Abstracts

Cheng (Shirley) Ni: “Between the Gazette and the News: Prostitution in Colonial Macau 1849-1949”. This study provides an in-depth examination of the role of prostitution within the socio-economic and legal frameworks of Macau during the colonial era, spanning from 1849 to 1949. The analysis delves into the legal and economic dimensions of the sex industry, alongside the societal and administrative repercussions of its governance. The research posits that prostitution served as a prevalent economic strategy for women within a patriarchal context, with regulatory measures driven by fiscal imperatives, notably the pursuit of tax revenue. A notable paradox emerges from the analysis, wherein the frequent legal codification of prostitution contrasts with the absence of substantial financial data indicating its economic significance to the colonial administration. This discrepancy prompts an inquiry into the actual economic contributions of the sex industry and the underlying motivations for its persistent regulation. The study also scrutinizes the administrative limitations of the Portuguese colonial authority in Macau, which may have resulted in the inconsistent enforcement of laws and regulations. The narrative further uncovers the darker facets of the industry, including instances of human trafficking and the exploitation of minors and women. The author contends that the prevailing historical discourse on prostitution in Macau may be skewed, as it often relegates sex workers to the status of passive entities rather than acknowledging their potential agency within the social fabric. The research advocates for additional scholarly inquiry to investigate the autonomy of sex workers, their societal roles, and the influence of evolving prostitution norms on the urban development and modernization of Macau.

Ananya Vohra: “Canadian (In)Security: The Strategic Use of Sexual Violence in Canada’s Colonial Project”. In recent years, sexual violence against Indigenous women and girls has gained more attention from the general public and policymakers. This is partly due to the National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls as it highlights the lived experiences of sexual violence that are a common reality for many Indigenous women. Nevertheless, the framing of this crisis remains established within the settler colonial structure and an Orientalist mindset as policymakers have ignored how settler colonialism is a source of insecurity. This is illustrated through Canada’s second National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security which states that “Canada is not a fragile or conflict-affected state”. This paper critiques Canada’s Women, Peace and Security policy and illustrates how settler colonialism is ignored as a source of insecurity within Canada and by international organizations like the United Nations Security Council. This paper asks: How does Canada's failure to address the insecurity caused by the targeted efforts of sexual violence against Indigenous women contribute to its portrayal as a secure nation-state in the international sphere and perpetuate settler-colonial violence within its borders? I argue that rape as a weapon of war is used within Canada’s borders as a settler colonial elimination strategy. By utilizing feminist security studies in tandem with Indigenous studies and post-colonial theory this paper challenges what it means for a state to be insecure and highlights how conflict-related policies privilege Global North states by ignoring settler colonialism.

Saniya Ghalehdar: “Gender Apartheid: Iranian Women and their Struggle for Freedom”. Although women across the globe continue achieving goals and shattering glass ceilings in multiple arenas, there are groups of women who are still fighting for basic rights. A fundamental principle of EDI is creating equitable and inclusive spaces for women, men, and members of the LGBTQIA2S+ communities. It is crucial for education and opportunities be created for women and other marginalized communities in order to combat gender inequities. The women of Iran in many ways have become both an interesting and heartbreaking case as to why gender apartheid is real and how it does damage to not only women but to their society as a whole. There is a very apparent timeline showcasing their fight for freedoms, their fight for equitable opportunities, and equality in civil matters as well. One strategy to share the importance of gender equity, is to walk through a timeline of how the women of Iran slowly lost many freedoms they enjoyed prior to 1979, to highlight their fight for these freedoms, and to show the impacts of how the loss of equality in many areas of their lives have not only affected themselves, but those around them. I would like to open up discussions to how gender apartheid is a very real, and critical threat to many women around the globe, and how education and activism can help combat these threats. I will address concerns around the economic, social, and health related issues of women who are impacted when gender inequities exist. We will look at strategies for how to combat issues that isolate women, and we will also look at inclusive and equitable practices that help not only create opportunity, but also improve the health of communities around women.

Latifat Busari: “Sustainability Paradigms: Indigenous Voices and the Confrontation of Imperialist, Colonialist, and Capitalist Systems”. The United Nation's acknowledgment of the essential role of Indigenous knowledge in combating the climate crisis stands in contrast to the marginalization of Indigenous perspectives within its sustainability framework. This project explores the oversight of capitalism and colonialism within existing sustainability paradigms and addresses the United Nation's failure to actively mitigate the harms perpetuated by capitalist systems in its sustainable development goals. Using a literature review approach, this project examines contributions by Indigenous and racialized scholars globally. The examination of these scholarly works reveals how environmental degradation today is a direct result of profit-driven systems influenced by capitalism and underpinned by colonial and imperialist ideologies. Urgent action is needed to counter the climate crisis, and that demands a radical shift in perspective. Centring rather than incorporating Indigenous voices, confronting the legacies of imperialism and colonialism, and challenging the capitalist systems that prioritize profit over the environment are essential steps toward meaningful change. The United Nations must reassess its strategies and give greater priority to a solution to the climate crisis that is more inclusive, equitable, and environmentally sound as a leading organization in global sustainability efforts. I encourage others to critically assess the shortcomings of the United Nations. Only by addressing these fundamental issues can we hope to create a truly sustainable and equitable future for everyone.

Baiyu Su: “Fafeng as a strategy: How Daughters in Chinese Families Respond to Gender-based Violence During Covid Lockdown”. During China’s three years of Covid lockdowns, a trend emerged in online forums advocating for Chinese young women to act out (fafeng), defined as adopting a tough, aggressive approach to cope with parental abuse of daughters and gender double standards imposed by their parents. Based on 10 months of observation and analysis of 15 posts in a female-dominated online forum, Douban Group, this research initially delves into the narratives of fafeng and discerns the prerequisites for an effective fafeng that integrates what Arlie Hochschild terms as “emotion labor”, potentially leading to improved treatments within natal families. Furthermore, I position the advocacy of fafeng and explore its implications within the context of contemporary “decentralized” feminism in China, where (1) women engage in online feminist activities without central leaders or formal feminist organizations, and (2) discussions about gender issues are more commonly led by laypersons rather than explicit feminists. I discovered that fafeng, as a coping strategy, is a shared knowledge within the online female community. In addition, the advocacy of fafeng is a feminist endeavor to redefine femininity and womanhood, which offers women an alternative perspective to examine the ideals ingrained in patriarchal society and establish the moral legitimacy of female rebels in China. By shifting the focus from feminist activists to the ways laypersons cope with gender oppression, this research expands the scholarly understanding of female rebels, both in China and beyond.

Yared Aynalem: “Exploring gender intersection with Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Preconception Care”. Background: Preconception care (PCC) is crucial for reducing morbidity and mortality in reproductive-aged populations and newborns. Despite its potential impact, PCC research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Ethiopia is limited. This study addresses the gaps in understanding the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of PCC in LMICs) like Ethiopia, considering intersecting factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, and education. Objectives: The study aims to 1) identify and summarize existing evidence on PCC in LMICs, 2) explore the KAP of PCC in Ethiopia from various perspectives, and 3) develop a culturally relevant infographic knowledge translation tool. Methods: Guided by the socio-ecological model and intersectionality theory, the study comprises three phases. Phase I involves a systematic scoping review to inform Phase II, which employs an interpretive descriptive qualitative design to explorePCC experiences and practices from the perspectives of adult reproductive age individuals (18-49 years) and healthcare workers, and stakeholders. Data will be collected through interviews and focus groups. Thematic analysis using NVivo 12 software will be employed. Finally, in phase III, I will create an infographic to translate research findings and make them accessible visually. Contribution to Knowledge: This research contributes to a comprehensive understanding of factors influencing PCC utilization in Ethiopia, facilitating the development of culturally appropriate interventions. The study aligns with global maternal and child health initiatives and utilizes knowledge translation tools for widespread dissemination. Findings aim to inform policy and improve maternal and child health outcomes in LMICs.

Rjay Ram: “Looking At Fiji's "Madwomen": A Case Study in Fiji Islands On Indentured Women Experiences and Examining Fiji Feminism”. This paper explores gendered issues and the colonial concept of "madwomen" regarding Indian Indentured women in Fiji Island during the establishment of the Colonial Sugar Refinery (CSR). This paper critiques Mishra's central idea of the colonial construction of madwomen by the  application of Lugone's theory of "Clonality of Gender", intersectionality theory with both temporal and spatial condition. I call for a continuous examinations of the histories written by colonist in Fiji and the necessity to use Lugones Colonially of Gender as a methodology in Fiji Feminist Work. Additionaliy, decolonization of our Indian Indentured histories, exclusivly those affecting women as a decolonial action to invoke Indo-Fijian Feminism. Indian indentured experiences and histories of our ancestors should be understood as Neo-slave narratives that mark the beginning of Fiji's cooperation in global capitalist; particularly the current  increased industrial labour production on indigenous lands (itaukie) , that is harmful to the environment and climate crisis which is a global phenomena.

Rojina Sabetiashraf: “Acts of Resistance: Iranian Women's Narratives at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art”. This paper explores the visits of Iranian women to the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA) through the lens of Iranian feminism as acts of resistance, especially in the context of the recent Woman Life Freedom movement. This movement, a significant uprising against gender-based oppression in Iran, has galvanised women to assert their rights and freedoms in various spheres of life, including cultural spaces. Through semi-structured interviews and observations, this study focuses on how Iranian women’s interactions with TMoCA become symbolic acts of defiance and expressions of solidarity with the movement. It discusses how the museum space, transforms into a platform for silent but potent resistance and identity assertion. By engaging with the art and the space of TMoCA, these women negotiate their socio-political realities, challenging the boundaries set by a patriarchal society. The narratives gathered offer insight into the museum as a site of personal and collective resistance, providing a perspective on the role of cultural institutions in supporting social movements and amplifying marginalised voices.

Cori Balsdon: “Rain Rising: How a world centered on survivors remembered balance and meaning (a zine)”. Inspired by Indigenous futurisms, this zine is a combination of story-telling, art, and quotes by Black and Indigenous scholars. The zine begins in the year 2181 with the story of Rain, a young girl experiencing her first menstruation. As she transitions from childhood to womanhood, she is accompanied by the elder women who share stories with her of the 'days that came before' the uprising, which include a world where gender-based violence was normalized. Rain struggles to understand, as she exists in a time when egalitarianism is normalized, and she has never experienced a life otherwise. With a focus on Black and Indigenous feminisms, this story catalogues a history of oppression, a radical uprising of women that cut across lines of difference and built solidarity through similarity, and the emergence of a society that remembered the values of their ancestors to create a world where everyone has inherent worth and purpose, and future generations can thrive.

James Harley: “Decolonizing Speculative Fiction: Locating Indigenous Feminist Resurgence in Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves”. Within the colonial landscape of Canadian literature, Métis author Cherie Dimaline forges space for Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Indigenous feminist resurgence in her 2017 young adult speculative fiction novel, The Marrow Thieves. This text responds to colonialism by evoking an Indigenous feminist resurgence initiated and maintained by Indigenous youth. Dimaline’s novel follows youth protagonist and narrator Frenchie, on his journey to regain his lost community and kinship in a post-apocalyptic Toronto where Indigenous people are hunted for their ability to dream. While evading the Recruiters, hunters representing the Canadian government, Frenchie creates new community and relationships with other Indigenous youth and elders by engaging in Indigenous feminist resistance. I argue that The Marrow Thieves represents Indigenous feminist resurgence and articulates an important and timely project which urges community-based approaches to decolonization. I begin this work by engaging with numerous Indigenous and non-Indigenous literary scholars to demonstrate how literature is a powerful tool with which to decolonize the mind. Next, I outline Indigenous scholar Gina Starblanket’s “Indigenous resurgence” and argue for the addition of feminist infrastructure to her concept. Employing an Indigenous feminist resurgence, I will demonstrate how the novel’s context, the characters’ individual actions, and the characters’ collective actions entwine to create a work that seeks to decolonize the mind of readers. My project highlights the importance of representations of resistance, resilience, and resurgence for Indigenous youth, and provides a useful framework from which to explore how Indigenous youth exemplify resilience in their daily lives.

Deidra Mahabal: “Oral History Interview on Gender Inequality”. The research project is a semi-structured interview which identifies key issues of social injustice that women, LGB people and/or gender-nonconforming/transgender people currently encounter as workers in Canada. The interviewee is an Aboriginal transgender who identifies as a gender-conforming male and uses the personal pronouns he/him/his. He is a current member of the LGBTQ2+ community who advocates strongly for anti-discrimination laws and poverty amongst Aboriginal people. The method used to conduct the in-person interview includes six open-ended questions followed by six critical responses written in essay format. The first section highlights the interviewee’s education/training, non-traditional jobs, masculine work environments and expectations about gender performance. In the second section, the interviewee describes how his gender identity relates to his current employment and the difficulties he endures. In the third section, the interviewer uses visual imagery to capture various gender identity issues relative to academic and workplace exclusion experienced by the interviewee. Overall, the interview indicates that paid/unpaid work practices in Canada are presently suppressing Aboriginal transgender identities, causing worker exploitation. Throughout the study, the interviewee’s ideas are put into theoretical perspectives by the interviewer, who relates data derived from peer-reviewed articles. The project reveals real-time instances of transgenerational trauma and debilitating learning experiences, showing the impact that the lack of women’s academia has on the interviewee's employability. In addition to his gender identity are his political beliefs, core values, and the attempts he makes to thrive as a social feminist in today’s capitalist economy; hence, this study discusses inclusion, equality, and diversity.

Aidan Blockley: “Maddening Queers: Psychiatric Discourses Around Queer People in Twentieth-Century Canada”. Much academic research exists on the historical treatment of 2SLGBTQIA+ people within Europe and the United States. Despite the United States and United Kingdom being marked as the Canadian psychiatric system’s two major influences, there is little historical literature on queer-psychiatric relationships in Canada. This research aims to fill this gap and, further, build on the work of queer and “madness” activists to conceptualize new/old theories of queerness in our current day. This study assesses multiple psych-profession archives; gay, lesbian, transgender, and ex-mental patient activism archives; and the provincial archives of Alberta to gain a multiple-level picture of queer-psychiatric discourse in Canada from 1962-1991, specifically. In the midst of testimonies written by sex/gender-deviant folks concerning their traumas within mental wards, a theory of “queerness” emerges from the text of British Columbia’s early Mental Health Act- people marked pathologically queer are those who are “improper” in their reactions to their environments and in their relationships to others. These criteria, originally meant for “qualified professionals” to determine whether someone should be involuntarily committed to psychiatric treatment, gives us insight into the nature of “queerness.” This paper summarizes the results of a Master’s thesis on the state of Canadian queer-psychiatric relations. While it can be considered seminal in the academic literature, it should be noted that the underpinning theory of maddened-queerness is not new: that as queer, mad/mentally ill, and disabled folks, we can trust the wisdom of our body-minds, and our ways-of-being are strengths rather than weaknesses.

Nadiia Chervinska: “Reclaiming Modernity: Feminist Discourses and National Identity in Post-Independence Ukraine”. My presentation explores the origins of intellectual feminism in post-independence Ukraine, represented by female literary scholars at universities in Kyiv and Kharkiv, including figures such as Solomia Pavlychko, Nila Zborovs’ka, Tamara Hundorova, Oxana Zabuzhko, and Iryna Zherebkina. Taking Kyiv and Kharkiv as the two main contexts, representing different cultural, historical, political, and linguistic identities, it seeks to reconstruct their partly converging, partly competing reinterpretations of early 20th-century modernist literature and feminist movements. The argument posits that their reinterpretations challenged the “patriarchal” and homogenizing cultural canon of the 1980s national movement by introducing novel feminist perspectives. Rather than presenting feminism as a unified ideological camp, it seeks to unravel the ideological conflicts within the feminist movement and understand how these debates intersected with broader cultural and political narratives and regional identities shaping Ukrainian culture. The research thus offers an interdisciplinary approach, analyzing the role of feminist discourse in shaping modern Ukrainian identity and linking it to a socio-cultural analysis of the public sphere. It extends the relevance of this reconstruction to contemporary debates, especially in light of the ongoing war, which obliterated previous dividing lines but also created new ones.

Yan Xue: “Queer Necropolitics and Transgender Lives in China”. Mbembé's (2003) defines necropolitics as institutional forces and processes that enfranchise dominant groups and make their lives liveable while exposing others to significant death risks through deprivation, violence, and abandonment. Queer necropolitics embraces the idea that queer suicides are forced by chronic institutional violence (Caravaca-Morera & Padilha, 2018). In this paper, I will use the notion of queer necropolitics to analyze the socioeconomic and political factors that contribute to high rates of suicide attempts and deaths among transgender people in China (Chen et al., 2019). The existing literature reveals that Chinese transgender people at different stages of their life course live under mundane and extreme forms of discrimination and dispossession perpetrated institutionally by family, school, medical institutions, the labour market, and the police (Xue, 2021). The Sex Reassignment Procedural Management Standards (2017) implement a series of requirements that greatly restrict Chinese transgender people’s capacity to attain gender-affirming care. For example, one of such requirements indicate that transgender patient must acquire notified consent from their parents regardless of age to be qualified for sex reassignment surgeries. I contend that these structural barriers and institutional violence contribute to the impoverishment, unmet health need, and isolation confronted by transgender people in China and lead to their survival crisis in the face of queer necropolitics.

Ayesha-Jade (AJ) Reece: “Are they truly free? The paradox of freedom and racialized sexual exploitation in Antebellum New Orleans”. This research paper explores the racialized commerce and sexual economy involving free women in late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century New Orleans. It delves into the complex dynamics of sexual violence and the quest for liberatory pleasures within European colonial fantasies, highlighting the difficulty in distinguishing between rape and consent as women of color are commodified in New Orleans' market. This analysis posits that New Orleans' sexual economy functions as a racialized system, exemplified by the case study of Alexina Morrison, a light-skinned enslaved woman who navigates the system's binaries for survival. This racialized system assigns economic and social value based on racial characteristics, creating a pleasure structure primarily serving white men's interests. Utilizing Walter Johnson's "Soul by Soul," the paper underscores how race, gender, and power intersections have shaped sexual relations and economic structures in New Orleans, revealing the deep entanglement of racial capitalism in the city's sexual economy.

Zainab Abdullahi: “Amplifying the Unheard: A review on Gender based violence around the globe”. Research on violence against women globally is reshaping perspectives on the intricate intersections of gender, race, and class, highlighting the pervasive injustice faced by marginalized groups. Despite the rise of feminist movements, certain demographics continue to endure egregious forms of violence, with their plight largely overlooked. This paper examines recorded cases of women worldwide who have experienced exacerbated oppression due to their gender, race, and socio-economic status throughout history while their narratives remain marginalized in mainstream discourse.By reviewing instances of violence against women across different cultural and geographical contexts, this paper/project aims to shed light on the multifaceted nature of their suffering and the systemic barriers hindering effective intervention. Drawing attention to the failure of existing feminist frameworks to adequately address the experiences of these marginalized women, this paper/project advocates for a more inclusive and intersectional approach to feminist activism.