of the Development Studies Association of Ireland, in collaboration with MUSSI (Maynooth University Social Science Institute) and the Centre for Global Women's Studies (NUI Galway), and with the support of the Trinity International Development Initiative (TIDI), is hosting the following free event which is open to all to attend:     Challenges to Gender Equality, Public Health and Human Rights in the Trump Era: Critical issues for development.   Location: TRISS seminar room, Room C6.002, 6th Floor, Arts Block, Trinity College Dublin    Time: 1:30-3:30pm.   Speakers:   Dr. Su-ming Khoo, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway Dr. Greg Martin, Department of Public Health, Dublin   Chair:  Dr. Stacey Scriver, Global Women's Studies, NUI Galway   Bios: Dr Greg Martin is a medical doctor with an Masters in Public Health and an MBA and is currently working for the Department of Public Health in Dublin. Dr Martin is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Globalization and Health and hosts a Global Health YouTube channel. He also sits on the Board of Trustees of a number of health related NGOs. Dr Martin has worked in leadership roles in the global health space including working as the Head of Science and Research at the World Cancer Research Fund and as the Director of Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission at the Clinton Health Access Initiative.    Dr. Su-ming Khoo is a Lecturer in the School of Political Science and Sociology at NUI Galway and a member of the Gender Advanced Research Consortium. Her research, teaching and publications are focused on human rights, public goods, development alternatives; human development and capability approaches, alternative economics, consumer activism, higher education, internationalization and public scholarship.https://nuigalway.academia.edu/SumingKhoo   For further information and to confirm your attendance please contact Stacey Scriver at stacey.scriver@nuigalway.ie   This event will also be accessible via live web-stream. Details will be provided via the Gender Study Group webpage at http://www.dsaireland.org/about/study-group-clusters/gender-study-group.html shortly.

FemSoc, in collaboration with the Centre for Global Women's Studies, DanSoc and Film Soc, are hosting a 1 Billion Rising Flash Mob on Tuesday March 7th at 1pm, in the open space to the side of the Arts Millennium Building. 1 Billion Rising seeks to raise awareness and call for an end to violence against women. The largest mass action worldwide, it employs dance as a creative form of protest and resistance. Placing a focus on violence against women, while recognising all forms of gender-based violence, we are calling on women, men and marginalised genders to RISE! There will be a choreographed dance so please come to show your support and dance along, if you would like to.For more information regarding the global campaign, please visit http://www.onebillionrising.org/. For more information on the NUIG event, please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1811464572453658/ or contact FemSoc at feminist@socs.nuigalway.ie. ‌  

Last Saturday, November 26th, was the fundraising event Whistles for refugees organized in order to raise donations for a refugee camp in France. The night was filled with interesting talks and lots of music. Amanda Cosgrove and Rachel Apfelbaum, two students from the MA in Gender, Rights and Globalisation, gave a thought provoking presentation in which they discussed gender-based violence in relation to refugees. Amnesty International describes gender-based violence as: “violence committed against a person because of their gender. This includes violence against women and girls but also violence targeted towards individuals on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity/expression and also men who may be targeted due to discriminatory attitudes about what constitutes masculinity.” Amanda and Rachel discussed gender-based violence of both women and men. In their conclusion they shared some solutions provided by NGOs and the United Nations to fight gender-based violence. The evening was recorded and will soon be posted on the Whistles for refugees Facebook page. The presentation was a part of the 16 Days Campaign of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. The next activity will be Tuesday, November 30th . The documentary “Sex in a Cold Climate” will be screened in conjunction with the NUI Galway Feminist Society. The documentary shows the experiences of several women in the Magdalene Laundries. The entry is free, the screening starts at 3 pm in  the Patrick F. Fottrell Theatre, Arts Millennium building, NUIG campus.   If you want to know more about this topic, follow the Global Women’s Studies on twitter (@GlobalWS_NUIG). They will share ‘facts’ on violence against women drawn from recent research and analysis each day during the 16 Days of Activism. ‌  

In recognition of the 16 Days Campaign of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the Centre for Global Women’s Studies  in the School of Political Science and Sociology is hosting a series of activities. All are welcome to participate. 16 Days Campaign Activities with the Centre for Global Women’s Studies *** ‘Gender-based violence in Refugee Camps ‘ Whistles for Refugees Event, hosted by the Banner Theatre Company Presentation by students of the MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights, Centre for Global Women’s Studies Date: 26th November 2016 Time: 7pm Venue:  Aras na nGael, Dominick St., Galway *** Documentary Screening: Sex in a Cold Climate Documentary screening in conjunction with the NUI Galway Feminist Society, detailing the experiences of several women who spent time in the Magdalene Laundries. Following the screening, there will be a discussion regarding the Magdalene Laundries and what Ireland has done since to address the violations committed. Date: 30th November 2016 Time: 3pm Venue: Patrick F. Fottrell Theatre, Arts Millennium building, NUIG campus Free entry *** Twitter Campaign16 Facts for 16 Days: What you need to know about violence against women now. Throughout the 16 Days, students from the Gender, Globalisation and Rights MA programme, in conjunction with the NUI Galway Team of the What Works to Prevent Violence: Economic and Social Costs of VAWG project will be releasing ‘facts’ on violence against women drawn from recent research and analysis each day fo the 16 Days of Activism. Follow us at: @GlobalWS_NUIG     The 16 Days Campaign of Activism agaist Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign with participants in over 164 countries and involving more than 3400 organisations. The campaign links November 25th, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to December 10th, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically connect violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a human rights violation.

Friday the fourth of November was the interdisciplinary conference Before 1916: Robert Lynd and Visions of Ireland to Come at the NUI Galway campus. The Gender ARC of NUI Galway organised the conference together with the Moore Institute. Simultaneously with the conference was an exhibition of publications by Robert Lynd, Tom Kettle, Katherine Tynan, Stephen Gwynn and other contemporary writers on display in the foyer of the James Hardiman Library. Writer and critic Robert Lynd selected in his book Ireland a nation (1919) “voices of the new Ireland” which were expressed by George Russel (AE), Alice Stopford Green, Patrick Pearse, Dora Sigerson and Tom Kettle. These alternative visions and voices of the new Ireland before the 1916 Rising were explored during the conference. ‌In the morning, Margaret O’Callaghan spoke profoundly about Alice Green, Roger Casement and the politics of Irish history before the Rising. After a short break, Bryan Fanning continued with sharing his insights on Patrick Pearce’s ghost frequencies. Subsequently followed the lunch and an entertaining music and performing programme. The final item of the conference was a roundtable. Five members of the Gender ARC individually discussed from an interdisciplinary and gender perspective one of the five “voices of new Ireland”.   ‌‌ This conference was part of the NUI Galway’s 1916 commemoration programme – A Nation Rising. If you are interested to stay informed about upcoming events or additional information, please visit http://www.nuigalway.ie/anationrising/. For more information about the Gender ARC or the Moore Institute you can visit their websites http://www.genderarc.org/ and https://www.nuigalway.ie/mooreinstitute/.

Despite the recognition that violence against women (VAW) is a global health emergency – one in three women and girls experience violence at least once in their life from the age of 15 – it has not inspired action by governments.   At an individual level, violence immediately affects the health of a woman or girl. The mental and physical health effects can lead to poor earnings, employment instability, and low productivity; they can also result in women being unable to undertake household tasks, like cooking or bringing her children to school, which in turn affects the wellbeing of her children and extended family. These impacts, over a lifetime, reflect a loss of human potential for the individual, her community and the society and economy. My work is on measuring the impacts to prove the suffering reaches much further than the individual victims, survivors and perpetrators. Some of these impacts can be monetised, such as the cost of seeking healthcare for injuries, and we can easily count these as economic costs. However, this is the tip of the iceberg. Capturing the cost of pain, or the long-term impact on capabilities and potential, is far more difficult, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. It is necessary to look at the costs to families and informal networks, to businesses small and large, and at the ways all of these costs multiply and affect societies over time. Studies in the global south demonstrate that violence imposes burdens on the informal systems of family, kinship, and community networks. A recent study in Egypt found that the most significant economic impacts are the loss of unpaid care work, the burden placed on families to provide refuge for the woman/girl, and the costs to a family of providing protection for women in the public space. This shows that the greatest costs of violence against women are absorbed by informal institutions and thus remain invisible to governments and planners, while placing a significant strain on families, communities and societies.           Meanwhile, in countries where women’s labour force participation rates are high, costing studies show that violence primarily influences absenteeism and productivity loss in the workplace. For example, a study I undertook in Vietnam showed the productivity loss to be equivalent to 1.79% of 2011 GDP. A 2014 study in Peru (pdf) on the costs to businesses estimated that overall 70m workdays (equivalent to about 230,000 full-time jobs) were lost in a year due to the impacts of violence on women’s and men’s absenteeism and presenteeism (being late, leaving early, not concentrating). We are currently looking at ways, through the UK’s Department for International Development What Works programme, to generate new data on the scale of the cost of VAW and provide basic benchmark data to monitor effectiveness of efforts to address violence. The global What Works programme is also testing ways of preventing violence as well as measuring cost effectiveness to make the rigorous case for investment priorities in promising interventions. The effectiveness of economic empowerment programmes, poverty reduction programmes and others working to address inequality depend on the efforts to combat VAW, which is at the core of the economic and social challenges of our times. We hope that our evidence will translate into systemic action at national and international levels.

  Gender ARC at NUI Galway is pleased to invite you to Before 1916: Robert Lynd and Visions of Ireland to Come – an interdisciplinary conference as part of NUI Galway’s 1916 commemoration programme - A Nation Rising.   Organised by Gender ARC at NUI Galway in association with the Moore Institute, this day-long conference will explore alternative visions of Ireland before the 1916 Rising, as expressed by five “Voices of the New Ireland” selected by the writer and critic Robert Lynd in his book Ireland a Nation (1919). The five well-known voices at the time, chosen by Lynd were Easter Rising leader Patrick Pearse, historian Alice Stopford Green, writer and artist George Russell (AE), essayist, constitutionalist nationalist, and women's rights advocate Tom Kettle, and sculptor and poet Dora Sigerson.   9.00am – 9.30am Registration & Tea/coffee   9.30am – 9.45am Welcome   Mary Harris, Nation Rising Coordinator Niamh Reilly, Gender ARC, NUI Galway – Overview of Programme   9.45am – 11.00am KEYNOTE PRESENTATION 1   Title: “Alice Green, Roger Casement and the politics of Irish history before the Rising” Speaker: Margaret O’Callaghan, Political Science, Queens University Belfast Chair: Dan Carey, Moore Institute and English, NUI Galway   11.00am – 11.15am Tea/Coffee break   11.15am – 12.30pm KEYNOTE PRESENTATION 2   Title: “Patrick Pearse’s Ghost Frequencies” Speaker: Bryan Fanning, Social Policy, Social Work, and Social Justice, University College Dublin Chair: Anne Byrne, Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway   Launch of Bryan Fanning's Irish Adventures in Nation-Building (Manchester 2016)   and "Lynd Exhibit: Writings In The Library", organised by Mary Clancy, researcher and curator and Marie Boran, Special Collections Librarian.     12.30pm – 1.45pm Lunch   1.45pm – 2.30pm MUSIC & PERFORMANCE   Music by: Garry O Briain, Jack Talty, Caitleen Courtney (Musicians) and Alice Hegarty (Singer) Coordinated by: Mary McPartlan (Director, Arts in Action Programme, NUI Galway)   Dramatic readings by students of the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Coordinated by: Miriam Haughton, Centre for Drama Theatre and Performance, NUI Galway   2.30pm – 3.30pm ROUNDTABLE   Title: Lynd’s “Voices of the new Ireland” – Gender ARC members at NUI Galway discuss interdisciplinary and gender perspectives Speakers:   Anne Byrne (Political Science and Sociology) on George Russell (AE) Mary Clancy (Global Women’s Studies/History) on Alice Stopford Green Miriam Haughton (Drama, Theatre and Performance) on Patrick Pearse Muireann O’Cinneide (English) on Dora Sigerson Niamh Reilly (Political Science and Sociology) on Tom Kettle   Chair: Margaret O’Callaghan Respondents: Margaret O’Callaghan and Bryan Fanning   The conference is free and open to the public but places are limited. The programme will commence at 9.30am and finish at 3.45pm (registration starts at 9.00am). To reserve a place, email Gillian Browne at:  gillian.browne@nuigalway.ie or tel. 091 492297.  

    UN Women costing evidence improves essential services for women experiencing violence in Indonesia, Lao PDR, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam   (from left to right) Dr Nata Duvvury, Senior Lecturer, School of Political Science & Sociology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Anna-Karin Jatfors, Deputy Regional Director of UN Women, and Asha Sharma, Representative from Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Australia launching costing tools for responding to violence against women in Southeast Asia. . Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking With growing evidence that violence against women is a major drag on national economies, there is new interest in understanding what the costs of appropriate responses are for governments to curtail the short- and long-term consequences and support survivors in their journey for healing and justice. New evidence shows that a minimum level of support services for survivors is more affordable than may have been imagined- and carries gains that go well beyond economic terms. The total cost of the minimum services for Lao PDR to establish and operate services over a three-year time frame is estimated to be approximately USD 13.5 million, equating to 0.25 per cent of GDP. In Timor-Leste, the minimum package would cost approximately USD 6 million over a three-year period, equating to 0.31 per cent of GDP - less than 0.5 per cent of the national budget based on current service utilization. Click here to download publication. The consequences of violence are astounding. It has long-term effects on women’s physical, reproductive and mental health effects, results in social stigma and isolation from family and communities, and prevents girls and women from pursing education and work. Cultures of impunity, where violence is not met with appropriate justice or sanctions, lead to a general acceptance and continuation of violence. In families affected by violence, it is more likely that children who grow up witnessing violence will later be involved in violence. The consequences reach deeply into nearly every sector, with significant impacts on individuals, families, communities, and society at large. Efforts by civil society groups, governments, and UN agencies to eliminate violence against women are on the rise. As violence against women has become more visible, the understanding of the devastating impacts it has, on not only the individual survivors- but also children, families and entire communities and countries, has grown. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking The past 10 years have seen growing commitments in Southeast Asia to advance a improved responses to VAW by health, social services, policing, and justice agencies. Despite this, ongoing challenges still exist. The lack of coordination between actors limits a comprehensive response that places survivors at the center of an often complex web of needs and services. Programme allocations are limited to prevent VAW, to provide treatment and care, or to aid reintegration. Reliable and rigorous evidence of the resource requirements for a governments are in short supply. UN Women has been working closely with partners in Asia and the Pacific to better understand the costs of addressing violence against women more fully, including through allocating needed budgets for services for survivors. Services include counselling, health treatment, police response, justice assistance, and practical needs such as shelter and emergency assistance. Recognising these needs, UN Women engaged Dr Nata Duvvury, a leading expert in the area of costing violence against women, in undertaking costing studies in Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Timor‑Leste- countries with national legislation and/or national action plans on violence against women. Dr. Duvvury noted, “An important finding is that cost estimates show that the Essential Services Minimum Package is not a substantial burden for governments.” This dispels the myth that for governments to implement a comprehensive response system for survivors of violence against women, it would be too costly to be feasible. This research has shown that improved networks of services for survivors are within reach. The studies resulted in two user-friendly costing tools to estimate resource requirements for comprehensive responses to violence against women. The costing tools, Estimating Resource Requirements for Responding to Violence against Women in Southeast Asia: Synthesis of Findings and Lessons and A Costing Tool for Action: Estimating Resource Requirements for Responding to Violence against Women in Southeast Asia were launched on 2 June in Bangkok. The tools were presented at a results sharing meeting reviewing the successes and lessons drawn from Leveraging Technical Tools, Evidence, and Community Engagement to Advance the Implementation of Laws and Provision of Services to Women Experiencing Violence in South-East Asia, UN Women’s 3-year programme supported by the Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Each costing study begins with a review of national laws and policies, in consultation with women’s rights organisations, to understand what the government needs to provide to survivors of violence against women. This review results in a much more comprehensive understanding of what survivors need, and agreements on what survivors need at a minimum - such as crisis hotlines, shelters, counseling, health treatment, and dedicated policing and justice services- often referred to as a minimum package of essential services. Women’s rights activists in governments and civil society have seen positive results in using costing estimates to negotiate budget allocations. For example, UN Women and civil society advocates have used the costing study results to successfully advocate for a 100% increase in budget in Jakarta province from 2011 to 2016, connected to investing in quality of services. Since 2011 when the budget started to increase gradually, the budget has increased to 2 million in 2011, 2.5 million in 2012, and 4 million in 2016, respectively. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking Costing estimates have also proved to be successful in Timor-Leste, “We used this costing information for advocacy. We met with the Ministry of Social Solidarity about a proposal we gave them for shelters. At first they refused our budget by more than 70%. So we advocated using the costing study. I was asked to explain why we needed the money. Then they increased the budget to 100% of our request,” Marilia da Silva Alves, from Fokupers NGO reported. Click here to download publication. “The costing study is important to implement the law on VAW. It allows us to know more about services- what is the cost of services across multiple sectors. This has already helped inform budgetary allocations linked to the Minimum Essential Services Package.” Liliana Amaral, EVAW Programme Officer for UN Women in Timor-Leste added. UN Women’s Regional Programme, Leveraging Technical Tools, Evidence and Community Engagement to Advance the Implementation of Laws and Provision of Services to Women Experiencing Violence in South-East Asia, is generously supported by the Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

      Gender ARC and Global Women’s Studies at NUI Galway are pleased to invite you to the following events: …………………………..…………………………..   1916: Home: 2016 Conference   Inter-institutional conference co-sponsored by NUI Galway’s ‘1916: A Nation Rising’ programme, the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, the Centre for Global Women’s Studies, the Moore Institute and the NUI Galway Feminist Society   Date: Friday 7 – Saturday 8 October 2016 Venue: The Hardiman Research Building, G010   …………………………..…………………………..   Women building peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo   Gender ARC Research Seminar with Salomé Ntububa, Mary Robinson Centre Visiting Scholar   Date: Tuesday 18 October 2016 Time: 4pm – 5pm Venue: The Centre for Global Women’s Studies Building, No 10 Newcastle Road, Seminar Room   …………………………..…………………………..   Before 1916 - Robert Lynd and Visions of Ireland to Come    Gender ARC conference as part of NUI Galway's 1916 commemoration programme - A Nation Rising.       Keynote speakers are Margaret O'Callaghan (QUB) and Bryan Fanning (UCD)   Gender ARC presenters and discussants, Anne Byrne, Caitriona Clear, Mary Clancy, Miriam Haughton, Muireann O'Cinneide and Niamh Reilly   Music from the period (coordinated by Mary McPartlan) and dramatic readings of work by the “five voices” by students from NUI Galway’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance.      Date: Friday 4 November 2016 Time: 10am – 4pm Venue: To be announced   …………………………..…………………………..   Arpilleras: Textile language of testimony, resistance and memory   Public lecture and seminar with Chilean human rights activist and curator of women’s political arpilleras (quilts), Roberta Bacic Co-hosted by Gender ARC, NUI Galway Discipline of Spanish and the Irish Centre for Human Rights, in advance of this year’s 16 Days of Action against Gender Violence     Public Lecture Date: Thursday 17 November 2016 Time: 6pm – 8pm Venue: The Hardiman Research Building, G010   Postgraduate Seminar Date: Friday 18 November Time: 10am – 12pm Venue: The Irish Centre for Human Rights, Seminar Room   …………………………..…………………………..    ‌

  Dr Nata Duvvury Director of the Centre will be a key speaker at the SAFE Ireland Summit 2016. Prepare to discover some of the world’s most disruptive, change agents – the SAFE Ireland Summit 2016 is just around the corner. On the 14th and 15th November, the SAFE Ireland world will come to life in The Round Room at the Mansion House, Dublin as we gather world thinkers, creators and doers who have so much to contribute to the vision of a safe country. Expect more than 20 fascinating speakers, experience the installations of art, video and music in our Corporate Partner’s SAFE Ireland Spaces, and enjoy exceptional networking with more than 200 like-minded individuals. For more information and registration see: http://safeirelandsummit.ie/summit-host/      ‌

  With one in three women worldwide experiencing abuse, violence against women is a global epidemic. The economic cost of this violence will be discussed by current and former women Heads of State and Government at the UN Headquarters in New York today. Dr Nata Duvvury, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Centre for Global Women’s Studies at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway, will be acting as an expert advisor at the High Level Discussion on Economic Costs of Violence against Women (VAW). Dr Duvvury’s groundbreaking work on the costs of violence against women has gained international recognition, cited by Hilary Clinton, Mary Robinson, World Bank economist Caren Grown, by UN Women, and international donor agencies and cited in numerous journal articles. Speaking ahead of the event, Dr Duvvury said: “Violence against women is a fundamental human rights violation, a priority public health issue and a development issue with significant implications for economic growth. In studies in Australia, UK, or Vietnam where women’s labour force participation rates are high, the costs of violence are reflected in absenteeism and productivity loss. In Vietnam the productivity loss was equivalent to 1.79% of GDP. A study in the Peru on the costs to businesses estimated that overall 70 million workdays were lost in a year due to the impacts of violence on women’s and men’s absenteeism and presenteeism (being late, leaving early, not concentrating, etc.). Both the Vietnam and Peru studies found that intimate partner violence also had an impact on men, which is an important insight to highlight. Policymakers must recognise the ripple effects of violence against women across various sections of society and businesses, to understand that the effects/impacts of VAW do not stop at the factory door but seep into every nook and cranny of the production system. We need commitment from world leaders to invest to prevent and respond to VAW.” The panel was called by The President of the Republic of Lithuania, H.E. Dalia Grybauskaitė, as Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders, to discuss the economic impact of VAW during the High Level Week of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2016. In addition to Dr Duvvury, Ms Jurgita Pečiūrienė, Gender Expert at the European Institute for Gender equality, will be presenting expert evidence. The panel includes Heads of State and Government and International Organisations including: the Presidents of the Republic of Chile, Lithuania, Malta, Croatia and the Prime Minister of Namibia; H.E. Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization; Rt Hon Patricia Scotland, Secretary-General, The Commonwealth; Ms Sivana Koch-Mehrin, Founder of the Women in Parliaments Global Form; and Ms Laura Liswood, Secretary-General, Council of Women World Leaders. Building on more than 20 years of international engagement and gender-focussed research at the cutting edge of HIV, women’s asset ownership, nutrition and gender based violence, Dr Duvvury has made seminal contributions to the policy discourse on gender, equality, health and empowerment. At the High Level Discussion, Dr Duvvury will be making the argument that violence against women and girls has cumulative impacts over the life-time of individuals undermining individual capability resulting in overall economic loss over time.         ‌

  Over the course of the year, the Gender Arc research seminar included talks on a diverse cultural, social and historical issues with a focus on gender. Topics addressed included: ‘The Subject of Choice and the Story of Single Motherhood’; ‘Constructing Gender in the French Algerian Context’, ‘What we preserve from the past and what we ignore: some new perspectives on women in Ireland in the 1950s and 60s’, and ‘Irish Women Screenwriters cast in the shadows - Knocknagow (1918) and Guests of the Nation (1935).’ Gender Arc at NUI Galway is a programme of the Centre for Global Women’s studies.  Global Women’s Studies PhD candidate and Gender Arc research associate Amie Lajoie coordinated the speakers’ series. The events give students and NUI Galway staff regular opportunities to contribute to lively discussions on new gender focused research. Dr. Catriona Clear’s book launch, for example, ‘What we preserve from the past and what we ignore: some new perspectives on women in Ireland in the 1950s and 60s’, provided the audience with an fascinating historical and gender analysis of the social and cultural significance of women’s magazines in Ireland, particularly the ‘problem pages’.      ‌

In March 2016, historian and university faculty member Mary Clancy from The Centre for Global Women’s Studies, along with students from the MA module historical perspectives, helped curate an exhibition which illuminated the past stories of women from the University. Drawing on the library resources, the exhibition aimed to highlight the lives of women graduates since the late 19th century. This was achieved in association with staff of the library, post-graduate student support and translation services. The importance of retelling stories of women from the past, and keeping their memory alive and visible in the university is of particular importance to all involved in women’s and gender studies. Mary Clancy, said of the project, that ‘The exhibition was an important way to situate past effort and to draw upon readily available local materials. Visibility is sometimes a necessary first step in leading to analysis about roles in the past. Exhibitions such as this will help to expand knowledge, to complicate stories and contexts and to raise research questions’. This historical and cultural exhibition was held in the foyer of The James Hardiman Library and was very well received by staff, students and visitors to the university, with future collaborative projects pending.    ‌

On July 11-14th 2016, a group of students in the MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights went on a field trip to Geneva, Switzerland organised by Professor Niamh Reilly and Mary Clancy with the support of Gillian Browne.  Geneva was chosen as the site of the Head Quarters of the UN in Europe and home of the UN Human Rights Council. On the trip the students observed the review of Turkey’s women’s rights record by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.  They also had the opportunity to meet with María Muñoz Maraver, the Human Rights Programme Director at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and researchers at the Gender Centre of the Graduate Institute, Geneva, Professor Elisabeth Prügl and Dr. Christelle Rigual who spoke about their comparative research on women and peacebuilding. Katie Hennessy, an M.A. student who participated said that, ‘The trip to Geneva was a great way to see how the theory which we had learned during the course of our studies was applied in practice.  For example, the processes taking place in the U.N., including the dialogue during Turkey's review under CEDAW, civil society engagement and field research undertaken by academics in the graduate school’.  These few days in Geneva allowed the students to view human rights in practice, and gave them insight into the professional projects undertaken by organisations, which they may participate in, in their future workplace environments.    ‌

  On July 1st -2nd, The Centre for Global Women’s Studies and The Mary Robinson Centre co-hosted a major International Symposium to discuss ways and means to advance implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on gender equality and human rights provisions.   The event, held in Ballina, featured keynote presentations by international and national experts including: former President of Ireland Mary Robinson; former head of UNIFEM, Noeleen Heyzer; Paul Gillespie of The Irish Times; Sorley McCaughey of Christian Aid Ireland; Professor Diane Elson of the University of Essex; Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Gender Envoy for The African Development Bank; Heather Grady, Vice President, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, San Francisco USA; and Monica McWilliams, Professor of Women’s Studies, University of Ulster. The Symposium, attended by an international audience of about 150 delegates has helped to facilitate new connections between like-minded groups so that they can learn from and support each other in moving forward with efforts to implement the SDGs. The event connected NGOs, development practitioners and policy researchers, underlining the importance of linking research to activism. It was a valuable opportunity for the students and staff of Global Women’s Studies and NUI Galway more generally to engage directly in a formative international dialogue on this current and pressing issue.     ‌

The 25th International Association for Feminist Economics Conference titled ‘Transitions and Transformations in Gender Equality’ was held from June 24-26, 2016 at the National University of Ireland, Galway and was organised by Dr. Nata Duvvury along with the help of volunteers from the M.A. programme. This conference resulted in some of the leading feminist economists from around the world gathering over the course of the three days to attend and speak at various seminars which covered pressing economic issues, through a gendered lens. The long weekend saw some important talks, including two on the Sustainable Development Goals, and what they mean in practice and a further opening and closing plenary which highlighted gender issues in Ireland, and posed questions about the future paths which should be taken for recognising and implementing, feminist economics. The event brought many leading scholars, and advocacy workers together to discuss and debate feminist economics, and how gender is understood within the current economic system, while also paving the way for future feminist economist thinkers.  

During the refugee awareness week, which was organised by the Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) society of NUIG, Kat Castillo lead a team of fellow M.A. students in volunteering their time towards a stall which conveyed the gender dimension of the current refugee crisis. Issues such as violence against women, which is heightened in times of war were addressed, and the volunteers took turns speaking with those attending and informing them about the topic. The event itself had speakers from the army, and medical professionals speak about their work in times of crisis, and there was also a demonstration of a raft which showed the cramped, inhumane and dangerous conditions refugees are travelling in. The students created information leaflets for people visiting about the gendered impact of the crisis, and also developed an interactive quiz for those attending so they could test their knowledge on gender based issues. This was an important project, and event, which benefitted from a gender lens and it was further enhanced by the students own understanding of human rights, globalisation, gender and conflict which they had obtained from the coursework during the semester.

On Friday June 17th, the Inclusive Centenaries Conference took place NUIG, in order to reflect on the ideals of inclusivity and inequality contained in the 1916 proclamation. Funded by the Irish Research Council New Foundations Scheme, the conference was organised by the Centre for Global Women’s Studies, led by Professor Niamh Reilly in partnership with Dr. Ciara Smyth, Law School, and Dr. Charlotte McIvor, Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance and community partners including the Galway County Council Intercultural Forum and Youth Works Ireland Galway. The event brought together different members of the community, such as those in direct provision, and other new community members in order to create awareness about how different groups are living in Ireland today. Laoise Talty, one of the M.A. students who attended the event, said that, ‘the opening talks were really emotional and difficult to listen to, as they were the reality for people in direct provision’.  In response to the Inclusive Centenaries project, NUI Galway was pleased to launch a new Inclusive Centenaries Scholarship Scheme with support from Galway University Foundation. This scheme targets those leaving secondary school who are from new communities, in order to facilitate their integration into third level education.    

ANNUAL CONFERENCE, JUNE 24-26 From June 24th to 26th the National University of Ireland, Galway, will host the 25th International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) Annual Conference. Bringing together leading practitioners from the fields of academia, economics and social justice, the conference presents an exciting opportunity to interact with preeminent feminist and heterodox economics scholars and advocates whose work covers a wide range of issues such as gender equality, gender and development, macroeconomic policy, capabilities and well-being. Confirmed speakers include Bina Agarwal, Naila Kabeer, Diane Elson, Gita Sen and Alicia Girón.  The IAFFE is a renowned international association that focuses on advancing feminist inquiry into economic issues. The conference comes at a time of growing economic and environmental instability across the world. In responding to these issues, the IAFFE members are engaged in critical policy discussions on gender equality at both national and international forums, providing a strong voice in critiques of neo-liberal paradigms, and advocating for an alternative vision of economics focused on equality, capabilities and well-being.  Speaking ahead of the event, chief organizer Dr. Nata Duvvury, a senior lecturer and Co-Director of NUI Galway’s Centre for Global Women’s Studies in the School of Political Science and Sociology, said: “.This conference comes at a very critical juncture as the world is grappling with fragile economic recovery, a refugee crisis of unprecendented proportions, growing income inequality and deepening environmental crisis. Scholars, policymakers and activists will explore the ramifications of these challenges for gender equality and social justice as well as consider alternative sustainable solutions through gender aware macroecnomic policies, innovative social arrangements transforming the gendered nature of care work/social reproudction, and  consistent application of human rights to design of programs and policies.”  On Thursday, June 23rd, a preconference workshop will be held by the IAFFE, designed for scholars and activists new to feminist economics. Topics will include feminist economics methodologies, caring labour, diversity in economics, and global perspectives on gender and economics. The workshop will also provide career-building presentations and discussions, such as publishing feminist economics research and developing a media presence. Full details on the conference can be found at: http://www.iaffe.org/2016-annual-conference/

    The Mary Robinson Centre is pleased to welcome its first international visiting scholar, Professor Jane Freedman (June 13-19, 2016) in partnership with the Centre for Global Women’s Studies, NUI Galway. Professor Freedman will be participating in the following events during her visit:     Tuesday 14th June - The Centre for Global Women’s Studies and Gender Arc at NUI Galway will host a book launch of Jane Freedman’s recent book: Gender, Violence and Politics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ashgate, 2015). For more information contact: Amie Lajoie, Gender Arc Research Associate at: a.lajoie1@nuigalway.ie   Friday 17th June – Jane Freedman will speak at the Inclusive Centenaries conference at NUI Galway. Inclusive Centenaries aims to be a space for reflection on the meaning and significance in 2016 of the ideals set out in the 1916 Proclamation of Independence, from the perspective of Ireland’s new communities. In a spirit of dialogue and celebration of Ireland’s diversity in 2016, Inclusive Centenaries will bring together people living in or transitioning out of direct provision – especially women and young people – as well as members of other immigrant and local communities, elected representatives and NUI Galway leaders and decision makers. Inclusive Centenaries is funded by the Irish Research Council. It is organised by the Centre for Global Women’s Studies, the Law School and the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance at NUI Galway, in collaboration with The Mary Robinson Centre and community partners: Galway County Council, Galway County Council Intercultural Forum, and Galway City Partnership Intercultural Consortium. For more information contact: Gillian Browne, Centre for Global Women’s Studies at Gillian.browne@nuigalway.ie   Saturday 18th June – The National Museum of Country Life in County Mayo is hosting an event on immigration to Ireland with a focus on women. Professor Freedman will give the keynote address “Women's Experiences in New and Ongoing Refugee Crises.” This event is organised as part of the Museum’s temporary exhibition Migrant Women - Shared Experiences and is open to the public. For more information see: http://www.museum.ie/Country-Life/Events-Projects/Seminar-Immigration-and-Ireland. To book: email educationtph@museum.ie or call the National Museum on 094 9031769.   Jane Freedman is Professor of Politics at Université de Paris 8, where she leads major international research projects on asylum and migration and violence against women. She is also a Specialist in Gender Equality with UNESCO, Paris on issues relating to: Women asylum and migration; Prevention of violence against women; Gender, peace and security; Women’s political participation. Professor Freedman has published extensively in English and French. Her recent books are: Gender, Violence and Politics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ashgate, 2016), Gendering the International Asylum and Refugee Debate (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, 2nd Edition) and Engaging Men in the Fight against Gender Violence, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).   For information on related events at The Mary Robinson Centre, contact Natasha Price at: natasha@maryrobinsoncentre.ie 

Registration is now open for The Mary Robinson Centre International Symposium 2016, organised in partnership with NUI Galway’s Centre for Global Women’s Studies. The Symposium will take place in Ballina, Co. Mayo, on 1-2 July. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, who currently serves as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, explains: “The Mary Robinson Centre International Symposium 2016 will bring together in Ballina an outstanding group of sustainable development champions from Ireland and around the world. It will begin a very important international conversation that puts human rights, peace, tackling inequalities, and promoting women’s leadership at the heart of our collective efforts to implement the new UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.” In addition to Mary Robinson, keynote speakers and panellists will include: Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of UN Economic and Social Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Dr Paul Gillespie, Irish Times columnist and former Foreign Policy Editor Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Gender Envoy for the African Development Bank Heather Grady, Vice-President, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, San Francisco, USA Peter Power, Executive Director, UNICEF Ireland, former Minister of State for Overseas Development Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director, Amnesty International Ireland Mouna Ghanem, Member of Women’s Advisory Board to UN Envoy on Syria Jacqueline Pitanguy, Founder and Executive Director of CEPIA (a human and civil rights NGO), Brazil Monica McWilliams, Co-founder of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition political party Ray Murphy, Acting Director of NUI Galway’s Irish Centre for Human Rights. Niamh Reilly, Co-director of the Centre for Global Women’s Studies at NUI Galway and Academic Advisor to The Mary Robinson Centre, said: “This exciting Symposium opens up global policy discussion and academic research to local communities – for anyone who is interested in issues of development, peace, human rights and equality, it is fantastic opportunity to participate in an agenda-setting discussion.” A reduced registration fee of €75 is available until Tuesday, 31 May, which includes the conference buffet dinner. A full registration fee of €95 applies after this date. A special concession rate of €30 is available to postgraduate students and others subject to eligibility. To register visit www.conference.ie.

Gender ARC is pleased to congratulate the recipients of the Gender ARC Seed Fund Awards 2015-2016: The first was awarded to PhD candidates Seán Burke (NUI Galway) and Ann Marie Joyce (IRC Scholar, UL), supported by Dr Eilís Ward (NUI, Galway); and the second to Dr Ciara Breathnach (UL) and Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley (NUI Galway). The Seed Fund Awards are small, externally adjudicated, competitive grants intended to recognise excellence in gender-focused research. The grant uniquely supports joint initiatives, led by at least two academics or two PhD candidates (one from UL and the other NUI Galway). The funding is provided by the NUI Galway-UL Strategic Alliance fund (NUI Galway) and the Gender, Culture and Society Programme (UL).  We are grateful for the time and expertise of this year’s Gender ARC Seed Fund reviewers, Professor Emerita Pat Coughlan (English, UCC) and Professor Sarah Combellick-Bidney, Political Science, Augsburg College, MN, USA. This year’s Award recipients offered well-constructed research proposals for two important initiatives, one in the social science and one in the humanities. The first, coordinated by Seán Burke (School of Sociology and Political Science, NUI Galway) and Ann Marie Joyce (Gender, Culture and Society programme, UL), is for a one-day colloquium entitled ‘Research on the margins? Commercial sex, the researcher and the researched’ sponsored by the Commercial Sex Research Network Ireland (CSRNI). The CSRNI is an all-Ireland interdisciplinary network for researchers critically engaged in researching issues related to commercial sex. The colloquium, taking place on the Wednesday 3 May 2016, features a key-note address from Dr. Lorraine Nencel, (VU University, Amsterdam) entitled: ‘Researching Sex Work: A job like any other?’ in addition to two interactive workshops lead by Dr Eilís Ward and Dr Leigh Ann Sweeney. The event provides a platform for a timely discussion of current policy issues and debates in the Irish and European context, such as the high-profile ‘Turn off the Red Light’ campaign in addition to the potential introduction of the sex purchase ban in the Republic of Ireland and similar legislative statutes in Northern Ireland. As Seán states: “We very grateful to have received this award – the funding has allowed us the opportunity to collaborate with other researchers focused on the area of commercial sex […] the idea was to foster links already forged between CSRNI in addition to inviting international experts to shed new light on the legislative changes that are imminent in the republic of Ireland.” This event is free and all are welcome. For more information, or to reserve a place, contact Seán directly at seandeburca1986@gmail.com.  The second Award went to Dr Ciara Breathnach (History, UL) and Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley (History, NUI Galway). Ciara and Sarah-Anne have been collaborating over the past three years on research exploring lifecycles, gender and the family in historical perspective. The Seed Fund Award supports these efforts by enabling collaboration in research events and conferences in 2016, in Europe and the USA, to underpin the development of bids for further international funding. Their work sheds light on Irish women’s resilience through time, most notably through experiences of transnational migration, and the ability to keep their families together despite great hardship. For more information on Gender ARC, please visit genderarc.org.

On the 29 November 2015, students from the Centre for Global Women’s Studies MA programme travelled from Galway to Ballina, Co. Mayo to participate in a workshop hosted by the new Mary Robinson Centre. The workshop, entitled “Spotlight on Human Rights & the Refugee Crisis in Europe” examined the legal, humanitarian and community response dimensions of an unfolding crisis. The event was planned to coincide with The Mary Robinson Centre’s annual human rights lecture, which was given by Graça Machel directly after the workshop. Machel is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian, is the widow of former South African president Nelson Mandela. The workshop was the first event in an exciting, developing academic programme with The Mary Robinson Centre designed to engage postgraduate students in particular as a target group in building bridges between local communities, the University and influencers of global policy, and between younger and older advocates for social justice, gender equality and human rights. The Centre for Global Women’s Studies liaised with The Mary Robinson Centre workshop organiser to provide substantive guidance on the topic, speakers and the overall approach. The event was a great success and our students did an exemplary job animating and leading discussion on this important theme. They were invited to meet with Mary Robinson and Graça Machel before the Human Rights Lecture, which was covered in national media and our students appeared in national television coverage of the event on news broadcasts the evening of Nov 29.

On the 5 December 2015, students from the Centre for Global Women’s Studies MA programme co-organised a "High Tea for Hamlin", with local Hamlin volunteer Sarah Bettaney.  The coffee morning aimed to celebrate and raise money to help support ongoing efforts to treat and prevent obstetric fistulas in Ethiopia. The fundraiser took place on the NUI Galway campus in the Life Course Institute (ILAS) and was a huge success and exceeded the 1000 Euro target set! MA student Kathryn Castillo took the lead in promoting and co-coordinating the event, with much valued assistance from Katie Hennessy and Global Women’s Studies staff on the day.  It included a short film depicting the work of the Hamlin Foundation in Ethiopia and a raffle of gifts donated from local Galway businesses, including 37 West, An Tobar Nua, The Lobster Pot Resturant, Easons and Marks & Spencers  All proceeds from the coffee morning went directly to support the invaluable and much needed work of the Hamlin Foundation. Fistula is a child-birth related injury which causes immense but avoidable hardship for many thousands of women each year. Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia is a world-class centre of excellence for treating obstetric fistulas and training doctors to specialise in this surgery. Rehabilitation services such as physiotherapy, counselling and skills training are available to assist patients regain their self-esteem, find meaningful employment and reintegrate to village life.  The ‘High Tea for Hamlin’ fundraiser was also timely in marking the 2015 Annual Campaign of 16 Days of Action to end Gender-Based Violence. 

On the 3 February 2016, Gender ARC supported by the Centre for Global Women’s Studies hosted the first meeting of a new postgraduate reading group in feminist and queer theory. 12 students from various degree programmes and several disciplines took part in this preliminary group meeting, which is open to all postgraduate students in the University. Members of the first meeting group discussed a chapter of Simone de Beauvoir’s famous The Second Sex (1952) and some introductory themes from critical feminist/gender and queer perspectives.  The group is coordinated by third year Global Women’s Studies PhD student Amie Lajoie, who also serves as the current Gender ARC Research Associate. The group will continue meeting every 2-3 weeks to discuss a single specific piece of work from this field of academic inquiry, with the readings being chosen and agreed upon collectively at each meeting for the following session. The overall objective of this group is to facilitate an environment where interested students (with or without prior knowledge of these themes) can come together and discuss certain influential works from a variety of feminist literature in a relaxed, open and friendly atmosphere. This group is on going and anyone and everyone with interest in these subjects is encouraged to take part!  To learn more about the group or to come to the next meeting, email Amie at a.lajoie1@nuigalway.ie