Intersectional and Cultural Aspects of Schools Related Gender-based Violence in Europe:  

Guest Editorial team for International Perspectives to Equality and Diversity (IPED)

Dr Maria Tsouroufli, Reader in Women and Gender, University of Wolverhampton, UK

Dr Heidi Siller, Researcher at the Medical University Innsbruck, Gender Medicine Unit, Austria

Dr Angela Morgan, Senior Researcher and Lead of the Violence against Women and Girls Research Cluster, University of Wolverhampton, UK

Dr Karlie Stonard, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Wolverhampton

Dr Dorottyia Redai, Researcher and Visiting Lecturer Gender Studies Department Central University of Budapest, Hungary

Dr Valentina Guerinni, Post-doctoral Assistant Gender and Education, University of Florence, Department of Education and Psychology, Italy

Gender equality remains a key target for the EU with current priority areas including equal economic independence, equality in decision making and dignity, integrity and ending gender-based violence (Strategic Engagement for Gender Equality, 2015). There are many challenges and gaps that still need to be addressed as research shows that perceived gender roles and gender stereotyping are still causes of restricted life choices and key factors in gender violence (EIGE, 2013).

Terminology of gender and violence varies across cultural and social contexts. In this call we refer to schools related gender based violence (SRGBV) as ‘acts of sexual, physical or psychological violence inflicted on children in and around schools because of stereotypes and roles or norms attributed to or expected of them because of their sex or gendered identity. The term also refers to the differences between girls’ and boys’ experience of and vulnerabilities to violence’ (Plan, 2018). Although the exact consequences of SRGBV for retention and achievement have not been established, it is widely recognised that SRGBV has negative implications for health and well-being, educational success and participation (Leach et al. 2014).

Research into SRGBV is still extremely limited outside of Sub‐Saharan Africa and to a lesser extent Northern Europe. However, very little research in Europe has explicitly addressed the gender dimensions of violence in schools, and bullying for example is often discussed in gender and race neutral terms (Ringrose and Renold, 2010). There is also little research as yet on SRGBV which goes beyond examining heterosexual forms of violence perpetrated mostly by male teachers and students on female students. Nevertheless, there is sufficient evidence to show that male students, female teachers, those who are identified as lesbian or gay, and those who are from minority groups or who suffer from physical or learning difficulties are also at risk.

Timeline

We invite scholars, practitioners and others to submit a paper of no more than 7,000 words to Dr Maria Tsouroufli at M.Tsouroufli@wlv.ac.uk by 31^st January 2018. We would welcome traditional research papers as well as reflective pieces of work from different disciplines (Education, Feminist Studies, Psychology, Sociology, Health) and methodological approaches (qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method studies). All authors will receive feedback in April-May 2018 and final decisions about papers will be made in August 2018. Publication is scheduled for November 2018. Authors are expected to follow the IPED journal’s guidelines.

 

References

European Institute for Gender Equality, (EIGE, 2013), A study of collected narratives on gender perceptions in the 27 EU Member States

Plan (2008) The Global Campaign to End Violence in Schools, Woking: Plan Limited; Jones N. et al.

Ringrose, J. and Renold, E. (2010) Normative cruelties and gender deviants: the performative effects of bully discourses for girls and boys in school,  British Educational Research Journal, 36:4, 573-596, DOI: 10.1080/01411920903018117

SWD (2015) 278 final, Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019.

We invite researchers to submit articles for a special issue on the topic of Accessibility, Inclusion, and Diversity in Critical Events Studies, edited by Dr Rebecca Finkel (Queen Margaret University) and Dr Briony Sharp (University of Huddersfield).

The vision for this special issue is to feature contributions from critical events and interdisciplinary scholars. Papers should interweave theory, policy and/or practice, and be centred on at least one planned event/festival. Papers can focus on any size and type of event from festivals and conferences to community and international events. Empirical work which features creative research methods is especially welcome.

Possible Topics:

ñ Events/festivals causing polarisation between communities/stakeholders

ñ Understanding and potentially overcoming physical, mental, emotional barriers to events/festival access 

ñ Highlighting marginalised or under-represented communities in global events spaces

ñ Non-human and more-than-human access to events environments

ñ Social, cultural, economic, and digital inclusion/exclusion narratives

ñ Inclusion vs. justice — inclusion vs. equality in events contexts

ñ Governance and policies related to event/festival accessibility, inclusion, and diversity

ñ Role of media and social media in event/festival accessibility, inclusion, and diversity 

ñ Intersectional approaches to diversifying events/festival audiences and landscapes

ñ New critical perspectives for established events/festivals with regard to ethics, representation, responsible management

ñ Models of best practice and lessons learned with regard to event/festival accessibility, inclusion, and diversity

Please papers in accordance with IPED guidance by Friday, 15 Sept. 

We look forward to hearing about your work and possibly having you contribute to this exciting, emerging area! Please contact Rebecca Finkel for more details.

 

Findings from a Seminar presented by Professor Belle Rose Ragins  at the Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity, Queen Mary University, London  on the 29^th March 2017.

Belle Rose Ragins  is Professor of Management from Lubar Business School from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, USA. The emphasis in the seminar was exploring what can organisations positively do to limit the effects of subtle in-direct discrimination in their own organisations. It is this organisational focus exploring how organisations can support their diverse employees without dissolving this to the responsibility of the individual level that was refreshing to hear. It recognises that HR, senior managers and equal opportunities practitioners are all searching for organisational responses that can help combat racism. It was also relevant post Trump as issues around race appear to have risen again in the US and there has been a spike in hate crimes in the UK post-Brexit.

It is the points about ‘buffering and spillover’ based on Belle’s research that I am going to highlight here as this indicates how and why organisations themselves can take action.

So what does buffeting and spillover mean?  Starting with buffering this is linked to how racism can persist in organisations through unconscious micro-aggression comments and views, the subtle put downs such as ‘never seen black people do that’ or asking ‘why do you sound white’ or sitting further away from people of a different race. People are generally unaware that they are doing this but they are using stereotypes to judge you or look at you based on race. Research clearly indicates that when employees experience racism it can lead to increased stress and reduced mental and physical health (Schmitt et al 2014).  So Belle conducted psychological research to examine what could help regulate micro-aggression that many people experience in the workplace. Her central question was can mentoring help organisations combat racism?                    

 Her research published in Ragins et al (2016) suggests that mentoring can have a ‘buffering’ effect. In other words mentoring is triage, helping individuals to manage the effects of racism it is not an overall cure.  Key to this buffering is the need for a  high quality relationship between the mentor and mentee, which can help alleviate the effects of micro aggression. For example, it can provide holding behaviours for the mentee because the relationship can provide a safe space to discuss these issues, it can also offer new perspectives of how to deal with these issues or evaluate them without being judgemental, showing empathy to the mentee. However, it is the mentoring arrangement that is fundamental here whether formal or informal did not matter. However, her research evidenced that other relationships with colleagues and supervisors do not have the same buffering effect because they do not validate experience. The message to take away here is that many organsiations do have mentoring arrangements in the workplace so it could be useful for org EO practitioners, HR or senior managers in organisations to revisit their mentoring arrangements ensuring that there are of good quality and thereby helping to provide a buffer against the subtle putdowns that perpetuate racism in the workplace. This can then help combat the subtle effects of racism and the detrimental effect it can have on people’s health but also a detrimental effect on the work environment itself, which impacts on all employees.

The other theme that Belle introduced was the idea of ‘spillover’ (Ragins et al 2012). What Belle was arguing is that what happens in other domains such as the local community affect the workplace. Thus if there is an intolerant racist climate in the local community it will impinge on the workplace. Ideally a positive society contests changes in attitudes to racism such as ‘the not in our town’ campaign in the US. But if there is ‘white flight’ with white people moving out of a community when others groups move in (Pais et al 2009) or if the community becomes segregated this has implications for organisations located in these communities. What Belle highlights is there is a business case for organisations to get involved in community action. This case is linked to how climate matters both within and outside the community for job embeddedness and job attachment. If there is an intolerant racist climate it can both help/hinder organisational ability to retain talented workers of all races even if racism is not experienced in the workplace. Regardless of whether there is an inclusive climate at work, if workers are not happy in their community they will leave. Thus organisations too need to create opportunities for contact with the community and take a stand against the toxicity of racism because ultimately it affects companies’ turnover and retention of all their employees if employee attachment and embeddedness are reduced.   Thus there becomes a business case for community involvement that goes beyond social justice arguments, which may help persuade organisations of the importance of this type of involvement.

 Susan Sayce, University of East Anglia

References

Pais, J.F., South, S.J. and Crowder, K., 2009. White flight revisited: A multiethnic perspective on neighborhood out-migration. Population Research and Policy Review, 28(3), pp.321-346.

Ragins, B. R., Gonzalez, J. A., Ehrhardt, K. and Singh, R. (2012), Crossing the Threshold: The Spillover of Community Racial Diversity and Diversity Climate to the Workplace. Personnel Psychology, 65: 755–787.

Ragins, B.R., Ehrhardt, K., Lyness, K.S., Murphy, D.D. and Capman, J.F., 2016. Anchoring  Relationships  at  Work: High-quality mentors and other supportive work relationships as buffers to ambient racial discrimination  . Personnel Psychology.

Schmitt MT, Branscombe NR, Postmes T,Garcia A. (2014). The consequences of perceived discrimination for psychological well-being: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 921–948.

Here Dr Maria Tsouroufli (Reader in Education, Convener of Educational Policy Research Cluster and Athena Swan Intersectionality Working group, Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing M.Tsouroufli@wlv.ac.uk) shares news of her new project funded by the EU

‘Developing whole school Gender Equality Charter Marks in order to overcome gender stereotyping in education across Europe’

 

Overcoming gender stereotyping in education using a whole school approach to develop an environment that supports gender equality’, UST/2015/RGEN/AG/ROLE, Action grants to support transnational projects to promote good practices on gender roles and to overcome gender stereotypes in education, training and in the workplace RIGHTS, EQUALITY AND CITIZENSHIP/JUSTICE PROGRAMME (2014-2020), awarded 14^th November 2016, €344,239.59

 

 

Project overview

This two and half year project will design and trial bespoke Gender Equality Charter Marks for secondary schools in UK, Hungary and Italy. Committing to this Charter Mark accreditation process will enable a school to measure progress in tackling the effects that gender stereotyping still has on pupils in relation to both subject (and career) choices and as a root cause of sexual harassment and gender based violence in schools and wider society. The Charter Mark process will address the whole school environment rather than focusing on particular subject choices (e.g. girls and science subjects). This builds on research evidence that shows the important impact of whole school policy, relationships, use of language and curriculum materials as well as curriculum design on subject and career choices.

 

The Gender Equality Charter Mark will have three levels of engagement: bronze, silver and gold.  To be awarded the Charter Mark at each level, schools will submit evidence of meeting criteria to a national assessment panel. The Charter Mark will support schools through this process by providing the following:

• a baseline audit to assess current practice in school
• targets and strategies/guidelines/steps/standards to implement change
• criteria to assess submitted evidence from schools towards achieving the Charter Mark

The Charter Mark criteria, audit and materials for implementing change will be designed by a focus group of teachers and gender equality specialists. Once designed, this draft Charter Mark will be trialled for one year in three schools in each of the countries. This process will be monitored and feedback from this trial will be used to create a robust national Gender Equality Charter Mark in the UK, Hungary and Italy. The expectation is that following this trial these Charter Marks can be used as templates for other European countries.

 

The partners involved in this project are:

Development Education Centre South Yorkshire, UK

University of Wolverhampton, UK

Anthropolis Association, Hungary

Central European University Budapest, Hungary

Oxfam, Italy

University of Florence, Italy

 

The Development Education Centre South Yorkshire (DECSY) as the lead applicant has been working for 30 years with teachers and many others involved in education to promote a development and global perspective in the curriculum. It now has a national and international reputation for its training provision. The education staff are all accredited by SAPERE (Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education) as trainers in Philosophy for Children. DECSY aims to help and inspire people to develop the skills and commitment to work together to bring about a more just and sustainable world.

 

Dr Maria Tsouroufli, Reader in Education at the University of Wolverhampton, is a gender research specialist and research lead/coordinator for this European study. Dr Tsouroufli has an international research track record in researching gender inequalities in education and the professions. She has conducted research on gender stereotypes, gender and teacher-student interaction and gender discrimination in secondary, higher and medical education across different national and socio-cultural contexts including the UK and Greece. Her most recent work is concerned with the implications of neo-liberalism for gender and higher education pedagogies across Europe.

 

 

Anthropolis Association, Hungary

Anthropolis Anthropological Public Benefit Association (founded in 2002) is one of the most active Hungarian NGOs in the field of development education. Anthropolis is a board member of HAND Platform (Hungarian Association of NGOs for Development and Humanitarian Aid). Our work over the past decade has included:

• publishing the first anthropological periodical in Hungary;
• producing documentaries on minorities, migrants and the MDGs in East Africa;
• organising media campaigns and awareness-raising festivals on global issues;
• initiating a news portal on development (www.globalance.hu);
• founding the Global Education Resource Centre (www.globedu.eu)
• publishing lecture books for students (elementary and secondary)

regularly organising workshops for students; seminars for teachers and youth workers; and roundtable discussions among GE stakeholders.

 

In the last decade Anthropolis has been working together with more than 40 European non-governmental organisations in the field of education, culture, research and social work. We have built strategic partnerships with local communities, decision makers, universities, NGOs and educational development institutes.

 

Balázs Nagy works for Anthropolis Association as a project worker and trainer. He has an MA in psychology (gender studies). He delivers global education workshops and trainings for pupils, students and teachers. He is also a trainer of Digital storytelling.

 

Central European University Budapest, Hungary

 

Central European University Budapest, Hungary

 

Central European University is a graduate-level “crossroads” university with approximately 1,400 students and 370 faculty members from more than 130 countries coming to engage in interdisciplinary education, pursue advanced scholarship, and address some of society’s most vexing problems.

Founded in 1991 at a time when revolutionary changes were throwing off the rigid orthodoxies imposed on Central and Eastern Europe, CEU is based on the premise that human fallibility can be counterbalanced by the critical discussion of ideas and that this critical spirit can be sustained best in societies where citizens have the freedom to scrutinize competing theories and openly evaluate and change government policies.

It is accredited in both the United States and Hungary, and offers English-language Master’s and doctoral programs in the social sciences, the humanities, law, management and public policy. Located in the heart of Central Europe — Budapest, Hungary — CEU has developed a distinct academic and intellectual focus, combining the comparative study of the region’s historical, cultural, and social diversity with a global perspective on good governance, sustainable development and social transformation.

The Department of Gender Studies at CEU strives to meet the growing demand for expertise in gender issues by providing both Master’s and doctoral level programs in gender studies, as well as serving as a base for non-degree studies and other activities in the field. The department attracts students from a wide range of disciplines in the social sciences and the humanities, and focuses on integrative and comparative approaches in gender studies. With an important, but not exclusive, focus on Central and Eastern Europe, both the Master’s and doctoral programs seek to contribute to the development of socially relevant knowledge based on these approaches, and to critically interrogate past and present developments related to gender in culture and society.

 

Dr. Dorottya Rédai received her PhD degree at the Department of Gender Studies at CEU in 2015. Her research field is the intersections of public education and the re/production social identity categories and inequalities. Currently she is working at CEU in an international gender studies course development project (GeSt), in an international project focusing on assessing gender equity in secondary schools (GECM), and as a visiting lecturer. Besides, she does freelance work as an expert and activist in public and higher education and in NGOs, in the fields of gender and education, sex education, human rights education and training, and discrimination and social exclusion against women and sexual minorities.

 

Oxfam, Italy

Global Citizenship Education

 

Oxfam Italia is an Italian Development NGO, non-profit association, full member of the International Confederation Oxfam, which has 18 organizations networked together in more than 90 countries, as part of a global movement for change, to build a future free from injustice of poverty. Oxfam Italia staff include 77 employees, 276 project-based contracts in Italy and abroad and 822 volunteers.

 

In Italy and in Europe, Oxfam works in Global Citizenship Education, promoting social, economic and environmental justice, social inclusion and the fight against discrimination. In this context, Oxfam aims at strengthening and supporting responsible citizens who are committed to a just and sustainable world. Global Citizenship Education is an education that defends human rights and the environment, promotes responsible consumerism, nourishes respect for interculturalism and values diversity, that encourages gender equality, participation, co responsibility and a commitment to building a fairer and more sustainble society. http://edu.oxfam.it/en

 

The mission of the Education Office is to positively change the social, economic and political contexts that globally fuel poverty and injustice, fostering active citizenship based on a human rights and sustainable development approach.

 

 

Areta Sobieraj

 

Areta is OIT’s Head of Education and is responsible for developing, monitoring and evaluating educational projects. She’s an educator and international teacher/trainer trainer and has extensive experience in developing teaching and learning resources, training and consultancy for teaching staff and educators on issues focused on education for sustainability, active citizenship education, fair trade and human rights. She has a Masters in Education for Sustainability from South Bank University, London and has attended several courses on issues specifically related to the Sustainable Development Goals .

 

 

 

 

Alessia Martini

 

Alessia is a project manager, in the field of education. She has experience in the management of national and European projects financed by various donors. She has also experience in dissemination and exploitation activities. She has experience in project proposals writing, in the preparation and translation of documents and reports, organisation of events, workshosps, seminars and conferences with schools. She has a Masters in Development Economics from the University of Florence.

 

University of Florence, Italy

The University of Florence is one of the largest organizations for research and higher education in Italy with over 1900 tenured teaching staff and researchers, over 1600 permanent technical/administrative staff and language assistants and over 55 thousand students enrolled. The University consists of 24 departments. A large part of the yearly budget is allocated to scientific research. Recently, the University of Florence has been ranked top among Italian Universities for the distribution of national research funds.

The University of Florence is one of the largest and most productive public research systems in Italy.

Simonetta Ulivieri is a full professor of “General and Social Pedagogy” at the University of Florence, Department of Education and Psychology. She deals with Social History of Education and Pedagogy of Gender and Equal Opportunities. In particular, she focuses on

gender identity relating to “Pedagogy of the Difference”. At the moment, Simonetta Ulivieri is teaching “Pedagogy of Gender and Equal Opportunities” for the Master’s degree in “School Leadership and Clinic Pedagogy in schools and educational services”.

Raffaella Biagioli is Associate Professor in General and Social Pedagogy by the Department of Education Science and Psychology of the University of Florence. She is interested in the Pedagogy ofMarginality, Gender Pedagogy and Intercultural Pedagogy.

Irene Biemmi is Professor of Social Pedagogy at the same Department. Her areas of

research interest concern gender issues in the education sector with particular reference to critical analysis of teaching materials, teacher training and orientation. She edits the illustrated books series “Sottosopra” for the publisher EDT-Giralangolo (Turin), dedicated to eliminating gender stereotyping in childhood.

Valentina Guerrini’s research interests focus on gender differences and equal

opportunities in educational and professional field from an international perspective.

She’s a Professor of Human Sciences in Secondary Education.

The theme of International Women’s Day 2017 was to Be Bold for Change. All members of the IPED board are committed to gender equality, particularly intersectional approaches to advancing women’s participation in public life.

Susan Sayce attended a ResNet event for IWD at the University of East Anglia, where the theme was inclusive change especially for disabled women. More information on ResNet can be found here

Maria Tsourfouli (University of Wolverhamption) discussed, along with, Dr Subashini Suresh and Andrea Mondokova, an intersectional approach to gender equity approaches in higher education: ‘Being a woman/man and a migrant in Higher Education: Double exclusions?’. This presentation forms part of a week long celebration of IWD alongside the University of Wolverhampton’s Athena Swan work.

Chrissi McCarthy was very busy on IWD, giving two talks. The first was for the National Association of Women in Construction and a second for the University of Reading

Kate Sang (Heriot Watt University) presented at the Scottish Young Planners’ IWD event (Royal Town Planners’ Institute in Scotland). Kate’s presentation proposed intersectionality as a tool for bold and far reaching change, asking what would our built environment look like if more women were in charge of its design and build.

We hope you had a fantastic IWD and look forward to a year of bold change!

Call for rapid responses to Trump and Women’s March

The Women’s March on 21 January 2017 was conceived and initiated in the time between the US election result of 8 November 2016 and the 20 January presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. US-centred, it also saw global impact with over 600 marches in dozens of countries. Estimates of participation number as high as 4.5 million people. Trump, his close advisors and cabinet are regarded by many commentators to reflect a new far-right or illiberal leadership previously unknown in the US, with potentially radical national and international effects. The cabinet is currently the least diverse in terms of ‘race’ and gender of recent times, and has rapidly instituted a growing list of measures targeting marginalised groups such as The Global Gag Rule, the removal of the Affordable Care Act and bans on refugees from predominately Muslim countries.

We welcome submissions which address the Women’s March and the Trump administration. We have provided a list of questions which may inspire commentary, but broader analyses are also welcome.

Submissions may include blog posts, research agendas, activist perspectives, creative writing, policy analyses or position pieces. We expect submissions to range from 1500 to 8000 words. Submissions may be in English, French, Greek, Spanish, German, BSL, American Sign Language or International Sign Language (for sign language submissions please contact the editors first, so we can ensure appropriate support). We ask that all submissions include a title and abstract in English as well as the original language. Submissions will be reviewed by the editorial team, and where appropriate subject to a rapid peer review. IPED is fully open access with authors retaining full copyright of their work. To submit please visit this link http://journals.hw.ac.uk/index.php/IPED/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions

In your covering email please note that your submission is for the Call for rapid responses to Trump and Women’s March.

Deadline – 27th February. Planned publication end of March 2017.

Please direct queries to: Christopher Lyon c.lyon@dundee.ac.uk or Kate Sang k.sang@hw.ac.uk

Questions:

1. What is the potential for intersectional approaches to scholarship and feminist activism to provide a robust and effective response to the rise of autocratic leaders such as President Donald Trump?
2. Can the Women’s March of 21 January 2017 act as a catalyst for progressive and inclusive social change, and in what ways?
3. How can intersectionality be used to provide a basis for social change and resistance to encroaching attacks on human rights? Where are the pitfalls and limits of intersectionality both as a theoretical construct and a basis for social change?
4. Does the Women’s March reflect a different form of protest or action beyond normative activism? How can we understand the Women’s March in the context of broader debates around violent and non-violent protest?
5. What can the Women’s March learn from previous social justice protests, for example, the Civil Rights movement, the women’s Suffrage movement?
6. What role did technology play in organising this march? What might this mean for its potential?
7. Where does The Women’s March sit with other forms of protest, for example, Black Lives Matter and the North Dakota Pipeline?
8. What are the lessons for efforts outside of the US, for example, responses to Brexit and the rise of far-right politics in France and other parts of Europe and Australasia?
9. The massive scale and global nature of the protest meant that it likely included many people who would not normally identify with or participate in protest activism. What does this level of participation mean for intersectional discourses and practices that normally define participation in this form of activism?
10. How does the social justice focus of the Women’s March connect with other highly controversial Trump administration policies such as those related to climate change, international trade, and toward Russia and China?

 

Photography courtesy of Danielle Eiseman (Chicago March) and Kate Sang (Edinburgh March)