1st Global Conference
Sexual and Gendered Violence

Saturday 2nd December 2017 – Sunday 3rd December 2017
Vienna, Austria

Conference Abstracts and Papers

Workshop: What Counts as Violence
Elina Penttinen & Ada Schwanck

University of Helsinki
Ada Schwanck
University of Helsinki, Finland

Key Words:
gendered violence, physical and psychological violence, healing, feminist research, anti-violence work

            We propose to organize an interactive workshop that challenges conventional notions of violence and broadens the understanding of the complex forms of invisible gendered violence such as intimidation, isolation and gaslighting in conjunction to physical and sexualized manifestation of violence. Our objective is to explore in the workshop how the diverse and multifaceted manifestations of violence are gendered and sexualized as well as how to reach targets of violence to support healing and transformation from trauma.

This workshop draws from our research project “Incorporating Vulnerability: a non-fragmented approach to feminist research on violence” pursued in Gender Studies at the University of Helsinki. At the core of our project is to reveal and question normalized under-researched manifestations of gender-based violence. Our project challenges the hierarchic distinction between ‘real’ physical violence and ‘mere’ emotional abuse and recognizes how both the experience of physical and psychological violence as well as healing, is connected to heteronormative gender order.
The interactive workshop consists of a short presentation of our non-fragmented approach to feminist research on violence and invites participants to engage in discussion and brainstorming on how to advance anti-violence work, support victims. We invite participants from diverse disciplines, professions and vocations to discuss, dismantle and rethink the concept of gendered violence and how to apply this knowledge in practice.

Demonstrations of Sexual Violence Against Arab Stars by Internet Users on Social Net
Ali Hamaidia
Setif 2 University, Algeria

Key Words:
Media sexual violence – Female Arab stars – social networks – Comments

Some female Arab stars, like many in the world, publish photos on instagram and other social networks, in order to inform their audiences of their news, or to familiarize themselves with their fans who are counted hundred of thousands sometimes. But unfortunately, its stars are often attacked by some Internet users via their vulgar comments such as: ‘I hope fuck you’ and others…

In the proposed paper we will present the results of a study done on the sexual assaults of which the Arab stars are victims, and this by the analysis of content of the comments cited on their accounts Instagram.

Canadian Media and Sexual Violence Committed by Male Athletes
Kim Dube
University of Ottawa, Canada

Key Words:
Sexual violence, Rape culture, Sport culture, Sexual assault, Media, Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis

Women’s oppression, caused primarily by patriarchy, is found in society. The patriarchal system is deep-rooted in historical, social, political and economic processes and is often the main source of women’s treatment in society. Patriarchal structures in society continue to perpetuate rape culture where sexual violence against women is minimized, normalized, and even tolerated. Due to sexist attitudes in sports, which maintains and reinforces the normative masculine hegemony that is advocated by the patriarchal society, sexual assault is often disregarded in sport culture. Furthermore, media is often responsible for defining sexual assault in society. It is also a mode of communication that perpetuates myths and faulty definitions of sexual violence. Thus, in a society where news and social media are reporting more frequently on sexual violence, it is imperative to understand how media, in all its forms, represents sexual assaults when committed by male athletes.

In the form of a PhD thesis, this research focuses on understanding how Canadian media represents sexual violence against women when committed by male athletes. Through a feminist critical discourse analysis lens, this research aims at finding out how gendered relationships are portrayed in written news media on sexual assault by athletes, and the representation of the victim/perpetrator by said media. Another main objective of this research works at understanding in what measures social characteristics of the abuser and of the victim play a role in written news media on sexual assault. Lastly, this research aims at understanding the way in which sexual assaults committed by male athlete represented in written media emulate sexual violence myths in society.

Hopefully this research serves as tool for media everywhere when reporting on sexual assault as well as contributes to raising awareness on the representation of sexual assault in the media.

Role of the Civil Society Organisations in Eliminating Domestic Violence from the Metropolitans Of India : A Case Study
Shrimanti Ghosal
St. Xavier’s College, India

Key Words:
domestic violence, sexual violence, non-governmental organisations, civil society, civil society organisations, metropolitan cities, elimination, policies, women, movements, pratices.

The constitution of India has provided various protective articles and clause to fight against domestic violence of women in India. In spite of this domestic violence and sexual harassment has been quite prevalent not only in the rural and village areas but also in the metropolitan high class societies of India. Though domestic violence is not a new phenomenon it had existed throughout the recorded history. With passage of time these violence are increasing in the metropolitan cities and the target group invariably becomes the teen-agers and other young women.  This paper shall concentrate on the fact that how the various Civil Society Organization ( CSOs) in India  is aiding the society to get rid of the domestic violence. The proactive engagement of the CSOs  in forming new method, various policies and also developing practices of security institutions is a critical element of this paper. The CSOs like the various non – political women organizations and NGOs (Non – Governmental Organizations) in partnership with the government has helped to ensure and strengthen the already existing governmental policy measures and practices made against domestic violence and worked on its proper implementation in the metropolitan cities of the country. The civil society organization especially the NGOs have tried using various schemes to help the young women in the cities to vanquish the problems they face due domestic harassment. This paper shall harp on how far these CSOs have been successfully worked on subduing or eliminating sexual domestic violence from 21^st century onwards. Some records from 1970s -90s shall also be considered since it marks the age of new social movements of India especially the start of women movements in a modern way. Other than these statistical data shall be looked upon in this paper and case study shall method shall be used in discussing the role of the CSOs.

Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)

Domestic Violence against Working Women in West Bengal – A Case Study Based on the Real Life Experiences, Official Documents and the Role of the NGOs
Tinni Bhattacharya
St. Xavier’s College, India

Key Words:
domestic violence, working women, West Bengal, Bengali society

Background:  In India violence against women has a rich past. During the ancient and the middle periods of History, women were hardly acknowledged by the paternalistic society and had the status equal to the Sudras, the lowest strata of the Hindu hierarchy. Biting or killing women had no severe punishments according to the Hindu canonical texts. This particular legacy also continued through the middle age when the Muslims ruled India. Though certain positive vibes were there, but the entire country experienced seclusion, illiteracy and suppression of women. The colonisers brought modernity in India which definitely helped the women to establish their own identity.

Objective:

The objective of this paper is to pursue a detailed research on violence against working women in West Bengal. Perhaps it will be the first attempt in this direction as the previous researches have highlighted the issues in general for West Bengal.

Methods:

The present researcher has an intention to gather data through personal interviews as most of the cases remain unreported. The reports of the Women’s Commission and case records of the NGOs will also help her to construct the hypothesis. It is very important to find out the root cause of the problem, therefore survey and questionnaire methods will be also beneficial for conducting research.

Results:

In West Bengal (a state of India) the cases of domestic violence against working women have become very common. Along with the husband, the other family members also play an important role in this entire process of physical and verbal abuses ultimately leads to the tremendous mental depression and suicidal tendency. The working mothers are often blamed by others for not taking care of their kids and compelled to leave job. This paper is an attempt to create awareness on this serious social issue.

Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)

Workshop: Teaching Healthy Sexuality to Adolescents with Sexually Abusive Behaviors
Kristine Seitz
Educator & Therapist, USA

Key Words:
sexual violence prevention, healthy sexuality, adolescents

The term adolescent sex offender tends to evoke different emotions in different people.  Some people just see the term sex offender and automatically label the individual as a ‘deviant’ or ‘predator’.  Moore, Crumpton Franey, and Geffner (2004) posit that researchers prefer the term ‘adolescents with sexually abusive behaviors’ as it indicates the behavior as the problem area and avoids the negative connotations of sex offender.

   Juveniles with sexually abusive behaviors are responsible for a significant number of sexual assaults and child molestations perpetrated in the United States each year. It is estimated that at some point in their development between 2% and 4% of adolescent males have committed a sexual assault (Waite, 2005).  Research from 2001 indicates that more than “15,500 adolescent males and females were charged with one or more sexual offenses” (Moore, Crumpton Franey, and Geffner, 2004, p. 3).  It is believed that adolescent males are responsible for “one in every five sexual assaults of a male or female 12 years of age and older in the United States each year, while adolescent females accounted for 1 in every 16 arrests for sexual assault in 2001” (Moore, Crumpton Franey, and Geffner , 2004, p. 3).

Trivits and Reppucci (2002) address the misperception among policy makers as well as the general public that juvenile sex offenders are at a greater risk of sexually re-offending and should therefore be subject to strict sentencing guidelines and public registry laws. Waite (2005) notes that current research indicates recidivism rates for sexual offending youth is between 2% and 14% while  nonsexual recidivism rates for nonsexual activity is between 8% and 54%.  There is some evidence to support the belief that some adult sex offenders, specifically those labelled child molesters and rapists, may have re-arrest rates as high as 52%  and 39% respectively over 25 years (Prentky, Lee, Knight, & Cerce, 1997).  However, this is not the case when it comes to adolescents with sexually abusive behaviors. That premise ignores developmental psychology and scholars in the field like Prenky and Righthand (2003) who note, “unlike adults, adolescents are still very much in flux” (p.4).

Many adolescents who sexually offend, do not understand the differences between boundaries for what is and what is not appropriate sexually (Charles, 2010).  Additionally, many confuse any genital activity with sex and therefore do not understand that sexual assault is about assault and not sex (Charles, 2010).  Therefore, it is vitally important to include healthy sexuality as part of the treatment plan for youth with sexually abusive behaviors.

This interactive workshop will provide participants with guidelines for teaching healthy sexuality to adolescents with sexually abusive behaviors.  At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to 1. List the differences between adolescent sexual offending behavior and adult sexual offending behavior, 2. Explore the importance of incorporating healthy sexuality into the treatment plan of adolescents with sexually abusive behaviors, and 3. Identify at least three characteristics of healthy sexuality.

She is Gone
Keren Goldstein Yehezkeli
Social activist, Israel
Sharon Rabinovitz,
University of Haifa, Israel
Gideon Smilansky
Artist-Run Alliance, Israel

Key Words:
Femicide; Performance Art Display; Violence against women; ethnicity, immigrants

A green T shirt, a jeans dress, a short fake-fur coat, a long embroidered dress, a pair of jeans, a red shirt, a lucky sweatshirt that was worn before every test, a special top and jacket, bought especially for a wedding. A random series of garments, muted witnesses to lives, which were abruptly and violently taken, containing within their folds tales of absence and orphanhood.

Every garment carries a small note with a name on it. Next to the name are details of the murder weapon and the murderer’s verdict. Final reminders to what were once the full, active lives of Dafna and Anat, Fatma and Limor, Malkam and Duaa, Ganit, Ala, Salmelak, Shlomit and Iris. Just a few of so many, representing the silent voices of women and young girls who had dreams, hopes, and a strong desire to live.

The garments on display are the original clothes of murdered women from all sectors, religions and nationalities who share a horrible fate. The original soundtrack created for the display includes lullabies in 15 languages (Hebrew, Arabic, Amharic, Russian, Spanish, French, Persian, Romanian, Moroccan and more), a gesture of kindness to the women and girls whose voices will never be heard again.

She Is Gone is a global Performance Art display which protests against the spreading phenomena of gender based murder, and speaks on behalf of innocent victims of violence performed by spouses or other family members (“Femicide”). Since 2011, more than 125 women and young girls were murdered in Israel alone, all by husbands, boyfriends or relatives. Some of these murder cases were never solved.

The installation represent an unfortunate common denominator of all sectors in Israeli multicultural society- Israeli-born secular and religious Jews, immigrants from the former USSR and Ethiopia, Arab and Palestinian women and girls-and therefore is written in Hebrew, Arabic and translated to English. This is a multiple-voiced call for a joint campaign to stop violence against women, a call that will echo throughout the world.

By boldly showing the clothes of murder victims, we strive to raise global public awareness and encourage dialogue around this painful phenomenon. We wish to loudly ring the alarm, raise a flag and engage people everywhere to act and bring about the change.

***

The Display began its journey in Israel and will travel to additional cities around the globe, where we will invite relatives of murdered women to add their clothes to the display. We wish to end the journey on November 25th 2018 at the United Nations building, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The Display received supportive responses across Israeli media (radio, TV, websites, social-networks), as well as the endorsement of Israel’s first lady, who hosted the victims’ families and us at the president’s official residence and expressed her deep commitment to the project.

She Is Gone is a private initiative and is privately funded. There are no political agendas behind our initiative other than the sincere concern for the safety and well-being of women and girls, everywhere, and the burning desire to drive a significant change in our society.

Juvenile Justice and Victimization
Gabriela Wasileski
University of Baltimore, USA

There is a significant gap in the research related to the impact of victimization on juvenile delinquency particularly girls criminality. The research suggests that victimization and related trauma history is pervasive in this population, and trauma effects can help to account for many features of the disorder, substance abuse, criminality, including lack of empathy, impulsivity, anger, acting out, and resistance to treatment. The current juvenile justice system approach fails to fully address girls’ trauma and prior victimization, which may partially explain the low success rate in reduction of recidivism.
Maryland efforts to decrease the juvenile criminality and recidivism shifts towards evidence based sentencing. While in theory the evidence based sentencing has an impact on the reduction of juvenile delinquency and drug abuse; the assessment of juveniles’ risk and needs usually lacks crucial information about juvenile’s prior victimization.  The Maryland Comprehensive Assessment and Service Planning (MCASP) Initiative is the primary tool for developing and delivering a treatment service plan for juveniles at risk. Even though it consists of evidence-based screening and assessment instruments very little is currently known regarding the effectiveness and the impact of the assessment in general.   In keeping with Maryland’s priority to develop successful evidence-based recidivism reduction programs, this study examines results of assessments based on MCASP using a representative sample of the juveniles at risk and their assessment results. Specifically, this research examine: (1) the results of the assessments in an electronic database (2) areas of need that are more frequent among delinquent youth in a system/agency, (3) the overall progress of youth in an agency’s care (4) the impact of child sexual victimization and trauma experiences reported in the assessment. The project will identify challenges regarding the use of MCASP in Maryland, and will provide a knowledge base to support future research and practices.

Maternal Incest
Theresa Porter
Connecticut Valley Hospital, USA

The issue of incest by mothers has generally been absent from the attention of both the media and mental health researchers.  Since the 1970’s when the problem of child sexual abuse began to appear on news articles, the focus has been on male perpetrators and female victims.  When female sexual abuse of minors is noted, the attention has been female school personnel, despite statistics showing that children are more likely to be sexually abused by a female relative than a school teacher.  The mental health field has shown a similar pattern, with the majority of studies published in the last 40 years concentrating on male perpetrators; research on female child molesters generally, and on maternal incest specifically, lags behind research on male child molesters by 20 years.
This paper will review the problem of maternal incest, within the greater discourse of child sexual abuse in modern culture, and will identify the underlying dynamics that appear to contribute to the ongoing silence by the mass media and the mental health profession on the topic, including the myth of maternal asexuality.  Finally, this paper will discuss the societal repercussions of ignoring maternal incest, including the lack of prevention efforts at both the institutional and grassroots level, the lack of available services for the victims, and the lack of treatment for the mothers.

Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)

‘Atten-Shun! Same-sex Sexual Violence in the Military and the Paucity of UK Research’
Michelle Jones 
Anglia Ruskin University, UK
Lauren Godier
Anglia Ruskin University, UK

Key Words:
Sexual Violence, British Military, Hyper-masculinity, Military Culture, Military Sexual Trauma, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, Armed Forces

Whilst media interest in alleged sexual violence and harassment in the UK military and cadet forces has increased, there remains a paucity of UK academic research on the topic, especially in relation to acts of same-sex sexual violence. Within the UK, the Ministry of Defence and service-specific reports suggest that UK service personnel may be at risk of experiencing sexual harassment. However these reports highlight a reluctance by service personnel to report incidents relating to sexual harassment. Despite this, there is little engagement from the academic community associated with the topic. This is in contrast to research being conducted on an international level that focuses on the impact of sexual violence and assault within military organisations and the implications associated with such incidents.
This paper will provide an overview of the current research associated with the topic of sexual violence and assault within the British military. It will then examine potential reasons as to why there is a paucity of research within the UK context. In particular, this paper will focus on the lack of discussion and paucity of research related to same-sex sexual violence acts and assault. Discussions about military culture and the role of hyper-masculinity will explore why same-sex sexual violence acts remain a taboo subject within the military environment. The paper will investigate the potential reasons for a gap in the knowledge concerning both sexual violence and same-sex sexual violence within the military, and the potential implications such incidents have on the individual and military organisations.

Research- Action Program for Violence Reduction and Women’s Empowerment using CAPE: Culturally Adapted Program of Empowerment Self- Defense Presenter First
Shira Langer
Tel Aviv University, Israel
Tamar Priel
BSW Ariel College, Israel

Key Words:
Empowerment Self Defense; Cultural literacy; Violence Prevention; Research-Action

We can offer a 20 minuets presentation, or an hour of research theory + workshop demonstrating out research methods.
Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) is a global epidemic and a local phenomenon affected by the cultural patterns in a specific community. Therefore, cultural literacy is important for any professional endeavoring to reduce SGBV. These perceptions are the backbone of a research-action model that was employed in the Dominican Republic (DR) in 2016 as part of CAPE (Culturally-Adapted Program of ESD).
ESD (Empowerment Self-Defense) is a unique method designed for women and girls and aimed specifically to teach skills to identify, stop and fight back against SGBV. Research showed it to be effective as an intervention for violence reduction, women’s empowerment, and gender parity. It was recommended to the EU as a powerful method for preventing and combating SGBV.
The CAPE model included a preliminary research stage aimed at investigating SGBV “violence scripts” in DR. The research plan consisted of principle ethnographic methods (interviews, observations, etc.) and Participatory Rural Appraisal methods (pictures, drawings, etc). The team built partnerships with local community members to (A) Research and map the
SGBV in their community (B) Sketch the step-by -step dynamics of these types of violence (C) Identify specific cultural barriers and catalyzers that Dominican women might experience in encountering ESD.
The research findings informed the development of specific class plans and teaching pedagogy used later for teaching Dominican women to defend themselves, and for training local women to become ESD instructors themselves. During the teaching and training phase, staff and students continued decrypting the local scripts and exploring possible acceptable alternatives to them, creating shared local knowledge and practices, in cycles of research action.

Violence Regime in Context, Policy and Practice: Constructing and Trying Intimate Partner Violence
Marine Delaunay
University of Bordeaux, France

Key Words:
Intimate partner violence, gender based violence, violence regimes, criminal justice system, cross-national comparison, public policy implementation.

In this paper, we argue for a more complex analysis of gender regimes of Welfare States. To do so we restore empirically the role of a key element frequently overlooked in cross-national comparison of welfare states: the treatment of intimate partner violence through the criminal justice system. We do so using comparative method of public policy discourses and practices about two contrasted legal framings of such violence. France epitomizes a gender neutral perspective, considering intimate relationship as an aggravating circumstance of the violence. Sweden stands for a gendered perspective, focusing on men’s violence against women when it comes to this kind of relationship. Do Sweden and France constitute two distinct regimes of violence? The method rests on semi-structured interviews in Sweden (n=43) and France (n=54) with actors of the criminal justice system (police officers, prosecutors, judges, forensic doctors, social workers in probation offices and related structures), and observations in situ of professional practices. First we review laws and policy in Sweden and France, providing a substantive analysis of convergence in the welfare and judicial systems. This contributes to the welfare regime typology

and conceptualisations of violence renewing the previous analyses by conceptualising violence as a social phenomenon without reducing it to other inequality. We argue that there are parallels in policies, discourses and practices regarding gender equality and the framing of intimate partner violence. Then we turn to the practices, looking particularly at the judicial management and professional’s interest. The analysis shows that in Sweden the implementation of a gendered law has promoted a strong tendency towards specialization which provides professionals working with intimate partner violence with tools to understand the individual stories through the prism of public (and gendered) definition. In France, this understanding is

neutralised by the organisation of the criminal justice system itself. Indeed, its management gives the priority to a systematic proceeding of investigation and prosecution of abuse as a standard case to construct and try intimate partner violence. The conclusion provides some arguments to contribute to the debate about the significance of the frame for the public policy implementation.

‘Step on Other People’s Soil Gently’: Fear of Legal Ramifications and the Effect on Intimate Partner Violence in the African Immigrant Community
Kathryn Wenham,
Bernadette Sebar
Patricia Lee
Neil Harris
Griffith University School of Medicine, Australia

Key Words:
intimate partner violence, African, migrant, prevalence, controlling behaviours

Background: Prevalence rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) are difficult to measure and poorly understood in immigrant communities. This research investigates the prevalence of various forms of IPV within the African immigrant community in Chicago.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey and interviews, conducted with samples of 342 and 18 African immigrants respectively in Chicago, were analysed using Chi Square, Mann Whitney and thematic analysis.
Results: The prevalence of physical IPV in the community was lower than expected compared to their regions of origin and local prevalence. This was supported by qualitative data that showed people are fearful of legal intervention for physical IPV. When physical IPV does occur, it can be severe or even lethal. Other forms of IPV, such as controlling behaviours and financial abuse, were relatively high, suggesting that they may be used in place of physical IPV to avoid legal repercussions.
Discussion: Given the potential negative effects of IPV on the health of victims, it is important that more insidious forms of IPV such as verbal and financial IPV and controlling behaviours are addressed in this community.

“Trainspotting ” in Facing Masculinity and Violence. A Study Case of a French Treatment Programme for Perpetrators Convicted for Intimate Partner Violence.
Marine Delaunay
University of Bordeaux, France

Key Words:
Perpetrators of intimate partner violence, intervention programmes, criminal justice system, masculinity, family and relational perspective.

Perpetrators of intimate partner violence have previously received little academic attention in France in comparison to other European countries as England and Sweden for instance (Hearn 1998; Eriksson 2013; Eriksson and Pringle 2011). Indeed, such violence is mostly captured under the prism of public policy analysis and more interest has been paid to women shelters and victim’s experience of violence than to perpetrators programmes. One could think that this can be related to the very recent emergence of masculinity field in the French academic research – the first translation of R.Connell occurred in 2014). Thus, there is no homogenous directive at the national level towards probation services and related structures that handle such convicted perpetrators. According to the huge variation that may exists when comparing those agencies and structures, there is a need for an analysis of their interventions with the conceptualisation of violence as a skyline.
The aims of this paper is to counteract the neglect with a focus on a programme delivered in an organization specialised in working with the criminal justice system in a medium-sized-town at the South-western France. We use a qualitative method, interviews both with professional speakers who intervene during the trainee and perpetrators. We have also observed three programmes sessions to analyse the interactions and reactions between speakers and perpetrators. To provide a stronger analysis of what happen in France regarding this treatment, we have also conducted several interviews with probation officers in Sweden, where the programme is an adaptation of the Duluth Model.
The French programme is based on a family and a relational perspective, which illustrates the idea that violence is rooted in the relationships and the meeting of two different gendered socialisations. In other words, both perpetrators and victims are responsible for the violent act that has been convicted. When comparing with the Swedish programmes, the notion of masculinity is absent and justified by the fact that the blame should not be putted on men only.
The recruitment would appear larger than in Sweden, but the interviews conducted after the sessions with perpetrators shows that there is no turning-point (Gottzén 2016) in their trajectory according to the belief that violence is not a personal characteristic neither a conception of structural and gender inequalities. It is rather due to the relational complexity of sex (gender) differences.

Best Practice in the Sheltering of Abused Women: A South African Case Study
Joy Lange
St Anne’s Homes, South Africa

Women in South Africa experience the highest rate of gender-based violence (GBV) in the world. Despite comprehensive legislation to combat violence against women, almost half of all women in the Western Cape suffer some form of gender-based violence. A study conducted by the South African Medical Research Council in 2009 found that more than fifty-six percent (56%) of all murders of women were perpetrated by intimate partners, making intimate femicide the leading cause of death for women and occurring at a rate six (6) times that of the global average.

In 2012, Genderlinks research found that the Western Cape was home to the third largest percentage of women who had experienced gender-based violence, with forty-five percent (45%) having endured physical, mental, emotional, economic or sexual abuse at some point in their lives, and forty-four percent (44%) having suffered some form of intimate partner violence.

Thus, gender based violence remains deeply entrenched in the South African society.

The model that I would like to present speaks directly to the South African Government’s Minimum Standards for Shelters for Victims of Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence namely:

 Standard Engagement/Admission

 Safety & Security

 Rights of Victims of Domestic Violence

 Family Centred

 Management Actions

 Complaints

 Integration

 Programme Practices

 Physical Environment

 Person Centred

 Emergency and Safety Practices

 Health Care

 Developmental Milieu and Climate

As a women’s shelter, we offer short term care and support and it is therefore imperative that we engage with a model that is specific, planned and executed in an effective manner that ensures maximum benefit to the survivor of GBV.

Enhancing State Responsiveness to GBV: Paying the True Costs
Claudia Lopes
Heinrich Böll Foundation Southern Africa
Paula Assubuji
Heinrich Böll Foundation Southern Africa

Key Words:
violence against women, gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, domestic violence act, government, funding, police, shelters/refuges, research, cost of gender-based violence

Rose and Joe are married. Joe kicks and punches Rose; often the kids too. Joe has multiple affairs and Rose contracts HIV. Joe won’t let her work. He stabs her when he discovers that she asked a friend for food. The case however is thrown out of court on a technicality. Rose flees to family but he finds her and beats her in front of them. She tries to kill herself by drinking rat poison. Back from hospital, Joe beats Rose so badly that her cries alert the neighbours who call the police. The police ask what she did to upset him. They warn him and leave. The beating continues. Rose could have died that day but her neighbour calls the police again; you see she knows by law that the police have a duty to refer abused women to shelters [refuges]. The shelter provides food, counselling, legal and a multitude of other services for the family including helping Rose to find work. Six months later, Rose and her children move out into their own accommodation. They are healthy, happy and safe.
Rose and Joe are fictional characters, the story however isn’t: it has been woven together to share multiple women’s actual experiences of intimate partner violence which were extracted from case files while undertaking research on shelters for abused women in South Africa. The research finds that despite the provision of shelters being a state legislated mandate, inadequate state funding to shelters and other ineffective responses compromise abused women and children’s livelihoods and future prospects. HBF proposes to host a panel discussion to: present research findings; engage with the audience on experiences and best practice; and explore collaborative networking and advocacy opportunities for the effective address and prevention of violence against women and their children.

Disclosing Sexual Violence: From Silence to Noise.
Niamh Ni Dhomhnaill
Ireland

I worked as a sexual violence caseworker and I am myself a survivor of sexual violence. This presentation draws from my recently concluded disseration in a BSc Clinical & Community Psychology programme in which I decided to explore the experience of disclosure because despite working with disclosures of sexual violence every day, the experience of disclosing is rarely discussed in professional or academic settings, with more attention paid to the acts of violence themselves.

This presentation does not relay the horror of sexual violence (SV), but instead focuses on the succeeding interactions and transactions in one’s life post-sexual assault: the transaction between the violence, the individual and the rest of society; whether they repress the memory, knowledge and distress of the actions imposed on them, and in so doing, undertake an oath of silence- an involuntary contract of individual repression; or whether they take the gamble of disclosing their experiences. This vacuum of silence is placed and sealed by a societal expectation of silence. This project is about the aftermath of SV; the space that is created or demolished through words, practices and beliefs about SV, distress, trauma and identity. In essence, participant experiences are testament to the importance of narrative and creating space for the owning and telling of stories that have been kept under lock and key- often times even buried by the person themselves from themselves.

The experience of the senses (sight, hearing, and touch) are explored in the analysis as these were recurring themes in the narratives I heard, and disclosure is spoken about in terms of a spectrum of suppressed silence to an empowered noise because this embodies the incontrollable and often messy outpouring of distress that trauma elicits.
My presentation starts with the implications of non-heteronormative sexuality and gender identities in disclosing SV; followed by an examination of what can be understood of disclosure and what it means to different statutory bodies in the UK. I summarize my analysis of the interviews I conducted and include a discussion on the role of the senses (sight, sound, touch etc) in the process of disclosing SV. Finally, I describe a kind of social space that is needed to potentially transform the experience people have in disclosing SV and how all of us are in a position of power to create better spaces for disclosing; and healing.

Secondary Victimization in Rape Crimes: Questioning the Practices of Normalization of Violence Against Disabled Women
Shruthi Venkatachalam
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India

Key Words:
Sexual violence, disabled women, secondary victimization, intersectionality, criminal justice system

The conversations around sexual violence are generally enclosed with silence due to the socio cultural attitudes and practices that outrages individuals who get inflicted. The degree and the extend of causing sexual violence has a serious gender baring where women are highly abused due to their constructed gender status as weak and vulnerable. In addition when disability intersects the gender status, the level of vulnerability intensifies and leaves disabled women more susceptible to experience violence. Such notion of considering disabled women as passive, sanctions the perpetrators to impose violence and consequently, the accountable agencies within and outside criminal justice system find insignificant in the instances of report of any sexual offence by the disabled women or their family.

In a country like India where there are still struggles to redefine the notions of rape and minimise the practice of victim blaming, one could find a grave pitfall in mainstreaming the struggles of women with different intersectional markers like cast, disability, sexual orientation and geographic location. Often disabled women are perceived asexual or hyper-sexual beings, as a result of which their true experiences of sexual related issues and concerns gets silenced and trail at the margins. To validate this claim, the national crime record bureau of India does not specify a separate category to record crimes against disabled people and especially against disabled women.

Therefore the proposed paper using qualitative enquiry tries to document the experiences of disabled women who are rape survivors and their encounters with different agencies within and outside criminal justice system. This will provide with a broad scope to critically analyse the practices of different agencies with specific to secondary victimization and remarks on various traits and its impact on normalising violence against disabled women.

Nazi Persecution of Gay Men: Shedding Light on a Hidden History of Sexual and Gendered Violence
Kylo Patrick Hart
Texas Christian University, USA

Key Words:
gay men, Holocaust history, media representation, perpetrators, persecution, sexual abuse, symbolic annihilation, torture, violence, witnessing

This paper explores the long-ignored, traumatic history of Nazi persecution of gay men by focusing on media representations of the men with the pink triangle, the estimated ten thousand to fifteen thousand homosexual prisoners who were sent to concentration camps (the majority of whom ultimately died there) as a result of their sexual orientation. Although their story has only rarely been told within the domain of popular culture, these individuals, who existed at the lowest level of the camp hierarchy, experienced horrific daily conditions and frequently found themselves to be the subjects of various kinds of harassment, torture, forced sex, medical experimentation, and castration. However, shedding light on their story is not an

easy task: These men — who experienced extreme forms of sexual and gendered violence during the World War II era — have since (with rare exception) also been the victims of symbolic annihilation, as their existence has only infrequently been discussed in relation to Holocaust history, which has consistently served to deny acknowledgement of the harsh realities they experienced as well as their overall cultural significance. Accordingly, to help shed additional light on the conditions these queer men regularly encountered, this paper explores the differential impacts of one print media offering (i.e., Heinz Heger’s The Men with the Pink Triangle: The

True, Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps) in relation to two cinematic offerings (i.e., the narrative film Bent and the documentary Paragraph 175) that are based substantially on witnessing accounts. In doing so, it articulates the comparative strengths and shortcomings of these two influential media forms/three noteworthy media offerings with regard to the range of approaches and powerful portrayals they are capable of delivering to audience members about the lived concentration-camp experiences of gay men.

What´s in a Name? Geopolitics and Gendered Violence Perceptions
Blanka Nyklova
NKC, Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has recently seen several representative surveys into various aspects of gendered and sexualised violence. The local branch of Amnesty International published a survey mapping local perception of rape calling attention to widespread and thereby normalised victim blaming and shaming in 2015. In 2016, Brno-based NGO Persefona started a comprehensive survey comprising of a representative research into the prevalence of and opinions on sexualised and gender-based violence. And finally, in the first quarter of 2017, artist Alma Lily Rayner exhibited her exhibition titled “Some things my father put inside my vagina” accompanied by a series of four discussion evenings into issues such as rape culture and the role institutions play in sexualised violence in the Czech Republic. I have participated in the design of the Persefona survey as an external consultant and took part in organising one of the discussion evenings while chairing the one on rape culture. At the same time, I have taught a gender studies sociology-based class to US undergraduate students coming to Prague for one semester for eight years.

Drawing on these, in my paper I discuss and hope to start a debate on the terms we use when discussing gender-based and sexualised violence. Specifically, I want to draw attention to their origin and problems that can be faced as a result of translation as the translation always takes place in a specific geopolitical setting that needs to be taken into consideration. I argue that failing to acknowledge these leads not only to false assumptions regarding local situation but also into unnecessary roadblocks.