The Count Me In! South Asia Conference on Violence Against Marginalised Women is committed to recognising and celebrating voices that are often unheard. We are inviting abstracts from participants who are interested in presenting their work at the conference, and in contributing to creating research and scholarship on ending violence against sex workers, lesbians, disabled women, and trans people.

COUNT YOURSELF IN!

Various intersectional themes emerge from women’s struggles across South Asia to challenge their exclusions from policies, legal reforms and economic restructuring. Histories of discrimination and resistance do not, however, always operate in similar ways, or have the same effects across disparate cultural locations in South Asia. We invite participants to contribute to research on violence against marginalised women by submitting abstracts on any of the following issues, or on related topics.

THEMES

Models of Resistance: Strategies to Resist Violence against Marginalised Women

• What are the strategies of resistance used by various groups to confront violence against marginalised women?
• How have various movements drawn from each other – and built bridges of solidarity?

Marginalisation, Discrimination, Stigma, Exclusion and Violence: Looking at the Interconnections between Marginalisation, Discrimination, Stigma, Exclusion and  Violence

• How is violence connected to marginalisation, discrimination, stigma and exclusion?
• Do interventions on violence against women address violence faced by sex workers, lesbians, disabled women, and trans people?

Identities: Identity as a Lens to Understand Violence against Sex Workers, Lesbians, Disabled Women, and Trans People

• What does identity have to do with politics and how does it affect the lives of marginalised women?
• Does identity politics result in exclusion and discrimination?

Legal Regulation: Criminalisation of Women's Lives, Their Profession etc. that Results in Their Marginalisation and Hinders Their Access to Human Rights

• How does criminalisation or legal regulation affect women’s daily lives, for eg. the lives of women in sex work?
• Legalisation or decriminalisation – what is more effective to combat violence faced by sex workers, lesbians, disabled women, and trans people?

Voice and Representation: Voices of Marginalised Women and Their Representation in Movements, Laws, Policies, Media etc.

• Which are the successful campaigns that have talked about the rights of  sex workers, lesbians, disabled women, and trans people?
• How can strategies of resistance used by marginalised women be taken into account, to ensure that they are not looked at exclusively as victims?

FORMAT

Abstracts are invited for presentations in the following three formats:

Interactive panel: Up to 3 speakers and a moderator speak or present in turns in a panel-style discussion. We encourage you to interact with the audience as much as possible during the course of the panel presentation.

Individual Presentation: Individuals will present their work before an audience, followed by an interactive discussion.

Artistic and Creative Presentations: These sessions will not only engage critically with creative expression as it relates to issues of marginalisation, but will also attempt to engage participants in collectively creating art for social change. Examples of such sessions include participatory theatre, mural painting etc.

All those applying for a scholarship must submit an abstract.

If you are currently or have previously worked on issues of marginalisation and social exclusion, and would like to present your work at the Count Me In! South Asia Conference, please download the call for abstracts form here and email it to stripathi@creaworld.org.

Please submit your abstracts on or before the 1^st of March 2011.